The Berry Good Night Dinner 2015 took place a little over a week ago and so ended three months of preparations, meetings and fun!  If you don't know anything at all about the Berry Good Night Dinner here's a quick synopsis:

Six years ago, Michelle Lerach founded the Berry Good Night dinner to bring together chefs, farmers, citizens and activists from the greater San Diego area that are engaged in the production and preparation of local, sustainable food and drink. The idea was to create a cohesive sustainable food community – making connections, creating business relationships, and increasing dialogue – and with a cohesive voice, help spread the message about local food to the San Diego Community.
In the past six years,  the dinner has grown from 75 to over 250 attendees, and they've expanded their community to reach both sides of the border. they include every local farm,ranch, food and drink artisans that they can identify with more added each year. Not to mention chefs and winemakers – from both sides of the border. More than just sheer numbers, the friendships & business relationships created by virtue of the Berry Good Night are impressive. They have succeeded in many ways in creating greater cohesion in and among our own expanded community. 

With all that being said, The Berry Good Night Dinner is a midsummer night's dream, filled with the magic of the Lerach property, really good food, drink and to put it simply love!  Love for the earth, love for our farmers, who are the stewards of that beautiful earth,  and love for food!  And, this year's dinner lived up to all the previous years magic and impacted all who attended.

And, no one was more impacted than me!  My role in the BGN dinner is to source all the produce/ingredients from local farms and purveyors and get those products to local chefs so they can create their magic!  Being the Sourcerer of all things produce and more allows me to reconnect with the farmers  and vendors, who now have become my friends and reconnect with their land/produce/products!  Additionally, along the way I meet new farmers and vendors, who are now new friends.  The dinner allows me to reconnect with the best of San Diego Food Community and all they have to offer. 

But wait, there's more....I was blessed with the job of harvesting vegetables and picking berries from the most beautiful place on earth for three months!  Adding to those blessings, is that I got to do those tasks with a bunch of my friends, who came along for this epic journey with me this year!

Then, there's my Berry Family who accepts and even celebrates my big energies and passions!  I am eternally grateful to Michelle Lerach (too much to express here) for allowing me to be a part of her cause and her family! 

Finally, the good will and spirit of the BGN will be continued throughout the year by the newly formed Berry Good Food Foundation!  Can't wait for what comes next!