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Sustainable Fairfax Hosts 100 Mile Holiday Food Event |
 Local Eating for Global Change
On November 7th 2007, Sustainable Fairfax hosted an event with Marin Organics, Good Earth Natural Foods and several local farmers on the topic of how to prepare holiday meals from food produced within a one hundred mile radius. This was a part of Sustainable Fairfax’s monthly Community Education series.
This event was an opportunity to find out what local farmers produce, where you can purchase their produce/products, how to create a glorious meal, and share ideas about how its all connected.
- Kate Baron and Paige Phinney of Marin Organic shared ideas about how you can utilize the West Marin food community this holiday season.
- Mindee Jefferey spoke about Good Earth’s commitment to locally sourced food and what is available in the store for the holiday season.
- Local farmers Clark Summit Farm, Cow Track Ranch, and Marin Roots Farm had produce and merchandise available for purchase.
Local Resources to Support and Experience Your Local Food Community
Nearest to Fairfax: Shop at the Good Earth baby! They even have labels about how far away everything was grown!
Visit Draper Farms in San Anselmo – they have a wonderful you pick farm set-up on one acre in a quiet residential avenue.
San Rafael Farmers Market For the pick of the season and to put your money where your mouth is – on Thursdays and Sundays from 8am to 1pm visit:
Bodega Goat Cheese
Brickmaiden Breads
County Line Harvest
Little Organic Farm
Marin Roots Farm
Paradise Valley Produce
Star Route Farms
Woodside Farms ***Be sure to look for the Marin Organic sign while you’re there.
In Bolinas Buy veggies from Gospel Flat Farm and Star Route Farms roadside farmstands.
Star Route Farm’s roadside stand will be open every Friday through November 16th and Wednesday November 21st. 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Gospel Flat Farm’s Honor System Farmstand is open every day, all day through Thanksgiving.
Stop by the People’s Store in Bolinas and find fresh produce from Paradise Valley Produce, Gospel Flat Farm, Fresh Run Farm, and more….
Inverness Head up Route 1 towards Point Reyes Station, Head west on Sir Francis Drake through Inverness and pay a visit to Drakes Bay Oyster Company and bring home a bag of oysters for Oyster Rockefeller which is perfectly matched with our only local organic chardonnay from Stubbs vineyard.
If you would rather have local food cooked for you, keep heading west and stop at Drakes Beach Café (415.669.1297) for lunch or dinner. Be sure to call ahead, the place is wonderful but small and is only open on certain days.
While retuning to Point Reyes Station don’t miss: Buying fresh cheese from the Cowgirl Creamery, try the “Inverness” this cheese can only be purchased at the Point Reyes location and nowhere else. It is the perfect addition to a holiday cheese plate.
Next door at Golden Point Produce you’ll find Straus dairy, local little gems, and ask Shorty for her pick for the season. Toby’s Feed Barn is an excellent spot for grabbing some fresh local produce, be sure to ask them which farms are represented.
Marin Sun Farms can provide you with farm eggs and a wide variety of local meats.
Stop by Bovine Bakery for some locally baked treats and scrumptious Brickmaiden Bread.
Continue up Highway 1 to Marshall and visit:The Marshall General Store for a home cooked snack and a wonderful view of Tomales BayHog Island Oyster Company is right up the road where you can buy oysters, clams and their new cookbook with great ideas for exciting oyster recipe’s Tomales is next
and not to be missed: Clark Summit Farm is far and away the best place in Marin County to purchase your pork, beef, poultry, eggs and feel good about it. This place IS the reason to consider escaping your Turkey attachments for the season. Pick your order up right from the farm – call ahead 707.876.3516 – oh and they have farm tours every other Saturday just for you!
Tomales Bakery an all organic gem in downtown Tomales would be a travesty to miss – but they’re only open Thursday to Sunday. Please visit www.marinorganic.org for more details!Thank you for being the change you wish to see in the world.
Why Should We Purchase Our Food Locally?
When we go to purchase food we have already paid for it three times: with the environment, with our taxes, and with our health.
In the U.S., the average grocery store’s produce travels nearly 1,500 miles between the farm where it was grown and your refrigerator.
Even if it seems like we’re paying less for industrially-produced food at the grocery store, we’re spending our tax money on huge subsidies that the government gives to agribusiness. Between 1995 and 2004, the U.S. government awarded $143 billion in agricultural subsidies. 72 percent of these subsidies were granted to just 10 percent of US farms. These subsidies promote industrial agriculture while allowing big food producers to keep their prices artificially low, making it impossible for small farms that don’t receive subsidies to compete. And it’s our tax money that’s supporting this!
Unlike traditional sustainable farms, factory farms are willing to sacrifice the quality of their products to maximize their profits. Because of this, consumers can end up buying inferior food that is unhealthy to eat including meat from stressed animals and vegetables grown in depleted soils.
Without change we will continue to pay the industry to starve us!
WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY?
In applying the concept of the 100 mile Holiday to your Holiday meals and eventually into your everyday living would offer the opportunity for you to create your own culture around food, one in which the farmers and eaters are both honored for their place in the chain and the creation of a cleaner and exponentially abundant earth for years to come.
WHAT CAN I/YOU/THEY DO?
Talk it up! Live it. Introduce yourself, educate yourself. Visit a farm, volunteer on a farm, try a new recipe, call your Senator and tell them what you want to see in your Farm Bill, vote with your fork at every meal, ask your restaurants about where they source their products, shop wise, and at every turn shorten the distance between you and land where your food was grown.
Know that your voice and opinion have value and farmers, friends, family, politicians, business owners, NGO’s, and extended communities don’t even know that they are craving to hear it.
Find more information about your local producers and supporting businesses visit www.marinorganic.org .
Also visit www.sustainabletable.org for more information about the state of sustainable agriculture in general.
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When Ray Martin opened the Scoop in 2001, he was the first Bay Area entrepreneur to sell organic ice cream flavored with sustainably sourced and local ingredients, such as on organic ice cream base from Straus organic creamery in Marshall, strawberries from Russ Sartori's farm in Tomales, raspberries from Mt. Barnabe Farms in San Geronimo, lavender and honey grown in West Marin. Fairfax Scoop has gone on to become one of Marin's hottest destinations for ice cream served in cookie-like, waffled cones and cups made fresh, on the premises, also from organic ingredients. A dozen flavors are served at any time; these always include one soy ice cream and one sorbet.
