Sacramento and Davis residents will visit a Grand Aioli feast in the southern France style this weekend, without having to go all the way to Provence.

The Davis Farm to School Connection, a nonprofit organization and project of the Davis Farmers Market Foundation, along with Slow Food Yolo will host its sixth annual Village Feast. Three hundred community members will enjoy this Grand Aioli community dinner under the sycamore trees in Central Park Saturday in Davis.

Attendees can taste local and fresh ingredients from Davis Farmers Market farmers in a four-course meal catered by Buckhorn Grill.

To make the event zero-waste, participants are asked to bring their own plates, silverware and cloth napkins. Wine glasses will be provided.

All proceeds for this feast will benefit the Davis Farm to School Connection, which supports the Davis Unified School District in maintaining school gardens, recycling programs and local food in school cafeterias.

Talia Hack-Davie, Davis Farm to School program coordinator and Village Feast event chair, said the organization encouraging youth to eat better will benefit them in the long run.

“The larger goal is that if they’re nourished from healthy, local food, they’ll learn better in school,” Hack-Davie said. “School lunches are probably the most exciting project right now... It’s finally at a level that we are happy with.”

Proceeds from the Village Feast help bring cooking from scratch to Davis schools and salad bars with seasonal fruits and vegetables. The organization’s goal is to purchase 60 percent of its produce from local farmers. It is currently at 49 percent,Hack-Davie said.

A silent auction with 23 items for sale will be available during the feast with 16 items available for bidding online.

Items for bidding include a dinner for four at Sacramento Corti Brothers grocer Darrell Corti's home, served with wine from his own reserve collection. Also available for bidding is a Tuscan dinner for 10 with a local chef who will cook at your home.

“The items are really cool because they’re unique. They’re experiential things, not stuff that you can go out and just buy,” Hack-Davie said.

Village Feast is served at one large communal table with family-style platters of food. The difference between the French aioli and this Davis version is the main dish will be lamb instead of fish.

Ann Evans and Georgeanne Brennan began the Village Feast six years ago after a trip to France, noticing that southern France’s seasonal produce is similar to the Sacramento Valley.

Tickets for the 2010 Village Feast are sold out.

For more information on Davis Farm to School Connection, email info@davisfarmtoschool.org.

Photo courtesy of Davis Farm to School Connection.