FEED Supper at the Farm
We’ll admit, we hadn’t heard of FEED Projects, or the great work they’re doing to combat global hunger, until about a month ago, when photos of gorgeous dinner parties started appearing in our Instagram feed with the hashtag #FEEDsupper. We were drawn in by the phenomenal tablescapes, but then we read about the work the organization does and we were sold. Social media in action! 
We loved this idea–in part, because we love any excuse to throw a party, but also because, at least on a couple sides of our family, we’re not many generations removed from food insecurity. We have the great good fortune to raise our children free of want, but this wasn’t the case for many of our great-grandparents, and it isn’t the case for millions of families around the planet. Sadly, we don’t have to look to Africa or Central America to see evidence of hunger (though it is there in abundance); in Maine we have an ongoing hunger crisis, with 24% of Maine children, and 23% of our seniors experiencing some form of food insecurity. 
So how does throwing a fancy party help? For one thing, our guests were asked, instead of bringing us wine or flowers, to please make a donation to FEED Project through our FEED Supper donation page. Anyone can make a donation–feel free to donate, spread the word and help us meet our fundraising goal! (We’ll make you dinner another time! Promise.) For another, we involved the girls in the planning, cooking, decorating, and hosting, which gave us an opportunity to talk to them about the reasons we were asking people to support this cause. 
As we stirred apple butter and rolled out lavash crackers for the party, I told the girls about how their beloved GGPa (my grandfather) had lived in an orphanage when he was Sadie’s age because his mom didn’t have enough money to feed him. And how another of my great-grandmothers had used the heavy cast iron frying pans hanging above our stove to make cider doughnuts for Grampa Steve (my dad) to take to Boy Scouts when his parents’ food budget couldn’t stretch far enough. Hunger is not shameful, and food insecurity can happen to anyone. Hosting a FEED Supper as a family gave us a chance to remind the girls how lucky we are. 
We started the gathering with an afternoon goat hike, which segued into goat milking, apple picking (kids picked, dads peeled, we all assembled into a Ten Apple Crisp) and sack racing. Adults sipped Cinnamon Quince Old Fashioned cocktails on the porch and nibbled on goat cheeses from our farm with Charlotte and Bea’s amazing lavash. The vegetarian dinner featured produce from our garden and several local farms, and everyone got a jar of Molasses Apple Butter to take home. It was a wonderful evening, and we’re so grateful to everyone who attended!
What’s a party without a #sackrace? #fun #cute #kids #feedsupper @feedprojects @zach_heiden
A video posted by TenAppleFarm (@tenapplefarm) on
