On Saturday, September
27, the Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento will host the highly anticipated
Farm-to-Fork Festival. September 12 kicked off the beginning of the Sacramento
Region’s 2nd annual Farm to Fork celebration with a tractor parade
down Capitol Mall. The nearly two weeks of events has highlighted all things
farm and food, and culminates this weekend with the festival.
Last year the free festival was entertainment-central to more than 25,000 attendees, an overwhelming response that sparked huge interest in this year’s festivities. People of all ages will enjoy the live music stage featuring acts such as The Family Crest and Trebuchet. A variety of food selections will be available to sample such as produce, meat, fish, wine, craft beer, and cheese. A plethora of food trucks and restaurants, plus children’s activities such as a petting zoo, will round-out the event.
The Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office will be at the festival with a display booth. Dozer, the pest-detecting dog, is the highlight of this year’s booth. He will be available to meet fans and sign autographs at various times during the day. Dozer will also show off his skills at the ATLAS Re-Fuel Farm-to-Fork-to-Fuel Stage at 2:30 p.m. He will search through a small group of unmarked packages using his highly sensitive and highly trained nose to locate fruits or plant materials that could be carrying pests or diseases that could be a danger to California agriculture.
The Agriculture Commissioner’s office protects the public by enforcing pesticide laws and regulations, monitoring applications for safety and environmental compliance, and investigating pesticide related illnesses and complaints. In addition, the Weights and Measures Division conducts undercover test purchases and checks weights, measures or counts of goods sold to the public to protect consumers from fraudulent packaging and overcharges.
Sacramento County puts the “farm” in Farm to Fork with $460 million in agricultural production. Wine grapes are the number one product at nearly $150 million followed by milk products at $58 million. Visit the Farm to Fork website to learn more about how Sacramento is the Farm to Fork Capital of America.
Writer: Ryan Meza, Communication and Media Intern
