MORGANTOWN — Around Morgantown, chefs and residents alike play an important role in supporting local farmers and brewers who provide fresh and diverse products to the community.
Restaurants, including Hill & Hollow and Terra Café, source as many ingredients as possible from farms throughout West Virginia. For them, locally sourcing ingredients means putting money back into their home state.
“If we buy everything or at least as much as we can locally, that supports our neighbors,” said Marion Ohlinger, co-owner of Hill & Hollow restaurant. “It supports West Virginia and our people, and it helps keep our culture alive.”
When the economy collapsed in 2008, Marion Ohlinger and his wife, Algeria Ohlinger, decided to keep every penny they could within West Virginia. For them, it is one of the many rewards that comes with being truly farm-to-table.
“If people buy things from a corporate supplier, then it comes not only from out of state, but often from out of America,” Marion Ohlinger said.
Not only do farm-to-table restaurants support the local economy, Sunshine Vortigern, co-owner of Round Right Farm, said her vegetables are fresher and packed with flavor, and the animals on her farm are grass-fed and treated humanely.
“We work with the natural cycle of the animals as well as the pasture,” Vortigern said. “We use rotational grazing, which means we move the cows between pastures every seven to 10 days, which keeps them healthy and on fresh grass and so we don’t have to give them wormers or antibiotics.”
Round Right Farm, less than an hour outside of Morgantown in Cranesville, is one of several local farms that delivers to restaurants in the area. Vortigern said her family works to make sure their vegetables are picked at prime ripeness.
“That is how vegetables are supposed to be picked rather than being artificially ripened,” Vortigern said. “A lot of times, vegetables and fruit are picked early and then force ripened by being blasted with ethylene gases while in transport.”
Since building their farm from the ground up, Vortigern said she has been able to live a healthy lifestyle and provide for her family on the vegetables they grow and the cattle they raise.
“It comes down to wanting to eat food that I trust and am comfortable feeding to my own children,” Vortigern said.
Caitlyn O’Connell, general manager at the Terra Café in Morgantown, said buying locally sourced goods has created a sense of community within Morgantown and throughout West Virginia.
“I love to actually get to know not only the people who work here but also the people who are selling us their product,” O’Connell said. “We work with a brewery out in Rivesville, W.Va. and I feel like they are my family.”
Supporting the local community is not strictly reserved for restaurant culture. Year-round, the Morgantown Farmer’s Market, on Spruce Street in the spring, summer and fall, and in the gymnasium of the Wesley United Methodist Church on select Saturdays during winter, offers a range of products, from vegetables, beef and chicken to cow’s milk soap, baked-goods and bison meat.
McKenzie Williams and Nathan Altman, of Morgantown, said they come to the market nearly every time it is open.
“Quality is the biggest difference,” said Altman. “We know that it is coming from small farms where people actually care about the animals and what is going into the products.”
The market does its best to ensure it is accessible to all residents. West Virginians who receive SNAP benefits are eligible for the market’s matching program.
“With the SNAP program that we have, we match up to $20 worth of tokens,” said Caitlin Diehl, manager of the farmer’s market. “When someone comes by with a SNAP EBT card, they can purchase $20 worth of tokens and get an additional $20 for free, and if they have a kid with them, they will get an additional $5.”
Dave and Barb Miller, owners of the Mountain Diamond Longhorns Farm located in Tunnelton, see the market as an opportunity to purchase an assortment of products that everyone in the community can enjoy.
“I think it brings a lot of specialties to Morgantown,” said Dave Miller. “It is home-grown, fresh, and I think people appreciate that.”
By Gabriella Brown
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
