Distinctive Dinner Series Hosted by The Farminary

“First Thursdays at the Farm” is a distinctive dinner series hosted at The Farminary, Princeton Theological Seminary’s 21-acre farm. The series brings together different scholars, activists, and artists to give a short talk or be interviewed over dinner. They are paired with a world-class chef who prepares at least a portion of the meal using produce from the Farminary. The events are designed to be intimate — capped at 25 people — and focused on meaningful conversation. No big presentations; just big ideas and delicious food in a one-of-a-kind venue.

TIME: All events start at 6:00 pm ET

COST: $125/pp — Includes 4-course meal and wine

• Those who buy tickets to 3+ events get 15% off the total cost, no promo code required

LOCATION: The Farminary, 4200 Princeton Pike, Princeton, NJ 08540

May 2 | Carolyn Finney and Chef Joe Rocchi

Black Faces, White Spaces: African Americans’ Representation in the Great Outdoors

Carolyn Finney, PhD is a storyteller, author and cultural geographer who is deeply interested in issues related to identity, difference, creativity, and resilience.The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action. Carolyn is grounded in both artistic and intellectual ways of knowing – she pursued an acting career for eleven years, but five years of backpacking trips through Africa and Asia, and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, Carolyn returned to school after a 15-year absence to complete a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. She has been a Fulbright Scholar, a Canon National Parks Science Scholar, and received a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Studies. Her first book, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors was released in 2014 (UNC Press). She is an artist-in-residence and the Environmental Studies Professor of Practice in the Franklin Environmental Center at Middlebury College.

Chef Joe Rocchi is the Culinary Director at Franklin Towne Charter High School in Philadelphia. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in culinary arts and has honed his skills with over 2 decades of experience in the industry. He achieved success in various roles spanning the culinary landscape from opening multiple Philadelphia casinos as an executive, to fine dining restaurants, directing health care nutrition services, large scale catering and as a consultant. He is a citizen of the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia and is a passionate educator and rising star around questions of Indigenous food sovereignty, colonization, and pre and post Colonial Indigenous foods. He holds a seat on the non-profit PAZA, TREE OF Life board of directors as well as being on the speakers bureau with the Philadelphia Native American House Alliance. Chef Rocchi has recently been featured on PBS for his role in creating the inaugural Indigenous People’s feast at the College of William and Mary.

June 6 | Eric Barreto and Chef Jesse Jones

Made with Love: Theology, Identity and the Table

Rev. Dr. Eric D. Barreto is the Frederick and Margaret L. Weyerhaeuser Associate Professor of New Testament. As a Baptist minister, Barreto has pursued scholarship for the sake of the church, and he regularly writes for and teaches in faith communities around the country. He has also been a leader in the Hispanic Theological Initiative Consortium, a national, ecumenical, and inter-constitutional consortium comprised of some of the top seminaries, theological schools, and religion departments in the country. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion.

Chef Jesse Jones is a classically trained chef and author renowned for his modern approach to southern cuisine. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Chef Jesse's culinary DNA was developed during childhood summers in Snow Hill, North Carolina where his grandmother's cast iron stove was the source of many memorable food experiences. Today, he continues to be influenced by her legacy, bridging past and present through interpreting classic southern dishes with French techniques. Whether catering private events, entertaining television audiences or competing in regional cook-offs, Chef Jesse always brings the flavor. His catering company, Chef Jesse Concepts, has served celebrity clientele including Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Tyler Perry, John Legend, and more. He has appeared on abc7NY, PIX11, and other media outlets to share recipes from his cookbook and memoir, POW! My Life in 40 Feasts. In 2014, Chef Jesse was named a Top Chef by Inside Jersey. In 2010, he won the title of Ultimate Chef of Bergen County, New Jersey. Chef Jesse began his career at Aramark where he climbed the ranks from dishwasher to sous chef. He later became executive chef at AT&T, managing a staff of 60. He then transitioned to restaurants, working in professional kitchens with top Master Chefs in the New Jersey area. During this time, Chef Jesse was classically trained at Hudson County Community College's Culinary Arts Institute. Chef Jesse formerly owned Heart & Soul Restaurant in South Orange, New Jersey. He has also hosted “Chef Jesse Live” cooking demonstrations at Bloomingdales, Savory Spice Shop, and private parties.

July 11 | Charles Rosen and Chef Salvatore Riccobono

The Earth is Not a Warehouse: Practicing Regenerative Agriculture

Charles Rosen spent nearly 14 years working in advertising, then went on to run for Congress, started a global fund to finance the campaigns of women politicians abroad, and founded a hard cider brand, Ironbound Hard Cider. He is now the founder and CEO of Ironbound Farm, home to Ironbound Hard Cider and New Ark Farms, in Asbury, New Jersey. He founded Ironbound around a simple yet radical idea: that his company could make a quality product while also healing the environment, mending the social fabric, and treating its workers, suppliers, and customers with dignity—and that Ironbound Hard Cider would be successful because of the way it does business, not in spite of it. To that end, Ironbound is committed to creating well-paying jobs for the chronically underemployed, using regenerative farming practices, paying a fair price for local ingredients, and using only fresh-pressed apples grown in New Jersey and neighboring states.

Chef Salvatore Riccobono is the Founder of Wood Craft Cafe & Catering. He is passionate about honestly prepared food that brings people together. After starting his career as a chef in the Greater Princeton, NJ, area, Sal fine-tuned his culinary talents at restaurants in New York City. He finds joy in cultivating relationships with farmers and local businesses and showcasing their ingredients in his dishes.

August 1 | Heath Carter and Chef James Graham

Seeds of Discord: Christianity, Democracy, and Our Present Crisis

Dr. Heath W. Carter is associate professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he teaches and writes about the intersection of Christianity and American public life. He is currently working on a new book entitled On Earth as it is in Heaven: Social Christians and the Fight to End American Inequality (under contract with Oxford University Press), which retells the story of the American social gospel. Carter speaks and moderates public conversations about the relationship of Christian faith to a variety of pressing public questions, including everything from racial injustice and economic inequality to runaway political polarization. In recent years these conversations have often focused on the Future of American Democracy.

Chef James Graham is the Owner & Executive Chef of Jagrah’s Restaurant. Chef James developed his love and passion for food at the young age 12 while shadowing his grandmother in her kitchen. His passion continued into his early twenties when he attended and graduated from The New York Food & Hotel Management School in New York. Chef James has worked for reputable companies such as Top of the Sixes, The Chart House, Sodehxo Services, American Express, Princeton University, and others. Chef James later on joined Merri Makers at Bonnet Island Estates in 2012. Chef James was also the Executive Chef at Celebrate at Snug Harbor in Staten Island, NY, and later on to be the Executive Chef at Crave Events Group overseeing 10 event spaces and Corporate Dining and off-site catering throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania & New York. Chef James has also been an active member in his local Church serving as a Deacon, as well as leading the culinary division spanning six campuses. Chef James has appeared as a contestant on the popular cooking show, Food Network "Chopped" aired in 2017. James has also been featured On the C-Suites on Princeton TV. Chef James has also been a member of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). He is also a three-time award-winning Chef, winning 1st place in various cooking competitions. Chef James and his wife Stephanie launched Dining with the Bishop on multiple Social Media platforms in 2020.

September 5 | Elaine James and Chef Margo Carner

A Fresh Take on Freshwater Crises: How the Old Testament Sheds New Light

Dr. Elaine T. James, associate professor of Old Testament, joined the Princeton Seminary faculty in 2019. She is the author of An Invitation to Biblical Poetry (Oxford University Press, 2021) and Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place (Oxford University Press, 2017). Her work focuses on the literature of the Hebrew Bible, especially its poetry, examining its significance in ancient contexts and its legacies for the contemporary world. Guiding her research are questions about how aesthetic practices shape religious experience and theological thought. She is particularly interested in ancient concepts of ecology, art and creativity, and gender.

Chef Margo Carner is the Chef and Founder of Fridge2Table, providing personal chef and catering services.

October 3 | Aminah Al-Attas Bradford and Chef Gabby Aron

Good Trouble: Religion, microbiology, ecology and race

Dr. Aminah Al-Attas Bradford is an Arab-American scholar of religion and Christian thought currently serving as a postdoctoral research fellow at North Carolina State University. What is she doing in an ecology lab? A unifying inter-religious belief, that humans do not exist without God, is sometimes forgotten—but most religious traditions have scarcely begun to think that humans don’t exist without their microbiome. Christianity is no exception. Given Christian power in the US, this is to the detriment of all. Christian thought is hardly set up to engage humanity’s multi-species, symbiotic reality. What microbes blend together (nature-culture, animal-human, me-you), Christian thinkers typically keep apart.

Chef Gabby Aron is the Founder of Autumn Olive Food Works. Chef Gabby Aron is a first-generation Sicilian-Jewish American, born in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, of a food-loving family and community. Her love of cooking began at home, and in the diners and pizzerias in her local neighborhoods. Food was the greatest reward and comfort, as a child of hard-working parents and relatives, food and music was always the center of celebration and togetherness. Her relatives grew vegetables in their urban backyards, which gave her a taste for unique, quality ingredients. Chef Gabby began her food career as a farmer in 2010 after learning the dangerous social and ecological impacts of industrial farming. Since then she has worked in every aspect of the food industry, as a farm hand, cook, teacher, CSA and farm store coordinator, micro-farm manager, event planner, until founding her business Autumn Olive Food Works in 2016. Autumn Olive Food Works is a hyper-local specialty catering, personal chef, and cooking class, and event business highlighting locally grown ingredients, global inspiration, and nostalgic reverence, in order to create meaningful and nourishing food experiences. She has an abundant home garden from which she uses for her business, and has fostered strong relationships with local producers for over a decade.

November 7 | Rebecca Nagel and Chef Joe Rocchi

Contemporary Indigenous Storytelling: Exploring the History Being Made Today

Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning advocate, writer, and citizen of Cherokee Nation. As the host of the chart-topping podcast “This Land”, Nagle told the story of one Supreme Court case about tribal land in Oklahoma, the small-town murder that started it, and the surprising connection to her own family history. Nagle has been covering the Murphy case since May 2018. Her writing about Native representation and tribal sovereignty has been featured in the Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, Teen Vogue, the Huffington Post, and more.

Recently Nagle received The American Mosaic Journalism Prize, the largest cash prize for journalism in the United States. In 2016, Nagle was named one of the National Center American Indian Enterprise Development’s Native American 40 Under 40 for her work to support survivors and advocate for policy change to address the crisis of violence against Native women.

Chef Joe Rocchi is the Culinary Director at Franklin Towne Charter High School in Philadelphia. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in culinary arts and has honed his skills with over 2 decades of experience in the industry. He achieved success in various roles spanning the culinary landscape from opening multiple Philadelphia casinos as an executive, to fine dining restaurants, directing health care nutrition services, large scale catering and as a consultant. He is a citizen of the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia and is a passionate educator and rising star around questions of Indigenous food sovereignty, colonization, and pre and post Colonial Indigenous foods. He holds a seat on the non-profit PAZA, TREE OF Life board of directors as well as being on the speakers bureau with the Philadelphia Native House Alliance. Chef Rocchi has recently been featured on PBS for his role in creating the inaugural Indigenous People’s feast at the College of William and Mary.