The Heirloom Expo.
For a while now, this event has been held in Santa Rosa in the heart of a big community of artsy, crunchy, healthy people that like good food (and good wine, as all of you who have been to Napa and Santa Rosa can attest). People from around the world come to swap seeds, listen to experts in the field, and find interesting new things to grow.
If you go to their Facebook page, you'll find that the mission of the Heirloom Expo is "To educate on the benefits of organic locally grown non GMO foods. As well as preserve OUR food heritage and OUR right to good clean healthy food." Hundreds of vendors, thousands of heirloom varieties, speakers, workshops, art, music, movies, animals and food. Some seeds you're not allowed to keep or put in the ground without permission, believe it or not, so these people are fighting to keep food freedom alive. That is a really scary concept, when you think about it.
This event goes for three days, but we only managed to hit one of those on this trip. It's probably a good thing, or what little tread we have left on the bottom of our shoes would be gone. We greatly regret to have missed the talks by RFK Jr. and Dr. Vandana Shiva on Wednesday, but we have hope for next year, when we think they and other fantastic speakers might come back again. There is no shortage of interesting people who show up, that's for sure.
So it's not just your grandparents' squash anymore. Oops - yep, it is. And it's found in big piles everywhere in the main exhibit hall, surrounded by pumpkins taller than the average second grader. And we're very glad about that.