Troy Food and Film Fest

1st Annual Troy Food and Film Festival

TROY, N.Y.—The Troy Community Food Cooperative’s first annual Troy Food and Film Festival, presented by SEFCU, the largest credit union in the Capital Region, will take place in Barker Park, 3^rd and State Sts. in downtown Troy, on Saturday, June 28 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. The event is a family festival that celebrates eating seasonally, healthfully, pleasurably and locally with informational displays by organizations and businesses; cooking demonstrations by guest chefs, live music, theatre, and children’s activities.

The day’s events include demonstrations by Chef Larry Schepici of Tosca Café and Chef Jackie Baldwin, culinary director of RPI, using local ingredients to highlight the benefits of eating locally. Both chefs are well-known for their activism in promoting the use of locally grown ingredients in their menus.
The newly-formed Enjoy Troy Brass Quintet will open the festivities with a fanfare and music during the day. RPI’s Bakerloo Theatre Project will present an interactive language collage during the afternoon. They will be followed by Steve Iachetta’s Shaker Fiddle group, playing traditional blue-grass music on period instruments.
Tastings will be held throughout the day, with local dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and healthy prepared foods. Some of the participants will be Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, the Hunger Action Network’s Hamilton Hill Food Processing kitchen, and Brown Cow Ice Cream Dairy.
Organizations present at the Troy Food and Film Festival include the Commission on Economic Opportunity with information about the WIC program, whose mission is to provide information and assistance for better nutritional access for Women, Infants and Children. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County will guide kids in making healthy trail mix and ice cream.
Healthy food from Honest Weight Food Co-op of Albany will be available for purchase throughout the afternoon.
The Troy Community Food Co-op will be holding tastings and guided tours of the Pioneer Market, 77 Congress St. This long-vacant market is being developed into a full service market and is scheduled to open in fall 2008.
The festivities conclude with the showing of the documentary film, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, presented by the Troy Cinema and Visual Arts Group from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, River Street in Troy. The New York Times wrote that it is “an unflinching account of what farming takes—and more important, what it gives back…” Short films by local artists will also be shown.
About SEFCU: Established in 1935, SEFCU is among the 70 largest credit unions in theU.S. with more than $1.5 billion in assets and over 160,000 members in the Capital Region, Binghamton, Syracuse, and Buffalo. In addition to standard deposit and loan products, SEFCU offers 24-hour banking by phone and Internet, electronic bill payment and eStatements, investment and insurance services, and a full-range of business banking and lending services. For the past two years, SEFCU has been voted the “Best Bank or Credit Union” in the Capital Region by Times Union readers.

About the Troy Community Food Cooperative: Incorporated in October 2006 and is developing a full-service food market on Congress St. in Troy to increase access to healthy food at affordable prices. The market will support local agriculture, stimulate community revitalization and become an active community partner. More information about the Troy Community Food Co-op may be found on the website, TroyFoodCoop.com