Connecting Friends With The Food We Eat

In my own personal exploration of connecting with the food that I eat, sharing that connection with my friends and family has been an equally interesting and inspiring experience. At my daughter Kaiya's 3rd birthday party, I laid out a spread of local farm sourced sandwiches, snacks and fruit, and provided labels so people would know what they were eating and where the food was coming from.

Plenty of my friends and family commented on how good the food tasted, and I often replied that it all came from farmers' market vendors I had come to know and trust. Others noted how pleasant it was to know where the food was coming from. And when a friend jokingly said he wouldn't eat anything unless I grew it in my community garden, I shot back that I may not have grown it in my garden, but I do know and have shaken the hands of the farmers that grew the tomatoes, potatoes, apples and pears, etc. that we were eating. It felt good to spark discussions and to engage people just by spending a few minutes writing down names of a few fruits, vegetables and farms.

Here was the lineup of the food:

• Tortilla espanola bocadillos, with russet and purple potatoes from Specialty Produce and onions from Phil Foster Ranches / Pinnacle Organic, both in San Juan Bautista (along with baguettes from Panorama Bakery that sells at the Downtown Palo Alto farmers' market)
• Chorizo bocadillos with chorizo from G Service who sells at the Downtown SJ farmers' market
• Cherry tomatoes from Veggielution in East San Jose and Full Belly Farm in Guinda
• Chips and salsa, with heirloom tomatoes from Veggielution in East San Jose and white corn from Specialty Produce
  
• Crackers and cheese, including a goat cheese chevre log from Laura Chenel in Sonoma and garlic quark from Spring Hill Cheese in Petaluma
• Gala and fuji apples from Mellow's Nursery & Farm in Morgan Hill
• Warren pears from Phil Foster Ranches in San Juan Bautista