Nuts, stone fruits, olives and their juice, rice, grazing, microbreweries—the northern most part of central California are known for all. Now, wineries and farmstead cheeses win prestigious national awards. Millers grind wheat and produce bread from brick ovens, families sell artisan chocolates and cow shares, new farmer’s markets get planned in low-income areas and accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), nutritionists bring Farmer of the Month into local schools. A small population spread across a vast area, people come together around food.
People, Places, Things
- The Healthy Lunch and Lifestyle Program—A nonprofit in Redding, organized by Bridgette Bricks-Wells, this program provides school kids with boxed, organic lunches at competitive costs, sourcing from local farmers whenever possible.
- Craig Thomas—Craig, chef at Red Tavern Restaurant in Chico, began welcoming local farmers and home gardeners at the door of the restaurant’s kitchen with their produce decades before it was fashionable.
- Growing Resourcefully, Uniting Bellies—GRUB is a collective of young people that offers a CSA, teaches young kids to garden at schools, collects kitchen scraps from local restaurants to compost, maintains a list of Chico’s fruit trees from which to glean.
- Alger Vineyards—John and Linda Alger employ organic and biodynamic practices to grow grapes for their wines. The vines are irrigated with water drawn from the bottom of a trout pond on the property.
- North Valley Farms Chèvre—A farmstead goat cheese produced in Cottonwood by Deneane and Mark Ashcraft. They are the first goat dairy farm in the nation to win the Animal Welfare Approved Seal.
