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Chef employing Indiana products in charity dinners
 
By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent
 
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Many Midwest chefs have embraced the Farm-to-Plate concept of accountability of food purity, starting with locally grown meats and produce.
 
But few have taken the hands-on approach of FARMbloomington’s Chef Daniel Orr, who grows organic produce and mushrooms on his family’s 1,000-acre farm and runs a side business selling organic herbs to other restaurants.

Now Orr has taken his roots one step further with his Eat and Give program –Tuesday night specialty dinners that donate 50 percent of proceeds to local charities. “We are cultivating our community, one plate at a time,” he said. “I love feeding people and sharing local foods with global influences.”

Recent recipients of Eat and Give include the Bloomington Cutters Soccer Club, WFHB Independent Radio, Dance for Parkinson’s Disease and Miss Indiana US International. The May 23 dinner will benefit Positive Link, a program of Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital Community Health that provides services for those impacted by HIV in south-central Indiana.

“Every day I’m asked for donations by this group or that group,” Orr said. “This is our way of giving back to the community.” Woven into every meal at FARMbloomington is the hard work of central Indiana farmers. Orr taps into the talents of 14 regional producers, such as Larry Neidigh of Buffalo Nickel Ranch, Burton’s Maplewood Farm, Judith Schad of Capriole Farms and Darin & Deb Kelly of Good Life Farms. 
 
The Kellys live in Solsberry, just 12 miles from Bloomington, and have supplied FARMbloomington with lettuces, arugula, basil, cremini mushrooms (“Baby Bellos”) and tomatoes in season. They started in 2007, growing their produce hydroponically – without soil and with plants receiving their nutrients in water. The greenhouse produces 1,600- 1,800 heads per week to supply to area restaurants and other vendors.

Orr’s menu for Eat & Give is priced at $20 and goes something like this:

•Mixed Greens Salad: Good Life Farms mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, red onions and house citrus vinaigrette

•Entrees: Not Yo Momma’s Meatloaf, with local lamb, bison and pork loaf served with braised greens and smashed potatoes; or Stone Oven Pasta with FARMer’s market vegetables, Good Life mushrooms and parmesan cream sauce

•Dessert: Great-Grandma Wolfe’s Cobbler with Chantilly whipped cream Though Orr enjoys working with local producers, his own farm roots are unmistakable. He enjoys “my little escape” – a log cabin in the woods of Bloomington where he grows raised beds with wildflowers, kale, tomatoes and peppers, along with blackberries, raspberries and two logs of shiitake mushrooms.

A Columbus native, he also grows and sells 20-30 types of organic herbs to local restaurants through a small company in his hometown. He even tends a couple of beehives set under an apple tree to produce honey for the restaurant and family needs. 
 
But the farm venture he is most proud of is found at Kolb Homestead., his family farm south of Princeton that has been in the family since 1867 and that he now operates with his mother, Mary Lu, and brother, David. The family grow organic produce and the beautiful Federalist-style home, white picket fence and event barn make it a popular destination.

David’s hobby of growing truffles adds a little French flavor to the FARMbloomington dishes. “The key is to grow just the right type,” Orr said. “Add a lot of lime and kill off competing organisms, and they generally work around hazelnut and oak trees.”

He said the musky, earthy taste of truffles work well to highlight bland dishes like a creamy pasta or omelet. FARMbloomington is located at 108  E. Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington. Reservations may be made online at https://farm-bloomington.com or by calling 812-323-0002. 
5/18/2017