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Summer Food Series: Cultivating a Movement: Putting a Face to Organic Farming in California
How did California become a hotbed of pioneering organizations and farms that have transformed the food system locally and beyond over the past four decades? Come celebrate the local organic/sustainable foods movement and the UC Santa Cruz Library's publication of Cultivating a Movement: An Oral History of Organic Farming and Sustainable Agriculture on California's Central Coast. A tasting from the local Farmer's Market will precede the evening program.

Editors will read inspirational and colorful stories from this anthology focusing on four individuals:

* Amigo Bob Cantisano-Founding organizer of the annual Ecological Farming Conference and one of the most influential figures in California organic agriculture.

* Andy Griffin helped create the 1970s organic-farming renaissance, including growing for Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Restaurant, and joined the burgeoning organic salad greens business in California. Today he runs Mariquita Farm, a community supported agriculture farm in Watsonville and Hollister.

* María Inés Catalán was the first Latina migrant farm worker to run certified organic farm in California, and the first Latina in the country who found a farm that distributes produce through a community supported agriculture program.

* Dee Harley runs San Mateo County's only active dairy. Harley and her staff care for more than 200 goats, crafting the animals' milk into sought-after cheeses that garner awards at national and international competitions.

About the Editors:

* Irene Reti directs the Regional History Project at the UC Santa Cruz Library and is the author and/or editor of many books, including Kabbalah of Stone.

* Sarah Rabkin was raised in Berkeley, teaches environmental studies and writing at UC Santa Cruz, and is also the author of What I Learned at Bug Camp: Essays on Finding a Home in the World.

* Esther Ehrlich is a writer, oral historian, and founder of Story Lines, which creates written and video life histories for individuals, families, and organizations.

$6-$8.

http://bit.ly/NMAsgM