“Farm to Fork Week” is back, running July 21st through the 27th.

Farm to Fork Week" is a week long event where New Jersey chefs from local restaurants and diners use only homegrown products from local New Jersey farms.

There are many South Jersey farms and restaurants being featured including Butterhof's Shady Brook Farm in Egg Harbor City, Fiocchi Farms in Vineland and Leslie C. Rea Farms in West Cape May.

During the week, every restaurant that is being featured will have a special menu for the event that will offer 4 course meals for either $25 or $35 depending on the restaurant.

The SJ HOT Chefs website says, “as our customers become increasingly interested in where their food comes from, and as our chefs discover the joys of working with locally grown ingredients, The SJ Hot Chefs strive to work closely with local farmers to bring you the freshest fruits & produce available. Working with local farmers has many benefits.”

Fred Kellermann, who is the owner and chef at Elements Cafè in Haddon Heights, is also president of the SJ HOT Chefs and is passionate about these collaborations that are to come during the event.

Kellermann tells nj.com, “It’s been such a win-win for the restaurants, nearby farmers and especially our guests. As it became more apparent to chefs that guests truly care about the origin of the food we serve, we started building stronger relationships with local farmers and discovered the many advantages of preparing food made with locally grown ingredients.”

When chefs and restaurants work with local farmers there are many environmental benefits including less toxins, pesticides and fossil fuels. There is also a huge economic benefit that comes with buying local and keeping business right in your own neighborhood.

New Jersey, which is known as the Garden State got it nickname back at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia on Jersey Day on August 24, 1876 where Abraham Browning compared “New Jersey to an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other.”

In later years, the nickname came to reference New Jersey truck farms that provide agricultural produce to cities in nearby areas.

Click here for additional information and a full list of restaurants and farms participating in “Farm to Fork Week” visit their website

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