On August 29, more than 100 guests gathered around the tables at Hachland Hill for Local Table: TN Local Food’s Summer Supper—an evening celebrating Tennessee farmers, local food, and the community that makes this work possible.

Together, guests helped raise more than $23,000 to support the mission of TN Local Food and our work to connect, support, and educate farmers and communities across Tennessee.

The numbers tell part of the story. But the spirit of Local Table was found in the people who made the evening possible—from the farmers who grew and raised our meal to the chef who brought those ingredients together, the partners and sponsors who invested in our work, and more than 100 people who chose to gather around the table in support of Tennessee farmers.

Many Hands, One Table

At the center of Local Table was, of course, the food.

Chef Carter Hach created a beautiful farm-to-table meal featuring ingredients sourced from farms and producers across Tennessee. Nearly every ingredient on the evening’s menu was purchased directly from a local farm—an intentional choice for TN Local Food this year.

In the past, we often relied on donated food for this dinner. But as an organization working to support farmers and strengthen local food systems, we believe our own practices should reflect the food system we’re working to build. That means valuing farmers’ work—and paying them for the food they grow and raise.

Our deepest compliments and gratitude go to the farmers and producers behind the meal: The Barefoot Farmer, Sweeter Days Farm, Broken Point Farm, Henosis, Una Acre Farm, Bells Bend Farm, Sequatchie Cove Farm, ZK Ranches, Old School Farm, Strange Honey Farm, Scott’s Orchard, Nashville Grown, and Thriving Earth Farm.

And to Chef Carter Hach and the Hachland Hill team: thank you for transforming those ingredients into a meal worthy of the people who grew them.

Honoring the Farmers Behind the Meal

This year’s theme, Meet the Farmer Behind the Food, invited us to look beyond what was on our plates and recognize the people, businesses, and tremendous amount of work behind it.

During dinner, Tonya and Michael Bradford of Una Acre Farm and Tyler Skelton of Bells Bend Farms joined us to share their stories and offer guests a glimpse into what it really takes to build and sustain a farm.

Their stories were different, but common threads quickly emerged.

Farming requires much more than knowing how to grow food. Tyler described the many roles farmers take on—marketers, salespeople, administrators, bookkeepers, employers, and problem-solvers—all while doing the work that brought them to farming in the first place. She reflected on watching farms come and go over the years simply because creating a sustainable farm business can be so difficult.

When the conversation turned toward what farmers need to thrive, not simply survive, access to capital and resources emerged as another theme. Tonya and Michael spoke about cost-share programs that require significant upfront investment, the challenge of knowing which programs and resources are available, and the additional time and work required to navigate them while running a farm.

But when asked what keeps them farming, their answers brought the conversation back to the very thing surrounding us that evening:

Community.

They spoke about customers who become friends, familiar faces at farmers' markets, creating meaningful jobs on their farms, and knowing that people in their communities are pulling for them.

It was a powerful reminder that a resilient local food system isn't built by farmers alone. It is something we build together.

Raising Paddles, Supporting Farmers

That conversation also brought us directly to why TN Local Food exists.

Throughout Tennessee, farmers are navigating the many responsibilities of running complex small businesses while also trying to find markets, access resources, respond to unexpected challenges, and plan for the future.

We want TN Local Food to help carry some of that load.

During our Fund the Need paddle raise, Local Table guests contributed $6,775 toward that work.

Those gifts will help TN Local Food expand practical farmer services and technical assistance, build stronger pathways from farm to market, strengthen farmer disaster recovery efforts, increase access to useful tools and resources, create farmer education and peer-learning opportunities, and strengthen the network connecting Tennessee farmers to the people and resources they need.

For us, this is about making resources easier to find, connections easier to make, and opportunities easier to access—so farmers can spend less time navigating barriers and more time farming.

Looking Back—and Looking Ahead

Local Table arrives at an exciting moment for TN Local Food.

This year marks the first year of our new three-year strategic plan, organized around three commitments: Connect. Support. Educate.

Over the past year, we’ve been putting those commitments into action—bringing farmers and buyers together, expanding educational opportunities, providing emergency support when disaster strikes, creating spaces for farmers to learn from one another, and listening closely to farmers as we determine where TN Local Food can be most useful.

Our recent mid-year reflection shared some of that progress. Local Table gave us an opportunity to celebrate it together—and, more importantly, to look toward what comes next.

The generosity shown that evening gives us momentum to continue building a stronger suite of farmer services in the months and years ahead, while deepening our role as a connector between farmers, markets, resources, and communities across Tennessee.

Because one thing we heard clearly from the farmers at Local Table is that community matters.

And that's what this space represented.

Standing Behind Tennessee Farmers

A dinner like Local Table is created by many hands.

It begins long before guests arrive at Hachland Hill—with seeds planted, animals cared for, crops harvested, relationships built, meals planned, volunteers mobilized, and a community deciding that Tennessee farms are worth investing in.

Thank you to the farmers and producers who fed us. To Chef Carter Hach and Hachland Hill for welcoming us. To our sponsors, donors, volunteers, auction contributors, board, staff, and everyone who raised a paddle, placed a bid, purchased a ticket, or gathered around the table with us: thank you.

Together, you helped make Local Table 2026 possible.

More importantly, you are helping us stand behind the farmers behind our food.