Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 32

Harvest Table:
How it became
Locavore King
for The Region

Is the dining room inspired by Barbara
Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"
a national-scale oasis?
by Eric J. Wallace
photography by Annie Laura, 621studios.com

About 10 yeArs Ago, acclaimed novelist and author Barbara Kingsolver
and her hubby, Emory and Henry
College professor of environmental
studies Steven Hopp, committed
themselves to a somewhat radical
experiment. Grown loathsome of
the human engineered, city-in-theheart-of-a-desert environment of
Tucson, Arizona, and determined to
rekindle their connection to the
land, Kingsolver and family (daughters Camille and Lily) packed their
things and cut out for Hopp's southwest Virginia homestead.
Nestled into the Blue Ridge
mountains and inspired by the seasons, the family made a pact: "... to
abandon the industrial-food pipe32 BlueRidgeCountry.com

line and live a rural life - vowing
that, for one year, they'd buy only
food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to
live without it."
The resulting experience was
root-shakingly powerful. So much so
it compelled Kingsolver and Hopp
to co-author a book, 2007's cultishly
popular, New York Times Bestseller,
"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."
Within a year of "Miracle"'s
release, enlisting the help of his
long-time friend, regional/seasonal
cuisine expert, chef Phillip Newton,
H o p p o p e n e d H a r v e s t Ta b l e
Restaurant, determined to create "
[t]he most dedicated farm to table
restaurant in the region, state, and,

eventually, the nation."
Over the course of the next two
years, Hopp and Newton built a network of over 50 local farms from
which to purchase top-notch seasonal produce. Bent on taking their
locavorialist operation a giant's leap
further, in early 2010, they purchased a 4.5-acre tract of property
adjacent to Hopp's own homestead,
hired a full-time, degree-holding
farm manager, and founded Harvest
Table Farm.
Catching wind of these goings-on,
in late 2011, The New York Times sent
a reporter to have a gander at the
"house that Animal, Vegetable,
Miracle built." Amidst a mostly glowing write-up, Newton's menu of year-


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Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015

Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Western North Carolina Food Foray
Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Sleeping in School
Saving West Virginia History
Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Weekend
Landrum Weekend
From the Editor / Worth a Click
Mill Creek Stories
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Great Home Buys in the Mountains
The Hike
Festivals & Events
Country Roads
Mountian Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - From the Editor / Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mill Creek Stories
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Great Home Buys in the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 12
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 14
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Best of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Western North Carolina Food Foray
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Is Harvest Table the Region’s Premier Farm-to-Table Restaurant?
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Rhododendron Season Arrives: The Photoessay
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - The Secret Biltmore You Never See
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 46
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Sleeping in School
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Saving West Virginia History
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cabins at Cosby Creek
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Blue Ridge Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Landrum Weekend
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Mountian Garden
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2015 - Cover4
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