Liz Reitzig » The Farm Bus from Farm to Family

Suzi and Mark Lilly, Farm to Family, and Will Allen, CEO/Founder of Growing Power. We are so grateful for Will’s mentorship and friendship.

Will Allen, Founder/CEO of Growing Power and author of the book, The Good Food Revolution, was Farm to Family’s very special guest speaker at our first fundraiser for our non-profit farm and urban agriculture training center, BusFarm, on Saturday, July 14th at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown in Richmond, VA. Other speakers included Liz Reitzig, activist for farm food freedom, and Mike Peterson, chef and farm manager at Mount Vernon Grassfed, in Sperryville, VA. Lisa Taranto of the Office of Urban Ecology, was our emcee.

Virginia’s First Lady, Maureen McDonnell, sent a letter of recognition for the efforts Farm to Family and BusFarm are making towards encouraging people to eat healthy and become more food secure. We are very grateful for her support for Farm to Family/BusFarm and her dedication for the good health and wellbeing for all the people of Virginia. The local foods dinner, an amazing gastronomic delight (really the best meal we’ve had all year!!) and was artfully prepared by Hilton Garden Inn Downtown’s Executive Chef, Willie Miller and featured foods from Farm to Family farms and vendors: Polyface Farms, Prospect Farm, Rain or Shine Greenhouse Gardens, Twin Oaks Community Foods, Rappahannock River Oysters and Clams, Tuckahoe Lamb and Cattle Company, Promised Land Pastures, Farm to Family’s Bus Farm, Plantation Acres, Agriberry, Saunders Bros., HopeWater, Sam Kirby, Flores Farm, Rocking F Farm, Amy’s Garden and Flour Garden Bakery.

Silent Auction items inspired some fevered bidding, good natured pushing and shoving, and were creative and fun. We are grateful for the generous donations from our friends at: Bellytimber Tavern, Blanchards Coffee Roasters, Jimmy Snead at Blowtoad, Chastity Hise at Clippi Headren, Jason and Chris at Comfort, Delux, Europa, Flavor Magazine, Happy the Artist, Hill Café, Krishon Chocolates, Lamplighter Roasting Company, Lisa Taranto/Office of Urban Ecology, Mezzanine, Pam D’Arcy, Jason Alley and Joe Sparatta at Pasture , Victoria DeRoche and Stephanie Ganz at Pizza Tonight, River City Wild Foods, Rural Revolution, Sausage Craft, Taste Buds, The Hard Shell, Tuckahoe Lamb and Cattle Company, Urban Backyard Edibles, The Water Grill and Catherine Long at Old Church Creamery.

Farm to Family and BusFarm are extremely grateful to all of our friends, family and supporters. We wish to extend special thanks to the following for their generous assistance and support: Will Allen and Growing Power, First Lady Maureen McDonnell, Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, Taylor Weirup Marketing, Lisa + Diego Cusano, Lisa Taranto, Bill Cavender, Elli Morris Photography, Happy the Artist, Patty Parks, Denise and Larry Miller, Jenny and Ranny Heflin, Cynthia Sanford, Steph Beer, The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Richmond and the amazing Kathryn MacDonald, Chef Willie Miller and Map Roeung, Mark Troxell Trio, John Miles, Marissa Marklevitz, James Luggen, Patsy Arnett, Sarah Headley, Flavor Magazine, Molly MacDonald Peterson, Retail Merchants Association, Kat Simmons/Lite 98, Kevin Brown/Liberation Wellness Hour, Style Weekly, Richmond Times Dispatch, Natural Awakenings, Kimberly Hartke, Kristin Canby/Farmageddon, Beckie Sukes, Brooks Godwin, Tracy Jacobs, Emily Krause, Danielle Barnes, David Irving, Krissy Etz, Kenny Albiston, Sarah Orr, the Selby Family, Laurie Lay, Jayme Aronberg, John Lewis, Vicki Campbell, the Swinson Family, the Miles Family, Melissa Krumbein/Kitchen Thyme, Jean Johnson – The Measure Free Hippie Cook, Slow Food RVA, Addie Brugger, Tunji Barlatt, Heather Harker, Arc Printing, RVA Local Patronage Cash Mob, Debra Tokarz, Thinking of You Creations, Mayor’s Youth Academy Urban Gardeners, Dexter Sells, Rob Snead and of all of our farmers, artisans, vendors, USA Farm Share members, customers as well as our social media followers at home and around the world.