Back in 2009, inspired by the Canadian 100-mile diet, a group of mums from the rural community of Stroud, New South Wales, hatched a plan for a community feast — with a twist!
We came up with a fabulous gourmet menu featuring food and wine sourced almost exclusively from within 100 miles (160 kilometres) of Stroud. Our lunch guests heard the stories of every ingredient used to bring them this sumptuous three-course feast.
However, our 100 Mile Banquet was not just a celebration of the abundance and quality of our locally produced food — it also marked the beginning of our quest to raise funds to build a new family playground for our community.
The first banquet took place on Saturday, 28 November 2009, at Stroud Monastery. The response was overwhelming! Tickets rapidly sold out, the banquet itself was an incredible success, and the steady stream of requests afterwards for us to ‘hold another banquet, please!’ means that we’ll be doing it all again in 2010!
So please keep visiting our blog as it’s here that we’ll post updates on how this year’s banquet is progressing as well as profile the many producers, sponsors and other contributors who help to make an event like this a feast of all things local …
Fantastic ladies, what a brilliant idea. A community feast for a community cause. Hats off.
Every community should get together for an event like this. Such a good concept and am very much looking forward to the amazing food and wine. The monastery looks like a great venue – see you all there!!
Brilliant… I need a weekend away.
I cant believe Stroud is only two hours from Sydney, it takes that long to drive from Palm Beach to the City.
Book me in for two tickets….
What a great idea and with the added bonus of finding out what lovely local produce is available too! Hats off to the Mums of Stroud and good luck with this community project. I love Stroud, it is such a beautiful, peaceful and serene area, the banquet and the setting will make for a wonderful day out.
Go the gals in Stroud. What a fabulous idea for a fundraiser. And what a delicious way of keeping our footprints small and local. Will have to spread the word about such a wonderful and inspired project. Can’t wait to see a menu teaser…
Fantastic professional job ladies. You deserve a medal. Looking forward to showing off what a great place Stroud is to my guests at the lunch.