Pacifica Gardens' 100-Mile Meal

PACIFICA, Calif. -- The bounty of Pacifica Gardens, together with sustainably harvested seafood from local coastal waters, regional artisan cheeses and honey and other nearby food producers will be brought together at a One-Hundred Mile Meal on Saturday, Oct. 23, sponsored by Bon Appétit Management Co. to benefit Pacifica Gardens.

Sourced from food produced or grown within a 100-mile radius of Pacifica Gardens (http://www.pacifica-gardens.org), the event is the organization's second annual Harvest Festival and will be held at the Pacifica Moose Lodge, 776 Bradford Way. Google Inc. Executive Chef Olivia Wu and Helene Kennan, Bon Appétit culinary director at Google, will lead a team of chefs from Google to prepare the feast.

Food will be paired with the fine wines from Paul Dolan Wines, of Mendocino Wine Company, known for their sustainable growing practices.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction and live jazz followed by dinner. Tickets are $85 per person and can be purchased by calling Georgette Evans at 650-355-6260 or http://www.pacifica-gardens.org.

Bon Appétit, the event's major sponsor, is an onsite restaurant company providing culinary expertise with a commitment to socially responsible practices. The first food service company to address issues related to where our food comes from and how it is grown, Bon Appétit has become a model for what is possible in sustainable food service.

Olivia Wu, an executive chef at Google, brings the core values of healthy, local, seasonal, sustainable and organic to Google's culinary program. A former food writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, she is the author of two books, including The Grand Wok Cookbook. Helene Kennan, former executive chef for the Getty Center in Los Angeles, is the district manager for Bon Appétit at Google, overseeing 17 cafes at Google in Northern California. Wu and Kennan will be joined by star chefs and managers from Bon Appétit at Google, including Hillary Bergh, Sean Randall, Joy Marquez, James White and Cindy Lee.

"We are incredibly honored and excited to have this all-star team of culinary experts sponsor and prepare our gala event. We look forward to celebrating the harvest and our accomplishments with our volunteers, our community and our supporters," says Loretta O'Brien, project director.

Pacifica Gardens' mission is to "Educate, Cultivate and Inspire" the community to grow food locally. That commitment is reflected in the results the 30,000-square-foot garden produces: community involvement through teams of local volunteers, educating backyard gardeners through demonstration projects and teaching school children about where food comes. The garden grew over 2,000 lbs of organic produce in 2009, and this year saw the first harvest of fruit from its orchard of apples, plums and pears. This yield comes from 41 vegetable and crop beds, three herb beds, eight native plant and flower beds and 20 fruit trees.

With the generous support of the Sam Mazza Foundation and the work of a team of dedicated volunteers, the organization was able to build a permanent fence, drill a well and install a new irrigation system over the past two years. Kaiser Permanente continues to generously support the School Education Program, and The Silicon Valley Community Foundation continues to sustain the Food Donation Program, which provides fresh organic produce to Pacifica's families in need. Pacifica Gardens is fiscally sponsored by Pacifica's Environmental Family, a local non-profit.

Proceeds from the Harvest Fundraiser will go to support education and food donation programs, and provide for more fruit trees, native trees and garden beds, goals that are part of the fourth year of the Garden's five-year plan.