Eat It. Make It. Grow It.

Press Releases

For all press and media inquiries, please contact Susan Coss, Director of Eat Real  at 510-250-7811 , susan@eatrealfest.com.

FINAL RELEASE                           

EAT IT. MAKE IT. GROW IT.
THIRD ANNUAL EAT REAL FESTIVAL RETURNS TO OAKLAND, SEPT. 23-25

Urban food extravaganza transforms Jack London Square, bringing cooks, farmers and food curious folk together for three, event-filled, days

OAKLAND, CA (August 31, 2011) – Oakland’s Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square is just a month away. Unlike any other food event, Eat Real gets attendees up close and personal with the best quality food the Bay Area has to offer. Between Sept. 23rd and 25th, Eat Real brings non-stop food action and adventure to the forefront through food skills and DIY demos, butchery contests, backyard farming installations, and 60 plus hand-selected vendors committed to using regionally-sourced and sustainable ingredients.

“For three days, Eat Real will offer people a real alternative to industrial food,” said Anya Fernald, founder of Eat Real Festival. “At Eat Real, we want to throw the food makers and farmers of the Bay Area a great party and give local residents a chance to taste something different. In addition to something new and delicious to eat, we also have something to learn - this year we’ll be featuring a communal bread oven and a craft food market that showcases skilled food professions such as baking, cheesemaking, and butchery.”

Eat Real’s mission is to put all types of eaters in contact with chefs, farmers, and producers who are committed to producing and working with the best possible ingredients in a manner that is both accessible and affordable. There is absolutely no cost for entry into the Eat Real Festival. In fact, there is no cost for any of the many, fabulous festival activities, including: music, demonstrations, butchery contests, and even garden installations showing various backyard farming techniques. The only costs associated with the festival are shopping in the marketplace or purchasing food from the street vendors on site who will price their treats at $5 or less.

Like your meat without antibiotics and hormones? That’s what our vendors will be serving up. Prefer your local veggies as the main event? We’ve got you covered and then some. Want to leave the city behind and get in touch with your inner farmer? Meet us at the Grow It area at the foot of Broadway. And if you want to get your hands covered in flour, head on down to our community bread oven for the baking extravaganza.

Friday Highlights:

    Friday “Get Lit” kick-off! Official lighting of the wood-fired ovens, tapping of the beer and wine kegs, opening of the Eat Real Jam Bar, and the introduction of the Bay Area’s best booze crafters, and our Get Lit food lit festival. Authors include Andrew Beahrs, Steven Gdula, Jennifer Reese, Don George, Jere Gettle.
    30 food trucks and ice cream vendors, plus an opportunity to sample dishes from a slew of former underground vendors now operating above ground (Grilled Cheez Guy, Kitchen Sidecar, Magic Curry Kart, Forage SF, to name a few.)
    Drop-off deadline for the Punk Domestics and Eat Real Contest submissions is 5:00 pm on Friday. Categories for the contests are Jamboree (home-made jam), Something’s a-brewin (home-made beer), Puttin’ It Up Contest (saurekraut and pickles of all sorts), and the Bee Good Contest (honey).

Saturday and Sunday Highlights:

    60 street food vendors;
    30 beers and wines on tap;
    30 craft food market vendors;
    Backyard farmers with animals and garden installations;
    Ongoing bread workshops with Sour Flour, Starter Bakery, Beauty’s Bagels;
    Demonstrations and workshops including the mozzarella, vinegar, bitters, and sauerkraut making;
    Great Butter Shakedown with Organic Valley;
    Live music with Bay Area based bands and DJs;
    Pop-up pairings of craft market vendors selling their only at Eat Real combination treats;
    Butcher’s Guild and 50 Ways to Love Your Chicken;
    3rd Annual Flying Knives Steer Butchery contest.


While many sectors of the economy have stalled, the food industry has seen continued growth, particularly from new and small business markets. The Eat Real Festival provides a platform to celebrate these businesses and to help them reach a large audience. The 2010 event alone generated more than $750,000 in sales revenue for participating businesses during its three days. In 2011, Eat Real Festival will continue to build on this tremendous success and will showcase the very best of these regional businesses with even more workshops, demonstrations and related programs.

The Eat Real Festival would not be possible without the generous support of its sponsors which include Whole Foods Market, Jack London Square, Toyota, PG&E, Chipotle, Organic Valley, Stonyfield, Clover, Sierra Select and PEETs Coffee & Tea.

For more information about this year’s festival, please visit www.eatrealfest.com/event/Oakland/California/2011.

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About Eat Real Festival
Eat Real is part state fair, street-food festival, and block party created to celebrate and showcase good food. At the Eat Real Festival, participants are encouraged to engage with their food - where it comes from, who produces it, and how to make it delicious. Eat Real Festival attendance is FREE, all street food at the festival costs $5 and under, and all food incorporates regionally-sourced and sustainably-produced ingredients!
 
Founded in 2008, Eat Real is a social venture business with an affiliated non-profit focused on promoting and teaching food craft. Eat Real’s mission is to help revitalize regional food systems, build public awareness of and respect for the craft of making good food and to encourage the growth of American food entrepreneurs.

MEDIA CONTACT
Susan Coss
510-250-8711
susan@eatrealfest.com

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EAT REAL FESTIVAL RELEASES 2011 EXPANSION PLANS
Eat it. Make it. Grow it. events scheduled for Los Angeles and Oakland

OAKLAND, CA (January 26, 2011) – The Eat Real Festival, the urban food extravaganza that celebrates the best of quality food and farming, has released its expanded 2011 festival dates. In addition to its annual Oakland event, Eat Real now adds a Los Angeles event that will offer an extraordinary opportunity for people to celebrate not only the very best of their regional food purveyors, but also the people who grow it. Attendees will also have the opportunity to get up close and personal with their food, through food skill demonstrations on stage as well as hands on workshops.

“Eat Real has taken the idea of and old-time state fair and turned it on its head,” said Anya Fernald, founder of Eat Real Festival. “We put people in touch with their food by showing how it’s made including sauerkraut and tamale making, animal husbandry, and the skills involved in craft food professions like cheesemaking and butchery.”

Details for the 2011 events are as follows:
●    Los Angeles: July 16-17 at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, CA
●    Oakland: September 23-25 at Jack London Square, downtown Oakland, CA  
     
“We are very excited to expand Eat Real to the Helms Bakery District in Culver City,” said Eat Real Director Susan Coss. “Not only is the venue an important link to Los Angeles’ regional food production past, it’s a beautiful location to host Eat Real. People outside of the Los Angeles area don’t often think of that city as being at the forefront of a resurging regional food market. They couldn’t be more wrong and we are looking forward to celebrating the vibrancy and innovation happening in the Los Angeles area.”

At a time when many sectors of the economy have stalled, the food sector has seen continued growth, particularly from new and small food businesses coming to market. Eat Real Festival events provide a platform for these businesses to reach a large audience, and garner market attention. The 2010 Oakland Eat Real event alone generated more than $750,000 in sales revenue for participating businesses during its three days. In 2011, Eat Real Festival will continue to build on that success, and will showcase the very best of these regional food businesses.

For more information about the festival, please visit  www.eatrealfest.com.

About Eat Real Festival
Founded in 2008, Eat Real is a social venture business with an affiliated non-profit focused on promoting and teaching food craft. Eat Real’s mission is to help revitalize regional food systems, build public awareness of and respect for the craft of making good food, and to encourage the growth of American food entrepreneurs.