PETERBOROUGH — Most every Thursday, several mothers and their children, and sometimes a few fathers with kids in tow, gather in the downstairs kitchen at the Unitarian Universalist church. Usually, they get right to work peeling onions, paring vegetables, chopping fruit and preparing a hearty meal. Unless it’s a field trip day, when they might visit an apple orchard, pick blueberries or take a tour of a nearby farm.

They are participants in the River Center’s Farm to Table program, and they’re learning about more than just how to prepare wholesome food. They’re building a sense of community.

“I’m learning new recipes and new ways to cook,” says Kim Robbins of Peterborough, as she slices through a stubborn squash with an extremely tough skin. “We’re creating with vegetables; that’s what I like.”

She also enjoys the companionship that she and her son, Alex, have found.

“We create, then sit down together and have a meal.”

Christine Mackensen of Temple has been coming to the Thursday gatherings since they started two years ago. Her oldest daughter was a picky eater, she says, until she had the opportunity to prepare her own vegetables. Now her lunches are among the healthiest at her school.

Mackensen’s daughter, Chloe, who is carefully slicing apples under the supervision of River Center staffer Kelli Tourgee, is allergic to a number of foods.

“I’ve learned recipes to work around her allergies,” Mackensen says. “Today, we’re going gluten free.”

Tourgee and her fellow River Center staffer Wendy Hill oversee the program. It started, Hill says, after Ruth and Dan Holmes of Sunnyfield Farm in Peterborough offered to provide the River Center, which runs a variety of parenting programs, with extra produce from their organic farm. At first, Hill and Tourgee simply shared the food with River Center families, but soon they were fielding questions about how to prepare it. Many children had little experience with fresh vegetables, according to Tourgee.

“And it was not only the kids,” she says. “One mom said, ‘I’ve never had a tomato.’”

So Hill and Tourgee decided a combination cooking/parenting group would be a great idea and the Farm to Table program was born. Members of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough agreed to donate kitchen space for the program. Sunnyfield Farm continued to provide produce, as did Rosaly’s Garden, the Nubanusit Neighborhood, the Cornucopia Project and others in the region. Chef Dave Brann signed on as a volunteer cook, creating meals with ethnic themes based on the backgrounds of families who were coming. And they did come — Hill says the program has served 36 families to date, about 50 people including 37 children.

“Having kids participate is so important,” Tourgee says. “It’s a busy place and there’s all kinds of parenting scattered in.”

The River Center has provided funding and the program has received grants, including $2,250 this fall from the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund of the Roman Catholic diocese of Manchester, which is the single largest donation in support of the Farm to Table effort, according to River Center Director Margaret Nelson. The project also received $500 from the Peterborough Grange’s Town Farm project. (See story, page 10).

But not all costs can be covered through donations. Some food must be purchased, along with supplies and Hill and Tourgee would like to be able to bring in more families, especially with winter approaching. So money is needed to buy food and materials and pay for staffing. Another long-term goal is to be able to pay local farmers for their produce.

“We’re poised to grow, but we need more funding,” Hill says. “We’ll go for as long as we can.”

Nelson says funding for every aspect of the River Center’s programs is an ongoing challenge.
“We are dependent on the generosity of the individuals and businesses of our area,” she says. “We depend on people to say “This is important, we want to give, we want to see this happen.’”

She says the participants in the Food to Table program benefit greatly from consistency.“We want to be there every week,” she say,. “but we always have to be reviewing our programs. That’s the reality of working in a nonprofit. The funds need to come in at a level to keep us above water.”

The program still gets donations from Sunnyfield and other sources, and more food is always welcome.

“Our vision is to get farmers to grow an extra row,” Hill says. “I think there are real possibilities [for additional food donations]. It could be small amounts from many people.”

Nelson estimates that an additional $300 per week would be enough to keep the program going. Donations can be made to The River Center, Farm to Table program, 46 Concord St., Peterborough, 03458.

In the meantime, Hill, Tourgee and Nelson have a wish list for the Farm to Table project.
“We’d like to bring in more families,” Hill says. “We’d love to get more kid-friendly utensils.”
“It would be fabulous to be able to buy shares from local CSAs,” Nelson says, referring to Community Supported Agriculture farms.

“We’ve talked about doing a cookbook and sewing, and making aprons,” says Tourgee.
“Maybe do some canning,” Hill adds.

With a little help from the wider community, they’ll strive to keep their Farm to Table community flourishing.

This article appeared in the Oct. 18 edition of the Ledger-Transcript.