Offering a monthly marketplace for makers of artisanal and handcrafted foods, the initial Food Rendezvous event will include a range of cooking demonstrations, a cookbook swap, the opportunity to purchase food products, a themed movie screening, and a jam and jelly contest. Authors Amelia Saltsman, Martha Rose Shulman, Judi Gerber will attend to discuss and demonstrate their work and to sign copies of their books.

When: Saturday, August 28, 2010 from 4:00pm until 10:00pm
Where: SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center), 685 Venice Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291
Cost: Tickets are $10 per person if purchased in advance through the Food Rendezvous website; $15 per person at the door.

We look forward to alerting you to their monthly gatherings and to sharing new resources they bring to our attention.

When: Sunday, August 22, 2010 from 8:00am until 1:00pm (or until the cookbooks have been sold)
Where: The Hollywood Farmers’ Market, on Ivar between Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard
Cost: The price of books varies; admission to the market is free.

If you’ve been paring down and would like to donate books to the sale, contact Billie Connor-Dominguez at 323.660.6399.

Chefs have always had a knack for fame: From Julia Child to Napoleon’s personal chef, who published lucrative cookbooks and invented the tall white chef’s hat. But today, thanks in part to the Food Network, several seasons of “Top Chef” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” and a burgeoning “foodie” culture, chefs are full-fledged celebrities. Besides running top restaurants across the country, they publish enough books to overwhelm the shelves — and abilities — of most any home cook. They host TV shows that rely on outsized personality as much as inventive recipes. And they lend their names and talents to chain eateries and bottled grocery-store sauces.

Are celebrity chefs over exposed and over extended, and how have they transformed food? Pulitzer Prize-winning LA Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold visits Zócalo with a panel of star chefs including Nancy Silverton of Mozza and “Top Chef Masters” star Susan Feniger of Street to find out how famous chefs shape what we cook, how we eat, and the future of high cuisine.

When: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 starting at 7:30pm
Where: Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 North Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles
Cost: Free and open to the public, but reservations are recommended and can be made online.

Established in Los Angeles in 2003, Zócalo roams across L.A., and has traveled to Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and as far as Shanghai, Berlin, and Guadalajara. In its seven years, Zócalo has featured over 800 compelling thinkers and doers from a wide range of fields—politics, governance, humanities, health, economics, education, technology, foreign policy, arts, science and beyond—who explore how we see and relate to one another, be it locally, regionally, nationally, or globally.

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.

The City of Santa Monica has announced its first annual “Lawn Alternatives” tour for home owners. While not focused on urban farming, the tour will highlight beautiful water-efficient alternatives to traditional turf varieties found throughout various homes in Santa Monica.

Outdoor water consumption can be reduced up to 80% simply by choosing a suitable lawn alternative. The tour is designed to give participants a better sense of various plant materials and their appropriate uses, and home owners have agreed to be present at each location to give participants their feedback.

When: Saturday, August 21, 2010 from 10:00am until 1:00pm
Where: Tour bus pickup at the Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard (rear entrance courtyard)
Cost: $5.00 per person

Reservations: Space is limited, so reserve your place by contacting Russell Ackerman by email at russell.ackerman@smgov.net or by telephone at 310.458.8405.

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/.

“…The first bite of her Pambazo was like being hit in the face with a big punch of flavor followed by an incredibly comforting and satisfying textural surprise. … Her Quesadillas are justly famous, a pile of cheese on the griddle turning into Queso Fundido that’s scraped into a corn tortilla made to order and garnished with your choice of chicharron, zucchini flowers, huitlacoche etc. …

“So it turns out that like many things in life the win [at The Vendy Awards] for Nina has been sweet and sour. All the added attention just made life as a vendor on the streets of LA more difficult. She’s being rousted by the police several times a day.

“…For the last 10+ years she’s worked as many street vendors do, off a couple of tables set up next to a griddle. I started thinking that we get so much pleasure from these vendors who struggle everyday to give us a taste of their culture that’s now become a part of our culture. What if we did a benefit, not only to solve her problem but to take the excess we raise and create a revolving micro-finance fund to help resolve vendor issues that just need a little more money to break through a barrier.”

So that’s what Evan is doing, next Sunday, June 20th, at Angeli Caffe. For details, including how to contribute even if you can’t stop at Angeli next Sunday, visit Evan’s Good Food blog.

When: Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 9:00am until 10:30am
Where: The Milagro Allegro Community Garden, 115 S Avenue 56, Los Angeles 90042
Cost: Free

The workshop is brought to the public by the County of Los Angeles Smart Gardening Program. In addition to composting instruction, compost bins will be offered for sale. Backyard compost bins will be $40; worm compost bins will be $65 each. Cash only. Details on the composting bins are available on the county’s website.

When: Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 4:00pm until 8:00pm
Where: Bommer Canyon in Irvine
Cost: Adults, $50; children under 12, $20. Prices include dinner and wine; participants are encouraged to bring their own wine glasses and utensils. Plates will be provided.
Reservations: Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available through Brown Paper Tickets.

Bommer Canyon was the cattle camp for the Irvine Ranch and is generally not open to the public at large. This is a special opportunity for all of us to enjoy a quality meal in a beautiful outdoor environment.

Dinner will be prepared by Chef Ryan Adams of Sorrento Grille in Laguna Beach and Slow Food Orange County team members. The menu will feature:

Watermelon and cucumber salad
Warm heirloom potato salad
Grilled corn and fava bean succotash
Barbecued citrus-marinated Mary’s Natural chicken
Honey-spiked Irvine strawberries
Grilled lemon biscuits

Live entertainment will be provided by Walden Dahl, one of the finest bluegrass/swing musicians touring today, and his band. He is known for the hit songs he has written for bluegrass stars including Ralph Stanley and Alison Krauss. The band will start at 5:00 and play throughout the evening.

Marion Nestle has called Jill Richardson “a fresh voice in the movement to create a healthier and sustainable food system” and has described Recipe for America as “a guide to the most important issues and how to work on them.”

This event is graciously made possible through the assistance of the City of Irvine and contributing sponsors Sorrento Grille and Chef Ryan Adams, Whole Foods Market, Mary’s Free-Range Chicken and Quivira Vineyards and Winery. Proceeds from the event will benefit Monkey Business Cafe, the Hart Community Homes foster care system project that was established to support foster care youth with job training and skills that will enhance their ability to pursue independent living. Staff from Monkey Business Cafe will be assisting with the event.

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available online. Space is strictly limited and there will be no on-site ticket sales.

Proceeds from the sale of In the Green Kitchen benefit the Chez Panisse Foundation and the Edible Schoolyard network. Additionally, Lost & Found is generously donating a portion of their profits to the Larchmont Charter School, the newest affiliate of the Edible Schoolyard.

When: Thursday, April 8, 2010. Book signing begins at 6:30pm; program and reception 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 one week before the event.

Diet for a Hot Planet is an investigation into the role industrial agriculture plays in today’s climate crisis. As Ms. Lappé notes on her website:

In these heated debates, the food industry has–so far–managed to stay out of the climate-change hot seat. Most of us don’t think about our lunch when we think about global warming.

Yet, as I’ve said elsewhere on this site, the food system is responsible for as much as one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are particularly alarming because the food sector is the biggest driver behind methane and nitrous oxide emissions, which have global warming effects many times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

In my third book, Diet for a Hot Planet, I plunge into the heart of this era’s newest food fight with a simple message: if we are serious about addressing climate change, we have to talk about food.

Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, television host, and public speaker, and has been recognized for her work on sustainability and food systems. Concerns for sustainability run in the family: She is the daughter of Frances Moore Lappé, author of the groundbreaking Diet for a Small Planet published in 1971.

Listen to Anna Lappé, Frances Moore Lappé, and Marion Nestle talk about why Diet for a Hot Planet is a timely and important work for anyone concerned about sustainable agriculture, personal health

Volunteers should bring garden gloves, water, sunscreen, and a shovel or pitchfork to help with building new beds and preparing the garden’s 75-foot production bed. Other volunteers will be asked to assist with spring plating and building infrastructure (benches and compost sifters).

For more information about the Garden School Foundation, visit its website or contact Nat Zappia for more information about the organization, its work at the 24th Street School, or how to volunteer time or donate to their efforts.