“Pollinate!”, a farm to table, flower to table event, will be held Sept. 23 as Farm Discovery at Live Earth’s ninth annual farm dinner. It will feature local chefs, farmers, artisans and winemakers, celebrating the abundance of fruit and vegetable crops grown in the Santa Cruz area.
The afternoon will begin with appetizers from chef and business owner Kendra Baker, craft cocktails made with Venus Spirits, beer from Discretion Brewing, wine from Storrs Winery, live music by the Lampel Brothers and a silent auction. After the wine pairing dinner prepared by chef Nick Church, the event will culminate in a short live auction followed by Buttercup Cakes dessert and after dinner drinks overlooking the Pajaro Valley.
Participating local artisans include Chesebro Wines, Storrs Winery, Venus Spirits, Osocalis Distillery, and Morris Grassfed Beef. Auction prizes include stays at the Chaminade Resort & Spa, Hotel Healdsburg, and Costanoa, gift certificates for foodies including tickets to Outstanding in the Field, and passes to places including, Disneyland, the Academy of Sciences and San Francisco’s Pier 39.
This farm feast is the major annual fundraiser for Farm Discovery at Live Earth’s on-farm education programs and field trips for local youth. Each year, more than 2,200 students visit Live Earth Farm to learn about food, farming and the environment. The programs are multi-sensory and hands-on, allowing youth to harvest and taste farm fresh foods while learning about organic agriculture, nutrition, ecology, and grade-level science concepts.
In the spring, as part of a partnership with MacQuiddy Elementary in Watsonville, 137 fourth- and fifth-graders from this school visited Live Earth Farm on field trips over the course of four days. For more than half of the students, it was their first time visiting a farm. At the end of each field trip, students selected from four choices to make a pledge to improve their own health or that of the environment. More than half chose, “I will eat more fruits and vegetables.” The second most popular choice was, “I will recycle more plastic, metal, paper and glass.”
Farm Discovery at Live Earth’s programs seek to engage and inspire local youth to be informed stewards of their own health, their community and their environment. Farm Discovery at Live Earth aims to raise $50,000 through “Pollinate!” to support farm visits, transportation costs and garden and kitchen supplies for the over 2,200 students who will visit Live Earth Farm during the 2017-18 school year.
To purchase tickets or for sponsorship and volunteer opportunities, visit farmdiscovery.org/event/pollinate.
