The Red Lion Inn/Berkshire Grown Announce Brian Alberg Appointment as President of Berkshire Grown

Jan. 19, 2012 - PRLog -- CONTACT: Stephanie Gravalese-Wood, Marketing & Communications Manager 413.298.1658 Stephanie@redlioninn.com

The Red Lion Inn and Berkshire Grown Announce Brian Alberg’s Appointment as President of Berkshire Grown Board of Trustees

January 19, 2012 (Stockbridge, Mass.) – The Red Lion Inn and Berkshire Grown announce the election of Brian Alberg, Red Lion Inn Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage, as President of the Berkshire Grown Board of Trustees for a one-year term. He is the fifth President since the founding of Berkshire Grown in 1999.

Alberg began his tenure at The Red Lion Inn in July of 2004, has been on the Board of Trustees of Berkshire Grown since 2007, chaired the Governance Committee for two years, served on the Development Committee for two years and participated in the Farm to Table: Business-to-Business Committee.

As an active member of its board, Alberg is dedicated to promoting Berkshire Grown’s mission as a buyer, a diner and a community member. He has participated in several fundraising dinners, including hosting the March Maple Dinner in 2009 and 2010 at the Red Lion Inn, which celebrates maple syrup, the first harvest of the season and has also been bringing together Berkshire chefs to the James Beard House since 2008. A champion for local farmers, Alberg has included a noteworthy selection of dishes that highlight seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients on his menus, spending $500,000 annually with local farmers and food producers.

Alberg plans to build on the good work of Berkshire Grown and lead the development of new and innovative ways to promote the farm-to-table movement in the Berkshires. “We will strive to create an even stronger Berkshire Grown presence throughout the county and surrounding regions, growing our membership base and putting the Berkshires on the map as a significant player in the local food movement,” said Alberg.

Alberg believes that supporting area farmers helps secure a healthy landscape for future generations – and sustains that belief in both his work and in his life. Alberg raises pigs at Bacon on the Side Farm and Bantam chickens at Graceful Acre Farm, supplying the Inn with heritage breed pork and fresh eggs.

“Brian’s commitment to local farmers and to growing the Farm to Table network is inspiring!” says Barbara Zheutlin, Executive Director of Berkshire Grown. “As President of Berkshire Grown, he will be able to increase the support for sustainable farming, as he continues to create delicious events, mentors young chefs and expands public awareness of the importance of local farming to the Berkshires.”

Berkshire Grown, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, envisions a community where healthy farms define the open landscape, where a wide diversity of fresh, seasonal food and flowers continue to be readily available to everyone, and where we celebrate our agricultural bounty by buying from our neighboring family farms and savoring their distinctive Berkshire harvest. Berkshire Grown champions farmers’ markets and CSAs, creates local food and farm networks, promotes the Farm-to-Table relationship between restaurants and growers, and educates the community about the importance of eating healthy locally grown food. For more information about Berkshire Grown, call 413.528.0041 or visit www.berkshiregrown.org.

A charter member of Historic Hotels of America and winner of the Wine Spectator award for over a decade, The Red Lion Inn (c. 1773) has been providing food and lodging to guests for more than two centuries. It offers 108 antique-filled rooms and suites, formal and casual dining with locally sourced ingredients, a gift shop featuring locally made items, pub with nightly entertainment and a full range of amenities including free WiFi, a year-round heated outdoor pool, and in-room massage therapy. The Inn is recommended by National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times and The Boston Globe.  For more information, call 413-298-5545, or visit www.redlioninn.com.

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The Red Lion Inn has been welcoming travelers to the #Berkshires since 1773, full service hotel w/108 rooms. Stockbridge, MA Farm to table cuisine