By Daily Press staff
The Santa Monica farmer’s market and Santa Monica CityTV cable channel 16 have collaborated to produce the first-ever cooking show that features a farmer as both grower and guest in each segment.
The farmers are selected from among the 200 California certified growers who attend one of Santa Monica’s four certified farmer’s markets. The on-air host is Santa Monica resident Amelia Saltsman, a professional food stylist and food writer who is a long time farmer’s market shopper and has hosted numerous prepared food tastings at the Wednesday farmers’ market using seasonal market produce.
Each cooking show, entitled “Fresh from the Farmers’ Market,” is one-half hour in length and features three dishes. The first show, “Festive Autumn Side Dishes” shows Amelia and guest farmer Dede Thogmartin cooking up a winter squash soup, a persimmon, pomegranate and pecan salad and oven roasted sprouting broccoli. Each show includes a market feature on how to shop at the market and useful cooking tips, as well as information on what produce is in season at the farmer’s market.
Funding for the program is provided by a “buy California” grant from the Southland Farmers’ Market Association to promote California specialty crops in Los Angeles County certified farmers’ markets. The Southland Farmers’ Market Association is a grower-funded non-profit organization that supports farmers and farmer’s markets on a state level, and was one of 50 recipients of “buy California” grant funds distributed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
The first episode of “Fresh from the Farmer’s Market” will air Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.