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Northern California Food Movement

Social, cultural and agricultural history from the 1970s to 1990s

Through its focus on the Northern California food movement (1970s to 1990s), the UC Davis Library supports research, teaching, and learning about a rich and complex chapter in California’s social, cultural and agricultural history. Northern California and the Central Valley were the birthplace of a national conversation about the food we eat, how it is produced and the lives of the people who grow and sell it. The voices of immigrants and farm workers, scientists and researchers, community activists and chefs, have all risen up from this land to cultivate a movement toward sustainable, ethical, organic and locally sourced food and agricultural practices. This movement continues to reshape the systems through which we grow, process, distribute, buy, sell, and cook the food we eat.

Founded more than a century ago as the Farm School for the University of California, UC Davis has been a geographic, intellectual, and cultural hub for this movement. Today, UC Davis is a global leader in agricultural science, food systems, and sustainability. The UC Davis Library supports the university’s excellence in these interconnected fields by preserving, curating, and improving the discoverability of content created by UC Davis researchers, as well as complementary materials acquired by the Library to enhance its Northern California food movement collections.

Capturing this legacy requires a multidisciplinary approach to interconnected subjects and a diverse array of sources ranging from family farms to famous chefs. The emphasis on the Northern California food movement draws on existing strengths in the library’s archival and manuscript collections, and builds on two flagship collections in particular, the Richard E. Rominger Papers and the Isao Fujimoto Papers.

Collections

  • DePuy, Joanne. Papers.

    (D-656)
    Photographs, business records, correspondence, clippings, and audiovisual material related to Napa Valley entrepreneur and wine enthusiast Joanne DePuy's businesses, especially Wine Tours International; the Napa Valley Wine Symposium; and the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (popularly known as the Judgment of Paris). Napa Valley entrepreneur and wine enthusiast Joanne DePuy (1927-) is the founder of Wine Tours International, Wine Adventures, the Napa Valley Docent Council, Tennis Limited, and the Napa Valley Wine Symposium. She has been active in the Napa Valley wine world since 1973, when she launched Wine Tours International with the idea of creating a way for winemakers around the world to meet and learn from one another.
  • Fujimoto, Isao. Papers

    (D-601)
    Correspondence, journals, and publications related to alternative technology, development of the Northern California food movement, and community and rural development. Isao Fujimoto (1933-2022) was a Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Asian American Studies and the UC Davis Graduate Program in Community Development. He joined UC Davis in 1967 as a founding member of the community development program and later founded the Asian-American Studies program. Fujimoto's many contributions to the Davis community include his work with the Davis Farmer's Market and the Davis Food Co-op, and development of the Alternative Agricultural Resources Project.
  • Goldstein, Joyce. Papers

    (D-648)
    Her papers contain interviews she conducted and work related to Inside the California Food Revolution; columns from the San Francisco Chronicle, Sommelier Journal, and Vegetarian Times; and draft chapters of Solo Suppers.
    Joyce Goldstein is a chef, author, and consultant to the restaurant and food industries. She was chef/owner of Square One restaurant in San Francisco, California from 1984-1996 and worked for three years as executive chef at Cafe at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. She is the author of twenty-eight cookbooks, including James Beard Award winners Festive Occasions (with Chuck Williams) (1993) and Back to Square One (1992), and one of the first comprehensive cookbooks on Mediterranean cuisine, The Mediterranean Kitchen (1989).
  • Haeger, John Winthrop. Papers

    (D-641)
    His papers include correspondence, publications, and research files related to his writing, as well as menus, wine labels, and photographs. John Winthrop Haeger (1944-) is the author of three books (Riesling Rediscovered (2016), Pacific Pinot Noir (2008), and North American Pinot Noir (2004)) and dozens of articles on wine. His articles have been published in Connoisseur, Wine & Spirits, Sunset and Saveur, in the San Francisco Chronicle, in Singapore-based Appetite, and in Japan's Wine Kingdom, among others. Mr. Haeger also writes for his blog, oenosite.com.
  • Pawclyn, Cindy. Papers

    (D-696)
    Correspondence, clippings, awards, photographs, recipes, and menus related to Pawlcyn’s influential work in restaurants, cookbook authorship, and use of local produce. Cindy Pawlcyn is a chef, restaurant owner, cookbook author and collector, and pioneer in the use of local, seasonal, and sustainably-sourced ingredients. Originally from Minnesota, Pawlcyn worked in restaurants in the Midwest before moving to Northern California. Pawlcyn founded the renowned Mustards Grill (1983) in Yountville, California, and Fog City Diner (1985) in San Francisco among opening several other restaurants in the Napa Valley and Bay Area.
  • Rominger, Richard. Papers.

    (D-087)
    Correspondence, clippings, budget papers, agendas, and meeting notes relating to Rominger's work with the Department of Food and Agriculture; files on pesticides, water appropriation, soil erosion, farm labor, and natural resources. Fourth-generation Yolo County farmer active in agricultural land use and preservation issues; head of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (1977-1982); deputy secretary for the USDA (1993-2000).