An afternoon of local food, line dancing, community gathering, and fundraising among the crops is returning to downtown Birmingham this weekend as Jones Valley Teaching Farm hosts its second annual Gather fundraiser on Saturday, May 30 from 4–7 p.m.
Held at the organization’s Center for Food Education, the picnic-style event supports Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s Good Community Food programs, which work to strengthen Alabama’s food system through food access initiatives, agricultural education, culinary instruction, and support for urban growers and community gardens across the state.
This year’s event will feature food from a lineup of Birmingham favorites including Rusty’s Bar-B-Q, Gus’s Hot Dogs, Dalle Momo, Mez Jay’s Kitchen, Yo’ Mama’s, Salice, Tina’s Market, and members of Les Dames d’Escoffier, alongside locally donated beer and wine, family-friendly activities, line dancing lessons led by Desi Keith of D2 Line Dancing, a silent auction, and a tomato plant sale. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs and spend the afternoon gathering outdoors on the downtown farm.
“This is our second year hosting Gather as a community fundraiser, and it really grew out of a response to losing USDA funding,” Jessica Hill, Community Programs Manager for Jones Valley Teaching Farm, said. “For a long time, much of our community programming was supported through USDA grants, so our community advisory board stepped in and said, ‘How can we help sustain this work?’”…