PLAINVILLE - A return to living off the land and preserving a culture is part of the theme behind the Local Food Fest to be held at the Crystal Spring Center in Plainville.

Largely, however, it is a chance to share the enjoyment of locally-grown produce and other foods, said Crystal Spring's Sister Barb Harrington. "The food fest celebrates the local bounty of our land in Southeastern Massachusetts" as well as tying in to a larger, global goal of sustainable food practices, she said.

The festival, now in its second year, will take place from noon to 3 p.m. this Saturday.

The center decided to hold the festival again this summer after more than 100 people attended last year. Fueled by the economy and high food costs, contamination scares and a movement toward knowing where and how your food is grown, the event will host various local farms and produce.

In the spirit of the event, the admission fee is a pot-luck offering, anything that includes locally grown produce, Harrington said. One event, happening around 1 p.m., is "how every salad has a story," in which area farmers and others will talk about creating and harvesting produce to create salads from their own gardens, Harrington said. It will include personal presentations by a Wrentham woman who has turned her lawn into a garden and a couple who purchased some land beside their property and transformed it from a growing junkyard to a community garden in which the entire neighborhood is involved in planting and tending.

Jim Ward of Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon will speak about the local farm movement as a way to enhance local culture and Terri Lawton of Oake Knoll Ayrshires at Lawton's Family Farm in Foxboro will be on hand to talk about the benefits of raw milk which is sold at the farm.

There will also be a presentation about drying and preserving local produce, Harrington said.

The folks from Crystal Spring will be distributing educational information about climate change and what local communities can do to adapt. There will also be activities for children.

Harrington attributes the growing movement toward locally-produced food and goods to "more and more people looking at not just what's more economically feasible, but the joy in becoming a community and preserving what we have here."