As part of the upcoming Urban Ag Fest, Slow Food Sacramento recently lobbied the Sacramento City Council to adopt a resolution naming July 11, 2009 “Urban Ag Day!” It embodies Slow Food’s belief that is important to enable residents to grow, glean, and swap food crops within the urban limits.

Slow Food's Ag Fest is being called "Common Table," and it consists of a variety of tours, workshops, films, and a gourmet three-course dinner from Magpie Caterers to be held at the Fremont Community Garden. The goal is to raise awareness about local urban gardening and food programs, as well as to advocate for improved city, county, and state food policies that enable more locally grown foods in urban locations. The event benefits the Sacramento Hunger Coalition (a program of the Community Services Planning Council), an organization that works to alleviate hunger and increase food security, and the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition, an organization dedicated to expanding urban locations for growing fruits and vegetables.

The workshops and tours include a day on the farm with Soil Born Farm, the "What's Growing On" bike tour of urban locations for growing food, and seminars on the basics of composting, growing organically, and what hunger means. Two movies will be screened: “The Garden” and “FRESH” — both document the need for more locally grown, healthful food. Dinner speaker Brahm Ahmadi of People’s Grocery in Oakland will share his insights on Innovative Solutions for Food Justice.

Saturday, July 11, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (various events, locations, and prices)
For more information, visit the Slow Food site, where they encourage you to buy your tickets by July 6 at Brown Paper Tickets.