What do farms in our region have to do with the quality of life in your community? Where we build homes and which roads we invest in affect urban and rural communities equally. The Rural-Urban Connections Strategy is the next step in implementing the Blueprint, the region's vision for growth promoting housing and transportation choices, use of existing assets, and natural resources conservation. On December 10, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is holding a regional forum on the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy, a project looking at how to keep rural communities rural, farmers farming, and protect our natural resources. It's also looking at how to increase access to local food. 

The Sacramento region is home to over 2 million people, but did you know that farms in our area contribute over $2 billion to our economy? And of all that food, only about 2% is consumed locally? On December 10, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is holding a regional forum on the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy, a project looking at how to keep rural communities rural, farmers farming, and protect our natural resources. The event will take place at the Sacramento Convention Center from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and it's free. A locally focused breakfast will be served as well. SACOG is best known for the Blueprint, a bold vision for growth that promotes compact, mixed-use develo

  Local chefs Kurt Spataro, Michael Tuohy and others joined forces to create an 1850s-inspired four-course meal for “A Taste of History” at Sutter’s Fort. The fundraiser will benefit Friends of Sutter’s Fort, a group that continues to keep the historic monument open to the public. The menu, taken from John Sutter’s era, has been adapted using local ingredients. Honey and olive oil samples will be served as well as beverages from local wineries and breweries. Lisa Mealoy, event coordinator with Friends of Sutter’s Fort, said the dinner is meant to “emulate the community-oriented” traits of Sutter, who established Sutter’s Fort in 1839. She said he was a hospitable, generous man who trea

Ever wonder if its possible to shop exclusively at farmers’ markets and eat nutritiously? Deliciously? The answer is yes, and Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny are making it easy for you. The duo spent every Monday night in 2009 hosting dinner parties where they treated guests to dishes prepared with local, seasonal ingredients purchased at farmers’ markets in Placer County. They recorded the menus they created and compiled them into a book with 360 recipes. "Placer County Real Food: Recipes and Menus for Every Week of the Year” is the finished product and Neft and Kenny were at Grange Restaurant and Bar Wednesday night signing copies, meeting readers and foodies, and eating. The $45, four-

 If you live anywhere near the Roseville area then you know that not only this town, but this entire region shuts down around 7 o'clock. For year's your evening "hang out" choices consisted of A) Denny's, B) Mel's, C) the random bar or D) your own living room. Residents of this area seem to be forever relegated to driving all the way Downtown Sac for some type of nightlife that isn't the above mentioned choices. That is, until now. Recently, a ragtag group of people under the leadership of Hector Marquez (A local filmmaker native to Roseville) have decided to start screening classic films in Roseville's iconic Tower Theater (not to be confused with Downtown Sacramento's Tower Theater). Th

Sacramentans can support sustainability, the environment and decreased use of pesticides at a local fundraiser being held next week. Pesticide Watch and Slow Food Sacramento are teaming up to host the event, Sustainable Sacramento, on Thursday, Jan. 21. The event will laud local sustainability leaders and raise money for Pesticide Watch, a statewide organization based in Sacramento. "The commitment and expertise, the money and time that's required to step out and do things differently than the easy, conventional approach to raising and distributing food is something that should be recognized," said Charity Kenyon, membership director for Slow Food Sacramento. The event will honor Harves