SCHOOL LUNCH IS IN THE BAG

HEALTHY INGREDIENTS HERE
Renegade Lunch Lady Chef Ann Cooper will be in San Diego the end of this month, spreading the word on improving school lunch offerings. To learn more, or contribute your ideas, check out these events. Meanwhile, it's easy to pack healthy sack lunches for your kids (or heck, for yourself to take to school or work) using fresh ingredients from the Adams Avenue, North Park and Little Italy farmers' markets. Just don't forget an apple for the teacher from Smit Farms.

SIMPLE LUNCHES ARE IN THE BAG
Fresh baked whole grain breads from Belen Bakery, Bread and Cie or Cardamom Bakery make great sandwiches topped with Hopkins AG's farm fresh almond butter and locally made Jackie's Jams. Tuck a container of hummus from Baba Foods or Lisko imports into the bag, or some guacamole from Heritage Farms, and your kids will happily dunk farm-fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrots for a lot healthier crunch than fried chips. Dessert is a no-brainer with all the ripe berries and peaches at the market now.

FARM FRESH EVENTS
There's a full slate of farm and food events this week, on top of our regularly scheduled farmers' markets.

• On Saturday at the Little Italy Mercato, Cooking Channel will be there, sharing the luscious Viva Pops you love at all our markets and talking to you about what you want from a Food Network.
• Camp Confab is bringing top local chefs and fresh food fans together for a weekend of education - and maybe s'mores - at our own Suzie's Farm, and it all benefits Slow Food Urban San Diego
• North Park's first wheat hARTvest will celebrate art and urban agriculture on Saturday evening. Threshing via flash mob, anyone?

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FARMERS MARKET VENDING 101
Learn how to apply for permits, how to apply for space, and how to successfully market your crop or product at San Diego farmers' markets. Tues, Sept 28, 6 pm to 8:30 pm Limited class size. Register now!

WILL PLAY FOR FOOD?

Want to make beautiful music at one of our weekly farmers' markets? Jazz, Funk, Latin, Fusion, or your specialty, we'd like our shoppers to hear from you. Contact us here with a link to your music site and let San Diego hear your tunes!

TOMORROW AT ADAMS
Tomorrow's Organic Farm is the latest addition to the Adams Avenue Farmers Market, bringing beans, corn, squash and much more. Other vendors joining recently include Doggos Gus, offering a healthy twist on Tijuana style hot dogs, and Java Jive, serving espresso and coffee drinks as well as locally roasted organic coffee beans from Café Virtuoso, and honeycomb from the barrista's own hives. Heritage Farms has the season's first pears, and Manness Vineyards has a killer deal this week on end of season grapevines if you're ready to plant your own little vineyard. Russell Thompson will serenade.

READY & MELON
Incredibly sweet yet subtly complex Chantarais melons are like cantaloupes in the same sense that Ferraris are like cars.  Except you won't need to win the lottery to drive a melon home, you just need to pick one up at Tom King Farms' booth at the North Park Farmers' Market on Thursday. Serve them alongside fresh figs from Rose Cottage Fruits or R&L Farms, a few slices of DaLe Ranch sausage and a Roaring 40's Bleu from Taste Cheese and get ready to swoon. Acoustic rock tunes while you shop this week courtesy of Stasea.

POP GOES THE MARKET
We already told you about the fun Cooking Channel and Viva Pops will be having at the Mercato on Saturday. If a chance to be on TV and a delicious Viva Pop aren't reason enough to come out, how about the ripe berries from Pudwill Farms, Label Rouge chickens and eggs from Descanso Ranch, cool Armenian cucumbers from Sage Mountain Farms or Paradise Valley Ranch's Reed avocados? Maybe fresh Burrata cheese from Taste paired with beautiful heirloom tomatoes and basil from Schaner Farms? Whatever the reason, get ready to dance to Santiago Orozco and Todo Mundo while you're there.