Community Alliance with Family Farmers - October 2015                  

 

 

Remember to like us on both the CAFF: Santa Clara Valley and the CAFF: Central Coast Facebook pages to stay updated about CAFF news and events!

Taste of Santa Clara Valley Recap
The second annual Taste of Santa Clara Valley farm to fork dinner was a beautiful evening filled with delicious food and a real converging of the Santa Clara Valley food community!

On October 17, Martial Cottle Park in San Jose, CA hosted 150 guests for a delicious multi-course catered meal, prepared by seven chefs from Epicurean Group.  The dinner was a fundraiser for CAFF; 100% of the proceeds from the dinner will go to fund important regional work that directly benefits Santa Clara Valley family farmers.  We were also able to raise $380 to fund Harvest of the Month tasting kits for classrooms in the Santa Clara Valley region (read our HOTM article below if you would still like to contribute).

CAFF would like to thank our main partners for this event:
without their support, this dinner wouldn't have been possible! We would also like to thank our sponsors: California Farmers' Markets Association, Coke Farm, The Health Trust, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association, Santa Clara Valley Water District, Urban Village Farmers Market Association, Vitalis
Organic Seeds, and Watsonville Coast Produce, Inc.  Additionally, we couldn't have made the event happen without the gracious produce and protein donations from our farmers and business members, as well as our hard-working group of volunteers!  

Check out our Facebook photo album to see photos from the evening.  And look for an article about the dinner and the history of Martial Cottle Park in the Winter issue of Edible Silicon Valley.  


Santa Clara Valley Farm to School Update

In case you missed it, the San Jose Mercury News wrote an article in September about CAFF's Farm to School work in the Santa Clara Valley.  Specifically, the article focused on the procurement of tomatoes from Jacobs Farm at Martial Cottle Park in classrooms throughout Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, a relationship that was facilitated by CAFF.  
Karen Luna, food service director with Santa Clara Unified featured the tomatoes in the salad bar.  Rachel Otis from Live Oak School District used the Jacobs Farm tomotoes as slicers for cheeseburgers and in a Mexican Slaw.  CAFF salutes all the food service directors who are committed to purchasing from our local farmers!  

Also in September, food service staff from six Santa Clara 
Valley school districts met for their quarterly Consortium meeting at Martial Cottle Park, the site of the tomatoes from Jacobs Farm that were purchased throughout September and highlighted in the Mercury News article.  Food service staff met to discuss challenges and progress with farm to school procurement and to share resources.

October Harvest of the Month: Pears

This October, we're excited to celebrate autumn with Harvest of the Month! For us, that means we're featuring beautiful warren pears from Frog Hollow Farm in 248 classrooms around the Central Coast and South Bay. Students will be able to taste pears in the classroom and will find them featured in their school meals thanks to partnerships with many of the school districts in the region.
 
Students are more likely to choose fruits and vegetables in the cafeteria if they've already been introduced to them through HOTM. Often, the children that most benefit from HOTM attend the most economically disadvantaged schools in the region. Because of this, there are many schools that would love to participate in HOTM, but lack the funding to do so. Please consider sponsoring these schools by donating HOTM Tasting Kits to their classrooms. Participation costs a classroom $135 a year (roughly $4.00 per student)! Please enter "HOTM" in the dedication name line item of CAFF's online donation form.

       

CSA Farmer Profile:  High Ground Organics

High Ground Organics is an organic family farm, located on more than 70 acres in Watsonville, CA.  The farm recently celebrated several successes that CAFF would like to highlight.  Starting this week, High Ground will start delivering their CSA shares in new reusable crates.  The funding for the crates comes as the result of a successful crowd-funding campaign through WorthWild.  By switching over to the reusable crates, High Ground has eliminated the need to continuously buy and discard waxed cardboard boxes and plastic liners.

High Ground, along with J&P Organics, has won 
the bid with Santa Clara County to deliver CSA shares to their offices starting in Spring 2016.  We applaud Santa Clara County for their efforts to bring fresh, local, organic produce to their employees and for their support of our local farmers.  It is a great success for both High Ground and the County employees! To find out more about High Ground Organics' CSA program and to sign up to become a member, visit their website

In addition to their CSA program, High Ground Organics runs a local farmstand in Watsonville where shoppers can purchase fresh and organic fruits and veggies from the farm, only a few short miles from where the produce is grown!  Locals may have noticed that the popular farmstand has recently relocated from the Redman House to their new location at the parking lot of Annieglass off of Riverside Dr. The farmstand is open from Wednesday through Sunday from 10-6pm.  For more information about the farmstand, visit their website or like their Facebook page.  Congrats to High Ground for their accomplishments this season, if you live in the area, please consider supporting the farm by becoming a CSA member or by shopping at their farmstand.  
        




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