Signature rice bowl from Charlie Hong Kong
On Sunday, April 22, participants will meet at 3pm on the UCSC campus for a special tour of the Farm & Garden led by Field and Production Manager Liz Milazzo (here are directions to the Farm http://casfs.ucsc.edu/about/directions-2). Then they will travel to Charlie Hong Kong for a tasting menu of the popular restaurant’s take on “organic Southeast Asian street food.” Tickets are $20; Charlie Hong Kong is donating $5 of every ticket sold to the UCSC Farm & Garden. The event is limited; there will only be 30 tickets sold and the price includes food and the tour; beer will be available at dinner for an additional charge. Tickets are being sold online through Edible Monterey Bay. For more information call (831) 298-7117.
Dinner will include Charlie Hong Kong’s delicious vegan salad wraps, vegan “signature bowls” (which include Gado Gado and Laughing Phoenix Red Curry) plus optional meat toppings, and homemade beverages. Charlie Hong Kong co-owner Carolyn Rudolph is excited to collaborate with the Farm & Garden for Earth Day, because “…they are not only educating and creating a whole new generation of organic farmers, the farm is also a community resource for local gardeners and families right here where we all live.” Rudolph adds, “This tasting is to demonstrate and honor local produce as well as eating healthy. To eat healthy is a way to care for the earth.”
This isn’t the first time the two venues have partnered. This year, Charlie Hong Kong bought butternut squash from UCSC’s farm for its delectable Thai Coconut Soup. Note: if you’re interested in getting produce from the farm for your own use, you can join the CSA program; read more.
During the private tour at UCSC, attendees can learn more about the Farm & Garden which is part of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS). CASFS offers apprenticeship training of new organic farmers and gardeners – officially the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture program. The internationally known Apprenticeship Program has trained over 1,400 organic farmers and gardeners during the last 40 years. Many have started their own training and apprenticeship programs on farms and at urban agriculture projects, a great example of paying it forward. The program draws more than 50 percent women each year at a time when fewer than 15 percent of U.S. farm operators are women.
CASFS manages the 2-acre Alan Chadwick Garden and the 25-acre Farm at UCSC, which are both open to the public. Both sites are managed using organic production methods and serve as research, teaching, and training facilities for students, staff, and faculty. CASFS is committed to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system.
If you don’t already have plans for Earth Day, this sounds like a great opportunity. No matter what you do, I hope you’ll take these words from Rudolph to heart: “Earth Day is an important event, not only as a celebration, but an opportunity to express reverence and gratitude for the abundance this beautiful earth provides for us.”
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Charlie Hong Kong, 1141 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz (831) 426-5664
UCSC Farm & Garden/CASFS, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz (831) 459-3240