DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire will host its first benefit gourmet dinner with Seacoast Local's new food program, ReRootEd, and Granite State Fish Sunday, March 4, 2012, at the Thompson School's Cole Hall on the UNH campus.

"The department of hospitality management has raised the bar in terms of local product usage. We seek sustainably produced, beautiful food — truly the best comes from area farms and now the sea. Our students are going to the docks to pick up shrimp, and some will go out on boats. They are so enthusiastic about these opportunities," said Amy Winans, coordinator of the gourmet dinner and lecturer in hospitality management. 

Organized by hospitality management students at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, the gourmet dinner will be hosted in collaboration with Seacoast Local and Granite State Fish. Guests will enjoy beer, wine, and passed hors d'oeuvres from 4:30 to 5 p.m. followed by dinner. Each table will be paired with local celebrity chefs and fisherman.

The menu includes local shrimp, lobster, cod, and oysters from New Hampshire, Maine or Massachusetts. Smuttynose Brewing Co. of Portsmouth will share its highly anticipated brews, Island Creek Oysters of Duxbury, Mass., is contributing delicious oysters, and When Pigs Fly of York, Maine, will put bread on the table.

Attire is trendy casual — come as you are. Prepare to relax, share a night out with old friends and new. Expect high-end food in a playful, informal setting.

Through community involvement, education and dedication, Granite State Fish seeks to engage the general public and seafood consumers while strengthening the role of New Hampshire fishermen to ensure fishing remains a community-based business based on principles of ecological responsibility, economic sustainability, community stewardship, and healthy food systems.

Seacoast Local is devoted to educating the Seacoast about the community benefits of directing more of our money locally, in order to increase our region's economic, community and environmental strength. Its role is to be the forum where locally owned, independent businesses come together to lead this transformation, within their own business and in partnership with our community.

ReRootEd, the food program under Seacoast Local, is charged with increasing the role local, independent businesses play in building and supporting a sustainable local economy. Programs include Local Food Network, "Fishtival," and a fish feasibility study (dock to restaurant and other channels). They are launching highly anticipated farm dinners in summer 2012 in the Seacoast region. 

Dinner tickets are $60 a person. To purchase tickets, visit http://guide.seacoastlocal.org/local-fish-dinner. Tickets are limited. Proceeds will go toward Granite State Fish and ReRootEd for a collaborative fish industry feasibility study.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students. Home to the oldest endowed sustainability program in U.S. higher education, UNH is an award-winning leader in integrating sustainability across curriculum, operations, research and engagement. Learn more at www.sustainableunh.unh.edu.

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