FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 15, 2010

“Food-as-Medicine” Pioneer, Dr. La Puma, Keynotes Freestone FermentationFestival

Freestone, CA (February 15th) Dr. John La Puma, a pioneer in the growing “food-as-medicine”
movement, heads up a roster of renown speakers at the second-annual Freestone Fermentation
Festival to be held on Saturday, May 15 from noon-5pm at the Salmon Creek Falls
Environmental Center. La Puma, an internist, chef, and expert in medical ethics, nutrition and
weight management, will speak on “Healthy Foods, Healthy You” and the benefits of fermented
food.
The 2009 festival drew nearly 1000 attendees and this year’s family-friendly event features an
even wider sampling of fermented foods, inspired live music, workshops and lectures. Dozens of
exhibitors, chefs, brewers, and other experts on “all things fermented” – including breads,
cheeses, sauerkrauts, kombuchas, and enzyme footbaths – will offer free samples of their
products and recipes.
Festival goers can graze on fermented foods to their hearts content. Scores of hands-on
demonstrations and educational presentations for children and adults promise to make this a
unique spring community festival. And no one will want to miss this years featured event: a fullfledged
sauerkraut-judging contest
Profits from the event will be benefit West County Health Centers and the Ceres Community
Project. Operating since 1974 as a non-profit federally qualified health center, West County
Health Centers has sites in Occidental, Sebastopol, Guerneville and Forestville. The organization
provides accessible health care for the uninsured and envisions a community where residents are
empowered to build healthy lives and communities.
The Ceres Community Project, founded in 2007, brings teens into the kitchen to gain hands-on
experience in the how’s and why’s of healthy eating. The teens act as the program’s chefs,
preparing 25,000 free meals each year for families dealing with cancer and other life-threatening
illnesses. The group’s educational programs and Nourishing Connections cookbook help spread
their “food-as-medicine” message that whole foods are the foundation of health.
The Freestone Fermentation Festival, held Saturday May 15, noon to 5pm, will be hosted at the
Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center, nestled in one of the most scenic coastal valleys in
Northern California. The new Sonoma County center has been awarded a LEED Platinum
certification, the first in Sonoma County and only public K-12 school building of its kind in
California.
Admission to the festival is $15 for adults, $7 for anyone14 and under, and children under 3 are
free. This event is expected to sell out and no tickets will be sold at the door. All tickets must be
purchased in advance and online at www.freestonefermentationfestival.com
For more information visit www.freestonefermentationfestival.com or contact:
Michael Stusser, mstusser@osmosis.com 707-874-1963

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 8, 2009

“Fermentation Can Save the Nation” Says Post Carbon Institute, Announcing Its Partnership with Freestone Fermentation Festival

Freestone, CA (April 8) The Post Carbon Institute announced today its full endorsement of and partnership with Freestone’s first fermentation festival to be held on May 16. “Fermentation can save the nation,” declared Richard Heinberg, senior fellow at the renowned Sebastopol think tank focused on grassroots strategies for the global economic and energy crises fostered by fossil fuel dependence.

The first annual Freestone Fermentation Festival (FFF), held at the Salmon Creek School, will feature dozens of local exhibitions, chefs, brewers, and experts on “all things fermented” including breads, cheeses, sauerkrauts, kombuchas, tempehs, and healing enzyme baths. The community-oriented fete will include tastings, hands-on demonstrations, music, and educational presentations for adults and children of all ages. All profits from the event will be donated to the local West County Heath Centers.

“In a pre-fossil fuel world, local festivals were opportunities for celebrating, sharing information, and coordinating efforts,” said Heinberg ,an Ecologist columnist, international expert on peak oil, and the award-winning author of 8 books including his recent “The Party’s Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies.”

“As we move away from fossil fuels and toward a more localized economy, festivals (like the Freestone Fermentation Festival) will help us realize the value of what we are regaining – a sense of community, intergenerational solidarity, autonomy, and sufficiency,”

Heinberg’s keynote address ““Social Fermentation: Can Economic Breakdown Lead to New Beginnings?” kicks off the festival at 12:30, Saturday, May 16, in the new Salmon Creek School, first public K-8 school building striving for LEED certification in the Sate of California.

Other FFF program participants include: Jessica Prentice, LOCAVORE; Lou Preston, Preston of Dry Creek; Malcom Morrison of Sonoma Biologics; and Mary Shelia Gonella, Occidental Nutrition. Exhibitors and sponsors include: Lynmar Estate, Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, Redwood Hill Farm and Creamery and Wild Flour Bakery. Music by the Freestone Samba Band.

The festival is open to the public from noon-7pm Saturday May 16. Admission is: $5. $5 for parking. And children under 5 are free. Hybrid automobiles and two-wheeled vehicles park free.

For more information visit www.freestonefermentationfestival.com or contact Suzanne Alexandre (707) 789-9884.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 11, 2009

A secret is bubbling up in Sonoma County.

Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary and its historic, hometown hamlet of Freestone, California will be celebrating its best kept secret on May 16, 2009 – fermentation. The magical phenomenon of fermentation fuels an entire world of life’s little all-natural luxuries, including sun-drenched biodynamic wines, savory goat cheese, wood-fired brick-oven baked bread, and the only cedar enzyme bath spa treatment in North America.

The public is invited to join this tight-knit, Northern California farming community devoted to all things fermented for a rare, behind-the-scenes, sneak peek at the exciting, transformative processes involved in gourmet wine- and bread-making. Guests will rediscover first-hand the simple, low-tech tools embraced by our ancestors to coax unique creations from nature, influenced by the ever-changing environment, seasons, temperature, and humidity.

The process of fermenting foods is as old as humanity. From the Tropics – where cassava is thrown into a hole to soften and sweeten – to the Amazon ~~where, over 2,000 years ago locals harvested ripe cacao seedpods and allowed them to ferment spontaneously, enriching the color, flavor, and aroma that we now know as “the food of the gods,”~~ fermented foods are valued for their health benefits and complex tastes. From the first successful batch of fresh baked bread to that sublime taste of carefully cultivated wine, the practice of fermentation is one of connection with and reverence for microscopic life.

In the spirit of reconnecting to real food and to the mysterious process of life itself, the Freestone Fermentation Festival will be a village-wide gathering hosted at Salmon Creek School. The public is invited to participate in hands-on, educational presentations by the award-winning Wild Flour Bakery, Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, and other Master Fermenters, and enjoy festive entertainment by the Freestone Samba performers and more.

Tours of the school’s new LEED-certified building and nearby redwood trails will be offered.