Cal Poly to be Featured at Major Central Coast Wine and Food Fest

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly students, faculty and food will be in the spotlight at the first annual Sunset - Savor the Central Coast wine and food festival. The event runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 at Santa Margarita Ranch.

Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences are playing a prominent part in the festival. CAFES students and faculty are raising and donating broiler chickens and lamb, acting as sous chefs, and selling organic produce and Cal Poly foods at the gourmet event.

From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, visitors can tour Cal Poly’s 2,000-acre Escuela Ranch – on Highway 1, eight miles north of the university. Home to Cal Poly beef cattle, the working ranch serves as a living laboratory for the university’s nearly 4,000 agriculture students. Students will share their learn-by-doing experiences in environmental stewardship and beef cattle sustainability practices. A barbeque, hosted by the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties’ cattlemen’s associations and Cal Poly, follows the tour.

On Oct. 2 and 3 at the Santa Margarita Ranch, the Central Coast Pavilion includes a “Savor Cal Poly” booth. Visitors can sample and purchase Cal Poly chocolate, jam and cheeses, and learn about the university’s organic farm, Center for Sustainability, award-winning wines, and fresh and processed meats.

Event chefs will prepare their dishes using 300 broiler chickens raised by Cal Poly students. The birds were raised on an all-natural, vegetarian diet with no antibiotics by Cal Poly professor Bob Delmore and his students.

CAFES Students are also raising pullets – young hens that have just started to lay eggs. Five breeds of hens will be featured in a backyard coop demonstration at the festival. The coops were designed and built by BioResource and Agricultural Engineering student Heather Ellingson. Materials were donated by Miner’s ACE Hardware of San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly Executive Chef Robert Rood will co-present with Sunset Magazine’s food editor, Margo True, at the festival's “Beyond the Chop” seminar. Participants will learn about the different cuts of lamb and the best cooking technique for each cut. All the lamb being served at the festival was grown and produced by Cal Poly thanks to a $7,500 grant from the American Lamb Board.

For more event and ticket information, visit http://www.savorcentralcoast.com or call 800-768-6653.

About Savor the Central Coast
Sunset’s Savor the Central Coast event will celebrate the beauty and bounty of San Luis Obispo County in a four-day experience. Sunset’s expert editors, along with celebrity chefs, will guide visitors through unique culinary tours, one-of-a-kind winemaker dinners, historic excursions, and amazing culinary showcases. Visit, http://www.savorcentralcoast.com for more information.

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