Fall Dining Promotions to Benefit Finger Lakes Meat Project

Press release:

FALL DINING PROMOTIONS TO BENEFIT FINGER LAKES MEAT PROJECT

Two Ithaca restaurants will offer special fall dining promotions to raise funds for The Finger Lakes Meat Project ( http://www.fingerlakesmeatproject.com/ ),an agriculture development project at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (NY).

Each weekend in October, the Carriage House Café, located at 305 Stewart Avenue, will offer a locally-sourced brunch special, while Fine Line Bistro, located at 404 West State Street will offer a "Meat Locker Special" dinner on Wednesdays from September 25 through October 16. Each restaurant will donate a portion of the proceeds from specials sold to The Finger Lakes Meat Project.

"Both restaurants are longtime supporters of the local meat movement, and regularly feature locally sourced foods on their menus," says Matt LeRoux, Ag Marketing Specialist at Cooperative Extension who oversees The Finger Lakes Meat Project. "They truly can be considered 'Champions' of the local foods movement, because they consistently support local farmers and strengthen our regional food system with their purchases, " he continued.

In addition, Jillian's Drawers, located on the Ithaca Commons, is selling Finger Lakes Meat Project buttons for $1 each. The colorful buttons feature silhouettes of chickens, goats, lambs, and more, and are a big hit with Ithaca's tiniest residents!

The Finger Lakes Meat Project has two components designed to help consumers increase their local meat purchases. The Meat Suite, an online database at http://meatsuite.com, lists local livestock producers who sell meat in bulk directly to consumers. The Meat Locker Pilot Project will build two walk-in freezers at downtown sites in Ithaca and Corning (NY) with units that consumers can rent to store their bulk meat purchases. The aim of the project is to increase livestock production and "freezer trade" meat sales throughout the region by removing some of the main barriers to consumer bulk meat purchases, specifically the difficulty to find producers and the lack of home freezer space. To learn more about the Finger Lakes Meat Project, visit : http://www.fingerlakesmeatproject.com/