Across Sac: Farm-to-Fork Capital

By Brandon Darnell

Food here just tastes better.

Urban Community Farms

Create + Gather S acramento is America’s Farm-toFork Capital, which means that when you’re here, you’re getting the freshest food possible. From the restaurants to farmers markets to hotel room service, your food comes straight from the source.

Chefs have longstanding relationships with farmers in the area, which ensures fresh food in the restaurants on menus that change at least as often as the seasons. Brewers deliver the mash byproduct of brewing beer to local livestock ranchers for feed for their animals, ensuring it doesn’t go to waste, and Sacramento grows a multitude of wine grapes in and around the city, making some of the best wines in California. Sacramento’s SAFE Credit Union Convention Center’s catering is run by Centerplate, which places a major emphasis on farm-to-fork food as well, showing off our agricultural bounty to everyone in town for a convention.

Furthermore, our farm-to-fork lifestyle extends to health care and education as well. UC Davis Health has gone all in on farm-fresh food, reshaping the idea of hospital food to create healthy, delicious meals full of nutrients and sourced locally. Nonprofit organizations like the Food Literacy Center work with local schools to teach food education and show kids that vegetables and fruits can be tasty and fun to eat, and scholarship programs through Sacramento State University’s CAMP program are helping the children of migrant farmworkers realize their dreams of going to college.

California’s capital may be famous for its Gold Rush history, but most of those who came to the region in search of gold never found much. What they did find: a land of fertile soil, and the smart ones cultivated it and found their wealth not in shiny metal, but in farming—which helped build Sacramento into the agricultural powerhouse and foodie destination we all enjoy today.

Farmers Markets

Sacramento’s farmers markets are some of the best places to get food in the region as well as to dive headfirst into the lifestyle that makes us America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital. California’s largest farmers market is held every Sunday at Arden Fair mall, and one of the most popular ones is the Midtown Farmers Market, held every Saturday at 20th and K streets.

Wandering through the markets, you’ll be mingling with the locals picking up their food for the week, chefs selecting fresh items for their restaurants that evening, and, of course, the farmers who make it all possible. Far from just an outdoor produce section, Sacramento’s farmers markets embody a festive atmosphere and have plenty of ready-to-eat foods and treats on-hand.

Restaurants

Throughout the past two years, it’s been clear how much we’ve taken for granted our ability to meet up with friends at a local restaurant, wave to the owner, and have a delicious plate of food delivered hot and fresh. Now that shutdowns, quarantines and stay-at-home orders are lifted and the world works to return to normal, we can enjoy those times again, because, let’s face it, food just doesn’t taste quite as good to-go. (We’re looking at you, french fries.)

And it’s no secret that, coming out of the pandemic, restaurants need the support. Fortunately for Sacramento, supply chain issues aren’t as much of an issue when you’re sourcing your food from a few miles away. Our restaurants have been able to continue making food that’s so high in quality that Sacramento became the fifth American city to be recognized in the Michelin guide in 2019, and its number of restaurants getting the nod from the publication grew in 2021.

When you’re in town, though, you don’t need to look hard to find great restaurants. Whether it’s a local restaurant with a great patio where you can enjoy the warm summer nights, a fine dining restaurant, or just a quick bite from a food truck at a brewery or concert, chances are, it’s going to be fresh as well as delicious. We celebrate our fresh-food bounty all year round, but September is the best time because Sacramento goes all-out in celebration of farm to fork. The Farm-to-Fork Festival kicked off in 2013, and nine years later, it continues to grow and remains a favorite among locals and visitors as they enjoy meandering down Capitol Mall sampling food, seeing chef demos, learning about how great agriculture connects to great food and health, and, of course, sipping wine, beer and cocktails.

Food is only the half of it. The free Farm-to-Fork Festival (Sept. 23–24, 2022) celebrates food and live music, and musical acts continue to draw more and more music fans. This year’s performers weren’t released by time of publication, but log onto farmtofork.com to keep up with the full lineup. Previous performers have included The Record Company, Meg Myers, Fantastic Negrito, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Dawes, and more. Another popular event is Legends of Wine (Sept. 8, 2022), which features about 40 Sacramento-area wineries pouring along with cheese, fruit, prepared food and more, all on the steps of the State Capitol. Tickets are available at farmtofork.com beginning in summer, and it’s always a popular event.

The Tower Bridge Dinner (Sept. 11, 2022) is the hottest ticket in town, as more than 800 diners get the opportunity to sit along the capital city’s iconic bridge for a multicourse meal served by Sacramento’s top chefs with ingredients sourced from the surrounding farms, paired with local wine, beer and cocktails. Check farmtofork.com for ticket availability, and if you’re one of the lucky ones to score a ticket, it’ll be a night you won’t forget.

While the September events are the highlight of the year for local foodies, there’s no shortage of things to do throughout the year, from food events in parks to drinks festivals to farm-to-fork dinners on farms. Educational events and others round out what we have here in Sacramento, and visiting farmtofork.com is the best place to start.