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!
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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.
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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 Sa nta 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.
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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.
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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 sh ort 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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Job Opening at Stanford
Sustainable Food Program Farmer Forager Coordinator
Stanford University is currently hiring a Farmer Forager Coordinator for their Stanford Dining department. The position will mainly focus on the dining hall gardens (expanding them and managing them), the BeWell Community Gardens, and finding new farms to source from. The bulk of the work will be maintaining and expanding their gardens and managing the student gardeners. To read the full job description and to apply, visit Stanford's job listings webpage and enter job#68765 in the search window.
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Events and Workshops
Latino Farmer Conference-Fresno Nov. 3
The first Latino Farmer Conference in California will happen on November 3 at the Radisson Conference Center in Fresno, CA. This conference will bring together Spanish speaking farmers from around California to share their experiences, network with other farmers, and attend workshops about marketing, production practices, farm finances and programs, and other topics relevant to Spanish speaking farmers. Visit NCAT's website for more information about the conference and to register. Registration is free!
Demystifying Organic Certification for Processors Webinar
Nov. 16
J oin CCOF for a ninety-minute webinar on how to obtain and maintain organic certification for processors. Webinar participants will learn the basics of organic certification, as well as how to keep their organic certification current to avoid noncompliance. This webinar is ideal for businesses looking to get into organic processing, as well as current organic processors who wish to improve their knowledge of the organic certification process. Register through Eventbrite, the cost for the webinar is $20.
Sustainable Ag Expo-San Luis Obispo
Nov. 16-17
The Sustainable Ag Expo is a two-day educational seminar highlighting the latest in farming research, resource issues, and business trends related to sustainable agriculture for farmers, ag professionals, and pest control advisors. One or two day passes are available for purchase on their website.
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