Bay Area Bliss- Oakland, CA by Noelle

August 4, 2007

From the chilly coastal winds to the warm air of Oakland in less than an hour, we arrived with plenty of time to wander around the Lakeshore Farmer’s Market before our brief “what is Sustainable Table and Food and Water Watch talk” alongside authors and food activists, Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry. As Diane said, this farmer’s market was abundant not only with fresh, whole fruits, veggies, nuts and more, but also with an array of ethnic varieties of breakfast and lunch foods on which to feast (and we did!). When given our que, we welcomed the curious crowd and watched as they slowly came to comfort in their seats and some on their feets. That was my ridiculous attempt at being poetic but I must admit I’m an amateur, especially compared to Bryant Terry who stole the show with his humor and crowd pleasing charisma. Despite a glitch that prevented him from carrying out his cooking demonstration, he created lots of laughter and good cheer around the importance of cooking and choosing healthy as well as delicious foods.

We stuck around the market and enjoyed lunch in the sunshine before heading off to the Biofuel Oasis in Berkeley. This was our first fuel stop of the entire trip and took enough time that we had a chance to walk around the neighborhood. We also picked up a friend along the way, Temra Costa, Program Manager for the Bay Area Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign. For more info on this important and unique campaign check out Community Alliance with Family Farmers. After 45 minutes (yes, it took 45 minutes to fill up our bus fuel tank!!) we were finally off to Tilden Park for our Slow Food hosted Heritage Foods Pig Roast and Picnic. I would prefer to skip right through this part of the story but I fear I must acknowledge this part of the adventure!

Not native to the Bay Area, I’m what you could say VERY unfamiliar with Tilden Park and I don’t suggest that you ever use Mapquest to get there. At least not with a 45-foot long tour bus! At the highest peak of the park with head on traffic having to back up to let us through, I almost got thrown off the bus by the driver herself! I kept staring at the map as I listened to the branches cracking off and scraping down the sides of the bus just hoping that this picnic area would appear. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it actually got better and we finally saw the sign we needed most... WILLOWS. This was just the picnic area I was looking for so our talented and experienced bus driver parked the rig and we all hopped off to join our fellow picnickers. Between you, me and the world, I could not be happier that we had arrived. My stomach was in knots and all I could think about was how we would get back out of the park!! But fortunately, I quickly saw my dad, who decided to join us for the afternoon, visiting with the generous Slow Food leaders who had organized this fabulous picnic. My spirits were immediately lifted!

I was so impressed when I finally saw the “cocina boxes” that were used to cook the Red Wattle Pig and the kid (for those concerned, this is a baby goat). I was even more impressed when I heard that David Lee, Slow Food East Bay, and Phil Brown and Carol LePlant of Bella Berkeley, had been there since 9AM preparing this meal for us! There was a great crowd of people there all waiting patiently for our arrival to share with one another the bounty of side dishes they had all brought. We said a few welcome words, clarified what this tour was all about and “broke bread” to sit down to a meal together. The afternoon proved to be a true celebration of the sustainable food movement with an abundance of delicious, locally sourced food served that we can all agree helped to promote a clean, fair and good food system.

In case you’re wondering, it was much easier to get out of the park. We were actually only a few blocks from a much straighter park entrance so I think the bus driver decided to forgive me after all!

Want to read more about our events today?
Tilden Park
Grand Lake Farmer's Market
City Slicker Farm
Mission Pie
Mission Pie 2

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