April 5, 2006

Contact: Hunter Francis
Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium
(805) 756-5086
www.calpoly.edu/~sarc

Cal Poly Plans Fund-Raiser Dinner to Benefit Sustainable Agriculture

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly’s Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium is planning its second annual fund-raiser dinner, “Tastes of the Future, with Roots in the Past,” on Thursday, June 1.

Renowned farmer, author and photographer Michael Ableman will be the speaker and guest of honor at the family-style dinner, which will feature sustainably raised ingredients prepared by some of the Central Coast’s finest chefs. The dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. at Rancho Arroyo Grande Winery and Vineyards in Arroyo Grande.

Ableman will speak about his new book, “Fields of Plenty,” and his experiences visiting sustainable agriculture projects worldwide. Funds raised that evening will enable the Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium to continue to provide quality educational experiences in organic and sustainable agriculture for farmers, students and community members, said Hunter Francis, program coordinator of Cal Poly’s Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium.

Ableman is the founder and executive director of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, a nonprofit organization based on one of the oldest and most diverse organic farms in Southern California. The farm has become an important education center and a national model for small-scale and urban agriculture.

Ableman’s photographs have appeared in publications throughout the world and in solo exhibitions at the Oakland Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Field Museum in Chicago. He has lectured extensively throughout the United States and in Europe. His articles have appeared in National Geographic, the Utne Reader and Gourmet Magazine and on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. An award-winning film about Ableman’s work, “Beyond Organic” narrated by Meryl Streep, aired nationally on PBS in 2001.

Tickets to the dinner are $100. For tickets and more information, call Francis, program at 756-5086 or visit the SARC Web site at www.calpoly.edu/~sarc.

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