The 20th Village Feast is set for Oct. 22
August 24, 2023
(From press release) The Village Feast celebrates the Sacramento region’s Farm-to-Fork season, where the community gathers to enjoy and honor the bounty of local farmers. This year, the event returns to Central Park – under the shade of the Davis Farmers Market structure – for its 20th anniversary community meal, from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22.
Presented by Davis Farm to School and the Les Dames d’Escoffier International, Sacramento, The Village Feast is a fundraiser for food and agricultural education in the greater Sacramento area. The Village Feast follows the late-summer feasts of Provence, France, in the grand aïoli tradition, uniting people and food for a long, leisurely alfresco meal that stars aïoli — a golden garlic-mayonnaise. All proceeds from The Village Feast support early and continued education around food and agriculture.
As in years past, each meal begins with appetizers of olives, nuts, local wines and fresh baguettes. The meal is served family-style, with passed platters of heirloom tomatoes drizzled with local olive oil, steamed and grilled local vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, and bowls of garlic-scented aïoli. Next comes the grilled lamb and summer white bean salad, then a fruit galette for dessert.
Les Dames d’Escoffier and Davis Farm to School paired up for this event because of their shared visions and values. Les Dames d’Escoffier, a philanthropic organization of female leaders in the areas of food, fine beverage and hospitality, gives scholarships to area women to further their education in these areas. Davis Farm to School provides garden grants, organizes farm field trips, and supports farm-fresh food in school meals.
Tickets are $165 per person until sold out. Attendees may reserve tables of eight for $1,320. Tickets are available at https://thevillagefeast2023.eventbrite.com.
The silent auction will be online, available to anyone. Bids open on Oct. 8 and close at 5 p.m. on Oct. 22. It includes dozens of items and experiences donated by chefs, restaurants, wineries and community members. Participants bid on items by downloading the free Auctria smartphone app at https://www.auctria.com/blog/auctria-mobile-app/. Auction pre-registration begins Sept. 15.
For more information about The Village Feast event or sponsorships, email Rachael Levine at [email protected].
$165 per person - no thanks.
Also, a statement that the organizer of this event provides scholarships to women in the areas of food, fine beverage and hospitality. But as noted many times by now, "women" are over-represented in universities in the first place.
And what exactly is "hospitality" in reference to the scholarship? I tend to think of a hotel desk clerk. "Fine beverage"? Alcohol comes to mind.
Again - no thanks.
There needs to be a fundamental "re-thinking" of what constitutes worthwhile causes, non-profits, etc.
Posted by: Ron O | August 24, 2023 at 12:58 PM
A celebration of structural elitism in a city park! Charity is, by definition, non-democratic distribution of wealth, but if the participants want to support the affiliated organizations, that's fine... just don't rub our noses in your aïoli.
Do the organizers really believe that a $165 meal is an example of "village" and "community"? (Of course developers plan a "Village Farm" semi-sprawl at the edge of Davis, and no one seems to care about this abuse of language in our oh-so-educated and #equitable town...). There's not even a gesture of a sliding scale, or an opportunity for local serfs to volunteer and get a seat on the side.
I really and truly hope that all relevant elected officials and members of city and county commissions that deal directly with equity issues do not attend this disgusting elite garbage. Please just donate to the benefitting organizations. At the very least this kind of gated feast should not be allowed in Central Park.
(Ron O: There are still a lot of structural economic challenges for women to get what's mostly very expensive university education. So - within our awful paradigm of competition and money and privilege - it's fine to support an organization such as Les Dames d’Escoffier.)
Posted by: Tuvia of the Universe | August 24, 2023 at 03:21 PM