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On a warm summer day in June, 2010,  CHEFnews had the opportunity to enjoy a Farm-to-Fork tour with Bay Area Green Tours. What a fun day. It started off with a delicious breakfast at Gather restaurant in Berkeley, CA. Many of the ingredients for the meal were sourced from the farms we visited later that day.
While enjoying our meal, we heard from 3 organizations that support sustainability: Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) advocates for California family farmers and sustainable agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE) develops projects to support sustainable regional food and agriculture, and Berkeley Student Food Collective provides fresh, local, environmentally sustainable food at affordable prices to the Berkeley campus and greater community. Each talk was educational and inspirational.
After our fun mroning at Gather we boarded the bio-diesel powered bus from Eco-Excursions and headed for the farms. First stop was Devil’s Gulch Ranch in Marin County, which grows premium wine grapes and asparagus, and raises rabbits, pigs, sheep and quail. We got to see newborn piglets….so cute!
Then off we went to County Line Harvest, a 35-acre certified organic farm located on Red Hill Ranch, which is part of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT). County Line Harvest grows a variety of lettuces and other specialty greens, as well as tomatoes, strawberries, basil, onions, beets and much more.
 After viewing the gardens, we were treated to a yummy lunch prepared by Kitty Dolcini, owner of Red Hill Ranch. During our lunch a volunteer from MALT spoke about their organization. It is a member-supported coalition of local ranchers and environmentalists whose focus is to permanently preserve Marin County farmlands for agricultural use. They have become a model for communities across the nation.
The final farm we visited, Quetzal Farm in Santa Rosa, produces organic vegetables and fruit on 17 acres. They specialize in dry farmed tomatoes, sweet peppers, chilies and eggplants. Their use of sustainable farming practices in building organic matter in their fields, restoring habitat and planting hedgerows helps them grow fresh tasting, high quality food.
Each farm and organization shared lots of information on what they are doing to promote sustainable farming practices. It is inspiring to know that there are farmers and growers and organizations that support and promote sustainable agriculture.
Let’s all do our part by shopping at farmers’ markets, farm stands and food markets that sell environmentally sustainable foods, as well as eating at restaurants that support sustainable food choices.
Bay Area Green Tours gets our vote for a fun day of learning about who’s doing what to be green!
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