Local Food Auctioned As Fine Works Of Art At Sotheby’s

With the growing push towards greater transparency around food systems as people attempt to understand where what they eat comes from and how it was sourced, ideas related to local, small batch and slow have arisen as necessary alternatives to conglomerates and factory farming. And though these methods and their resulting products, from heirloom vegetables to artisanal liquors, have certainly been given higher value in current culture, we’ve never quite seen them elevated to the status of fine artwork, until now.

As part of  this year’s Eat Drink Local Week (September 26-October 6, 2010) hosted Edible magazines and GrowNYC, Sotheby’s will be hosting a special auction of food items and culinary experiences on September 23rd that celebrate the local flavors of New York State called “Farm to Table: The Art of Farming”. The event site explains some of the lots up for sale:

More than 40 farmers from the tri-state area will produce vegetables and offer them for sale at the auction. Also on the block will be food and drink experiences such as summer internships on farms, field trips for school classes, celebrity chef dinners, vegetable futures, farm-to-table dinners, New York wine country getaways, Brooklyn brewmaster tastings, and a barrel of Hudson Manhattan rye whiskey from Tuthilltown Spirits paired with an in-home whiskey tasting for ten people.

Proceeds will benefit two food related programs, The New Farmer Development Project – helping immigrants establish themselves as farmers in the region – and The Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm – teaching children about raising food and healthy eating.

“Farm to Table: The Art of Farming”

[via ArtInfo]