Hello Friends!

There's so many great food events cooking up this month so come join us as we celebrate the fruits (and veggies) of the summer season. Don't miss our two special fundraiser dinners this month at Miss Pearl's Jam House in Oakland and Mission Street Food in SF. These delicious events happen on both sides of the Bay! Please bring your friends and family.

Click on the People's Grocery logo at the top to go to our website for upcoming events, news, jobs, & volunteer opportunities.

July's Program Highlights Ø Held a Grub Party in collaboration w/ Oakland Progress Project & Attitudinal Healing Connection Ø Tabled at 2nd annual Ride-4-Life event & 100th Anniversary celebration of Oakland Parks & Recreation Ø Conducted a focus group session with current and former program participants Ø Graduated 8 adults, 1 teen and 2 children from Nutrition Cooking Class Ø Delivered workshops to Alameda Point Collaborative, Berkeley Youth Alternatives, PUEBLO and Destiny Arts Ø 26 new Grub Box members joined in July Ø Distributed 206 Grub Boxes Ø Logged over 1,000 farm and garden intern hours in July Ø Hosted two school groups at Sunol Farm and one group at 55th St Garden Ø Harvested 3,054 lbs of produce from Sunol Farm and Urban Gardens Ø Produced 7 cubic yards of organic compost Donate to People's Grocery online!

Caribbean Dinner at Miss Pearl's Jam House - Tues., 8/25 from 5:30-9:30pm. As part of the "Eat Real Festival" we've paired up with Chef Peter Jackson of the beautiful waterfront restaurant, Miss Pearl's Jam House. Chef Peter has created for us a special four-course Caribbean street food inspired menu that begins with a surprise "Amuse Bouche", followed by "Quimbombo" - Cuban pork, plantain and okra soup. Next is the yummy "Stamp and Go" - fried Caribbean Salt Cod cakes, mizuna, curried mango puree. Then "Jerk Organic Chicken Breast" - Organic braised vegetables (from People’s Grocery Sunol farm), with a Habanero-Carrot reduction. For dessert: Spiced Poached Peaches - Lemon Verbena cake, ginger caramel sauce, topped with Three Twins organic vanilla ice cream. (Vegetarian option is available.) $50 four-course dinner includes wine. Miss Pearl's is at One Broadway in Jack London Square, from 5:30-9:30pm. Special thanks to Chef Peter, Miss Pearl's & Eat Real. 40% of dinner sales and special Caribbean cocktail sales goes to People's Grocery. Eat Real and Support People's Grocery! click here for Miss Pearl's info

Spice up your Life! Mission Street Food & People's Grocery - Thursday, 8/27 @ 6pm. Chef Eddie Blyden (of Henry's in Berkeley & founder of SOMA 21st Amendment Brewery in SF) is our guest chef at Mission Street Food for an evening of delectable dishes made with organic produce grown by People's Grocery. Mission Street Food is an adventurous underground restaurant that combines the indie cooking movement with donating to a charitable cause. Voted SF Weekly, 2009 Best Charitable Chef, "ex-Bar Tartine line cook Anthony Myint transforms into the Batman of guerrilla catering, turning a humble Chinese restaurant on Mission Street into a showcase for some of the most interesting food in the city." Bring your friends & family to "Lung Shan Restaraunt", 2234 Mission St., SF. No reservations, so come early and be prepared for an amazing culinary treat. Chef Blyden blends his West African & Caribbean heritage, Russian upbringing, Southeast Asian influences and culinary training from restaurants in Germany, Switzerland, Anguilla, & New York. He believes "food is like music," and his dishes will be hot! You can read more about Chef Eddie at "http://www.chefblyden.com/bio/". Special thanks to Chef Blyden & Mission Street Food. Proceeds go to People's Grocery. click here for more info about Mission Street Food

Welcome to Nisha Anand: New Individual Donor Manager Nisha has been a leading trainer, activist and fundraiser in the global justice, direct action and anti-violence movements in the U.S for the last 15 years. Nisha organized campaigns and protests around the country as the National Field Organizer for the War Resisters League, an 85 year-old peace organization. She has also worked as the Director of Development at the Ruckus Society, a national direct action training organization and San Francisco Women Against Rape, a women-of-color led rape crisis center. Nisha is a trainer and consultant for GIFT, The Grassroots Institute on Fundraising Training, and The Ruckus Society. She facilitates trainings on Anti-Racist Organizing, Nonviolence, Grassroots Fundraising, Organizational Development and Management, Direct Action, and Conflict Resolution. In addition, she sits on the Advisory Board of The Catalyst Project and The Board of Directors for SFWAR. In 1999, she received her Masters Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from the American University in Washington, DC. Nisha is also the proud mother of two amazing young children. click here to read more about the "People" of People's Grocery

Grub Party - Saturday Aug. 15 Come get your grub on at these free monthly events, celebrating West Oakland by connecting our community, our cultural flare, and our food to health and nutrition. Guest chef demo, youth presentation, music, and free produce. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m at Defremery Rec Center, 1651 Adeline St, Oakland, CA 94607. Grub Party info

Person of the Month: Chia Hamilton This month we feature a long-standing supporter, Chia Hamilton. Chia was involved with the Alameda County Community Food Bank, Three Stone Hearth, took a tour with Food First through El Paso to a number of small towns and cities in Mexico to understand the migration crisis; (it's about food & hunger), attended a listening session in Sacramento about the Farm Bill, before she discovered People's Grocery. She's graciously been donating time and funds, recruiting other donors, volunteers each week packing Grub Boxes as well as being a Grub Box sponsor. She helped out on the Sunol Farm twice last year, has visited the gardens, participated in the cooking classes, enjoyed getting to know and working with staff, interns and other volunteers, and says she learns something during every interaction. Her own home garden grows larger and thrives because of her involvement with People's Grocery. Chia says "You are an outstanding organization improving many aspects of the West Oakland community. I am proud to work with you!" And the feeling is mutal, thank you Chia for all the work you do! If you're like Chia and love to garden, volunteer at our new CalHotel Greenhouse and Garden, workparties happen every Friday from 9am-5pm. Contact "Marcelo@peoplesgrocery.org". Volunteer Calendar here!

People's Grocery & the Eat Real Festival - 8/28 to 8/30 Street food, fresh summer fruits and veggies, live music, handcrafted local beers, ice cream sold from the back of a bicycle. Come find it all and more at Eat Real, a free festival, taking place August 28-30 at Jack London Square. Buy from your favorite street food vendors, pick up a ticket for the Beer Shed and sample from among the 40-something microbrews, or shop in the Market for local produce and artisanal snacks. In between the good eats, enjoy the non-stop entertainment and activities that include chef demonstrations, dance performances, bands, films, food competitions, and lots more, for free. Look for our own staff member, Erica Torrence, as one of the MC's at Eat Real. Proceeds from the event benefit People's Grocery, La Cocina and Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Eat Real info

Sign up for your Grub Box! Summertime Grub Boxes have lots of delicious organic fruits and veggies just waiting to come home to you. Each box has 10-12 different seasonal selections of produce. Pick-ups are weekly on Tuesday afternoon in Oakland and Fridays in Berkeley. Eat healthy and support People's Grocery's! Contact "Diana@peoplesgrocery.org" for more info. Grub Box info

Harvesting Justice - Save the Date! 1/30/10 We need a few great volunteers! We are just beginning to work on our annual brunch, Harvesting Justice . Many of you have attended or even volunteered as table captains before. I am writing today to because there are many important volunteer roles for anyone who wants to get involved. You can help with recruitment, outreach, food and food planning, childcare, logistics, and more. Please contact Nisha at nisha@peoplesgrocery.org to learn more and get involved. Our first committee meeting will be held in the first week of September. Your energy and ideas are needed! Stay tuned - In a few weeks, we will also be calling for table captains! And, I almost forgot, Harvesting Justice will be held on January 30th, 2010 So Save the Date: 01/30/10

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Please forward it to others.

Special thanks to Karen Adelman & Saul's Restaraunt, Teance, chef Pauly Plotkin, the Western Whistle Blowers, Honest Tea and all our dedicated interns and volunteers. We couldn't do it without you. Have a great summer!

~Victoria Fabella