A Pathway to Food Security

A Message From Marissa:
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture “the average age of today's farmer is 57 years, with one-quarter of American farmers 65 or older.” As this population ages, who in the future will be tending the fields that supply our food -- faceless agribusiness or the local family farm? 85% of California’s population now lives in cities and every year our land is losing more ground to commercial development. This raises the question: how can we cultivate our next crop of farmers if our young people have never visited a farm or considered farming as a viable occupation? Millennials are drawn to city life and their computer screens and are increasingly removed from the land that supplies the nutrients which sustain us. Many don’t have personal experience to make informed decisions about the true value of the food they put on their tables. In 2008 when we launched BAGT, over 2.4 million people experienced agritourism attractions in California. Since then we’ve seen an escalation of interest in school gardens and “field” trips to place-based agricultural sites. This movement is important in order to preserve the small family farm -- so that we maintain biodiversity and don’t wind up relying on large agribusinesses for our food.

This important issue was made clear to me when I attended my first National Heirloom Exposition in 2011, where I discovered that there were hundreds of apples and kinds of produce I’d never heard of! Why? Because most giant growers and suppliers provide us with a few common easy-to-grow apples which come from genetically modified seeds. The Heirloom Festival is billed as the “World’s Pure Food Fair”. Sponsored by the Seed Bank in Petaluma, it attracts an assembly of food enthusiasts, home gardeners, farmers and school groups. One of my favorite food activists, Vandana Shiva, is the keynote speaker at this year’s exposition, taking place in Santa Rosa September 8-10th. I’ll be speaking Monday at 5:00 pm on a panel about Agritourism, so if are able to attend this wonderful event, please come by and say hello!

Coming up sooner is the Farm to Fork SF Expo at 969 Market Street, which will take place TOMORROW in San Francisco, with a fun after-party in the evening. The goals for this gathering is to bring together advocates and lovers of food, raise awareness of sustainability issues, and showcase the best farms, artisan food producers, chefs, breweries, cideries, distilleries, and wineries in the Bay Area. It’s the first in the “Sustainability Element Series”, which will focus on the 4 elements throughout the year, with Farm to Fork as the “Earth" event. The “Water” event will take place at Impact Hub Oakland on October 24th, so save the date! We’ll write in subsequent newsletters about the “Air” and “Fire” events, to be held in the South and North Bays, respectively. Our team will be there this Saturday offering apples, cider, chips and salsa from both of the beautiful farms in our growing circle of overnight farm stays locations. Guests who #TweetToEat and #PostToToast, with a #zerowaste mindset stand to win free passes to the after-party and also to the next event!

Since we started managing the rentals of the beautiful Sabor Mexicano Farm in June, located in Guerneville in the Russian River area, we’ve brought a diverse group of city dwellers to experience life on this extraordinary property. We’ve hosted a wedding, bachelorette party, reunion, birthday parties and teacher training, as well as college food activists and corporate leadership teams who want to spend quality time together at the farm. A percentage of the Sabor Mexicano rental fees support our nonprofit’s work, which gave us the opportunity to work on Sonoma County tour development this summer (more info. on these tours below). We’re thrilled to have added a Cider Tour and our new Field to Forest Destination Tour to our list of available offerings. We’ve also begun working with Forest View Ranch, across the road from Sabor Mexicano and adjacent to our new partner, the nonprofit Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods, located at Armstrong Redwood State Natural Reserve.

The Field to Forest Destination Tour is the jewel in our menu of offerings. In line with our partner Eco Ring’s mission of encouraging the use of low-carbon transportation, this tour allows participants to literally walk between the two farms and the stunning redwood forest next door. One of BAGT’s goals is to bring corporate groups for tours and/or farm stays at one destination, while enabling a low income youth group to stay at
the other through the use of matching funds. A retreat could include a home cooked rustic field picnic prepared by third generation Mexican Farmer Jorge Saldana, or a hayride and apple picking and pressing at Forest View Ranch with Fred Von Renner, a third generation Guerneville resident. We can also arrange for a “Forest Therapy” walk with Pete Bidigare, Programs Director of Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods… all without having to get in your car!

Forest View Ranch Stays Now Offered by BAGT!

Lastly, we are excited to announce our new partnership with Forest View Ranch, a fabulous farm just across the road from Sabor Mexicano. Offering camping and also room rentals in the ranch house or unique “stump-house” built on top of a redwood stump, this unusual property features a beautiful stretch of Fife Creek, a treehouse, a pool, and a prolific grove of fruit trees. Come up to pick and juice apples, try out the hammock and rope swing, and otherwise relax at this very special property!

A retreat could include a home cooked rustic field picnic prepared by third generation Mexican Farmer Jorge Saldana, or a hayride and apple picking and pressing at Forest View Ranch with Fred Van Renner, a third generation Guerneville resident.

New BAGT Tours!

In conjunction with the launch of Sabor Mexicano, we spent the summer researching and developing partnerships in Sonoma County specifically designed around agritourism. We are thrilled to offer several new tour itineraries and packages! Our Food & Agriculture tours take people behind the scenes to visit sustainable regional operations (organic and biodynamic farms, ranches, cideries, wineries and creameries) -- to learn how sustainable practices preserve our foodshed by influencing the local agriculture and surrounding communities, including urban farming. Each of our unique, customizable tours is led by a knowledgeable and trained guide who will facilitate stimulating conversations with local owners and purveyors. These visits are designed to inspire you to think green, to become a more informed consumer and advocate, and to understand the true value of the food sourced in our own abundant backyards.

We are very happy to announce several new partnerships:

We will soon be working with Stewards of the Coast and Redwoodsto bring bilingual children to Sabor Mexicano Farm and to offer unique “Forest Therapy” tours in Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve! We are also working closely with Sonoma Tourism promoting tours in Sonoma County and agricultural sustainability. Lastly, we have begun collaborating with the Peninsula Open Space Trust (“POST”) to broaden our resources, advocacy and outreach in and around Silicon Valley. Lastly, we are excited to announce our new partnership with Forest View Ranch, mentioned above. Tucked below the redwoods and across the way from Sabor Mexicano, this operating apple orchard and organic farm offers fresh apple cider, hayrides, a pool, and so much more!

BAGT interns and staff had the opportunity to visit Fred’s Forest View Ranch, enjoy his plentiful crops, and press our own apples into cider -- take a look!

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Thank you to the following people and organizations who have supported our work in a variety of unique and important ways:
Kari Wrede for your marketing and graphics help
Sharmila Singh and Robert Girling for your constant support
John Michels for your support and editing skills
Mo and Biggi from Sonoma Tourism
John Pomeroy for your involvement
Fred Von Renner for hosting us at Forest View Ranch and the Apple Pressing
... and all our wonderful volunteers and interns!

Wishing You a Very Healthy and Happy End of Summer!

Bay Area Green Tours Mission

Bay Area Green Tours provides educational tours and events that demonstrate the sustainable economy in action, inspire support of local green businesses, and empower people to incorporate environmental responsibility and social justice into their personal and professional lives.