"Farm to table" is the name of a movement that encourages people to eat locally grown food. The farm totable idea has become more popular in recent years. But there is also a movement that brings "table to farm". Its purpose is to connect people to the land and to honor local farmers by creating a sort of restaurant without walls.
Its founder, Jim Denevan, got the idea for this kind of "culinary adventure (美食探险)", as he called it, ten years ago. He recently prepared tables for more than a hundred people at Briars Farm in Virginia. He and his eight member team arrived the night before. Chefs (厨师) from a local restaurant prepared the dinner.
Jim Denevan's brother is a farmer and he himself is a chef. He thought that the idea of a meal served right on the farm made sense, though not everyone agreed.
"But I wanted to make the idea work, so I decided to cross the country," said Denevan. "I went all the way across the United States and set the table on farms, ranches (大牧场) and beaches, and all the places where food came from."
"This kind of event connects us with a lot of enthusiastic people, people that we can form relationships with," said Matt Szechenyi, who operates Briars Farm.
The tour of the farm ends at the dinner table. The meats in the meal come from Matt Szechenyi's farm. The vegetables come from nearby farms. Guests and local farmers sit together.
Annoica Ingram came with a friend. "The food is wonderful. I appreciate their hard work. I see everything they have to do to take care of the animals and make sure they are well cared for. Without them, I think, we'll have big problems，" she said.
