Caterers Who Care

You’ve got a CSA membership and a sustainable meat source. When you dine out, you seek out the chefs and restaurants who work with local farms. But when it comes planning the menu for special events, local food lovers have been without a definitive resource for finding sustainable eats—until now.

The Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council (FPAC, convened by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability in 2011) recently released an authoritative Good Food Caterer Guide. The businesses are ranked according to their record of compliance with a set of good-food values.

In the guide, you’ll find caterers like Local 215, started by chef Alex Buckner in 2012. Back then, you might have seen Buckner serving lunch from his truck at parks around the city, but now Local 215 spends a lot more time at weddings and other events. A huge benefit of cooking out of a truck? He can set up in unlikely venues. “Someone wants to get married on Grandma’s farm and we can just roll up and feed 250 [guests],” Buckner says.

Buckner collaborates with farms like Greenflash Farm in Hopewell, NJ, which raises pigs and grows an array of produce specifically for Local 215. Choose from Buckner’s sample dishes (a spring menu might include crostini with peas, pork, and ricotta; radishes with local butter; and chilled asparagus soup), or build a custom menu for your event.

Download the guide for information about other caterers serving up food you’d be proud to have at your party.

Local 215 Food Truck
215.970.0024