Ryan ChartrandBig, warm loaves of multi-grain bread, mountainous chunks of heavenly cheese and tasty glasses of Tolosa wines … these ingredients will be mixed together to create the sold-out event “Break Bread,” a fundraiser for the Cal Poly Sustainable Agriculture Resource Consortium this Sunday at Tolosa Winery.
“I’m a lover of bread and I wanted a name that would highlight the bread and the grains,” Program Associate of SARC Hunter Francis said.
“We also wanted something to reflect the idea of community and the people coming together, sharing, tasting and talking about the foods with the producers of the foods. It is the idea of coming to the table, breaking bread,” she said.
With numerous guest speakers and endless samples, the event highlights the important relationship between the globe, grains and goodies from the bakery.
Food ethnologist Lorenz K. Schaller will present a unique slideshow, showcasing the important, natural relationship between humanity and biodiverse seedcrops.
“He has been involved in saving, preserving and studying edible feed crops, grains. Everything from rice to millet to barley to rye,” Frances said.
“He has a feed research foundation, and a wealth of knowledge in the history of grains and how they’ve been used in baking,” he said.
With a major focus on cereal grains, Schaller founded nonprofit organizations. The Kusa Seed Research Foundation and The Kusa Seed Society to spread the word about the values of ancient seeds and grains.
After the presentation, there will be a group discussion about the significance of grains, as well as its link to Cal Poly’s sustainable agricultural initiatives.
“Our faculty director Neal MacDougall will be welcoming the crowd and doing introductions,” Francis said.
“He will give an overview of (SARC’s) programs and highlight what we have coming up in the next year,” he said. “The most exciting news is that he will discuss our formalization process to establish our program as an official institute at Cal Poly.”
After all the talk about grainy goodness, the expected 80 attendees will have the chance to try it all with a variety of different Central Coast goods. Fresh local bread, California cheeses, olives, preserves and Tolosa wine will be provided for sampling.
Highlighted on the list of foods are baked goods from Ciro Pasciuto, a well-known San Luis Obispo County baker and the head of the Paso Robles catering company Skipping Stone Productions.
Pasciuto learned the role of fresh local foods at an early age while growing up in an Italian fishing village. He is known for creating a new kind of cracker, the Croccantini, nationally recognized by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.
Other locally-featured foods are Fresh Sheep Milk Cheese from Rinconada Dairy in Santa Margarita; Peleme Cheese, an award-winning cheese produced on campus at the Dairy Products Technology Center; Noah’s pickles and organic fruit spreads from Lagier Ranches, a family-owned company led by a recent Cal Poly graduate. CrŠme Fraiche from Kendall Farms in Atascadero will be served with the fruit spreads.
This is SARC’s first fundraiser of the year and all profits will go towards SARC and the Cal Poly Sustainable Farm. Last year’s dinner fundraiser proved to be a success with over $35,000 raised. The guest speaker was Michael Ableman, founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens in Goleta and author of “Fields of Plenty.”
SARC will host another event in October as a dinner fundraiser with guest speaker Paul Dolan, author of “True To Our Roots.”
“He is a big name in the wine industry because his book is about the sustainable vineyard and viticulture practice,” Francis said.
All tickets are sold out for the event, which will from 3 to 5:30 p.m.