This year’s Green Feast, the annual farm-to-table fundraising dinner for The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, was hosted by The Edible Schoolyard Project founder and farm-to-table pioneer Alice Waters.
Every year, Green Feast brings together distinguished chefs and organic farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and vintners who contribute their bounty and knowledge in a collaborative farm-to-table dinner. The meal is entirely sourced within 250 miles and this year’s Green Feast was especially meaningful and memorable with Alice Waters sharing the vision she has nurtured since 1995 when she and Chez Panisse began working with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley. Together, The Ecology Center joins forces with The Edible Schoolyard Project to amplify a shared mission to bring learning gardens and healthy food to every school.
Members of the media joined Green Feast sponsors and a limited number of dinner guests at an intimate reception with Alice Waters and Evan Marks, Founder and Executive Director of The Ecology Center.
Awaiting Ms. Waters arrival, guests sipped on a lovely, refreshing rosé and champagne provided by OneHope Wine while Patrick Glennon of Superior Seafood shucked icy Glacier Point oysters, and Electric City Butcher shaved gossamer-thin slivers of prosciutto for noshing alongside aged cheese, figs and smoky rosemary almonds.
Patrick “Paddy” Glennon shucks Glacier Point oysters from Superior Seafoods
“From its inception, Green Feast was inspired by Alice Waters, one of the most influential and important figures in food in the past 50 years,” commented Marks. “With Alice Waters’s blessing at this summer’s Green Feast, we will generate national and international attention for The Ecology Center’s work, which include expanding our Grow Your Own! program to bring edible gardens to every school in Orange County and highlighting our Community Table Accord.”
There’s no place better suited for a celebration of our region’s abundant harvest than the idyllic and historically rich grounds of The Ecology Center and, for the first time, The Ecology Center is excited to hold two Green Feasts. The second gathering on September 10, 2016 celebrates the best chefs in Southern California. For the nineth year in a row, they will gather the industry’s leaders in sustainable food for an unforgettable evening celebrating local chefs, farmers, vitners, and more.
32701 Alipaz St.San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 + Google Map
Phone: 949-443-4223
About The Edible Schoolyard Project:
In 1996, in celebration of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café’s 25th anniversary, Alice Waters created the Chez Panisse Foundation. The non-profit envisioned a public school curriculum that includes hands-on experiences in school kitchens, gardens, and lunchrooms, and that provides healthy, freshly prepared meals as part of each school day. To support this vision, the foundation fully funded the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley and developed two additional programs: the School Lunch Initiative and the Edible Schoolyard Affiliate Network, now the Founding Edible Schoolyards.
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