Fall Feast in the Fields Sept. 23 at Live Earth Farm
Pollinate! a Farm to Table, Flower to Table event
benefiting Farm Discovery at Live Earth
Hands-On Education / Growing Healthy Relationships
Through Food, Farming and Nature
On September 23rd, Farm Discovery at Live Earth will host “Pollinate!” the 9th annual benefit dinner at Live Earth Farm supporting Farm Discovery’s environmental and nutrition education programs for local youth. Chef Kendra Baker, owner of Assembly and Penny Ice Creamery will be preparing the appetizer course; Chef Nicholas Church, executive chef at Chaminade Resort & Spa will be preparing the dinner course, and Buttercup Cakes will be preparing the dessert course. All three courses will feature fresh, local farm fresh produce, grass-fed beef and other artisan ingredients. This magical evening includes craft cocktails, wine, beer, after dinner digestif, live music, and silent and live auctions.
Watsonville, CA, September 1, 2017 – “Pollinate!” will be held September 23rd, 2017, as Farm Discovery at Live Earth’s 9th annual farm dinner, featuring local chefs, farmers, artisans and winemakers celebrating the dazzling abundance of fruit and vegetable crops grown in the Santa Cruz area. The afternoon will begin with appetizers from chef & 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 with 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, over 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 4th and 5th graders from this school visited Live Earth Farm on field trips over the course of four days. For over half of the students, it was their first time visiting a farm. For all of them, it was a transformative experience. 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.”
Through Farm Discovery at Live Earth’s programs, local youth are engaged and inspired 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!,” the September 23rd fall fundraising event, to support farm visits, transportation costs and garden & 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 please visit:
farmdiscovery.org/event/pollinate/
Jessica Ridgeway, Director
831-728-2032, director@farmdiscovery.org, farmdiscovery.org/event/pollinate/
On instagram: FarmDiscovery On facebook: LEFDP On Twitter: @LEFDP On Pinterest: LEFDP