From Farm to Oven: Baking Up a Climate Solutions Recipe
- The Crawford, 474 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
From a healthy salad to a tasty steak and even the delicious dessert you just can’t wait to have at the end of a meal, the impact of climate change is there in every bite. This event is part of NPR’s Climate Solutions Week, an entire week dedicated to stories and conversations about the search for climate solutions, with a focus on the future of food.
We’ll have a baking demo from award-winning local baker Nicole Rucker (she/her) of Fat & Flour with food and culture associate editor Gab Chabrán (he/him), followed by a discussion with farmers and policy-makers on how climate change is affecting agriculture in our state, led by science reporter Jacob Margolis (he/him) and climate emergency reporter Erin Stone (she/her).
SPECIAL GUESTS
Renata Brillinger (she/her), CalCAN Executive Director
Helen McGrath (she/her), Ventura County Farmer
Nicole Rucker (she/her), Fat & Flour
Trevor Tagg (he/him), Imperial County Farmer
This event is part of Culinary Connections, a live event series focused on all the ways food connects us.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit calhum.org.
This project is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture.
ABOUT RENATA BRILLINGER
Renata Brillinger co-founded the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) in 2009 and serves as the Executive Director. CalCAN advances state and federal policy to catalyze the powerful climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture and put in place resources that support farmers in adopting practices with climate benefits. Renata has almost 30 years of experience in sustainable agriculture policy and food systems projects.
ABOUT HELEN MCGRATH
Helen McGrath is a fifth-generation member of the McGrath farming family. She was born and raised in Ventura County and returned with her husband in 2013 to support her family farming business while her father, Tom McGrath, was battling cancer. They grow citrus and avocados in Somis and the Santa Clara River Valley. In addition to working with her family, she has been working in the agriculture sector for almost 10 years, supporting organizations such as Community Alliance for Family Farmers, Ag Innovations, CalCAN, and more. Helen is a member of Class 43 of the California Ag Leadership Program. She lives in Ventura with her husband and two sons.
ABOUT NICOLE RUCKER
Nicole Rucker is a chef and author from Los Angeles. Formerly the pastry chef of the Gjelina Group (including G.T.A. and Gjusta), Rucker is known internationally for her rustic desserts and has won several awards for her homespun pies. In 2012, she won blue ribbons in the National Pie Championship, KCRW Good Food Pie contest and a Star Chef award for baking. She is the head chef and owner of Fat + Flour and just published her first cookbook ‘Dappled: Baking Recipes for Fruit Lovers', recently nominated for a James Beard Award for baking.
ABOUT TREVOR TAGG
Trevor is a third-generation Imperial Valley farmer. He has been working for his family farm, West-Gro Farms, Inc., for 11 years and has been involved with all aspects of the forage ranch. He currently oversees the pesticide application and hay sales.
Trevor graduated from Southwest High School. He attended the University of San Diego where he received a real estate degree with a minor in business administration. While his initial plan was to pursue an MBA, he fell in love with farming on the ranch and decided to make a profession out of it!
Trevor has served on the Imperial County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for three years. He values the connections he is able to gain with farmers and the information he is able to obtain from Farm Bureau on local and statewide issues.
Trevor says that every day he creates a new favorite ag-related memory while working outside and doing what he loves.
Trevor serves on the Calexico Ag Education Advisory Committee, regularly speaks to local FFA groups, and is a member of the Imperial County Association of Realtors. He is currently going through the California Agricultural Leadership Program, a premiere leadership development program for agricultural professionals.
ABOUT GAB CHABRÁN
Gab Chabrán is a lifelong resident of Southern California. He grew up in Whittier, where he attended Whittier College. He began his journalism career by writing for the local music rag L.A. Record, where he wrote albums and live music reviews. He became a regular contributor at L.A. Taco, where he was part of the James Beard Award-winning team. His monthly music column, "Taco de Sonido," profiled up-and-coming artists from the Latinx community. He's been a regular contributor to LAist, Eater LA, Thrillist, Los Angeleno, KCET Artbound, and The New York Times.
“My approach to coverage is to discover how food connects us to the ever-so-layered social fabric of Southern California and how food tells the region's story. Every dish has its historical significance. A taco is not just a taco; it's a window to the Mexican Revolution. Pizza is not just pizza; it's the vehicle for immigrants to enter the restaurant game. Noodles aren't just noodles; it's the personification of generational conflict and perseverance. My framework for writing and assigning stories aims to highlight the rich cultural histories of the L.A. region and broaden the LAist platform further to include, but not exclusive to, previously overlooked populations that exist beyond the confines of the city-area proper yet remain vital to its existence.”
ABOUT ERIN STONE
Before coming to LAist in late 2021, I covered topics such as mental health, domestic violence and environmental issues for newspapers in Texas, Arizona and northern California. I turned my focus to climate coverage after reporting on the devastating impacts of rising sea levels on communities in the remote Sundarbans islands in India.
Having grown up in Southern California, I remember a time when wildfires weren’t a year-round problem and it was pretty rare for summer temperatures to climb above 100 degrees for more than a few days.
Today, we face a very different reality, where the impacts of the climate crisis are the subject of daily headlines at home and around the world. It may be a global problem, but the climate emergency is experienced locally.
My mission is to equip you with information and connections to help you understand, cope with, and prepare for the changes being brought by our shifting climate. To do this, I want to amplify community-driven solutions, break down complex science and policy in an accessible manner, and provide practical reporting that helps you navigate this issue in your daily life. I want to answer your questions and help give you a sense of agency as we face this global crisis together.
ABOUT JACOB MARGOLIS
Jacob Margolis is a science reporter and podcast host whose work currently focuses on climate change and disasters.
He created, wrote and hosted the LAist Studios podcasts, The Big One: Your Survival Guide and The Big Burn: How To Survive In The Age of Wildfires.
He was part of the team that won the 2021 Investigative Reporters and Editors Audio Journalism Award for the series "Hot Days: Heat’s Mounting Death Toll On Workers In The U.S."
Before disasters, his reporting took him all across our galaxy, as he dove deep on space exploration.
When he’s not reporting, he’s in the garden and spending time with his family in Los Angeles, where he grew up.
ACCOMMODATIONS
LAist is committed to providing access and accommodation for individuals with disabilities at our events. To request accommodations, please email events@laist.com or call us at (626) 585-5222 at least 7 days in advance of the event.