The third annual Farm to Fork event was held at the Thistlewaite Vineyards in Jefferson last Saturday.

Farm to Fork is held in part by the vineyard and the Observer Publishing Company to showcase local food vendors that use fresh produce from local farms.

“Farm to Fork is an event that utilizes local products made in the area and are made into dishes by local chefs,” said JoAnne Marshall, director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency. “[It’s] truly bringing a dish from a local farm right to your table. These chefs produced dishes that people were able to sample.”

In addition to the local dishes, music and wine and local craft venders were available, which Marshall believes draws their crowd.

“People look forward to this event, especially because they get to relax at the vineyard,” said Marshall.  “There was a bonfire and good music [along] with the hayride through the grapes. They got to explore a vineyard and the food has been different every year, you never know what the chefs will bring. It is really interesting to try the different food.”

Marshall described the event as “smaller,” due to its location, but believes it has plenty of room to grow.

“It is growing [and] as all events it needs to grow and change to meet the attendee’s desires,” said Marshall.

Between the chefs and vendors, approximately 20 tents and booths were set up for people to shop and sample the dishes from the various chefs.

This was the third time Greene County has held the event. Marshall said Farm to Fork brings a lot of traffic to the tourism agency.

“We have a good following from Pittsburgh that drive all the way down here to experience the event,” said Marshall. “That is stimulating our economy by bringing in those guests to our county.  In return if they enjoy the event, many of them comeback and are repeat visitors, not just to the event but throughout the year.”

Marshall also believes families are more excited now than ever before about the “Farm to Table” initiative, which also publicizes the event.

“Since the Farm to Table imitative is such a strong one across the nation right now where people are wanting to eat produce right off of the farm that is less than an hour [from them], it was just a natural fit for the event,” said Marshall.