Last week, the Sacramento City Unified School District unanimously approved local nonprofit Food Literacy Center to serve as program manager of the Leataata Floyd Farms Project, a 2.5-acre urban farm on the Leataata Floyd Elementary School campus in the Northwest Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento. The landmark plan includes establishing a “Broccoli Headquarters” for Food Literacy Center, an organization dedicated to educating the youth of Sacramento on the importance of healthy cooking and eating.
The SacFoodies have had the pleasure of working on behalf of Food Literacy Center and recently had a chance to check out the open space that will house the Leataata Floyd Farms Project. As you can see from the initial rendering of the space, the foodie future is looking bright! Here’s more on the exciting news:
The new location will allow Food Literacy Center to expand upon its mission to inspire kids to eat their vegetables and improve the health of the community. For the first time ever Food Literacy Center will serve high school students in addition to elementary school students and daytime education will be added to the curriculum.
Food Literacy Center will continue to operate—and expand—its current successful programming. The approval enables Food Literacy Center to serve an additional 800 students per year in the Sacramento City Unified School District, doubling their reach from the 800 students in the eight schools they now serve to 1,600 students in 16 schools in the first year. They anticipate continued school growth year to year.
In addition to the students of the Sacramento Unified School District, the greater Sacramento community and region will also have access to the new facility and its resources through food literacy programming such as cooking classes and garden education.
The new site will include indoor teaching kitchens and a production agriculture parcel with the goal of providing food for the elementary school cafeteria. Students will receive food literacy curriculum including hands-on, inquiry-based classes that are tied to academic standards, including cooking and nutrition classes such as the chemistry of cooking, history/culture through cuisine and food science. Additionally, the students will receive garden/farm curriculum including hands-on classes to learn the parts of a plant, the science of growing food, composting and insect biology. The garden and farm will include drought-tolerant and native edible plants and will be organic.
The organization is actively seeking additional donations from the community to help pay for necessary programming and equipment. To donate, visit www.foodliteracy.org.
Bites and Brews Demo Class Coming Up
Don’t miss out on a delicious opportunity to learn all about food and craft beer pairings from a local chef. Track 7 Brewing Co. and Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op’s Chef Dio will be teaming up to host Bites and Brews with Track 7 Brewing Co., a demonstration-style cooking class that will inform while offering up small bites and tasty brews for students. The fresh-made dishes will include blistered Padrón peppers with goat cheese; crispy salmon skin sushi rolls with avocado; jerk chicken wings; heirloom tomato and burrata pizza with smoked bacon, and chorizo and potato empanadas with smoky salsa. Need we say more?
Well, maybe a note about the cost. It’s $55, and $45 for Co-op owners. But really, when was the last time you were in a class that let you cook and drink beer? Ok, party university alum put your hands down, we’re all jealous. At any rate, the education and libations are definitely worth the cash
What: Bites and Brews with Track 7 Brewing Co.
When: 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 13, 2015
Where: Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op: 1914 Alhambra Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95816
Cost: $45 to $55
RSVP: Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op (916) 868-6399
Sacramento Food Film Festival Launch
Last Thursday I had the delicious opportunity to attend the launch of the Sacramento Food Film Festival at Goldfield Trading Post, presented by the Food Literacy Center. It was a fun evening of unique bites provided by Jay Veregge of Ten 22, Aimal Formoli of Formoli’s Bistro, Michael Thiemann of Mother, Brian Mizner of Hook and Ladder and Hank Shaw, a James Beard Award-winning author. With such great names collaborating, the food definitely shared center stage with the film. By far, my favorite dish was the spicy cauliflower from Mother, a spicy Asian-inspired creation so full of savory flavors and satisfying texture that I didn’t even miss the meat.
On the film side, the selection of shorts shown throughout the evening was an eclectic and entertaining mix, but the kicker bit of entertainment for me was having each course served by a mini chef in uniform. It was great to see that the Food Literacy Center gave the children they provide services to a role in the event as fledgling foodies themselves, doling out each delicious bite as they balanced a full platter above their stiff white hats.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Sacramento Food Film Festival’s events, running through March 29. Get the full schedule here or check out our March 19 SacFoodies post with the events roundup.
My favorite bite of the night. Spicy cauliflower from Mother.
A mouth-watering, sweet berry and wafer concoction I could have eaten a platter of.
Attendees enjoy film shorts presented at Goldfield Trading Post.
Sacramento Food Film Festival
Food + film, you say? We call that a perfect pairing. The Sacramento Food Film Festival kicks off tonight and we have the scoop.
From March 19 to 29, there will be pairings of food and food-related movies at unique locations throughout town. There are a number of events to meet every taste and budget, with prices ranging from free to $70.
Hungry for more? Below are the bites to expect at some of the key events in the coming weeks. Visit Food Literacy Center online for the complete list of event details, locations, costs and to purchase tickets!
Thursday, March 19
Sacramento Food Film Festival Premiere (Goldfield Trading Post)
• Chefs will be pairing bites with each film. While the chefs are secretive about their dishes, it’s a safe bet to guess that Michael Thiemann of Mother will be creating a cauliflower recipe for the winning American short film, “How Does It Grow: Cauliflower.” James Beard Award-winning Chef Hank Shaw will be creating a dish for the South African film short in the International category, “Stand Up.” Based on Shaw’s time spent in South Africa as a journalist, we can expect something traditional and delicious.
Friday, March 20
Soul of a Banquet (Frank Fat’s Catering Facility)
• Chef Mike Lim is trained in authentic Asian cooking, and it shows! Attendees are in for an entirely new spin on what is traditionally thought of as Chinese food. Expect lotus leaf-wrapped rice, chicken, seafood treasure hot pot, stir fried vegetables with grass-fed lamb, mushrooms.
Saturday, March 21
Urban Farm Short Films and Urban Ag VIPea Bus Tour (McClatchy Park)
• While the chefs haven’t made their menu public yet, we know that Payam Fardanesh will be on board the bus to share his newest Silk Road flavor: ginger!
Sunday, March 22
The Farmer & The Chef (Ruhstaller Brewery + Tap Room)
• Not only will they have bites—the chefs will also be performing live demos on stage! Demos include: a beet cracked with a hammer to form beet chips, pig’s head butchery demo, and that’s just the beginning.
Tuesday, March 24
Federalist (Federalist Public House)
• Chef Shannon McElroy will be throwing down pizza creations using plenty of farm fresh ingredients. Tables will be garnished with a new twist not typical at the restaurant: jars of pickled produce!
Wednesday, March 25
Terra Firma (Central Library Gallería)
• Hot Italian will create farm-fresh pizzas, while Ginger Elizabeth will provide Plum Jasmine Macarons with plums from Ferrari Farms.
Wednesday, March 25
Hundred Foot Journey (Lucca)
• Attendees will enjoy a full four-course Indian-inspired menu based on the film, with dishes including Shrimp Pakora, Lamb Tartare and Yogurt Crème Cuite.
Thursday, March 26
The Way Back to Yarasquin (Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters)
• The entire menu will be coffee-inspired! Celebrated pastry Chef Elaine Baker is creating a sticky toffee-coffee cake and a chocolate coffee cream tartlet. One Speed will be serving up coffee-pork sliders.
Friday, March 27
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory Family Movie Night & Dinner (Clunie Community Center)
• Selland’s Market-Café will be serving up their popular spaghetti dinner and adding a slice of blueberry pie for dessert, inspired by the character Violet Beauregarde’s three-course meal chewing gum.
Saturday, March 28
Sriracha (Preservation & Co.)
• Attendees will enjoy one of Sacramento’s best bloody Mary’s using mix from Preservation & Co. alongside bites by chef Matt Brown of Forrester Foods.
Sunday, March 29
Food Chains (Turn Verein)
• Chips and salsa donated by Chipotle will be served alongside beer and Food Literacy Center’s famous popcorn with seasonings made by the kids, including a spicy Southwest mix.
The Flavors of Levi’s Stadium
I’ll be the first to admit I am not into football. I know nothing about the sport and instantly fall asleep when Sunday games are switched on (I do love my Sunday naps). So when I was recently asked to attend a game at the new Levi’s Stadium, I only said “yes” based on the fact that the stadium serves great food and that Wi-Fi and wine are available on the Amtrak ride to the game. With those two promises, I couldn’t say no.
So on an unseasonably hot October morning, I donned my favorite blue sundress (completely team-neutral) and boarded the train to Santa Clara. Naturally, I headed straight to the dining car to get my bubbly. This would be the start of a delicious day.
Let’s fast forward through a relaxing train ride to arriving at the stadium. My first impression was that it was shiny and new, but the crowds were the usual rowdy bunch to be expected at any football game. Not really engaged in the whole sports side of this experience, I made a beeline for the food.
Unlike what you might imagine, the stadium does not feature foods that are necessarily regional to the area. In fact, besides the depictions of the Golden Gate Bridge and wharf on some signage, the stadium creates that sort of “I could be anywhere in the U.S.” feeling you get inside an airport.
However, the food is of high quality and they take special care to source local products from area farms and producers. I thoroughly enjoyed the first bite of the day, a Mexican torta with marinated steak. The meat was seasoned well and the sandwich had a great balance of flavors- acid, spice, salt- offset with a generous dollop of tangy crema. It was a perfect complement to my cold beer.
My next course was the Steamed Buns sampler featuring duck, shitake mushroom and pork varieties. All three had unique sauces and toppings, surrounded by a fluffy, chewy bun. These are a nice departure from usually heavy football fare, and, for a more comprehensive food and drink experience, they offer Kirin Beer at this station so you can enjoy a tailored pairing!
My last course was a nice cold scoop of rocky road ice cream. No words necessary for this guy other than it was a refreshing finish to a hot day in the Silicon Valley.
Who won the game that day, you ask? Of course I can’t remember, but what I can recall are the tasty treats I enjoyed that afternoon. They were so great, in fact, that I might even return one day to enjoy another taste of Levi’s Stadium.
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