農場大餐排排坐，方知盤中皆辛苦

Farm-fresh Meals Help You Know More about Your Food

Jim Denevan is arranging tables for more than a hundred dinner guests on Briars Farmstead in rural Virginia. Chefs from a local restaurant prepared the dinner， called “Outstanding in the Field.” It’s what Denevan calls a “1）culinary adventure.”

Jim： The mission of Outstanding in the Field is to bring people closer to where food comes from， and hear the stories directly from the farmer， walk around and get to know places like this， which are important， I think.

Denevan is a former chef and his brother is a farmer. The idea of farm-side dinner made sense to him， but not necessarily to others.

Jim： But I wanted to make the idea work， so I decided to cross the country. I went all the way across the United States， set the table in [sic] farms and ranches and…on beaches， and all the places where food comes from.

Guests arrive with their own plates. After a brief welcome， the farmer leads them on a tour. Matt Szechenyi runs this ecological farm along with his family.

Matt： This type of event connects us with a lot of enthusiastic people. People that we， uh， we can form relationships with in the future. And this type of small farm business thrives on， on relationships.

The tour ends at the table. The meats in this five-course meal come from Szechenyi’s farm， the vegetables and other 2）ingredients from nearby farms. Guests and local farmers share the table.

Guest： It’s also especially wonderful to， to sit at a table this big with all these people. And the sense of community is wonderful.

Denevan and his team have served almost 13，000 people in the U.S. and beyond， but open-air feasts can be challenging.

Jim： It is not always beautiful weather. But for us， that’s part of， uh， the adventure.

Denevan is planning to expand his operation.

Jim： Next year， we are planning to go to Asia， to Africa， New Zealand and Australia， and back to South America.

He hopes that honoring the people who bring 3）nourishment to the table will spread around the world.

在位于美國弗吉尼亞鄉下的布里亞爾斯農莊，吉姆·德內文正在為一百多位客人布置桌椅。一家本地餐館的廚師開始準備這頓名為“野餐會”的大餐。德內文將此舉稱為一次“飲食大冒險”。

吉姆：野餐會的使命是讓人們進一步了解食物的來源，聽農民親口講述自己的故事，四處走走，多了解像這農場之類的地方——我認為這些事情都是很有意義的。

德內文以前是一名廚師，他的哥哥則是一個農民。這個農場就餐的點子對他來說言之成理，別人卻不一定受用。

吉姆：但我希望這個主意能變成現實，于是我決定到全國各地跑跑。我走遍美國，一路辦活動，在農場啊、牧場啊……還有海灘上布置餐桌，在各種的食物來源地安排活動。

參加活動的客人都要自備盤子。在簡短的歡迎致辭后，農場主就會帶他們四處參觀。馬特·塞切尼一家經營著這個生態農場。

馬特：這樣的活動讓我們結識了很多熱情的客人，這些人都是我們……我們以后可以和這些客人拉上關系。像我們這樣的小農場，買賣得靠各種關系才能做大。

參觀活動結束了，人們來到餐桌邊。在這頓五道菜的大餐里，肉類都來自塞切尼的農場，蔬菜和其他配料則取自附近的其他農場。客人和當地農民共享盛宴。

食客：這種感覺特別好……與所有這些人一起圍坐在這樣的大桌子旁，這種歸屬感真棒。

德內文和他的團隊所組織的活動已經接待過將近一萬三千人，其足跡遍及國內外。但這樣的露天大餐也會有不好辦的時候。