REGIONS :: Sacramento Valley

Home of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers main office at the T.S. Glide Ranch in Davis, the Sacramento Valley region is one of the fastest growing regions in the state. Sacramento Valley Farms cover the full range from diversified, sustainable and family owned farms, which provide the region with food, through CSAs, farmers' markets and direct sales, to retailers as well as commodity growers and wholesalers growing for the state, nation and the world. CAFF is working to help farmers develop strategies to stay viable by organizing direct marketing relationships, providing technical support for more sustainable farming systems and educating future generations about the importance of local agriculture.

Some of our projects in the Sacramento Valley

Davis Joint Unified School District's Farm-to-School Program
The Davis Farm-to-School Program opened its first salad bar in 2001, at Pioneer Elementary in collaboration with The Davis Educational Foundation (DEF), California Department of Education, UC SAREP, the Davis Farmers' Market and CAFF. Now the program has expanded to all eight elementary schools in the Davis Joint Unified School District, which offer locally procured, seasonal produce two days a week. Matched with a recycling program, garden-based learning, composting, farm visits and in-class tastings, Davis is a model that demonstrates how education, outreach and community involvement can help transform school lunches and connect communities to their regional agriculture.

-- Making the Farm Connection:
This manual is designed to let farmers know what to expect when hosting a farm visit, and to prepare teachers and classes so that they may get the most out of their farm visit.

Farm-to-School intrigues young minds with new mysteries.

Components of the Davis Farm-to-School Program

• Local Procurement
• Garden Teams
• Composting, vermicomposting and waste reduction
• Recycling Teams
• Nutrition Education
• Curriculum connections, agricultural and physical activities
• Farm Visits

Expansion to other local communities is ongoing, with a project in Winters and enthusiasm building for farm-to-school programs in Esparto, Woodland and Sacramento. For more information, or to get involved, call or e-mail Kelly van Boxtel, (530) 756-8518 / kelly@caff.org.

• Davis Educational Foundation (DEF)
  Davis RISE Program (Recycling is Simply Elementary)
  www.davisrise.org
• Winters Unified School District
  http://winters.k12.ca.us/
• Davis Joint Unified School District
  www.djusd.k12.ca.us/District/
• Davis Farmers Market
  www.davisfarmersmarket.org
• UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP)
  www.sarep.ucdavis.edu
• Esparto Unifid School District
  www.espartok12.org

Other Resources

Availability list for the Sacramento Valley Region (coming soon)
Example Succulent list for DJUSD
www.farmtoschool.com

Funders: CDFA Buy California Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, Occidental College/ W.K. Kellogg Foundation, USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, Hoes Down Harvest Festival

Farm Visits

As part of the Davis Farm to School program, CAFF offers the opportunity for second grade classes to visit farms during the spring term. The direct connection that students are able to make from the soil to the table brings home the lesson of how important our local food systems are.

You can view our Farm Visit Manual for more information.

Cost of Visits

In the past we have been able to offer farm visits free of charge to classes in the Davis Joint Unified School District system through fundraising efforts. We pay farmers $10.00 per student to compensate them for the time and resources used during the visits. If you would like to contribute to our farm visit fund in order to ensure this opportunity for future classes or if you are a farmer interested in participating in our farm visits, please contact Kelly van Boxtel, Sacramento Valley Coordinator at; (530) 756-8518 .

You ca make a donation online, or by sending a general donation to CAFF (P.O. Box 363, Davis, 95617) and designating your donation for the Farm-to-School Farm Visit Fund.

Participating Farms

• Good Humus Farm, Capay
• Eatwell Farm, Dixon
• Pacific Star Gardens, Woodland
• Full Circle Farm, Davis

Buy Fresh, Buy Local: Sacramento Valley

Sacramento Valley is ripe for better access to fresh, local food! Buy Fresh, Buy Local! Sacramento Valley is working to bring the successes of the Central Coast Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaign here to the Sacramento Valley. Help build local demand for the products that are grown here, join the campaign today.

Resources

• Sacramento, Local Seasonal Produce Chart (coming soon)
• 5 Reasons to Buy Local Food
• Buy Fresh, Buy Local Partner Seal
• Search for Local Food

Farm Partners:

• Apollo Olive Oil, Oregon House
• Cache Creek Nursery, Rumsey
• Capay Canyon Ranch, Esparto
• Capay Valley Vineyards, Brooks
• Eatwell Farm, Dixon
• Fiddler's Green, Brooks
• FreeHeart Farm, Esparto
• Fresh My Farm Vegetables, Wheatland
• Full Belly Farm, Guinda
• Gold Oak Ranch, Rumsey
• Good Humus Produce, Capay
• Live Oak Farm, Rumsey
• Riverdog Farm, Guinda
• Rue and Forseman Ranch, Marysville
• Terra Firma, Winters
• III Docs Almond Ranch, Brooks
• Soil Born Farm, Sacramento
• Steve & Walt Farms, Oregon House

Retail Partners:

• Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op
  1900 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento
  Sacramento, CA 95816
  (916) 455-2667
  www.sacfoodcoop.com

• Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op

  Elk Grove Marketplace

  8517 Bond Road

  Elk Grove, CA 95624

  Phone (916) 714-7100

  Fax (916) 714-5551

  www.sacfoodcoop.com
• Davis Food Co-op
  620 G St
  Davis, CA 95616
  (530) 758-2667
  www.davisfood.coop

• Noah’s Ark Natural Foods

  535 Placerville Drive, Placerville

  (530) 621-3663

  www.noahsarknaturalfoods.com

• RH Philips
  26836 CR 12A, Esparto

  (530) 662-3215

  www.rhphilips.com

Restaurant Partners:

• Putah Creek Cafe and Buckhorn Catering
  1 Main St
  Winters, CA 95694
  (530) 795-2682
• Season's Restaurant
  102 F Street
  Davis, CA 95616
  (530) 750-1801

• The Waterboy Restaurant

  2000 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento

  (916) 498-9891

Label Partners:

• Capay Valley Grown
  www.capayvalleyvision.org
• Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust

  www.brentwoodaglandtrust.org

Partner Organizations:

• Food Routes Network
  www.foodroutes.org

Become a partner of the campaign by joining CAFF. Tell a store, restaurant or farmer what you know about the Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign. Send them a link to this page or email their name and contact to temra@caff.org

Capay Valley Grown

For the past three years CAFF has been working closely with Capay Valley Vision and Capay Valley growers to create the Capay Valley Grown logo, a place based identity and brand for this unique valley that encompasses more than 150 agricultural producers. The work has been part of future planning for preserving the integrity and agricultural heritage of the valley. The visioning and implementation of this project is carried out by Capay Valley Vision's Agriculture and Environment Task Force. This committee meets monthly in Esparto.
For more information contact Paul Muller, Agriculture Task Force Chair at; (530) 796-2214.

The Capay Valley Grown logo was made possible through grower feedback and community participation. Capay Valley Grown has partnered with CAFF's Sacramento Valley, Buy Fresh, Buy Local Campaign to create bilateral marketing efforts that further promote local food systems. For more information about Capay Valley Grown, or if you would like to contribute to this community driven marketing campaign, please contact Thomas Nelson, Executive Director of Capay Valley Vision at thomas@capayvalleygrown.org or view the Capay Valley Vision link.

Funders: California Food and Fiber Futures