Fifty-five lucky people will get to sit down to a nice dinner at the 2021 Farm to Table Dinner and learn just where their food comes from.

Here’s a hint: the food is fresh, and it’s local.

“It’s a unique way to experience being on a farm, eating outside and eating really wonderful foods that have been professionally prepared,” said Vickie Dunn, president of Berthoud Local, organizer of the dinner and the Berthoud Farmer’s Market.

The third annual dinner will showcase food, wine and beer from the Berthoud area during a sit-down affair featuring appetizers, a main course and dessert. The dinner will be 5-9 p.m. Aug. 28 at The Farmer and Adele, a 17.5-acre family farm southeast of Berthoud at 19417 W. County Road 3 that sells produce, eggs, flower and herbs.

The ingredients for the dinner will come from local growers, then will be chef-prepared by Annie DeCoteau, co-owner of Rise Artisan Bread Bakery. Attendees will sit down at long wooden tables, made by Adele Work, co-owner of The Farmer and Adele with Jennifer Caldwell and a Berthoud Local board member.

Along with the meal, there will be a tour of the farm and live music, provided by Ryan Dart, a singer and songwriter and a local farmer. The menu is still being determined but likely will include chicken, pork and possibly beef and a variety of vegetables and fruits, all sourced from local farms. The dishes and what’s included in them will depend on what is available at the time.

“It’s such a nice ambiance, and it’s a nice way to learn what it means to grow your own food,” Dunn said.

The tour will be of the buildings and animals on the property, including goats and chickens, as well as the vegetables and flowers—there will be explanations of the process of growing food and getting it into the hands of consumers. Board members and members of the growing community also will give short presentations on the sourcing of the menu items and ways to support local agriculture.

“Far too much of our food is grown in California or Florida and trucked across the country,” Dunn said. “We need to go back to a decentralized food system where you’re getting more of your food locally than from across the country. It’s not sustainable. …Look at what’s happening to our planet.”

The dinner serves as a fundraiser for Berthoud Local and helps defray the expenses of the Berthoud Farmer’s Market, a venue for growers, businesses and artisans to sell their goods. This year, the market averages 15 to 30 vendors a week with an attendance of 300 to 600 people. The market is 9 a.m.-noon on Saturdays from late June to September in Fickel Park.

This is the eighth year Berthoud Local has managed the market and the seventh year it has hosted or co-hosted the Farm to Table Dinner. The dinner has been at various venues and initially served as a wine pairing event with a sit-down meal. In 2018, Berthoud Local made the dinner a strictly farm-to-table event as a way to support local farmers. Eventually, the nonprofit would like to migrate the dinner to different farms in the area to give them additional support.

The Farm to Table Dinner is $75. To purchase tickets, visit BerthoudLocal.org or stop at the manager’s booth at the Berthoud Farmer’s Market.

“It’s a great opportunity to get people out of their normal day-to-day realm … to inspire them to grow their own food or become vendors at the farmer’s market,” Dunn said.