Keeping Community Traditions Alive

While the food may bring people to the table, it’s the community behind it that makes the tradition worth keeping. 

Each year, the Barren County FFA Chapter and Sustainable Glasgow, a community organization responsible for the local farmer´s market, partner to host a Hog Roast. The event features a meal containing all locally sourced and Kentucky Proud ingredients, displays of Barren County FFA’s member success, as well as self-guided tours of the Barren County High School Agriculture Department’s new facilities. 

Hog Roast attendees are pictured enjoying their meal in the Barren County High School cafeteria. The meal included pork from Moore Family Farm; potatoes from Bennett Family Farms; squash and zucchini casserole made with vegetables from Dennison’s Market and cheese from Kenny’s Farmhouse; cucumber salad made with cucumbers from Bennett Family Farms; cornbread made with Kentucky Proud ingredients from Weisenberger Mill, Legacy Dairy, and Motley Manor Farm; butter from Goode’s Riverside Creamery, churned by Barren County students; and apple crisp featuring apples from Jackson’s Orchard.

The proceeds made from the Hog Roast go directly to the Double Dollars Program. This local initiative organized by Sustainable Glasgow is designed to incentivize buying fresh, locally grown foods. Each dollar that someone who is on SNAP/EBT or WIC spends at the Farmer´s Market, is matched up t0 $20 per week. Because of the Hog Roast, the Double Dollars Program receives significant funding yearly.

FFA members play an active role in preparing for the event. These responsibilities include making the homemade butter, using an apple press to make apple cider, creating the flower arrangements that will be used as center pieces, and preparing the agriculture department for the event. The FFA chapter teams up with the school’s culinary department to cook the fixings, encouraging students with other interests to interact with agriculture and those from the industry. 

Barren County FFA members, Gracie Jones and Reagan Wilson, are pictured building flower arrangements that will be used for centerpieces during the Hog Roast. This photo was taken by Barren County Agriculture teacher, Hannah Simmons.

This tradition spans back decades. In the early 2000s, Barren County Agriculture Teachers, Doug Berry, Joe Mike Moore, and Chris Schalk had a vision of an event that allowed FFA members and their families to gather together and fellowship around a meal. Since then, the Hog Roast has transformed into a community-wide initiative involving local businesses and elected officials. Today, the event welcomes roughly 500 attendees annually.

Dr. Andy Joe Moore, Barren County School´s Farm to School Coordinator, reflects on the first year that the Hog Roast was held. ¨In 2003, I was a senior in high school and serving as the Barren County FFA Chapter President. That was also the year that we completed construction on a new livestock facility, and became one of the only schools in Kentucky at that time to have that type of facility on campus. That fall, the first Hog Roast event was held. Ag teachers and students utilized the space in the new livestock facility to harvest, fabricate, and roast the hog. FFA members and their families were invited to attend the event, have a free meal, and tour the new agricultural facility. While the hog roast was starting a new tradition for the Barren County FFA Chapter, it was also embracing an old fashioned practice that served as part of Barren County and Kentucky’s heritage. Now, 22 years later, the FFA Hog Roast is still an annual event that takes place each fall, and it has become a highly anticipated event for the Barren County community.¨

This image shows FFA members and their families inside of the barn during the first Hog Roast. This event took place in 2003 and displays the root of the event and how it is directly tied to the county ´ s agricultural heritage. This photo was taken by a senior FFA member.

Although the Hog Roast has evolved since its humble beginnings, its connection to the county’s agricultural heritage remains central to its purpose. Barren County remains determined that they will continue to grasp on to the county’s agricultural roots by utilizing this event to advocate for the farmers and traditions in which the county was built on. 

Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, Jonathan Shell, attended the 2026 Hog Roast. Commissioner Shell gave remarks regarding the outstanding work that Barren County continues to do for the future of agriculture. Barren County FFA members are pictured with him at the conclusion of the event. This photo was taken by Barren County Agriculture Teacher, Hannah Simmons.

For Barren County, the annual Hog Roast serves as a reminder that preserving agriculture’s legacy must start with the people who support it.