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Springs School edible garden, one of many school gardens on the East End. (Ellen Watson photo).[/caption]
By Annette Hinkle
In November 2010, Joshua Levine, a young farmer who lived in Sag Harbor, was killed in a tragic tractor accident at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett. He was 35 years old and he left behind his wife, Ann, and their two small children, Willa and Ezra.
The tragedy shook the East End community to its core. But it was especially devastating for those involved in the farm to table movement, a tight knit group of folks for whom tilling the soil, planting seeds and growing crops through the seasons is more than an occupation, it’s a way of life.
And it was Joshua Levine’s passion.
Which is why in the wake of his death, his family set out to form the Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation (JLMF), an organization dedicated to raising money for the types of programs Mr. Levine was passionate about. Key among them was sharing the joys of watching plants grow and developing healthy eating habits to last a lifetime.
This Sunday, a group of nearly 20 chefs — along with food purveyors and East End wine and beer producers — will assemble at Dodd’s & Eder in Sag Harbor for the 5th Annual Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation/Slow Food East End Cocktail Party.
The focus of the event, of course, will be the locally sourced ingredients which the finest chefs, caterers and food producers on the East End will transform into an inventive array of hors d’oeuvres and small bites. But the cocktail party is also a major fundraiser for the JLMF and the public will not only go home well fed, they will also go home completely satisfied knowing a substantial portion of proceeds from the evening will support school gardens on the East End.
It’s a program that organizers feel Joshua Levine would have loved.
“Back when this event started, it was really a reaction to Josh having this tragic accident,” recalls Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, chair of Slow Food East End and founder of the East End Edible School Gardens program. “He was that young person who gave up a corporate life to come out here and farm and live the way the Hamptons used to be.”
“It’s about land, good food and all of those values,” she adds.
And when you talk values, what better place is there to start than with the children of the East End? With the Edible School Gardens project, Myron and Susan Levine, Joshua Levine’s parents, saw a cause that fit perfectly with their son’s ideals.
“The idea was to have master farmers who help out at the edible school gardens, so it’s not just teachers and parents,” explains Mr. Levine. “When a child leaves to go to another school, the parent also leaves and there’s no continuity. “
It’s an issue that Bridgehampton High School teacher Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz, who oversees the school’s classroom garden, understands first hand.
“I was a landscape designer and an educator and knew nothing about growing vegetables,” admits Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz. “But from my own experience in the Bridgehampton school garden, I realized there’s an art and science to growing food.”
“In order for these gardens to succeed, teachers, parents and educators needed help,” she adds. “The master farmers were that link — whether their expertise is in growing, or educating, or the curriculum, we added that element which was missing. It was really successful.”
Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz explains that the money raised from Sunday’s event will be used to hire three master farmers for the next year and between them, they will oversee all of the school gardens on both forks of the East End.
“We now have 27 school districts with school gardens and greenhouses and a lot more coming on line,” explains Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz. “The programs are now super embedded in the school districts. That’s new and an evolution.”
It’s an evolution largely made possible by the oversight and expertise provided by the master gardeners who have brought cohesion and knowledge to the life of school gardens on the East End.
“I think Myron and Sue Levine saw these gardens needed support and that that’s what Josh’s legacy could be — raising the money to help these gardens,” says Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz.
Chef Cheryl Stair of Art of Eating Catering is one of the organizers helping to bring the many facets of the event together. It’s her job to line up all the chefs who are taking part and she has found this is one cause they are more than happy to come out and support.
“What’s really great about it, it’s the community, Slow Food, the chefs — everyone really and truly caring about these school gardens,” says Ms. Stair. “It’s frustrating as a chef when kids come in and all they eat is pasta with butter or chicken fingers. When they get involved in growing food, they understand it and taste it and realize it doesn't come out of the box.”
“It’s a wonderful grass roots thing that is a community effort,” she adds. “It’s wonderful all these chefs said, ‘Yes.’”
The 5th Annual Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation/Slow Food East End Cocktail Party is Sunday April 12 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Dodds & Eder Landscape Design Showroom, 11 Bridge Street, Sag Harbor. Tickets are $125 ($75 for Slow Food members). Visit www.slowfoodeastend.org to reserve.
Chefs and food purveyors taking part include Colin Ambrose (Estia's Little Kitchen), Peter Ambrose (Endless Summer Catering), James Carpenter (Page Restaurant), Gil Chico (Vine Street Café), Claudia Fleming (North Fork Table & Inn), Debbie Geppert (Dreesen's Catering), David Girard (Buoy One), Todd Jacobs (Fresh Hamptons), Scott Kampf (Southampton Social Club), Paul La Bue (The Seafood Shop), Art Ludlow (Mecox Bay Dairy cheeses), Aldo Mairoana (Aldo's Café), Sam McCleland (Bell & Anchor), Kevin Penner (North Fork Foods), Robert Durkin (Robert's), Noah Schwartz Noah's), Cheryl Stair (Art of Eating), Carissa Wachter (Carissa's Breads), Jeri Woodhouse (A Taste of the North Fork), ?Catapano Dairy Farm, Honest Man Restaurant Group and Montauk Pearls Oyster Bar.
Beverage providers include Bedell Cellars, ?Channing Daughters Winery, Kontokosta Winery, ?Lieb Cellars, ?Montauk Brewing Company, ?Paumanok Vineyards, ?Pelligrini Winery and Vineyard, ?Raphael, ?Roanoke Vineyards, ?Southampton Publick House, ?Wölffer Estate Vineyard, ?Captain's Neck & Co. and ?Sweet 'tauk Lemonade.
27east on Apr 7, 2015