Wild Dinner Highlights the Locavore Movement

The elk was local food. So too was the white-tailed deer, antelope and trout. And there was more than just game meat dishes that came from local products.

The third annual Wild Dinner last Friday drew more than 60 people to Free Ceramics Helena, where a feast of locally produced game meat dishes, breads and vegetable dishes awaited the crowd on a cold night. The event is a joint effort put on by the Montana Wildlife Federation, Alternative Energy Resources Organization and Helena Hunters and Anglers.

It’s meant to feature the contribution that game meat makes to kitchen tables throughout Montana, but also the fact that locally produced food includes a variety of grains, vegetables and other products, such as honey and locally raised livestock. It’s part of the growing “localvore” movement in which people work to consume as much food as possible from their own gardens, from the bounty of wildlife we enjoy and from local sources.

That included local beer. Ten Mile Creek Brewery in Helena donated a keg of its Queen City Pale Ale. It complimented the big variety of local foods perfectly.

The night included a brief talk by MWF Conservation Director Nick Gevock on how hunting fits in with the localvore movement, and how it’s helping to recruit a new generation of hunters. That’s crucial for wildlife conservation as we continue to build on the work that hunters and anglers have done for decades to promote abundant wildlife and the habitat it depends on.