SLOW DOWN ON THE DELTA May 31, 2008 Presented by Slow Food Placer, Sacramento, Solano and Yolo Convivia
We are pleased to announce that our speaker will be Anya Fernald, CEO of Slow Food Nation and longtime program director for California Alliance of Family Farms. Her husband, Renato Sardo, head of Slow Food International, will also be attending.
DINNER ON THE DELTA: Talented chefs from each region will prepare a four-course meal from each county’s seasonal agricultural products – Patrick Mulvaney (Sacramento), Molly Hawks and Michael Fagnoni (Placer), Daniel Bell (Solano) and Pru Mendez (Davis). The chefs are sourcing locally grown food, such as spring lamb, endive extravaganza, local cheeses and nuts, and appetizers and desserts using fruits and vegetables sourced from the four counties. Wines from each county will also be served.
This gathering will be a wonderful opportunity to meet the chefs and farmers and enjoy the ambience of the Delta with friends under old valley oaks on the edge of the Sacramento River. Food-themed silent and live auctions will raise funds for Slow Food Nation.
WHEN and WHERE: Saturday May 31, 5:00 p.m. at Vino Farms, 51375 S. Netherlands Road, Clarksburg, CA 95612 Driving Directions
TICKETS: $85 General Public; $75 Slow Food members available at Brown Paper Tickets.
Special thanks to our event sponsors: Vino Farms, Carvalho Family Wines, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and Corti Brothers.
FIELD TRIP MENU: From field to feast, enjoy savory glimpses of Delta farming to whet your appetite before dinner! We are pleased to present some very special field trips that will provide a variety of opportunities during the day for behind-the-scenes exploration of our richest farmland, as well as to understand the challenges facing farmers in this complex environment. Max 30 persons per field trip - Min 10 people. By reservation only at Brown Paper Tickets.
*PLEASE NOTE* The Delta Ecotour tour requires direct registration at Delta Ecotours.
Tickets: $25 covers all tours except the Delta Ecotour. Our map and two suggested “flights” will help you plan your Slow Day in the Delta. You should be able to enjoy at least three or four “appetizers.” Available online at Brown Paper Tickets.
Where to meet: Each tour meets at the point designated on the schedule and map. In most cases telephone numbers are provided in case you get lost; however, tours will begin on time unless the leader, in his or her sole discretion, agrees to wait.
What to bring: Be prepared for sun and wind. Bring comfortable shoes that can get dirty, water, hats, sunscreen, and binoculars.
Transportation: Because our tours are spread around the Delta, you are on your own. If you can arrange to carpool with friends, that would be good too.
Lunch: If you want to eat locally grown food, consider bringing picnic fare from your Co-op or CSA. If you want to eat with the locals, consider Al’s Place or the Locke Garden Restaurant in Locke. In Walnut Grove consider Mel’s for sandwiches or the Pizza Factory, both on the River Road on the east side of the Sacramento River. Between Walnut Grove and Thornton are Giusti’s and Wimpy’s Marina, each a venerable institution.
Tours
Early Bird Special: Endive World - Tour California Vegetable Specialties in Rio Vista, the only U.S. producer of endive, selling nearly four million pounds of endive each year. Endive is the second growth of the bud at the top of a chicory root. The first growth takes place in the field, where the chicory plant grows from seed. The second growth takes place in the precisely controlled conditions of the facility’s dark, cool, and humid forcing room. Get to the heart of it with tour leader Rich Collins. Meet at 15 Poppy House Road, Rio Vista, at 9:30 a.m. Phone 707-374-2111. Driving Directions.
*Delta EcoTour: Explore the Delta on the Tule Queen II - Learn about the geological origins, early human history, Gold Rush era, early settlement, reclamation for agriculture, plant and animal life as well as current resource and environmental concerns, habitat restoration and proposals to enhance the natural and human environment of the Delta. The Sutter Island two-hour loop will take you down Steamboat Slough, up along Sutter Slough and back down the Sacramento River. Tour leader and boat captain Jeff Hart. Please sign up directly with Delta Ecotours - $35/adult; 30 person minimum. You will want to tour Hartland Farms native plant nursery and botanical displays as well. Meet at Hartland Nursery parking lot 13737 Grand Island Rd, Walnut Grove, CA 95690 at 10:30 a.m. Phone: 916-775-4021. Driving Directions
Nursery, Organic Farm and Garden Tour – explore Hartland Nursery and grounds and learn about California native plants ideally suited for beautiful, drought tolerant, low maintenance landscapes attractive to birds and wildlife. Tour leader Toni Hart will give special attention to the nursery’s heirloom vegetable varieties as well as plants used by Native Americans for food and art. Plants will be available for sale. Meet at Hartland Nursery parking lot 13737 Grand Island Rd, Walnut Grove, CA 95690 at 12:30 p.m. Phone: 916-775-4021. Driving Directions
Steamboat Acres Organic Pear Orchard, Sutter Island – Tour a 300-acre orchard of organic pears with Tim Neuharth whose Delta farming roots extend by marriage back to 1848. Learn what it takes to get organic pears from farm to table in one of the hidden beauty spots of the Delta. Meet at 15819 Sutter Island Rd. at 11:30 a.m. Phone: 916- 417-1706 (Tim’s cell). Lots of people get lost, but we’ll get you there! Driving Directions
Carvalho Family Wines - For more than 100 years, starting in Portugal, winemaking has been a Carvalho family tradition. Today, Carvalho Family Wines continues that tradition as an ultra-premium winery, dedicated to the production of small-lot, hand-crafted California wines using grapes from the Clarksburg appellation and other high-quality vineyards throughout California. The family pairs their old world approach to winemaking with the best available viticulture and enological tools. Learn about this premium winery and taste its wines with tour leader John Carvalho. Meet at 1:00 p.m. at the historic Old Sugar Mill Galeria do Vinho in Clarksburg 35265 Willow Avenue. Phone: 916-744-1625, Ext 234. Driving Directions
Ning Hou Gallery in Locke 13964 Main St., Locke. Delta artist Ning Hou will welcome Slow Fooders to his gallery in Locke from 1 to 4 p.m. Meet the artist and hear him speak about his paintings celebrating Delta farmscapes. “My goal is that through my paintings, others will see, hear, feel, and most importantly, live the beauty that makes up the natural world that we live in.” Working in both Impressionist and Photorealist styles, the artist aims to capture Locke’s people, produce, and “unique golden sunlight.” Ning Hou’s paintings are bold, vibrant, and thickly layered with paint. His work is on permanent display at the Crocker Museum in Sacramento and the Sacramento Convention Center. Driving Directions
Wildlife Friendly Farming on the Cosumnes River Preserve – Tour farming operations behind the scenes on the Cosumnes River Preserve and learn how The Nature Conservancy, with state, federal, and nonprofit partners, has managed 1,000’s of acres of organic rice and traditional corn, tomato, and wheat crops to protect and preserve habitat for migrating waterfowl and sand hill cranes, creating a national model for farming with the birds. The Preserve itself is a Delta jewel. Tour leader Mike Eaton will give an overview of the Preserve to orient visitors to areas open to public access as well. Meet at the Preserve Visitor Center, 13501 Franklin Blvd. (Between Twin Cities Road and Walnut Grove Thornton Road) at 2:00 p.m. Mike’s cell phone number for day of tour: 209-810-8388. Driving Directions
North Delta Conservancy Duck Hatchery — A group of concerned farmers organized the Conservancy in 1991 to conserve, sustain and enhance the cultural, agricultural, recreational, wildlife and natural habitat resources of the River Delta region. Area farm employees gather the eggs of nesting waterfowl to prevent their destruction by farm equipment and take them to be incubated and brooded. Since 1991, over 10,000 birds have been hatched, banded, and released to join the Pacific Flyway. Tour leader Mark Van Loben Sels will visit the duck pens to see eggs incubating and hatching and observe ducklings aged 1-25 days old. Meet at the Bank of Rio Vista, Walnut Grove Branch, 14211 River Road, Walnut Grove at 3:00 p.m. Driving Directions
Delta Cross Channel and Delta Meadows State Park – Water is the lifeblood of California agriculture and fisheries. The Delta Cross Channel diverts water toward the Central Valley and State Water Projects, away from the San Francisco Bay, to San Joaquin Valley farms and others. Learn about Delta fish at the cross channel gates in Walnut Grove and then walk down the levee road into Delta Meadows State Park, for a glimpse into the historic Delta. A half-mile walk will introduce you to the slough, native vegetation, some great birding, and the abiding challenges of managing our State’s most precious resource. Tour leader Peter Moyle is a preeminent expert on the environmental challenges facing the Delta. Meet at 4:00 p.m. at the Delta Meadows Parking lot – drive onto Railroad Slough Levee from the River Road between Walnut Grove and Locke, via a small gravel road just north-east of the cross channel. Driving Directions
Bios of tour leaders
John Carvalho is the owner of Carvalho Family Winery and owns and has extensively renovated the Old Sugar Mill complex in Clarksburg. With a rich family and cultural heritage of homemade wine making dating back to Madera in the old country, John has strong ties to the passions and joys of wine. In the family tradition, John bottled several of his own homemade vintages, always with the thought of some day opening his own winery. Clarksburg Wine Company not only fulfills his dream, but his label, Carvalho Family Wines, honors his family, their Portuguese roots, and historic ties to the Sacramento Delta region.
Richard Collins, a Sacramento native and graduate of the Agricultural and Managerial Economics program at UC Davis, founded California Vegetable Specialties in 1983 as Rebel Farms. He chose the name in response to the many naysayers who deemed him foolish for trying to grow endive for the U.S. market. Twenty-five years later, his company dominates the market west of the Mississippi.
Mike Eaton is the Executive Director of the Resources Legacy Foundation and a Delta resident. Mike was the Project Director for The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Delta and San Joaquin Projects for a dozen years and instrumental in TNC’s acquisition of Staten Island, a working farm providing critical habitat for sand hill cranes.
Jeff Hart, naturalist, history buff and owner of Hart Restoration, Inc., with his wife Toni, holds a U.S. Coast Guard Master’s license and conducts a variety of Delta Ecotours aboard the Tule Queen II, a 40′ Corinthian Catamaran built in Tarpon Springs, Florida in January 2006.
Toni Hart is a Delta native trained as a forester and biologist. She manages Hartland Nursery and is Executive Director of Hart Restoration.
Ning Hou, born and raised in Shanghai, China, Ning Hou earned his B.A. degree from the Shanghai Art Institute. Hou arrived in the United States in 1983, at the age of 27, to pursue his career in art at the Academy of Art College, San Francisco, where he graduated with his MFA in 1986. Although Hou maintains studios in other parts of the country, his primary residence is in Locke.
Peter Moyle is the Associate Director of UC Davis’s Center for Watershed Sciences and has been studying the ecology and conservation of freshwater and estuarine fishes in California for over 35 years. He is co-author of the controversial UC Davis/Public Policy Institute of California report on “Envisioning futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta” (2007) and is working on restoration of the San Joaquin River. He has also served or is serving on diverse committees associated with managing the San Francisco Estuary. He is author/coauthor of over 160 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 5 books, and many other publications and a frequent resource for journalists seeking to explain the complex challenges facing the Delta ecosystem.
Tim Neuharth’s farm on Sutter Island is known as Steamboat Acres and consists of approximately 300 acres located in the upper Sacramento River Delta near Courtland, bordered by the Sacramento River and Steamboat Slough. The Peck family (related to Tim by marriage) settled there in 1848 and started building levees and farming shortly thereafter. The river was the highway of its day between San Francisco and Sacramento and all points in between. Bartlett pears are the primary crop, which were converted to certified organic production in 2001. Some of the trees are over 100 years old. Tim also grows grapes, cherries, alfalfa and Tritacale (a small wheat-like grain). Tim’s new enterprise is Agri-tourism, including Agri-tainment, Agri-education and Agri-nature.
Mark van Loben Sels is the president of the North Delta Conservancy (NDC). He is an owner of Amistad Freight Services, Inc. and Sels Best Boer Goats. He has farming roots in the Delta area reaching back five generations. His father, who still serves on the NDC Board, was one of the founders of the NDC and farms corn, wheat, safflower, red and green Bartlett pears, alfalfa, wine grapes and processing tomatoes in Courtland, Walnut Grove, and Clarksburg.
Sphere It
Tamale-making is an important ritual in the Mexican culture during the holidays. Women traditionally gather in the kitchen during the holidays to make dozens and even hundreds of tamales to be shared with family and friends at Christmastime. As Mexican immigrants brought their customs to the United States, many Americans have become interested in exploring this particular custom, especially because of the association of holidays and families. 
