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Jennifer Lo, Social Media and Marketing Specialist for our Northern California Region, loves sharing her passion for food, travel and photography.
We’re so excited to be participating at this year’s Cooking for Solutions Sustainable Foods Celebration at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22! It’s an exciting event to celebrate food and wine and to discover how our food choices affect the health of the soil, water and ocean wildlife. (Read on for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.)
Being a new Bay Area resident, I can’t wait to attend this year’s celebration! One of my favorite childhood memories is of going to the local aquarium and running my hands through the tide pools to touch the starfish. I can’t think of any better way to spend the weekend than to explore the Monterey Bay Aquarium while watching celebrity chef cooking demonstrations and tasting good food.
With our recent commitment to move toward fully sustainable seafood departments, this is also a tasty way to celebrate our partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
So if you are lucky enough to be in the Monterey area next weekend (May 21-22), you’ve got to check out this event!
Here are some highlights not to be missed:
- Learn insider cooking secrets from the pros – Join celebrity chefs like Alton Brown, Virginia Willis and more to see firsthand how delicious cooking with sustainable food can be.
Graze on artisan foods at our Whole Foods Marketplace – Featuring local Northern California growers and producers: Frog Hollow, Rustic Bakery, Three Twins Ice Cream, Lev’s Kombucha, Alba Organics, Santa Cruz Coffee and more! (We have about 20 local producers joining us!)
- Join the Talk & Taste events – Learn how to make your own sauerkraut with Happy Girl Kitchen, enjoy a tea tutorial and tasting with Numi tea, and find out how to create three easy, delicious dishes using raspberry jam with Serendipity.
Enjoy samples of Halibut Ceviche and Shrimp Cocktail – Crafted by our Seafood team; take some time and learn more about our Sustainable Seafood Program.
- Visit the Kids’ Zone – From face painting to making your own trail mix, there will be activities for all ages. There will even be a photo booth where we can snap your picture so you can bring the memories home with you!
So come and join us for a weekend filled with good food, education and fun! Click here for more event details.
We’re proud to partner with the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a sponsor for this year’s Cooking for Solutions Sustainable Foods Celebration and we hope to see you all there!
Want to win a pair of tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium? Just share your favorite aquarium memory in the comments section below for a chance to win a free pair of general admission tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Tickets are valid for Aquarium admission anytime, not just during the Cooking for Solutions event.) Leave your comment by May 20th and you may be re-living those memories soon. Good luck!
May 16th, 2011 at 1:28 am
My favorite experience was just about 2 weeks ago. I was a parent chaparone for my daughter’s 4th grade class field trip. We live in a mixed-income farming community in the Central Valley, so some of the children had never seen the ocean, let alone an aquarium. They were SO excited!!! One of the children I was directly responsible for has high-functioning autism, as does my daughter. She was frightened at first about being away from her mom in a new place. However, the aquarium was so totally fascinating that she bravely ventured gradual safe distances away from me…her fear gone! I also enjoyed being in the educational lab, as I know this is a limited opportunity. I was allowed to explain the COOLEST critter to the kids…the sea cucumber! Did you know that when it’s seriously threatened it will spit it’s intestines at the predator to distract it for a safe get away? Then they grow back? Cool, huh?
May 16th, 2011 at 8:43 am
Our visit back the childhood memories of surfing the tidal pools of Northern California as a child. It offers the opportunity for all people to step into and experience the oceans environment. What a great time.
May 16th, 2011 at 10:24 am
I remember being mesmerized by the seahorses and beautiful pink jelly fish like I had never seen before going to Monterey Bay Aquarium. A whole new world for me to explore.
May 16th, 2011 at 11:27 am
I grew up in the Monterey Bay area, so field trips to the Aquarium were common every year. One trip especially stands out in my mind. We were walking around near the gift shop and an older docent started to talk to me. We got on to the subject of local fishermen and I explained how my grandpa used to own a fishing supply store on the wharf – A. D’Acquisto and Sons. He said he remembered it well. He then bought a whole bunch of fancy pencils from the gift shop and handed them out to my class. Great memories.
May 16th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Magical amazing seahorses – especially Leafy Sea Dragon – made me ponder deeply about nature and it’s incredible journey of evolution and adaptation.
May 16th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
We’ve been to the Aquarium about ten times. The last time we went the new exhibit was seahorses. That time my husband was in a wheelchair. We were pleased to find that the spaces were accessible for us. Especially nice was a lack of rugs that tend to make pushing a wheelchair more difficult. What we did find was that it was better to go to see the penguins and tide pools in the early hours or late in the day after all the school kids left. It gave him the chance to get up close and not have kids push in front of him.
Our favorite memory: the jellyfish of course. We spent over an hour just watching then pulsate along. All the differnt kinds are so fabulous.
May 16th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
As a student at CSU Monterey Bay I was fortunate enough to attend a formal dance at the aquarium. This was when the college was smaller and the formal dance seemed to be an intimate experience. From dancing near the otters to sitting with friends near the jellyfish exhibit I am not sure any other experience at the aquarium will ever be the same. It was beautiful at night and there was something new and exciting around every corner.It was an experience I will never forget and will always cherish those memories with friends. I now teach high school and attend many formal dances….nothing will ever compare to a formal dance at the aquarium.
May 16th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
My favorite memory was the first time I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I was in 1st grade and our class went for a field trip. Our whole class had to wear yellow shirts that said in red “Class of 2000 Dare to be Drug Free”. It was so cool to be able to touch the stingray’s and to see a live turtle for the first time. Afterwords, we all got to go to the Dennis the Menace Park that was near the aquarium. Best day ever as a child
May 16th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
Vague figures slipping in and out of focus. Hands dipping into cold water, slick texture touching, then slipping out of reach. My favorite memory of a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was with my children many years ago. We loved the bat rays!! They would glide close, let us touch them, then glide away. I would love to make new memories with my granddaughter—she will love the bat rays too!
May 16th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
I really enjoy the jellyfish exhibit and was especially pleased when I visited the Aquarium and there was an additional jellyfish and art exhibit.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
My name is anna norkus,and I’m 8 and a half.I went to the monterey bay aquarium a year ago with my mom,my grandma ,my little brother,and my best friends.I remember it as a memory of a life time.There where so many different types of cool sea creatures.My favorite part was the sea dragons.They looked like bright green twine with green leaves.I hope I can go again soon and see things that I did not get to see.
May,17 11:57 am
May 17th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
My favorite aquarium experience was when my daughter and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and saw an exhibit of deep sea creatures in the rooms that were fairly dark. It was a long time ago and I believe that there were some flouricesent or black lights, but it was really cool. I’m not sure if the exhibit was temporary or permanent.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
We love love love the jellyfish!
May 18th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Our family just moved to Central California a few months ago. My 11 year old daughter has been begging us to take her to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She keeps hearing from others how fantastic it is! So, I guess we don’t have a memory yet but would love to make some.
Thanks
May 18th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
We were lucky enough to attend a Christmas party at the aquarium, felt a little strange eating sushi right next to the shark exhibit.
May 18th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
My favorite memory of The Monterey bay Aquarium was when my daughter Isabella was 3 years old, she loved being able to touch things in the one pond, and was amazed by everything that she saw! It would be great to back again with her again, now that she is older.