An event of The Hudson Valley Food Lovers Festival

Saturday, July 30, 5-9 pm
Copake Country Club, Copake Lake

Farmers are invited to participate in this year’s Taste of Dinner.

It has been known for the last three years as the "Taste of Columbia County Bounty Dinner". This year, due to the success of the Columbia County Bounty vision, the organization and event goes regional. Three other county bounty programs; Dutchess, Orange and Ulster, have grown from the original program in Columbia. This joining of forces has lead to the creation of The Hudson Valley Bounty. This year’s event, now called the "Taste of Hudson Valley Bounty Dinner", will feature local chefs from all four counties creating dishes made from local farm products.

Additionally, the Hudson Valley Bounty has created an alliance with The Friends of the Farmer, creating an entire day festival dedicated to showcasing the importance of local food and products.

Here’s how it works:

To participate in the "Taste of Hudson Valley Bounty Dinner" portion of the Festival we ask Bounty farmers to donate product. You decide how much and what. Then, we let the chefs know what is available, so they can decide what to prepare. We ask the chefs to prepare 400 tastings. They may also need to buy some of their ingredients, buy we try to keep their costs low.

A stream of press releases as well as signs at the event let people know which farmers have contributed to make this event such a spectacular celebration of our local bounty. Now, being a part of The Hudson Valley Food Lovers Festival the press and exposure this year will be better than ever.

What we need from you now, right now, is a list of products you can donate within a week of July 30th, and the retail value of that donation. (We understand that this is your best guess, two months ahead, on what will be ready for harvest.) If you have a preferred chef you would like to work with, let us know. Also if you would like to prepare your own tastings from your own product, let us know that too.

For every $50 of retail value you donate, you will receive one free ticket to the "Taste of..." event. You can, of course buy tickets also. They are $75 dollars for the general public, Bounty members are $50.

If you have any questions please contact me at (518) 392-9696 or [email protected]. We look forward to having you join us as we grow and expand and look forward to another year of success!

Kristin Roca, Program Director
Hudson Valley Bounty