International food and drink tastings, live music, celebrity chef demonstrations, educational panels, artisan vendors and more will be featured at Terra Madre Americas in Sacramento on Sept. 26-28. Admission is free to the flavorful festival, which is co-sponsored by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Terra Madre will bring together farmers, cooks, activists, academics and policymakers from across North and South America to promote collaboration, education and food sovereignty. With a wide range of presentations and activities, Terra Madre will highlight regional and global food systems, sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.
UC ANR’s F3 Local, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), Master Food Preservers, 4-H youth, and Southwest Regional Food Business Center partners will be participating in “A Taste of California” Pavilion along with Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and the UC Global Climate Leadership Council.
UC Master Food Preserver Program volunteers will share recipes and food preservation techniques that highlight the flavors of California. Stop by their “A Taste of California” demonstration kitchen stage to participate in a variety of farm-fresh tastings, talks, and cooking demos featuring elderberry jam, kernza crackers, Asian vegetables, the complete carrot, and more. UC Master Food Preservers will show how to repurpose table scraps as ingredients for meals and condiments and share recipes for tasty jams and jellies.
F3 Local, through the teams at UC ANR and CAFF, will highlight the heart of the Central Valley’s food culture: small farmers and food entrepreneurs.
“Taste the freshness that the Central Valley has to offer as you sample and shop local products straight from the source,” said Tara Sweeney, F3 Local’s food business specialist. “Attend cooking demonstrations, learn how to become a master taster, try your luck at a prize wheel, and capture what local food means to you at the photobooth!”
Blossom Bluff Orchards, Burkart Organics, and Eco-Family Farms will offer a variety of dried fruits and flavored nuts. Madera’s Queen Honey will have sweet spoonfuls of honey to taste and jars to take home. Lancaster Creations’ Organic Apothecary Communitique will have brightening vinegars, warming tisanes and comforting preserves.
Southwest Regional Food Business Center partners JAS Family Farm will bring squash, Wise Acre Farm will bring eggs and poultry and Dr. Shica’s Bakery will offer tastes of cookies and baked goods.
Terra Madre Americas will be held at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center at 1401 K St, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Selected events
Friday, Sept. 26
1:45–2:30 p.m. - UC Master Food Preservers will present Toast & Taste: Strawberry Shrub Mix & Kernza Crackers.
3:45–4:15 p.m. - Central Valley local food entrepreneurs will demonstrate how to spice up your meals with their ready-to-eat sauces: Gladys Sanchez will share the story and flavor of Nelia’s Birria sauce.
4:15–5 p.m. - Rosa Hernandez will give a taste of indigenous Oaxacan celebration with her Mole Viko.
5:15–6:15 p.m. - Stay till the end for a Q&A with documentary director and celebrity chef Ed Porter, after he offers a peek at regional food and farming in Merced with a screening of “The Food that Fuels.”
Saturday, Sept. 27
11:45 a.m.–2:15 p.m. - F3 Local food scientist Gaelle Chanlot Delarue will conduct a jujube taste-testing panel.
12:30–1:30 p.m. - UC Master Food Preservers will demonstrate how to prepare elderberries and California-grown Asian greens.
Sunday, Sept. 28
11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. - UC Master Food Preservers will offer a blind taste test of jams, jellies and pineapple zucchini.
2:30–3:30 p.m. - Gloria’s Shito and Angela’s Ranch will prepare California fig and West African chili honey bites in the demo kitchen.
3–6 p.m. - 4-H members will have a youth outreach display and educational information about eggs.
See the full A Taste of California Pavilion schedule at https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/events/taste-california-terra-madre-americas-sacramento.
Beyond Terra Madre, the UC SAREP team encourages Terra Madre visitors to take their enthusiasm for local food out to the field.
The California Open Farm Passport, led by UC SAREP in collaboration with regional partners, invites the public to explore the bounty of local farms during regionally coordinated events throughout the year. Farm guests will have opportunities to learn, taste, and buy a diversity of crops from participating farmers around the state who have opened their farm gates. Discover upcoming events at https://calagtour.org/California_Open_Farm_Passport/.
Learn more about Terra Madre Americas at https://terramadreusa.com.