Food Underground Community Dinner
with Fresh Future Farms

Food Underground, brought to you by the owners of Roti Rolls, will launch its revolution on March 25th, 2016. Cory Burke, Suzanne Dieter, and Alton Ankersen of Roti Rolls are expanding their Pay It Forward campaign into a community-focused dining experience. On March 25th they will be joining forces with Chef Benjamin ‘BJ’ Dennis, local Gullah Geechee culinary artist, to bring you FU’s first community dinner. The spotlight will be on Fresh Future Farms and its founder, Germaine Jenkins. 

Located in the Chicora-Cherokee area, a certified ‘food desert’, Fresh Future Farm’s mission is to cultivate fresh food, nutritional know-how and community involvement in a way that brings dignity to its customers. FFF’s primary goal is to open a small grocery store onsite that sells its produce along with a mix of locally procured produce, fresh eggs, dairy, and basic grocery staples at fair prices where they are needed most. The farm store will accept SNAP (food stamp) benefits for food, seeds and plants. As the farm grows, they will offer cooking demonstrations, organic gardening classes and hire residents to help run the operation.

Chef BJ Dennis and Cory Burke bring knowledge of local produce, proteins, and purveyors to March’s Food Underground table. They will be collaborating on a regional menu that will showcase some of Germaine’s herbs, local crabs and blueberries from Blue Pearl Farms, vegetables from Joseph Fields Farm, and pork sausage from Holy City Hogs. Included in your ticket price is the opportunity for someone in the Chicora Cherokee area to enjoy the meal as well. Every ticket purchased will subsidize a meal for residents that Germaine invites. Your ticket purchase symbolizes Fresh Future Farm’s vision of people from all societies coming together to eat quality food while enjoying each other's company.

For Cory, Suzanne, and Alton, this will be the first dinner of many that will be orchestrated by the non-profit sector of Food Underground. Their goal is to create a discussion on and awareness of community and culture. As Charleston continues to grow so rapidly, they would like to bring Charleston’s collective lens into focus on local people who are staying true to their community and keeping our city a place where local folks can still live and thrive.