The Schedule
10:00am
Suzanne Goin, AOC, Lucques, Tavern, Sunday Suppers at Lucques
Opening Remarks

10:15am
Roxana Jullapat, Cook County Restaurant
Mike Cirone, Cirone Farms
Easy Apple Fritters, Slow-Roasted Apples, Apple-Cheddar Tart

11:15am
Amelia Saltsman, The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook
Jerry Rutiz, Rutiz Family Farm
Vegetable Lightning Round

12:15 pm
Erika Nakamura, Lindy & Grundy
Marcie Jimenez, Jimenez Family Farm
Lamb Breakdown, Marcie’s Greek Lamb Kabobs

(With thanks to The Gourmandise School of Sweets & Savories and St. Joseph’s Culinary Training Program.)

These panel discussions are always lively and informative and this one will be no different, with contributions by Chris Cadwell of Tutti Frutti Farm (certified organic), Alex Weiser of Weiser Family Farms (formerly certified organic), Molly Gean of Harry’s Berries (not certified organic), and Neal Fraser (chef/owner of Grace and BLD). Laura Avery, market supervisor, will moderate the discussion.

The event is free and open to the public, and will be held in the MLK, Jr. Auditorium of the Santa Monica Public Library at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard. Seating is limited and will be on a first-arrival basis, and seating will become available at 6:30pm. The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For special disabled services please call Library Administration at 310.458.8606.

Thanks to Amelia Saltsman–Slow Food member, author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, and the public member of the California Certified Farmers’ Market Advisory Committee–for alerting us to listening sessions that have been scheduled in the coming weeks.

Acting on a request from the Certified Farmers’ Market (CFM) Advisory Committee at its regular semi-annual meeting, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, working with farmers’ markets, has scheduled four listening sessions around the state to ask for public input about the CFM program and how it may be improved. In addition to the sessions that will be held in Sacramento, Fresno, and Berkeley, there will be a session in Santa Monica.

When: Monday, November 1, 2010 from 5:30pm until 7:30pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica
Cost: Free and open to the public.

Written comments will be accepted through November 22, 2010 and should be addressed to:

California Department of Food and Agriculture
Inspection and Compliance Branch
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Attention CFM Comments

Comments may also be emailed to cfm@cdfa.ca.gov

The California Certified Farmers’ Market program has been in place since 1977 and was the first of its kind in the nation. The success of the program is demonstrated by more than 700 certified farmers’ markets around the state, serving as venues for an estimated 2,200 certified agricultural producers selling high-quality produce directly to consumers. A complete list of certified markets is available online.

More from Slow Food USA: The Story Behind Your Food: Learning from Salmonella by Josh Viertel, Slow Food USA President

Many farmers are raising animals for meat and dairy in a humane way and offering concerned consumers a choice about what they eat. If you’re opposed to commercial animal production, take this opportunity to meet three farmers who raise lamb, goat, rabbit, chickens, and cows, and chefs who prefer to source their animals from these small producers:

When: Thursday, August 12, 2010 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica (MLK, Jr. Auditorium)
Cost: Free and open to the public, but seating is limited and will be on a first-arrival basis, and seating tickets will become available at 6:30pm. The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For special disabled services call Library Administration at 310.458.8606.

Evan Kleiman will moderate the discussion among Marcie Jimenez of Jimenez Family Farm, Diane Tropper of Lily’s Eggs, Mark McAffee of Organic Pastures Dairy, and Evan Funke of Rustic Canyon. Attendees can enjoy market treats prepared by Evan Funke after the discussion.

When: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 from 10:00am until 4:00pm
Where: The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica
Cost: Free to veterans

If you’re a veteran and are interested in considering career options across the food spectrum, if you’re an employer in a related industry who is seeking employees, or if the mission of the Coalition resonates with you and you believe you can offer assistance, please visit the Farmer Veteran Coalition’s website.

The goal of this event is to connect returning veterans with viable jobs, internships, training programs, and two- and four-year colleges in the food and farming industry throughout southern California, and to offer assistance to those veterans starting their own farms and food-related businesses. Almost 2 million young men and women have served in the military since 9-11, and many are entering the work force facing unemployment at rates much higher than the already troubling numbers of the general public. As Michael O’Gorman, the executive director of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition noted recently:

Our Fair is about opportunity: The opportunity to find good workers, and for men and women willing to work hard through a cultivated work ethic, discipline, and focus to find new opportunities. These are men and women who possess a sense of sacrifice and service, and are eager to learn a new trade.

The City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets have been extraordinarily supportive of these efforts, and over 60 organizations and businesses are scheduled to participate. Farms represented will include the McGrath Family Farm, Weiser Family Farms, Windrose Farm, Bill Lewis of Bill’s Bees, Caifornia Family Farms, CAFF, and Carlsbad Aquafarm. If you or your organization wish to share an opportunity but cannot attend the event, please contact Michael Porter, the Coalition’s director of career development, at michaelp [at] farmvetco.org.

Veterans who wish to attend can do so free of charge, and are asked to register in advance at: http://www.farmvetco.org/career-fair/registration/.

When: Thursday, November 5, 2009 beginning at 7:00pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica (MLK, Jr. Auditorium)
Cost: Free and open to the public

As Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends know, the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets make an abundance of farm-fresh goods available to our community. At this Thursday’s event, proponents of the nose-to-tail movement will talk about how they and their colleagues are working together to revitalize traditional farming and cooking practices by growing–and eating–everything on the farm.

Participants will include Greg Nauta of Rocky Canyon Farms, Phil McGrath of McGrath Family Farm, and Ben Ford, founder and chef of Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, and their discussion will be moderated by Evan Kleiman. Refreshments and treats provided by Ben Ford will be available to attendees after the panel discussion.

MLK Auditorium seating is limited and available on a first arrival basis. Overflow seating will be available in the 2nd floor multipurpose room. Doors open at 6:45pm, lecture begins promptly at 7:00pm. The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For special disabled services call Library Administration at 310.458.8606.

For more information about the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets, visit their website.

When: Thursday, September 3, 2009, from 10:00am until 2:00pm
Where: Arts District/Little Tokyo, Certified Farmers’ Market on the lawn at Los Angeles City Hall, 1st and Spring Streets
Cost: Free

Confirmed guests and activities include: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilmember Jan Perry, Robert Tse, Kurt Floren, Vance Corum and other organizers of Los Angeles’s first farmers’ markets, including 20 original farmers and organizers from the first market in Gardena; Evan Kleiman, Jonathan Gold, Nancy Silverton, Mary Sue Milliken, Eric Lukosky, urban farmers and gardeners including representatives from the Stanford Avalon garden in Watts, the 24th Street Foundation, and the Garden School Foundation, and many others.

Complete details about participants and events such as SEE-LA’s “Taste the Harvest” booth, a salsa contest, and other food vendors and artisans are available on the Locally Grown LA website.

Slow Food Los Angeles also encourages you to celebrate farmers and their markets throughout the year by visiting your local market (find where with the Los Angeles Times’ farmers’ market locator), learning about the products of our region, and supporting good, clean, and fair food with your purchases.

When: Thursday, August 27, 2009 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm
Where: Santa Monica Public Library, Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica (MLK, Jr. Auditorium)
Cost: Free and open to the public

As Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends know, the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets are famous for farmers who grow delicious produce, as well as for producing second- and even third-generation farmers to carry on the family farming tradition. Meet some of the farmers and their children who will discuss how the family tradition will be carried on in the future and their outlook on farming for tomorrow. The panel will feature:

Farmers
Molly and Kris Gean of Harry’s Berries
Gloria and Jason Tamai of Tamai Farms
Chris and Clara Cadwell of Tutti Frutti Farms

Chef
Sassan Rostamian, Sauce on Hampton (stay after for treats from Sassan!)

Moderator
Russ Parsons, author and Los Angeles Times Food Editor

MLK Auditorium seating is limited and available on a first arrival basis. Overflow seating will be available in the 2nd floor multipurpose room. Doors open at 6:45pm, lecture begins promptly at 7:00pm. The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For special disabled services call Library Administration at 310.458.8606.

For more information about the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets, visit their website.

The South Central Los Angeles farmers who starred in the 2008 Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Garden” will host an organic cooking demonstration, sell and share local organic produce from their new farm in Shafter, California, and host a roundtable discussion about locavore community food initiatives.

Among the participants will be farmers featured in the film, including Tezozomoc, Josefina Medina, Maria Cavero, Roberto Cavero. They will be joined by Sarah Nolan of South Central Farmers’ Cooperative CSA program, members of the Dervaes family of Path to Freedom in Pasadena, and Cisco Pinedo of Cisco Home.

When: Saturday, April 11, 2009 from noon until 4:00pm
Where: Whole Foods Market Arroyo Parkway, 465 South Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena 91105
Cost: Free

To support the economic viability of the South Central Farmers’ Cooperative, Whole Foods Market on Arroyo Parkway will become the first grocery store to offer the farm’s organic, local produce every day of the week.

“The Garden,” Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s film, is an engaging and powerful look at the famous political and social battle over the largest community garden in the U.S., a story that was followed closely by many members and friends of Slow Food Los Angeles. The film will be screened in Los Angeles theatres beginning April 24, 2009, and more information about the film is available on Black Valley Films’ website.

When: Tuesday, December 9, 2008 from 5:30pm until closing
Where: The Hungry Cat, 1535 North Vine Street, Hollywood
Cost: $75.00 per person

Located in the heart of Hollywood at the corner of Selma and Morningside Court in the Sunset + Vine Development, The Farmer’s Kitchen will be a 1,500 square foot community teaching and retail kitchen. Beginning in winter 2008, it will provide job training in food preparation and deliver farm fresh food to the community through innovative programs and a retail cafe. Programs and activities to be offered include:

+ Job training in food preparation
+ Cafe serving seasonal dishes prepared with farm fresh produce from local California farmers
+ Cooking classes by top LA chefs
+ Good Cooking classes for low-to-moderate residents teaching nutritious food preparation on a budget
+ Food processing and workshops for farmers and local entrepreneurs

To help SEE-LA raise funds for the opening of The Farmer’s Kitchen, The Hungry Cat will host a three-course dinner and will also offer a special drink menu featuring house-made cocktails using fruit and vegetables from the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, a selection of organic and biodynamic wine and beer, and an a la carte raw bar.

Reservations are strongly recommended. To secure your place, please contact The Hungry Cat at 323.462.2155.

If you are interested in donating to The Farmer’s Kitchen, visit the online donation page for more information.

The Humane Society has brought a wave of national attention this year to the cause of the fair treatment of farm animals, beginning with the video of a slaughterhouse in Chino, California that displayed for the world the terrible treatment that cows in our food chain are receiving.  Now, The Humane Society is sponsoring Proposition 2, which, if passed with a vote of “yes” tomorrow on California’s ballot, would require pregnant sows and veal calves enough space to turn around and stretch their legs, and would require hens the space to spread their wings.

The ballot initiative has received so much national attention, even bringing the President of The Humane Society, Wayne Pacelle, to Ellen and Oprah’s stages. Naomi Starkman spoke with Wayne Pacelle to ask him about what will follow Proposition 2’s vote tomorrow.

Prop 2 and the conditions that make it an important issue were highlighted by Oprah Winfrey in a recent broadcast: Read about the Oprah episode on Civil Eats and on The Ethicurean; read Naomi Starkman’s interview with Wayne Pacelle on Civil Eats, visit the official Proposition 2 site, and most importantly, cast your vote!

The movement to create a healthier food and agriculture policy in the U.S. has been slowly and steadily gaining ground for well over a decade. Those all around the nation who began the work are encouraged by the progress and simultaneously concerned by the pace of change given the disproportionate impact of food and agriculture on personal and planetary health.

The public’s increasing interest and the media’s deepening coverage of climate change, energy, agriculture, rural poverty, labor issues, food costs, food quality, and obesity may finally illuminate the interrelationship of these crises and provide a context for urgently needed changes, which are clearly possible.

The Declaration is meant to provide:

1. A clear statement of what kind of policy is needed now, endorsed by a broad base of organizations and individuals with a long-established commitment to a healthier food and agriculture;
2. An invitation to join in the improvement effort by taking action in their own lives and communities and by offering them a way to call on policymakers to support comprehensive change; and
3. A set of principles from which policy makers can craft policy that will lead to a healthier system.

As noted in the Declaration, “Our pursuit of healthy food and agriculture unites us as people and as communities, across geographic boundaries, and social and economic lines.” By endorsing the Declaration, Slow Food leaders, members, and friends are pledging their votes, their purchases, their creativity, and their energies to this urgent cause.

Visit the Food Declaration website to read the Declaration and to endorse it or comment on it. (The Declaration is also available as a downloadable form.)

• Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, talks about the need to consider the rights of workers who help bring the food from the farm to our plates.
• Considering the “fair” component of the “Good, Clean, Fair” Manifesto of Quality, “Farmworkers at the Table,” a report on labor rights discussion at Slow Food Nation convened by Schlosser.
• Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved, talks about the false sense of choice faced by food consumers.
• Chef Dan Barber talks about the inspiration he gleans from farms.
• Added September 15: Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, asks what happened to the promises of biotechnology, and offers a few answers about how science has fallen short of expectations.
• Added September 16: Anna Lappé, food activist and coauthor of Grub, talks about the connection between food and climate change.

Members Karen and Curt Gibbs have shared with us a link to their event photos on Flickr, and serve as an inspiration to all of us who enjoy this kind of event: Karen has already turned the peaches and plums they picked into jam and pie!

For those who could not attend but may wish to venture to Yingst or other U-pick farms on their own, Angie Mason, the coordinator of the event, noted that among the peaches, Red Tops were peaking, and it looked like Alberta, Rio Osos, and white peaches will be ready in about a week, continuing into September.

Yingst Ranch is located at 35349 80th Street East in Littlerock, California. They are closed Mondays, but open during the season from 8:00am until 5:00pm. For questions or to confirm availability, you may contact them at 661.944.2425.