CREATURES + THE ENVIRONMENT but it’ s an important tool for keeping farmland in agriculture.”
Muller, also a co-owner of Full Belly Farm in Capay Valley, keeps a hand in the organization through organizing their annual A Day In The Country event, usually held in September.
“ We were really the first organization to do Farm-To-Fork events,” Clark says.
A Day In The County is always held on a Yolo County farm, and is open to everyone, though tickets go very fast, she says. For the event, Trust farmers donate ingredients to local chefs who then create dishes.
For example, at the 2016 event, Sacramento’ s Lucca Restaurant & Bar used lamb and tomatoes from Full Belly Farm, cinnamon basil from Rio Del Oro Botanicals, gypsy peppers from Capay Organic and Tokyo turnips from Riverdog Farm to create a tagine with tomato and onion, sausage, lamb bacon and apricot jam.
Clark says the event is“ unparalleled” in Northern California and all of the money from the event goes toward the Trust. Last year, they raised more than $ 75,000.
In addition to their promotion of land conservation and the Farm-to- Fork movement, the Trust is heavily involved with habitat and native animal protection. Members of the Trust recently participated in a California Department of Fish and Wildlife study, Clark says, to track animals and their activities at night on the Elkhorn Ranch outside of West Sacramento— co-owned by Yolo Land Trust and Sacramento Valley Conservancy. The ranch was one of 300 sites monitored by the department.
“ All of us appreciate being able to eat locally-produced food,” Clark says.“ We’ re trying to make sure the farmers are able to grow you that food.” •
Robin Epley is the former associate editor for Comstock’ s magazine. On Twitter @ robin _ epley.
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