Berry Good Food

In 2010, after an inspiring stint living on a Sonoma County goat farm, food activist Michelle Lerach found herself wondering why San Diego, with its abundant agricultural resources, didn’t have the same food community integration she’d witnessed in Northern California. “We have access to more family farms in San Diego than any other place in the state,” Michelle realized. “Yet there wasn’t the cohesiveness between producers, and there wasn’t large-scale interchange between the local farms or ranches and the chefs, artisans and others in the culinary field.”

A doer by nature and a tireless networker, she conceived and hosted the first Berry Good Night dinner on the grounds of her La Jolla Farms estate. Part think tank, part gourmet feast, its aim was and is to promote dialogue and cross-pollination between some of the best minds in sustainable food, drawn from a wide variety of disciplines including science and medicine, agriculture, government and public policy, hospitality, education and media. The evening’s format promotes discussion, connection and collaboration, creating long-lasting relationships and partnerships among participants.

In its first five years, the invite-only dinner came to be known as “the most sought-after foodie invitation in San Diego,” with an A-list roster of top chefs, farms and farmers, artisans, winemakers and mixologists contributing.

In 2015, it was time to do more. The Berry Good Food Foundation, established in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, supports the long-term goals upon which the original Berry Good Night activist-oriented dinner series was founded. Our mission is to advance a healthy, integrated food system by educating, connecting and supporting food producers and consumers. We envision a region where all people can choose local, sustainably produced food.