‘Farm Feast’ Features NC Fare

NC State’s main campus was built on farmland given to the state by Richard Stanhope Pullen and early freshmen were required to work on the campus farms that provided food and milk for the fledgling school. Early athletics teams were sometimes called the “Farmers.”

As the school has grown from college to university to a world-leading research institution, its foundation has always been in the agricultural sciences. So it’s only fitting that once a year University Dining and CALS Office of Sustainability Programs celebrate that agrarian past with “Farm Feast,” an outdoor meal served to students at the Fountain Dining Hall on the west side of campus.

Dinner will be served on Monday beginning at 4:30 p.m. and will continue through 8 p.m., as the band Whiskey Rebellion performs on the lawn.

The dinner is part of the University Dining meal plan for students. Students, staff and faculty can also pay $10 from their AllCampus accounts  or $10.50 by cash or credit card for the buffet, which will include foods grown at farms across North Carolina.

Appetizers will include roasted peanuts from Bertie County, a salad featuring goat cheese from Pelham, N.C., and a broccoli and red grape salad made with broccoli from Mount Pleasant, N.C.

Vegetables include carrots from Wilmington, served with North Carolina maple syrup glaze. There will be sweet potato pilaf and cornbread served with whipped honey butter.

Entrees include a farm-raised brisket braised with Cabernet Franc wine from Morrisville and locally grown garden vegetables, barbecue chicken slider sandwiches, Baja chicken sliders with jalapeno slaw and local bratwurst served on local sauerkraut.

Vegetarian and vegan options include lime and roasted white sweet potato, local oat-crusted tofu cutlets with a mushroom, green tomato ragout, local seared onion and tomato chard.

Dessert will feature a strawberry shortcake station, featuring strawberries from the State Farmer’s Market and Howling Cow whipped cream, as well as boiled peanuts.