In our final Hutchins Lecture of Fall 2014, titled “Sustainable, Organic, & Slow: Restoring the Legacy of Black Family Farms,” Chef & Farmer Matthew Raiford will discuss returning home after a quarter of a century to help restore his family farm. Gilliard Farms has been in Raiford’s family since 1874 and is a Georgia Centennial Family Farm. But what does it mean to be a modern-day farmer in the 21st century and still be sustainable, organic, and slow?
CheFarmer Raiford is currently the Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Culinary Arts at the College of Coastal Georgia. He holds a Bachelor’s of Professional Studies degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America and a certificate in Ecological Horticulture from UC-Santa Cruz. Raiford is a member of Slow Food USA and a Steering Committee Member for Slow Meat. He previously served as Executive Chef of Haute Catering in Washington, D.C., where he was a preferred caterer for the House of Representatives, the National Defense University, the National Archives, the Pentagon Conference Center and Library, and the Canadian Embassy, where he oversaw a staff of 125 cooking over 2000 meals a day.
This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Kresge Foundation Room (039) in Graham Memorial Hall. Light refreshments will be provided.