Grapes are not the only bounty around here,and the Family Farm League's here to prove it

By JULISSA McKINNON, Register Staff Writer

Soups and winter greens in the cold months. Red ripe tomatoes and juicy peaches in the summer.

Eating seasonal produce is not only healthy for the body; it's good for the earth. Less transportation equals less pollution. And the closer to home your food is grown, the fresher it is and the better it tastes.

These are just a few of the truths local food growers eat by, ones they hope to spread to the general populace of Napa Valley. On Sunday the valley's handful of food growers gathered to kick off the Family Farm League -- a grassroots group dedicated simply to growing food in an area renowned for its wines. Steve Sando, the group's founder, hosted the league's first fiesta at Rancho Gordo, his bean shop tucked away among the warehouses of Industrial Way.

"All we're trying to do is encourage people to grow food, whether they be small farmers or hobby gardeners," Sando said.

"We're not anti-wine. If not for the wine we probably wouldn't be an ag preserve. But we're trying to balance it. This valley is a monoculture, which can invite pests and other problems. The potato famine in Ireland was brought on by a lack of genetic diversity."

In attendance at the gathering were established small food growers from Grandpa Jack's Farm and Long Meadow Ranch, but also several students from Vintage High School who are studying the art of eating well.

Some students from the high school's gardening class supervised a seed exchange. Meanwhile, their culinary counterparts served self-styled seasonal dishes and desserts.

But whether they were gardening or culinary apprentices, the teens said the event reinforced lessons they've gleaned from their high school food courses. Cesar Lopez was among several gardening students who experimented with a strictly organic and whole foods diet for two weeks.

"I definitely had more energy than when I ate conventional food or junk food," said Lopez, a senior. "The food you put into your body truly does affect how you feel."

Lopez, who is taking the gardening elective for the second year in a row, said the nutritional insights he's brought home have changed his family's eating habits.

"Now we look twice when we pick up a package. We're aware of trans-fats and chemicals. If we can't read or understand an ingredient, we don't need to put it into our bodies."

His classmate, Mark Roach, 17, has also encouraged his family to eat less-processed and organic foods whenever possible.

"Eating more plants is better for you. Garden food is better than regular, processed food," Roach said, adding that a survey the class conducted revealed their subjects found organic food tastes better, too.

Students such as Lopez and Roach spend much of the gardening course outside, cultivating a variety of crops including tomatoes, Swiss chard, onions, carrots, sweet peas, peppers, broccoli and garlic. The crops they harvest are then donated to the Napa Food Bank, used in the culinary class, or sold back to the student body from a food cart every Wednesday.

Culinary teacher Kelin Backman said the objective is for students to walk away from the food courses with "nutritional fundamentals."

"We want to teach them how to eat properly and be self-sufficient in the kitchen. They also learn the complexities of running a small business," Backman said.

Jennifer LaMonte, one of the gardening teachers, said kids also are exposed to other "alternatives to a consumer-driven culture."

The class investigates some of the issues surrounding genetically modified organisms and they learn about "permaculture" -- the concept of using the natural materials around you to meet your needs. For example, students constructed a shed from straw bales, LaMonte said. The shed was victim of a blaze, but students have since rebuilt it.

Culinary student Omar Azruei, 17, said even though he grew up surrounded by the cooking of his father's Curbside Caf, the high school course gave him an appreciation for the work that goes into growing quality food.

"We run everything on community-based products. Most of it is organic. It gives you a respect for what people do, and how much work it takes to grow something and bring it to your table," Azruei said.

Meanwhile, seeing young people learning to value wholesomely and locally-grown produce motivates organic growers, including Grandpa Jack's Brad Morgan, to keep doing what they do.

"I find this very encouraging," Morgan said of the students' participation in the newly formed Family Farm League. "In the next 10 to 20 years I think we'll see a lot of diversification in the valley, based on the tourist potential. If you have a top-notch winery next to a dairy next to an organic farm, that's a lot more interesting and has a lot more economic potential than just another winery."

Meanwhile, Laddie Hall strives to incorporate that kind of diversity on her land. In addition to producing Long Meadow Ranch wine, Hall also cultivates fruits and vegetables, organic eggs, herbs, and flowers on a 5.8-acre Upvalley site, tucked into the valley's western hills. Many of the products supply some of the area's top-notch restaurants.

"We're in a wine and food mecca," Hall said. "Chefs are interested in produce that's fresh, coming out of the ground hours before it's served in the restaurant.

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