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MALT sponsors and collaborates on lectures and talks with experts in agriculture-related fields throughout the year. Upcoming events are listed below along with some past talks that have taken place. Continue to check this site for future events.
Slow Food Nation Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of American food in history, will bring together local citizens and visitors, farmers and food artisans, political leaders, environmental advocates and health-care experts, community educators and artists. Participants will savor food from across the U.S. at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the City; learn from visionary speakers; and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys. LOCATION: Fort Mason Center, Civic Center Plaza, MALT is proud to participate in Slow Food Nation through the following events: Lunch and Conversation with Alice Waters As the warmth of summer refines the land's bounty, Chef Margaret Grade and Chef Daniel DeLong of Manka's will be serving lunch amongst the crops of Peter Worsley's farm in Point Reyes Station. A benefit for Slow Food Nation and the Marin Farmer's Market, hosted by Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Point Reyes Books, Marin Organic and Point Reyes Farmer's Market. For reservations call 415-663-1542. TIME: 12–2 P.M. Benefit Dinner at Greens Restaurant As a benefit for MALT, award winning chef Annie Somerville will create a fabulous vegetarian dinner in the new private dining room at Greens restaurant with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay. Each guest will receive complimentary recipes for the evening’s menu including sources for the main ingredients used. Chef Annie Somerville will talk about how she prepared each course and answer your questions about how to cook these wonderful dishes at home. The menu will feature family style appetizers of heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala salad with Green Gulch lettuces and arugula, sweet 100 and sungold cherry tomatoes with basil vinaigrette served with pain epi and Straus butter; twice baked goat cheese and green garlic soufflé. Guests will then be treated to a surprise signature entrée specially created for this event. Dessert will feature Chocolate Truffle Tart with cardamom crème anglais and candied almonds. Featured Marin County wines will include Point Reyes Sparkling Blanc de Blanc, Pey-Marin 2006 Shell Mound Riesling, and Stubbs Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir. (Menu subject to change depending on availability). Please join us for this incredible opportunity to savor the bounty of Marin County! TIME: 6:30 –9 P.M.
Marin County Ag Course at College of Marin Once again, during the Fall Semester, 2008, College of Marin, in co-operation with MALT and the farmers and ranchers of Marin, will offer the popular Marin County Agricultural course. Listed as Biology/Environmental Science 148, it begins August 21 on the Kentfield campus. Contact Dr. Paul da Silva at 415-485-9542 or at Paul.daSilva@marin.edu.
The Hidden Bounty of Marin, U.C. Extension Documentary "The Hidden Bounty of Marin," a half-hour video, highlights the rich landscape and daily life on Marin farms and ranches. Produced by U.C. Extension, it captures "farming on the edge" in Marin County, revealing the farmers' depth of commitment and passion. Come meet the producers and stars/farmers.
Nicasio Valley Farms This popular farm offers a pumpkin patch, hay rides, mazes, farm animals, and a farm stand every weekday, plus delicious BBQ every weekend. A brand new MALT and Marin agriculture exhibit will pique your curiousity about all things agricultural. Special activities include: children's musician Tim Cain (Oct. 4, 19, 26 at 11 A.M.), Local Food Day (Oct. 5), MALT Day (Oct. 19) when 10% of pumpkin sales will directly help preserve Marin County farmland, and Day of the Dead (Nov. 2).
Food & Farming on the Urban Edge Honeybees are in crisis! Entire colonies of these important pollinators have been dying from mysterious causes for the past few years. This slide show and talk by journalist and Master Beekeeper M.E.A. (Mea) McNeil explores the work of researchers focused on this worldwide concern. Without bees, almonds, apples, pears, grapes, and many more fruits and vegetable crops would not be pollinated. Mea, who lives on a small organic farm in San Anselmo and heads the Marin Beekeepers Association, will also suggest garden plants that attract bees and describe ways to provide bee habitat. A honey tasting will follow. TIME: 6:30 P.M.
MALT Holiday Party Ralph Grossi, a founding board member of MALT, has come home to West Marin after 23 years in Washington, D.C. as the president of the American Farmland Trust. He has worked tirelessly to preserve farmland across the country. We will welcome him home, hear about the state of farm land and farm policy nationwide, and celebrate the holiday season. Please call 415-663-1158 to let us know you are coming, or R.S.V.P. online. TIME: 7—9:30 P.M.
Annual Marin Human Race: Join friends and staff of Marin Agricultural Land Trust for the Annual Marin Human Race. We’d love for you to support farmland preservation by joining the MALT team. 90% of each dollar raised by our team is donated to MALT. The 5K race starts at the Avenue of the Flags and finishes at the Marin Center Fairgrounds. Race Day also features a community fair at the fairgrounds and lagoon with music, food, prizes, and more.
California's 2nd Annual Artisan Cheese Festival Marin cheeses produced on land protected by MALT will be featured at this gourmet event. Meet celebrated cheesemakers and sample artisan cheeses. The opening panel, emceed by Michael Krasny, features Jill Giacomini Basch of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. Also: cooking demos, cheesemaking classes, and special cheese-country tours. MALT benefits from event tickets sales. For more information and to register, visit www.artisancheesefestival.com or phone 707-283-2890.
Food & Farming
on the Urban Edge: Tomales has a long farming history and is also a center for new agricultural businesses. Start with a tour of the Tomales History Center, then meet at Town Hall to carpool for a driving tour before returning for presentations on new agricultural operations and local history. Hear from: Ted Hall, co-owner of Tomales Farm and Dairy; Dr. Tamara Hicks, co-owner of Toluma Goat Dairy; and Jennifer Donaldson of Crayne Ranch. Learn about new MALT easements on more than 1,200 acres in Tomales. Tea and snacks provided.
Ranches & Rolling Hills: Art of West Marin—A Land in Trust Join us as we celebrate the official release of our new art book, Ranches & Rolling Hills: The Art of West Marin—A Land in Trust. This book represents the special partnership between prominent California artists, family farmers, and Marin Agricultural Land Trust. It also keeps alive the art and vision you experience at MALT’s annual Ranches & Rolling Hills landscape art show and sale. This elegant, hardcover book contains over 135 full-color images selected from Ranches & Rolling Hills’ decade-long history. Meet some of the featured artists along with author Elisabeth Ptak and art show co-founder Michael Whitt. Local food and wine reception follows. Order your copy of Ranches & Rolling Hills: Art of West Marin—A Land in Trust now!
Marché aux Fleurs Restaurant Earth Day Benefit for MALT This repeat performance is not to be missed. Dine in the heart of downtown Ross at Marché aux Fleurs on the Ross Common, a restaurant that manages to be both down-home and sophisticated, all with a French accent. The five-course tasting menu features local, seasonal farm products sourced at the Marin Farmers' Market. Owners Holly and Don Baker (they also own AVA Restaurant in San Anselmo) have been supporting MALT in this way for a number of years.
Marin Winegrowers' Association Join us for the 4th annual Marin County pinot noir tasting, an inspired effort to preserve agricultural land in Marin County. Proceeds will benefit MALT. The limited production Marin County pinot noirs include some marquee names and some of California's most promising new faces: Corda Winery, Dutton-Goldfield Winery, Kendric Vineyards, Orogeny Winery, Pey-Marin Vineyards, Point Reyes Vineyards, Sean Thackrey, Stubbs Vineyard, Thomas Fogarty Winery, Vergari Wines, Vision Cellars, and Willowbrook Cellars. A wide selection of locally-produced foods will be offered.
Farmland Forever Dinner & Auction at Left Bank Brasserie Left Bank Brasserie will
host the 1st Annual Farmland Forever Dinner & Auction
at their Larkspur restaurant on Sunday, October 14, beginning at
Renowned chef Roland Passot of La Folie, Left Bank Brasseries and Tanglewood will create a special menu for the dinner featuring local, seasonal foods with a Grown in Marin theme. Tickets at $250 per person include a Farmer's Market and special tasting from local producers, followed by a sit-down dinner and auction. We greatly appreciate the support of Left Bank Brasserie in creating and hosting this event to help MALT preserve more Marin farmland, says Executive Director Bob Berner. In the coming year alone, we have a unique opportunity to protect another 5,000 acres at a cost of close to $13 million. We can't achieve this goal without community support. This event will be a great boost to our efforts.” MALT's work is vital to the survival of working farms in West Marin,” says Left Bank Brasserie Vice-president of Operations, Tom Bensel. “Our Bay Area restaurants depend on the availability of fresh, local food and wines. Our decision to host this dinner to raise money for MALT's programs is a testament to our commitment to ensuring continued access to healthy, local food not just now, but for future generations.”
Food & Farming
on the Urban Edge Marin County farmers and ranchers have many stories to tell about their family’s history on the land. The history of how the land remained in agriculture or not is also a fascinating tale. Join: MALT founder Phyllis Faber; dairywoman and past MALT board member, Sharon Doughty; ranch owner and past board member Crawford Cooley; and historian Dewy Livingston for a presentation on Marin farmland and family histories. Crawford will talk about the Black (as in Black Mountain) family history. James Black was the first assessor of Marin County and in the 1860s he owned 44,000 acres. Who owns it now? Sharon Doughty will talk about the four generations of her farming family living in Marin. Phyllis will describe the founding of MALT. The Nicasio Historical Society will introduce its new book on the history of Nicasio. Enjoy afternoon tea and local food treats.
Food and Farming on the Urban Edge: Hear author and activist Amy Meyer, co-chair of People For a Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Her New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park, tells how the park grew from an idea for a contained bit of green into a band that stretches from Tomales Bay to beyond the Golden Gate. She’ll be joined by Olema rancher Joanne Stewart, daughter of Boyd Stewart, an advocate for inclusion of farms and ranches in national parks. Also: GGNRA Superintendent Brian O’Neill and Charles Higgins of Slide Ranch discussing the importance of sustainable agriculture to the health of people and the environment. Local food and wine reception follows.
Ranches & Rolling Hills Landscape Art Show On the third weekend of every May, the Ranches & Rolling Hills landscape art show and sale is held at the Druid’s Hall on the Village Square in Nicasio. The show features more than 250 images of natural and working West Marin landscapes including many of the 61 family farms that have been permanently protected by MALT. More than 250 images of natural and working landscapes can be found at Ranches & Rolling Hills. A select group of artists and photographers capture the spirit of the farms, ranches, and open spaces of West Marin on canvas, paper, and film. Curator Michael Whitt founded Ranches & Rolling Hills in 1998, along with Ray Strong, the dean of Santa Barbara's highly respected Oak Group. A former Marin resident, Strong studied and taught with Maynard Dixon at the Art Students’ League in San Francisco. A continuing inspiration to the Ranches & Rolling Hills artists, Strong always attended the show including his last in May, 2006, just prior to his death at the age of 101. In all, 35-40 nationally known California artists participate, including Marin painters Ralph and Martha Borge, Willard Dixon, Timothy Horn, Susan Hall, Wendy Schwartz, and Zenaida Mott along with artists Arturo Tello, Glenna Hartmann, Meredith Brooks Abbott, Whitney Brooks Abbott, and other members of the Oak Group of Santa Barbara. Marin County lithographs donated to MALT by Russell Chatham are also available and may be purchased at any time in the Malt Shop. Fifty percent of all sales benefit MALT’s farmland preservation program which provides a conservation alternative to the sale or subdivision of Marin farmland. Some of the Bay Area's most highly acclaimed dairy products and organic crops, including Cowgirl Creamery cheeses, Straus Family Creamery dairy products, and Point Reyes Original Blue cheese are produced from farmland protected by MALT conservation easements. For more information about Ranches & Rolling Hills go to http://www.malt.org/hp/artshow.htm.
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