How can people connect their food from field to fork?

More and more events around the country and indeed the world seek to do so including the International Food Bloggers Conference which this year accomplished this outside the host hotel Hyatt with a sophisticated dinner on a shady downtown city street in Sacramento with a view of the capital. Under the leadership of (former) executive Chef Jason Poole of the hotel’s Dawson’s Restaurant (winner of Four Diamond award from AAA and Wine Spectator’s 2016 Restaurant Wine List Award), several hundred of us enjoyed a very special, delicious and beautiful farm to fork meal where Chef told us where the food on our plates came from and we learned about the local wines from Clarksburg’s Bogle and Amador’s Andis.

How to pair wines for a group of that size is also a challenge, but the two they offered were versatile enough to work with two courses or more: Bogle’s Sauvignon Blanc worked well with the salad and the chicken and I liked the Andis Meritage with the heritage tomato salad, the chicken, and even the short cake dessert! A standout of the meal was the sweet corn puree — you could really taste the fresh corn. As much as I loved my meal I just wish I could have tasted the risotto too!

The Foodista sponsored IFBC returns to Sacramento September 2017  and bloggers can get early bird tickets of $100 through the end of this month! Worth every penny!

While this was a grand event in so many ways, look for fall events in your community that celebrate harvest.

In Ventura County, tomorrow, Sunday Sept. 25,  you can get a “Taste of Ventura County” at the beautiful California Historical Landmark Olivas Adobe located on Olivas Park Road neat Harbor. (Read on for more about this event and learn about a “Toast to VC Agriculture” Oct. 5!

Chat with chefs, farmers and purveyors of local foods as we taste the bounty of Ventura County while listening to live music from Sister Stone,The Dan Grimm Band with special guest Todd Hannigan.

New this year is the “Taste Homebrew Challenge” where we will taste and vote for favorite Homebrew for the title of Taste of Local Grand Champion. Who will receive the Das Boot trophy? Workshops at the event include “Brewing 101”, “Olive Oils- The Message in the Bottle,” and “SoCal’s Leading Eco-Living Centers”.

Over 50 area chefs, farmers, purveyors, wineries, breweries and distilleries are expected to showcase their culinary expertise including:
MadeWest Brewing Co.
Poseidon Brewing Co.
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Ventura Spirits Co
The Cave Restaurant
Rêves de Sabine
Food Forward
Channel Islands Distillery
Mee Eat Paleo
Petty Ranch
Aloha Steakhouse
Coastal Specialty Foods
Edible Ojai & Ventura County
Winchesters Grill & Saloon
Spice-Topia
The Refill Shoppe
Blue Ridge Honey
Strey Cellars
Magnavino Cellars
Esther’s Sweet SinSations
The Abundant Table
Ex Voto Chocolates
Five Threads Brewing Co.
FOOD Share, Inc.
Peirano’s Bistro & Bar
We So Corny
Four Brix Winery
Plan B Wine Cellars
Alma Sol Winery
Grapes and Hops
Cantara Cellars
Scratch Food Truck
Wild at Heart Ojai
East End Eden Farm
Ojai Permaculture
McGrath Brothers
Morsels As You Wish
Mychal Arata Jewelry
Ocean Pride Seafood
Pryority Jewelry
Santa Barbara Popcorn Co.
Slow Food Ventura County
Smart Shuttle Airport Trans
Tequila Alquimia
Totally Local VC
Limoneira Co.
Ventura Adult & Continuing Ed
Wendell Ward Photography
Wild Local Seafood Co.
YOUBITE LLC
Demeter Breads
Dottie’s Sweet Delights

Presale tickets are $35 and $45 day of event … if they were available! However, while tickets are sold out, if you really want to attend, you could post on Facebook or check at Four Brix Winery
2290 Eastman Ave Suite 109 Ventura, CA 93003 (805) 256-6006. https://fourbrixwine.com/ http://www.totallylocalvc.com/2016-taste-of-local-festival/

And if you can’t go, check my twitter feed to see what I am finding special tomorrow at the event!

If conversations about food and farmers are important to you, then please join me at “A Toast To Ventura Agriculture” Weds. Oct. 5 at MadeWest Brewery. While this fundraiser for the Ventura Food Coop is not designed to be a political event about the two local initiatives Measure C (a renewal of SOAR –Save Our Agricultural Resources) or Measure F (which, in my opinion stands for FAIL and not Farms), these two adversarial measures will be the proverbial elephant in the room.