Eat It. Make It. Grow It. Oakland’s Eat Real Festival Unleashes Butchers, Pickle Makers and Butter Shakers


SOURCE: Eat Real Festival

Three Non-Stop Days of Food Performances, Pickling and Butchery Contests, Hands-on Workshops, Music and Food Films

OAKLAND, CA–(Marketwire – August 25, 2010) –  Oakland’s Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square is just two days away. Free to the public, this urban food extravaganza is unlike any other food festival in the world — bringing cutting edge food entertainment to a wide swath of the public on three stages for three straight days. From August 27 through 29, attendees will be treated to non-stop food skills and DIY demos, a “flying knives” butchery contest, beer making, an eclectic array of local musicians, an evening of short and delectable food films, in addition to a huge selection of delicious street eats from over 80 vendors — all priced at $5 or less.

“Eat Real’s three day celebration of great food goes far beyond eating and drinking,” said Anya Fernald, founder of the Eat Real Festival. “We want people to get up close and personal with their food — from making butter or sauerkraut, or milking goats and raising backyard chickens, to seeing the artistry involved in butchering a steer or pig. This year we salute all aspects of our food system, and we’ll activate tens of thousands of people in demanding good food, all the time.”

The three stages will showcase local bands, food performances and cooking and homesteading skills demonstrations. For those who want to get their hands dirty, the DIY foods area lets enthusiastic home cooks learn by doing alongside the experts.

On the Lawn Stage attendees will dance to afro-beat, salsa, punk-folk and blues. On Saturday evening, musicians turn over the Lawn Stage to the rock stars of the food world in for the Flying Knives Butchery Contest. The contest pits reigning champions, the Yedra brothers of Marin Sun Farm, against two other teams of trained butchers as they race to break down a whole hanging quarter steer. On Sunday, two new teams of butchers hit the stage for the first ever Eat Real pig butchery contest.

“Being a butcher in other countries is a respected tradition and art form, but here in the U.S. we are seen as eccentrics,” said Dave the Butcher, Manager at Marina Meats. “This is about breaking down people’s images of what they think meat should look like. And if you eat meat, you need to know where it comes from. The Eat Real Festival offers a venue to educate, showcase skills and bring people into their local butcher shops in a very non-scary way.”

Prefer vegetables? A kraut-a-thon transforms the humble cabbage, pickles will be created and eaten, and grow-your-own mushroom experts are ready to demonstrate how to grow your own tasty fungi.

There are plenty of other not-to-miss events including the first-ever Food Lit Festival on the second floor of the Jack London Market Building, in which writers and food pundits will share their personal stories of food odysseys and adventures. The Jack London Square Farmers Market will run both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night brings a film screening of short films and clips about food, some humorous, some local, and all good. Full schedule below.

LAWN STAGE PROGRAM

Friday, August 27
2pm – DJ Pedrogas
5pm – Pizza Tossing with Matthew Driscol
6pm & 8pm – Music by Sun Hop Fat

Saturday, August 28
10am – DJ Citizen Zain
11am – The Great Butter Shakedown
12pm – Music by Beatbeat Whisper
2pm – Bhangra Dancing with Dholrhythms
3pm – Dj eKg
3:30pm – The Sprouts Kid’s Cook-off
5pm – Music by Misisipi Rider
7pm – 2nd Annual Flying Knives Steer Butchery Contest
8:30pm – Food Film Feast by CHOW

Sunday, August 29
10am – DJ Uni + DJ GStar
11am – Chinese Noodle Pulling with Chef Gordon of Ark Restaurant
1pm – Carne Cruda
2pm – DJ Odiaka
3pm – Flying Knives Pig Butchery Contest

FOOD SKILLS STAGE PROGRAM

Friday, August 27
2pm – DJ Vinnie Esparza
5pm – Home Winemaking Made Simple with Fred Buonano of Philo Ridge
6pm – Five Sweet Apps for your Favorite Summer Berry with Shakirah Simley of Slow Jams
7pm – Edible Organic Gardening for Urban Dwellers with Star Apple Edible and Fine Gardens

Saturday, August 28
11am – Homemade Kombucha with Dara Marin of Sage Table
12pm – Japanese Whetstone Sharpening with Josh Donald of Bernal Cutlery
1pm – Ricotta Made Easy with Jordan Grosser
2pm – Goat Butchering Demo with Dave the Butcher and Avedano’s
3pm – Home Roasted Coffee with James Freeman of Blue Bottle
4pm – The Art+Science of Home Brewing with Regan Long and Sarah Fenson of Local Brewing Co.
5pm – Backyard Chickens 101 + Eggy Cooking with Heidi Kooy
6pm – Live Goat Milking + Ice Cream Demo with
7pm – Italian Sauces with Rudy of C’era Una Volta
8pm – Conquering the Crepe with Chef Robert Dorsey III of the Blue Oak Cafe

Sunday, August 29
11am – Sow Your Seeds with Antonio Roman-Alcala
12pm – Urban Homestead Contests Awards Ceremony
12:30pm – What is Permaculture? With David Cody of Permaculture SF
1pm – Kickin’ Kimchi with Delilah Snell, of the Project Small Blog
2pm – Cheese-making in 3 Easy Steps with Mateo Rutherford of Green Faerie Farm
3pm – Ultra-Small-Batch Raspberry Jam Dafna Kory of INNA Jam
4pm – Makin’ Bacon with Chris Arentz of Avedano’s Holly Park Market

DIY FOODS PROGRAM

Saturday, August 28
10am-5pm – The Bee Hive with the San Francisco Beekeeper’s Association
11am – Make Your Own Sourdough Starter with Danny of Sour Flour
12pm – Fish Farming and Hiramasa with Whole Foods Market
1pm – Tamale Making with La Borinquena
2pm – Happy Girl Kitchen Co.’s Kraut-a-thon
3pm – Grow Your Own Mushrooms with Far West Fungi
4pm – Make Your Own Mead with Robert MacKimmie of City Bees
5pm – Garden-starter Pots for Kids with Veggielution Community Farm

Sunday, August 29
10am-5pm – The Bee Hive with the Alameda Beekeeper’s Association
11am – Garden Starter Pots for Kids with Maria Finn of City Dirt
12pm – Homemade Sausage Making with John Stewart of Black Pig
1pm – Air Chilled Chicken with Whole Foods Market
2pm – Kickin’ Kombucha with Jessica Prentice of Three Stone Hearth
3pm – Homemade Bitters with Greg Lindgren of Rye S.F.
4pm – Happy Girl Kitchen Co.’s Kraut-a-thon

STREET STAGE PROGRAM

Saturday, August 28
10:30am – Avelina Brown Nunez
1:15pm – Sadza Marimba
4:00pm – Deborah Crooks Band
6:45pm – Richard March & Tyler Ragle

Sunday, August 29
10:30am – Rondalla del Sagrado Corazon
12:45pm – Oakland Museum presents…
3:00pm – Blues and Groove

For complete information about the Eat Real Festival and the different programming, please visit www.eatrealfest.com/schedulegettingtoeatreal

About Eat Real Festival
Eat Real is a social venture business founded by a group of people who believe that delicious, convenient, affordable and sustainable food should be celebrated. Our main product — the Eat Real Festival — supports a strong social change agenda and is a values-driven event focused on educating people about the food they eat. Eat Real focuses on delicious and sustainable “street food” and puts eaters in contact with the real people — the farmers, chefs and producers — who make our food. In addition, we donate a small percentage of our profit to targeted California organizations promoting access to healthy and affordable food, entrepreneurship and economic development. www.eatrealfest.com

MEDIA CONTACT
Haven Bourque
415.505-3473
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