Larry Lev
When Oregon State professor of agricultural and resource economics Larry Lev started going to the annual “Farmer-Chef Connection” conferences sponsored by Chefs Collaborative Portland and Ecotrust, he noticed that the most useful part of the meetings were the coffee breaks. It was a chance for local farmers and food buyers (restaurants and institutions) to get together…and check out what each other had to offer.
Lev joined the steering committee of the “Farmer-Chef Connection” seven years ago, and the lead on programming these coffee breaks, so farmers and chefs could easily find each other, and find out how they could help each other out. “Speed Dating” at the Farmer-Chef Connection conference was born.
“It was like a middle school dance,” says Lev. “Farmers were on one side of a big room, and chefs on the other. And when we set them loose they dashed across the room to find one another.”
Events like this are becoming more popular as the movement toward local food grows, says Lev. “Compared to 10 or 20 years ago, there are far more restaurants in Portland interested in local suppliers,” he says.
The last Farmer-Chef Connection conference occurred at Clackamas Community College on March 9.
Tags: sustainability
