Food grown at home by T’sSpace founder Tanya Quinn. Below: A shot from last year’s Local Harvest Dinner.

It’s a simple concept: Bring a dish made with local, organic, and sustainable ingredients from your own gardens and enjoy fare from organic local farms, community gardens, and sustainable chefs.

That’s what will take place Sunday at the third annual Local Harvest Dinner, when the community comes together to learn about and celebrate the pertinent possibilities right here in Long Beach. And, of course, to eat.

“Many people have an image in their head that locally-grown, organic food is an elitist thing,” says Aliye Aydin, founder of beachgreens, the first locally-owned delivery service in the greater Long Beach area to focus on providing residents with fresh organic and sustainably-grown produce from farms within a 300-mile radius. “A community event like this invites everyone to the table, with as little or as much as they have to contribute.”

This year’s Local Harvest Dinner will be the first held at Farm Lot 59, a nonprofit, one-acre bio-intensive farm in North Long Beach that started food production this summer.

“Eating locally-grown food eliminates the miles your food has to travel before you are actually able to consume it,” says Farm Lot 59 founder Sasha Kanno. “When you support a local farm your food was harvested within a few days before you are going to consume it. It means it’s fresher—and, therefore, healthier. There is no need for refrigeration and the trucking of those perishable goods. [Plus,] buying anything on a local level also keeps your money locally. You are using your dollars to support your local economy and your local farm.”

Tanya Quinn, whose T’sSpace is co-sponsoring the dinner (along with beachgreens and Farm Lot 59), points out that the benefits of sustainable/organic/local food production can extend beyond the dinner table.

“Long Beach benefits on a basic level: more plants equal cleaner air,” she says. “Green spaces are beautiful and add to the aesthetics of our city. […] Foods grown seasonally and locally adapt to our particular climate and nutritional needs, literally producing nutrients that best meet our specific needs. Besides the health benefits, supporting local producers and shopping locally increases a sense of community and safety. Our dollars support local economy. As residents, we have more opportunities to get to know our neighbors and directly communicate with producers. As a community we get better acquainted with each other’s needs and how to support them. Seeing food grown around you also evokes a sense of ownership, pride, and fun. We help to educate our community and children on healthy eating and growing habits.”

Aside from all that food and communing, attendees will be treated to live music, and children will be able to participate in arts & crafts and hula-hooping.

Quinn hopes an event such as the Local Harvest Dinner is a step on the road to changing the status quo.

“I’d like to see sustainable and locally-supported foods become the standard versus the exception, that when I go to a restaurant or shop at a local grocer I am assured that the foods available and being served are GMO-free and grown without hormones or chemical pesticides. It would be awesome if we had an ordinance that helped us move towards this vision, supporting local restaurants and grocers to make the shift. It would also be great to see less restrictions supporting backyard edible gardening. I see mini-farmers’ markets or exchanges on every block, with neighbors coordinating their efforts and celebrating their harvests.”

Go to Farm Lot 59 on Sunday, and you’ll get a sense of just how tasty such a vision can be.

“People really pull out all the stops on this dinner,” says Kanno. “It’s a great way to kick off the cooking season.”

“Whether you’re too busy, or too poor, or too whatever, a community event like this encourages and invites all to participate in and learn about our local food system,” says Aydin. “And to eat good food, which is, after all, the universal thing that brings us all together, right?”

The third annual Local Harvest Dinner takes place Sunday, October 21, from 3:30PM to 5:30PM at Farm Lot 59 (2714 California Ave., LB 90807). Attendees are asked to bring a dish made from local, organic and sustainable ingredients to share with six to eight people, a place card describing the dish, and your own place-setting (plate, cup, napkin, and utensils). A $5 to $10 donation is also suggested, a portion of which will benefit Farm Lot 59. RSVP to Tanya.Quinn@CommuneLoveProsper.com with attendee name(s), phone, and e-mail address; or call (562) 824-0453. For more information on Farm Lot 59, go to LongBeachLocal.org.