Bounty of the County Returns Sept. 27-Nov. 7

Sep 17, 2021

Celebration of Solano County food will highlight local farms and independent restaurants

Bounty of the County, a celebration of Solano County agriculture and chefs, will feature a different restaurant each week starting Sept. 27 and running through Nov. 7. Each restaurant will highlight in-season ingredients grown on local farms in a special free sample item that will be given to restaurant customers that week. Sustainable Solano will highlight the event with weekly videos, including cooking demonstrations by the chefs and farm profiles.

This is the second year of Bounty of the County, which creates an opportunity to learn about local farms and the importance of local food, while drawing customers to independent restaurants that source locally. Last year’s Bounty of the County also featured wineries, which will be highlighted in separate events in 2022.

Bounty of the County was originally envisioned as a large, in-person event at the Solano County Fairgrounds that would highlight local food in an environment that encouraged food and wine tasting and social interaction with farmers, chefs and winemakers.

Due to COVID-19, the celebration moved online in 2020 with virtual demonstrations and participating restaurants offering featured dishes. After the summer wildfires affected many Solano County farms, last year’s program also became a fundraiser, raising more than $10,000  for wildfire relief.

This year’s celebration continues in a hybrid format, with cooking demonstration videos with local chefs and video farm profiles shared each week on social media and the Bounty of the County webpage. Featured restaurants will offer in-season, complimentary samples made with ingredients from these local farms that customers can try during their week in the spotlight.

Sustainable Solano continues to organize Bounty of the County in partnership with the Solano County Fair Association while working toward the goal of a future in-person public event aligned with public health and safety.

 

2021 Bounty of the County participants include:

Restaurants: BackDoor Bistro (Vacaville), The Barn & Pantry (Dixon), Michael Warring (Vallejo), One House Bakery (Benicia), Rasta Mama’s Kitchen (Vacaville), Two60 Kitchen + Bar (Fairfield)

Farms: Be Love Farm, Eatwell Farm, Lockewood Acres, Terra Firma Farm, Umbel Roots

 

This year’s Bounty of the County was developed in partnership by Sustainable Solano and the Solano County Fair Association.

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Details:

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Sustainable Solano Communications Manager Allison Nagel at 805-512-0901 or allison@sustainablesolano.org or Sustainable Solano Local Food Program Manager Stephanie Oelsligle Jordan at stephanie@sustainablesolano.org

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About Sustainable Solano

Sustainable Solano is a countywide nonprofit organization that is dedicated to “Nurturing Initiatives for the Good of the Whole.” The organization brings together programs that support and sustain one another and the Solano County community. Initiatives include sustainable landscaping, local food, resilient neighborhoods, sustaining conversations and community gardens.

For more information, visit sustainablesolano.org 

About the Solano County Fair Association

The Solano County Fair Association (SCFA) was established in 1946 to produce the annual Solano County Fair and manage the year-round operations of the Solano County Fairgrounds.  Since then, the SCFA has been providing educational, cultural, artistic, commercial and recreational programs to the residents of Solano County for more than 70 years.

For more information, visit https://www.scfair.com/ 

For immediate release

Media Contact: Allison Nagel, communications manager

Interviews, photos and other materials available upon request

Watermelon Curry Sauce over Pan-Seared Potatoes & Zucchini

Aug 26, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 medium red pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 green zucchini, 1/4-inch round cut
1 small potato, large dice chop
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t paprika
1/2 Tbsp turmeric
1 t ground ginger
1/2 Tbsp garam masala
1/2 t chili powder
1 Tbsp curry powder
3 1/2 cups of water
5-10 1-inch pieces of ripe watermelon
1 to 2 Tbsp honey
1-2 t soy sauce
A few leaves of cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste (use sparingly)
Optional: 1 cup coconut milk

Begin by getting a medium saucepan and adding 2 Tbsp of EVOO, on medium heat. Add your chopped onion and garlic, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until onions and garlic are beginning to be translucent. Add red pepper and cook for 1 minute or until peppers have a bright red color. When peppers brighten up, add carrots. Stir and coat the carrots with excess oil. After the carrots are coated, add your seasonings and tomato. Do not add salt and pepper during this phase. We will add salt and pepper after blending our product, if necessary. Add your 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer until carrots are soft, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, begin pan frying your vegetables. Add 2 Tbsp of EVOO in a small frying pan and bring heat to medium high. Add your potatoes and brown one side for 3-5 minutes, then flip. Add a 1/2 cup of water and bring heat down to medium heat and let simmer. Once most of the liquid has evaporated, take out potatoes and add in your zucchini. Turn heat to high and brown both sides. Set your veg aside either in your oven or microwave when your veg is finished.

Once your carrots are soft, transfer your curry into a blender and blend starting at a low interval and move to high speed. (When blending hot liquid, be sure to allow the steam to vent. Do not cover the blender completely when starting it.) While the curry is blending, add watermelon chunks, soy sauce, and honey. [Optional: Add coconut milk in the blender with the watermelon, soy sauce, and honey.] Blend until smooth and taste. Add salt and pepper to taste and blend again. Plate your veggies and pour your curry sauce on top. Add a few leaves of cilantro for color and enjoy!

  • Sauce yield: 4
  • Seasonal Vegetable yield: 2

Recipe courtesy of Kristen James

 

Download a printable version of the recipe here.

Learn how to make this recipe by watching the cooking class below

Solano Cities Face Risks from a ‘Return to Normal’

Aug 18, 2021

By Nick Reynoso, California Climate Action Corps Fellow

Nick Reynoso joined us this summer as a California Climate Action Corps Fellow with a focus on our Resilient Neighborhoods program in Suisun City and building connections with community members and local environmental leaders. In this blog, he offers his reflections on climate change and the risks it holds for coastal cities — and ways to prepare.

Transportation requires extensive use of fossil fuels. The accumulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels is having irreversible effects on our planet and will lead to greater natural disasters to our local communities: storms, floods, wildfires, etc.

Nick Reynoso

From the start of the pandemic, life changed to a new normal. This included less travel, as places were closed and the fear of catching the virus called for security and safety at home. There was nowhere for people to go. The decline in the transportation sector equated to a drop in 273 million metric tons of GHG emissions below 2019 levels. It should be noted that all modes of transportation in the U.S. (i.e. cars, trucks, planes, trains, etc.) account for 29 percent of the U.S.’s total GHG. The decline in transportation resulted in a high impact in lowering GHG emissions, as the U.S.’s total GHG emissions dropped 10.3 percent in 2020.

During the height of stay-at-home orders back in April 2020, daily carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 17 percent from 2019’s global mean levels. It looked as if society had found a way to reduce carbon emissions and rethink the idea of what is considered essential travel. This all sounded like good news and a win for the environment; however, it wasn’t here to last.

In December 2020, the world had reverted back to its old habits, and GHG emissions bounced-back to 2 percent higher than what they were in December 2019. 

With businesses reopening and life returning back to “normal” following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the desire to travel is greater than ever. Most are looking for ways to get out of the house and by doing so, the International Energy Agency predicts for 2021, there will be a global energy demand of 4.6 percent, which is 0.5 percent higher than 2019’s demand. It is estimated that carbon dioxide emissions will increase by nearly 5 percent. This trajectory is unsustainable, as the demand does not divest fossil fuels, and the shift towards renewable energy is needed. 

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report unequivocally states that the warming of the planet is caused by human activity. These activities have also affected the water cycle (changes to precipitation), and are the cause of warmer ocean temperatures and rising sea levels. We are on course to reach 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels by 2040. 

What is the Greenhouse Effect?

Solar radiation from the sun hits the planet, it reflects into space and in the atmosphere. Infrared radiation is emitted from the earth’s surface, allowing some of the heat to escape into space, but with the influx of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the heat is absorbed by GHG molecules and reemitted throughout the atmosphere, having to trap the heat and thus warming the planet. This is known as the greenhouse effect, and this is the contributing cause of climate change.

With climate change, rising temperatures cause glaciers and ice sheets to melt, and cause the water from the ocean to expand due to thermal expansion. All these events contribute to rising sea levels. With an unprecedented rate of rising temperatures, coastal flooding will be inevitable. This will affect coastal communities, and affect large portions of the U.S. Nearly 40 percent of Americans live in coastal counties. 

The San Francisco Bay Area Conservation and Development Commission projects that sea level will rise between 6 and 10 inches by 2030, and 13-23 inches by 2050. Vulnerable low-lying Bay Area cities, such as Suisun City will be impacted from severe flooding events. The objective to mitigate and plan for natural disasters is urgent for Suisun City and other Solano County cities that face flooding threats, such as Benicia and Fairfield. As a California Climate Action Corps Fellow for Sustainable Solano this summer, I attended a number of Flood Walks that shared the flood risks for the city with attendees. The information presented during these walks makes it more apparent that Suisun City will be breached from flooding of Total Water Level (TWL) events: tidal waves, storm surge, and rising sea levels. 

The Flood Resilience Action Plan (FRAP) now in development for Suisun City will plan and mitigate for future TWL flooding events. FRAP and the Flood Walks are supported through a grant from the PG&E Corporation Foundation, which supports Sustainable Solano’s Resilient Neighborhoods program. Increasing awareness for Suisun City residents about flooding and development of the FRAP will help prepare for severe flooding events.

We are still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic’s “lost year,” and there are lessons we can learn from it. To redefine what is considered “essential travel” will lessen the accumulation of GHG emissions from transportation. Such decisions could decide the fate of local Bay Area cities.

A Call to Action to Save the Monarchs

Aug 9, 2021

By Annina Puccio and Ann Whittemore, co-founders and co-directors of the Monarch Milkweed Project

Annina Puccio and Ann Whittemore started the Monarch Milkweed Project out of Benicia, CA, to increase the supply of milkweed available to Western Monarch butterflies as they make their way along their migratory path. Join the Monarch Milkweed Project and Sustainable Solano on Sept. 17 for an informative talk on Monarch butterflies, their population decline and how you can help! Register here

In all the animal kingdom, Monarch butterflies are unique insects: No other insect in the world migrates such a distance, over four or five generations, to places it has never been before. Did you know that a group of Monarchs is called a “Kaleidoscope of Monarchs?”

Monarchs play a crucial role in regulating our ecosystems and pollinating plants — including the crops we rely on for food. Indeed, one out of every three bites of food we eat is thanks to pollinators like the Monarch butterfly. Without pollinators, our entire food web could unravel.

After two years of record-setting lows of 30,000 and less Western Monarch butterflies (2018/19), this past year (2020) fewer than 2,000 of these orange-and-black beauties were counted in their winter groves.

The most recent population count shows a heartbreaking decline of 99.9% for Monarchs, who are dying off due to pesticides and habitat loss. Last year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Monarchs need protection, but our government hasn’t acted yet and is saying that Monarchs won’t be put on the endangered list until 2024. That will be too late.

If we want future generations to live in a world that still has Monarchs, we have to act now.

In March and June of this year, the MONARCH Act (S.809 Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act of 2021) and S.806 The Monarch and Pollinator Highway (MPH) Act were introduced in the Senate, but have not yet been voted on. They would provide millions of dollars a year to protect and save the Western Monarch butterfly. The MONARCH Act and the MPH Act both need to be brought to the Senate floor for a full Senate vote.

We urge you to contact Senators Diane Feinstein and Alex Padilla and ask them to make the MONARCH Act and The Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act a priority!

We also ask that you contact our Representative in the House, Mike Thompson, and ask that the Western Monarch be protected now! The two bills have also been introduced in the House: The Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act and The MONARCH Act (House Bill USHB.1983). Congressman Thompson is a co-sponsor of these bills. Call Congressman Thompson and thank him for his support, and ask that these bills be brought to the House floor for a vote.

Also contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and urge them to put the Western Monarch on the Endangered Species list now and provide funds and protections to save these insects!

Contact information

    • Senator Diane Feinstein: (202) 224-3841
    • Senator Alex Padilla: (202) 224-3553
    • Congressman Mike Thompson: (202) 225-3311
    • Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland: (202) 208-3100
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Lori Marshall – Office of Public Affairs (703) 358-2541

Please also encourage your friends and all who love the Western Monarch Butterfly to call these numbers. The more of us who call, the more likely they will take swift action.

SUGGESTED SCRIPT for Senators and Representative:

“I am calling from the San Francisco Bay Area in (your local city) as a constituent and am concerned about the Western Monarch butterfly. I thank you for co-sponsoring the two Monarch Acts that are working their way through Congress. The Western Monarch count in 2020 was less than 2,000 butterflies, and this butterfly should be put on the Endangered Species List NOW and protected. If pollinators like butterflies and bees go extinct this will severely affect our crops and our food supply not to mention that these beautiful butterflies will be missed by all. Please help bring the MONARCH Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act of 2021 and the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act to a floor vote NOW. This is urgent and cannot wait. Thank you for your time.”

SUGGESTED SCRIPT for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and for Secretary Deb Haaland’s office:

“I am calling from the San Francisco Bay Area in (your local city) as a concerned citizen and am concerned about the Western Monarch butterfly. The Western Monarch count in 2020 was less than 2,000 butterflies, and this butterfly should be put on the Endangered Species List NOW and protected. If pollinators like butterflies and bees go extinct this will severely affect our crops and our food supply not to mention that these beautiful butterflies will be missed by all. Please do not wait but use your authority to save these insects now. This is urgent and cannot wait. Thank you for your time.”

Learn more about the Monarch Milkweed Project here

Climate Advocacy & Policy Lack Coordination in Solano County

Jul 27, 2021

By Benjamin Miramontes, California Climate Action Corps Fellow

Benjamin Miramontes joined us this summer as a California Climate Action Corps Fellow with a focus on researching climate action plans, disaster planning and environmental resources in the county. In this blog, they offer their observations and reflections on what they discovered in the process.

Exploring the maze of climate policy and advocacy in Solano County over the summer has left a strange picture in my head. While proposed countywide and city-specific ordinances around climate change are a seemingly comprehensive labyrinth of hazard projections and safety updates, the end result seems to be akin to boards being tacked onto a ship that is already taking on water. Similarly, advocates who are doing important work and aren’t collaborating with others leaves a lot to be desired in terms of meeting the needs of any given community. Climate policy and the state of advocacy in Solano County leaves me — a young person who will experience the increasingly malignant effects of climate change — fearing what a continued trend of meeting the bare minimum and a lack of communication means for our future.

Benjamin Miramontes

This summer, I was accepted to become a California Climate Action Fellow, and through their network I began conducting auditing and research efforts for Sustainable Solano. I have found the experience valuable in teaching me about Solano County’s politics in addition to those of the Bay Area as a whole. While the experience has been overwhelmingly pleasant in terms of preferable scheduling, interesting projects, and respect for my time outside the office, I cannot help but be concerned for the nature of climate change policy being implemented today.

The first proverbial elephant in the room was the disconnect between the myriad of small organizations across the region. This disconnect is a common one, some could call it “silo think.” Generally speaking, it is the separation or lack of communication and collaboration between different groups that are working on the same efforts. I am not stating that all organizations in the Bay should form an amorphous hive-mind. Rather, I cannot help but wish there was more happening after tuning into this sphere for the first time in years. I wonder daily about the organization’s place in local politics and environmentally oriented work, let alone the place of nonprofits in their vast array of efforts across the nation.

I have met some clearly passionate people working in nonprofits and citizen organizations who have been doing important work for their communities over the last few decades. I struggle to reconcile with the fact that these groups do not collaborate as much as they could. Different groups have different projects with different angles. That is a good thing, and that is the inherent nature of grassroots organization. However, the lack of outreach I perceive is worrying. There should be more room for these groups to meet regularly, maybe even elect their own leaders to act as moderators for large gatherings. Why are there so few groups coming together to form larger coalitions when their issues are so closely aligned? An organization advocating for bike lanes, a coalition of tree planters, and a group organizing for green infrastructure all want different things, but are still oriented in parallel. I hope that the leaders in these groups begin pushing to meet and work together with one another at larger scales, for example, bringing in resources from Benicia or Vacaville to help push for policy somewhere else in the county, like Vallejo. I am imploring nonprofits and city governments to communicate more openly about their different projects and needs, so they can better support each other in the work they do.

Another worrying trend I am noticing is the nature of climate policy here in Solano County. New plans are drafted for evacuation in the event of a fire, levees are built to withstand greater floods, and so on. This policy is not bad by any means, but it is largely reactive, and in the case of something like building a levee or trenches for flooding, it is particularly static. There is not a lot of policy in place in terms of “pre-emptive” mitigation or adaptation. In particular, I am referring to policy which takes some of our changes in climate and creates advantages out of them. For example, why are we not saving every bit of rainwater that we can? Cities across the country are utilizing stormwater for green spaces in cities, which can help provide cleaner and cooler air for residents, particularly in neighborhoods or hub areas which have been historically underserved. Cities should take advantage of the funding they can use to invest in green infrastructure and energy for government buildings, homes and multi-unit housing. While tax benefits and breaks are granted to those who install solar panels, could we develop programs to help provide those same underserved communities or struggling small businesses with solar power? In short, cities should collaborate with one another and strive to address multiple issues at once with each new environmental ordinance.

In the end, these are just some ideas I want to bring to you to help percolate thought, and hopefully, action. Putting time, money, and effort into green programs and projects now will pay dividends in the future. This was also meant to serve as a surface level introduction into the role of nonprofits and grassroots organizations in Solano County. I implore you to do research into this if it interests you.