Kellogg-Bell Feted at Farm to Table Dinner
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A descendant of W.K. Kellogg was presented with the Huntley College of Agriculture’s highest award in a springtime celebration that included local cuisine and produce.
The college presented Susan Kellogg-Bell with the Jim Hicks Agricultural Achievement Award at its Farm to Table Spring Harvest Dinner on April 27 at AGRIscapes.
The award recognizes honorees for their accomplishments in agriculture and is named after Jim Hicks, a longtime supporter of agricultural education.
Kellogg-Bell is a longtime fashion industry executive and consultant. She serves on the advisory board of Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management and recently joined the board of directors for university’s new philanthropic foundation. Like W.K. Kellogg, her great-great-grandfather, she is a horse lover.
Chefs and Appetizers
The annual dinner is also a showcase of produce grown on campus by students and prepared by area chefs, including Christopher Gendreau, executive chef of Chase’s Old Town La Verne, who returned to the dinner for his fourth consecutive year; and newcomers Arthur Siler, executive chef of Pappas Artisanal in La Verne, and Tonya Tardd, a culinary developer with the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Inc. Dining Services.
About 200 dinner guests enjoyed a cocktail hour in the AGRIscapes Visitor Center with a herb and frua citrus-infused signature vodka cocktail. Wine and beer from Cal Poly Pomona’s own Horsehill Vineyards and Innovation Brew Works also was served.
The chefs prepared and served appetizers at stations around the Visitor Center, including a Cal Poly Pomona root “cigar” made of farm-grown mashed roots with a beef and multi-herb dipping sauce; smoked chicken crostini consisting of a savory berry jam with dark meat and crunchy toast; and tomato and fresh Bocconcini skewers with basil pesto.
Guests also could get drinks at an outdoor bar that led to the AGRIscapes Children’s Garden, which they could tour.
Distinguished Guests Welcomed
After the cocktail hour, guests were invited to sit down at tables under a tent outside the Visitor Center, where Interim Dean Lisa Kessler and University President Soraya Coley welcomed them.
In attendance were Provost Sylvia Alva; Vice President of University Advancement Dan Montplaisir; Associate Vice President for Development Doug Nelson; College of Science Dean Alison Baski; Don Huntley, an alumnus, longtime supporter, and namesake of the college; Neta Hicks, wife of Jim Hicks, who is the namesake of the Jim Hicks Agricultural Achievement Award; and A.G. Kawamura, a former California secretary of food and agriculture and previous recipient of the Hicks award.
Several recipients of the college’s distinguished alumni award were present, including Huntley, emcee Dale Stern, 1998 recipient Raymond Watje, 2006 recipient Terry Noriega, 2014 recipient Marty Evanson, and 2015 recipient Teresa Becker.
Salad Course
Kellogg West servers then brought out the salad course, which was created and introduced by Tarrd: a spring salad mix consisting of produce from the campus farm: strawberries, watermelon radishes, asparagus, and romaine lettuce with a strawberry white balsamic basil seed dressing. It was paired with a Collins Cream Ale with vanilla and strawberry from Innovation Brew Works and introduced by brewery manager Eric Bassett.
Student Speakers
During the salad course, two current Huntley College of Agriculture students spoke. Janelle Ancona (left), a third-year student from Chino Hills, spoke about how her love for animals led her to major in animal science. But nothing had prepared her to work with dairy cows at an internship.
She discovered a new love and appreciation for cows and the dairy industry and has become a sales representative for an Ontario dairy.
Erik Dassoff (left) visited a Jelly Belly factory when he was 10 and became fascinated with food science and technology. But it took the Oregon native five tries before he found the program with the right faculty and research opportunities at Cal Poly Pomona.
After graduating, Dassoff will head to Europe to earn a master’s degree in food studies and hopes to work in research and development in the sports nutrition division of a large food manufacturer.
Main Courses
Servers then brought out the next course – introduced by Gendreau – which was a hamachi crudo – raw Japanese amberjack fish with lemon, grapefruit, micro chervil and avocado. Professor Margie Ferree Jones of The Collins College of Hospitality Management, a certified sommelier and wine educator, introduced the Michael David Sauvignon Blanc wine that it was paired with.
The main course, which Gendreau also introduced, followed. It was Beef Flank Zourguignon (Bourguignon): smoked, braised, and grilled flank steak in Horsehill Vineyard Zinfandel with root mash and wood-grilled rainbow carrots. It was paired with Michael David Freakshow Zinfandel, according to Jones.
More Speakers
Three students spoke after the main course was served.
Mario Escobar (left) grew up in the Central Valley where his parents worked in the fields for the grape industry. Although he did not initially want to become involved in farming, he grew interested when he met some college interns and discovered that they studied agriculture.
At Cal Poly Pomona, the plant science major has worked on the farm crew and – coming full circle – the campus vineyards. Escobar has pursued his education while having a wife and two kids, working at a Panera and starting a side job restoring a vineyard to production. He hopes to earn his pest control and crop advisor licenses and return to the Central Valley and manage grape production.
Although Alma Gomez (left) grew up in the Imperial Valley, her family wasn’t connected to farming there. Her only connection to agriculture growing up was her participation in high school FFA because she loved animals.
It wasn’t until she was in community college that she realized how much you could do with agriculture. Today, she is majoring in agribusiness and food industry management with the goal of returning home to the Imperial Valley, start a business and help revive an economically depressed area.
When Anaheim native Sabrina Huynh (left) applied to Cal Poly Pomona, she discovered that the university had an apparel merchandising and management program. It brought back a memory of her grandparents sewing clothes for a living and stirred in her a desire to work in fashion design and production.
Huynh has worked as a teaching assistant this year in her major’s capstone course, where students design, produce and market a fashion line to be sold in the Bronco Bookstore. The experience has helped get her noticed by fashion industry recruiters and has sparked an interest in her working in academia.
Dessert and Presentation
Following the final speaker, dessert was served. Chef Arthur Siler of Pappas Artisanal Grill in La Verne introduced a strawberry slab cake with avocado-candied pistachio ice cream topped with butter crumble and served with coffee.
During dessert, President Coley, Provost Alva, and Dean Kessler presented the Jim Hicks Agricultural Achievement Award to Kellogg-Bell, who responded with some brief remarks that helped conclude the evening.
Sponsor Thanks
The Huntley College of Agriculture could not have held this event without the help of its supporters. In addition to those listed in the final slide above, sponsors included: Jobber's Meat Packing, Mariposa Landscapes Inc., Susan Kellogg-Bell, Hidden Villa Ranch, Cal Poly Pomona's Division of University Advancement, Mellano & Company, The Collins College of Hospitality Management, South Coast Winery, Michael David Winery, Los Olivos Dining Services, Cal Poly Pomona Farm, Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Dining services, Innovation Brew Works. Shelton's Poultry, Street Tree Revival, LA Mill Coffee, Imperial California Olive Mill LLC, and Don B. Huntley.