Slow Food Down East brings local producers to Kinston

An estimated 500 people streamed through a downtown Kinston parking lot Saturday for the inaugural Harvest Market and Dinner.

The event was put on by the recently formed Slow Food Down East group — a chapter of Slow Food USA — created to promote the national “slow food” movement in Eastern North Carolina and highlight local food producers.

“Our objective is to help people learn about locally-produced food so people can eat healthy and connect to local farmers,” Paul Busick, a member of Slow Food Down East’s board, said.

The Harvest Market featured about 18 vendors representing Lenoir, Greene, Craven, Duplin and other surrounding counties.

Their wares included hormone-free meat, fruits and vegetables, honey, jams and salsas, seafood and more.

Kristin Hall of Greenville was visiting Kinston on Saturday and saw the Harvest Market while driving through downtown.

“I hadn’t heard anything about it,” Hall said. “I just saw it driving by. But it’s nice, a nice variety.”

Ben Knight, co-owner of Kinston’s Chef and the Farmer Restaurant, is the chairman of Slow Food Down East.

The market was held in the Herritage Street parking lot that serves Chef and the Farmer and other establishments — many of the wares sold Saturday are also on the restaurant’s menu.

“When they said they were going to be doing something here in Kinston, we thought we should come out and support it,” Kinston resident Lisa Sowers said.

Brittany Davis of Kinston also dines at Chef and the Farmer, and saw flyers for the Harvest Market posted around the Lenoir Community College campus.

“I like the fact that we have the local producers and the natural foods,” she said.

The Harvest Dinner, which followed the market, gave patrons a chance to sample more of the vendors’ food and see how it paired up with Mother Earth beer, also produced locally in Kinston.

“What we would like to do is take this whole Down East area, and let people know what’s available ... so local farmers can make a living,” Knight said.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.