Story by Felicia D’Ambrosio | above: JPM Catering settings
With so much excellent grub being produced all around our city, building your wedding menu with seasonal foods has never been easier—or more delicious. Jennifer McCafferty holds sustainability as the core value of JPM Catering, based out of a Manayunk kitchen and serving the city and Main Line.
Biodegradable or reusable containers and service ware, along with thorough recycling and composting, means McCafferty offers nearly no-waste events featuring seasonal dishes sourced within 100 miles of Philadelphia.
“We get all of our meats from Lancaster Farm Fresh,” she says. “Grass-fed meat and butter is so much more environmentally friendly… clients win with that—and it tastes so much better.”
Other tuned-in caterers include 12th Street Catering, who offer a sustainable fish station that reflects the recommendations of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch. Sustainable Business Network members include Cosmic Catering, who source the majority of their ingredients from the Farm Fresh for Chefs cooperative, and Feast Your Eyes Catering. FYE owner Lynn Buono not only keeps it local at the table, but brings cooking classes to Martin Luther King High School students—and students to farms—as a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier. South Philly-based Birch Tree Catering espouses creativity as the antidote to expense; chef Rasa Stirbys Benefico even used a fallen tree in her backyard to make centerpieces for her own wedding.
