Recipe For Success Announces Earth Day at Hope Farms Weekend

Recipe for Success Foundation Celebrates Hope Farms' 3rd Birthday with Spectacular Earth Day Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: James Brock

713.520.0443

James@recipe4success.org

MARCH 14, 2018, HOUSTON, Texas - The Recipe For Success Foundation is gearing up for its inaugural Earth Day Weekend at Hope Farms on April 21 & 22 with two events designed to celebrate locally grown food and healthy lifestyles.

The public is invited on Saturday, April 21 to the free Family Festival and Picnic from 9:00 to 2:00 and limited tickets are available for Chefs in the Field, a more intimate supper on Sunday April 22 at 5:30 p.m. Both will be at the Foundation's seven-acre urban farm in Houston's historic Sunnyside neighborhood, just 10 minutes from downtown.

A full schedule of events is planned for Saturday's free Family Festival & Picnic, including hourly cooking classes, yoga, tai chi, storytime, farm photo safaris, garden explorations, chicken and bee demonstrations, activities and games. Community partners including The Children's Museum, Magpies & Peacocks, The Garden Hen and Hive Bee will be giving hands-on creative and learning opportunities at creation stations for kids and adults located throughout the farm. Living Well Therapies and Shana Ross Fitness will encourage visitors to get in touch with mother earth through movement classes scheduled on the half hour on the lawn. Smart in the Kitchen, Chef Michael, Urban Chef and the Recipe for Success culinary team will give hands-on cooking classes scheduled on the hour in the Gathering Barn. Photographer Katie Lenhart will lead Farm Photo Safaris, and there will be hourly games and activities to choose from in the Hope Farms Children's Garden. Local actor, Laura Bellomy will be reading to tots and youngsters under the Lace Elm Tree where families will be encouraged to picnic. Besides just-harvested produce from the farm, the regular Saturday Hope Farm Stand will celebrate its new United Health Foundation Gathering Barn by expanding to include many Houston makers such as Popston, Grateful Bread and Old Country Olive Oil, while Erin Hicks will be on hand o sign her latest award-winning cookbooks. The Sunnyside Community Center is planning to offer a BBQ lunch for a small donation.

On Earth Day, April 22, at 5:30 p.m., the Foundation's Chefs in the Field seasonal pop-up supper will debut with a three-course meal crafted by chefs Ryan Pera (Agricole Hospitality), Jean Philippe Gaston (Izakaya), and Greg Martin (Bistro Menil). Following cocktails in the Chefs Kitchen Garden, 50 guests will share the feast at one candlelit table set amid the crops. The Chefs in the Field suppers will pop-up at least seasonally and feature produce harvested from Hope Farms prepared by members of the Foundation's Chefs Brigade and Advisory Board. Recipe for Success Foundation was launched by founder, Gracie Cavnar in 2005 with the help of 25 Houston chefs. Culinary masters continue to support and further the work of the group donating both time and treasure in the classroom and at special events like this. With the debut of Hope Farms, many of them are now also sourcing foundation produce for their restaurants. "We are a chef-driven organization, showing people how easy and delicious it is to eat healthy," says Cavnar. "Hope Farms provides us with the perfect venue to celebrate food's power to bring the community together by sharing a meal created with locally grown food." Other supper dates set for 2018 are June 24, September 30 and November 11. Tickets for the evenings are $250 per person, and 100 percent of the proceeds support Recipe for Success Foundation projects to combat childhood obesity.

"Hope Farms is the perfect setting for a celebration of Earth Day and of local farmers and food. And it's our birthday! We broke ground on Earth Day 2016 and now this will become an annual Birthday Party for the farm," said Justin Myers, the Foundation's Chief Agricultural Officer. "We are looking forward to welcoming people from across Houston to bring a picnic and enjoy just being at the farm, along with all the activities. We can't wait to show off the delicious food we are growing right here in the city."

Sponsors for the free Family Festival and ongoing programs at Hope Farms include United Healthcare Foundation, Urban Craft Custom Homes, Sprouts Markets, Sysco Foods, Mahindra, Luby's/Fuddruckers, the Robert & Janice McNair Foundation and Enbridge. (See the Foundation's Facebook page for a complete listing of times for Saturday activities as they are scheduled)

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High resolution photos and video footage of Hope Farms available. Event photos will be available for post publication.

What: Earth Day Celebration at Hope Farms

When: Family Festival & Picnic, Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Chefs in the Field Supper, Sunday, April 22 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Where: Hope Farms, 10401 Scott Street (corner of Airport)

ABOUT Hope Farms

Hope Farms is a 7-acre urban agricultural operation that grows fresh, affordable produce in the midst of a Houston "food desert" while training and provid ing small-business incubation, co-op services and workforce readiness for U.S. Veterans, preparing them to be urban agripreneurs. The farm is also a gathering place, offering regular cooking and gardening classes for children and adults, a weekly market, and public events that celebrate local food and the power of shared meals to build community. Hope Farms is a critical component in achieving Recipe for Success Foundation's mission to mobilize the community to provide healthier diets for children.

ABOUT Recipe for Success Foundation

Since 2005, Recipe for Success Foundation has worked to combat childhood obesity by changing the way our children understand, appreciate and eat their food, and by educating and mobilizing the community to provide healthier diets for children. Its programs have empowered more than 35,000 youth with the knowledge and skills to make a lifetime of healthy eating decisions. Through efforts-including the nationally offered Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™, Farmers MarKIDS™ curriculum, Eat It! Food Adventures children's cookbooks, the VegOut! 30 Ways in 30 Days Challenge and Hope Farms in Houston Texas, the Foundation aims to make healthy food appealing and available to everyone. It works to establish healthy eating as the norm and to create a culture in which nutritious food is shared, appreciated, and celebrated. Learn more at recipe4success.org .