Farm to Fork Friday ‘A Taste of Africa’ is coming to Lodi next week

The Northern California Sister Cities Association along with the California Black Agricultural Working Group and Ilera Ile-Healthy Soils have partnered together to host Farm to Fork Friday “A Taste of Africa.”

The event will be held Friday, June 29 at the Lodi Chamber of Commerce from 1 to 4 p.m.

Farm to fork Fridays is a monthly series that helps to promote greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables, while helping create jobs and career opportunities that strengthen local food systems.

The purpose of the event is to continue the conversation of providing better access to fresh produce to the youth and elderly who need it, said Michael Harris with the California Black Agricultural Working Group

“Sometimes kids don’t get enough to eat on the weekends or in the summertime,” Harris said. “So, we’ve been pushing that as a way to encourage those who are doing (community-supported agriculture) to look at partnering with schools to figure out how we can make sure kids that don’t eat on the weekends and summers have food and those that do have money eat fresh fruits and vegetables.”

During the event, those in attendance will be able to engage in a discussion about the county’s farm bureau, and how it’s progressing and its impact on the Lodi region. Attendees will also have the opportunity to try egusi soup and pounded yam, a traditional Nigerian dish.

The monthly series has visited cities throughout the Central Valley, including Stockton. Organizers chose to focus on Africa because Stockton’s sister city is Asaba, Delta Nigeria.

“We’ve been focusing on that area and then also looking at how the African Union and Pan-African trade and com- merce could and should be something that California can participate in a little more,” Harris said.

Brenda Brumbfeild-Ross, director for the Northern California Sister City Association, will be in attendance during the event, and there will be a discussion on how to create more relationships between Africa and cities in the Central Valley.

With the event being held at the end of June, there will also be an observance of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States.

“The idea of slavery in San Joaquin County, people don’t want to acknowledge that.,” Harris said. “We’ve been doing a lot of work around that and documenting and qualifying it with the state librarian and working with an archivist. It’s just a conversation that needs to be had and most people don’t want to have the conversation.”

According to Harris, a main point of the conversation is that African Americans have been left out of the bounty of Lodi and were enslaved in the Lodi region.

“Today, it’s a different relationship, but the past, present and the future are all connected, and that‘s where we need to focus on how to work together and have a positive outcome,” Harris said.

The event is free to the public. However, event organizers are accepting donations to cover the cost of the food.