local restaurants pitch in to end world hunger

The annual Taste of the Nation benefit dinner returns to the Seacoast on Wednesday, June 20, for an evening of food, drink and merriment. As usual, all proceeds will go toward ending childhood hunger at both local and international levels. It’s a daunting task, but someone’s got to do it, and Taste of the Nation’s Seacoast branch has been doing its share for more than a decade.

“It started out as just another small fundraiser,” said Denise Wheeler, co-chairperson of the Taste of the Seacoast board.  “We’ve had 13 so far, and it’s grown a lot over the years.  There’s no longer a hotel in the area than can hold it anymore.” 

This year’s event at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth boasts a lineup of nearly 60 Seacoast chefs and beer and wine purveyors, along with almost 700 guests and volunteer workers. Taste of the Nation has ambitious goals for this year’s event, adding environmental initiatives to its agenda.

Planned by the Share Our Strength organization, Taste of the Nation is an annual event held in more than 60 communities throughout the United States and Canada to raise funds for local groups that provide food for the hungry. Backed by a host of sponsors, from American Express to the Smuttynose Brewing Company, the Seacoast branch has raised more than $500,000 for reputable anti-hunger organizations and advocacy groups since 1994. Eighty percent of the proceeds go to local and state organizations, such as shelters and food banks, while the remaining 20 percent goes to national and global projects that fight hunger worldwide.

In addition to the positive impacts the event has for the needy, it’s a great opportunity for local businesses to get publicity while contributing to a worthy cause. “It gives restaurants an opportunity to feature a dish for the night and put their name out there,” Wheeler said. It also gives restaurant owners and employees a chance to get together for some friendly competition, said Mark Segal, executive chef of the 100 Club. “We’re all just a big mutual admiration society around here. The restaurant community is really tight-knit and supportive of each other. We just never get to see one another,” Segal said.

The event kicks off with a champagne reception for VIP ticket holders and moves on to the dinner, with samples from local eateries and breweries. Dinner guests can look forward to ample entertainment, including a silent auction and music from Boston’s surf and jazz group “Four Piece Suit.” On Wednesday, guests who walk, carpool or bike to the event will also have the chance to enter a raffle for a hybrid bicycle—designed for road use and mountain biking—donated by Bicycle Bob’s. The raffle is part of an effort to promote the newest facet of the Taste of the Nation agenda: environmental awareness.

“As we have grown as a hunger relief group and learned about its causes, one of the things that’s becoming obvious is how the environment affects hunger,” Wheeler said. “Our hope is to make people more conscientious about their impact on the environment.” Increased temperatures from global warming can wreak havoc on the food industry, said Celina Adams, chair of special projects for Share Our Strength’s Seacoast branch.  Weeds respond positively to increased levels of carbon dioxide, and insects that damage crops thrive in warmer climates. The effects of climate change on crops have already manifested themselves on the Seacoast. “We have farmer friends who grow food for the New Hampshire Food Bank whose crop got flooded out in the recent floods in the area,” Adams said. “I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but this is a big deal.”

Taste of the Seacoast plans to reduce its environmental impact in a couple of ways. Organizers have encouraged participating chefs to use local produce instead of imported or mass-produced products, thereby reducing carbon emissions that occur during transport. Wheeler noted that buying local has benefits that extend beyond the environment. “It helps maintain locally indigenous produce,” she said. “A lot of local varieties are going extinct due to lack of demand, and foreign imports and larger companies are driving them out of existence.”

Segal has some interesting ideas for this year’s “going green” commitment. “I’m going to be making a strawberry rhubarb gazpacho,” Segal said. “It doesn’t get any more organic than rhubarb.” Although he’s not sure where the strawberries will come from due to flooding that has devastated local berry farms, the other ingredients will come from local sources, he said.

Taste of the Seacoast has also arranged to cut back on its use of plastics, which can take centuries to degrade and lots of energy to recycle. “Plastic is one of the worst things you can add to the environment, so we needed to find some products that can easily biodegrade,” Wheeler said. “We were able to find some cornstarch-based products that do that.” Environmentally friendly innovations will include biodegradable utensils, chlorine-free napkins and cornstarch garbage bags. As usual, Taste of the Nation will also recycle bottles and cans and reuse plastic plates to cut back on paper waste.
Wheeler advises purchasing tickets as soon as possible, as the event has sold out entirely in the past. Tickets are $85, available at www.tasteofthenation.org/portsmouth.