Earth Day Farm Dinner with Virtue Cider
Sunday April 22, 2018
Virtue Cider is made on a working farm that, besides growing apples, also raises farm animals including the Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs that live on their 48-acre orchard. The breed was popularized in the early 1900s as a farm animal that would graze on agricultural byproducts like fallen apples, which is when they also earned the nickname Orchard Pigs. Within a few decades, farmers realized the pigs were not only useful, but also produced some tasty and lean bacon. By the mid 1900s, however, these foraging fiends nearly went extinct as the mass pork production industry replaced them with pigs more suited for captivity. At Virtue these hogs mostly eat the post-crushing apple pulp, along with spent grain from local breweries, and what they can find rooting around the farm. Their rooting around helps naturally control pests.
Our friends at Hopleaf acquired one of these hogs and is making it the centerpiece of a 6-course* farm dinner paired with Virtue Cider. Our founder Gregory Hall will host. Appropriately, this dinner will be on Earth Day 2018. The natural agricultural practices at Virtue Cider are examples of the environmentally friendly farming regimens that are in line with the Earth Day founder’s hopes.
*Menu details coming soon! Chef Brett says all 6 courses will incorporate the pork!