Alumna and Davis Farmers Market Cookbook author Ann Evans champions CA&ES Dean’s Circle

Each year, hundreds of friends and alumni of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences contribute more than $100,000 to support the CA&ES Dean’s Circle Fund, a special program that provides essential student support.

Now there is a new way to support the Dean’s Circle. UC Davis alumna and local author Ann Evans will donate a portion of the UC Davis Stores sales of The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook to the Dean’s Circle. The award-winning book, with a forward by Alice Waters, contains more than 85 recipes arranged seasonally and featuring produce available from the farmers market. The cookbook is illustrated with photos of finished dishes, farmers, and the market.

"I am proud to support our college and to give back any way that I can for the amazing education I received,” Evans said. “When I spoke with Dean Dillard recently and she told me how she is using the Dean’s Circle Fund to support students in their academic success, I wanted to use my new book to support her efforts. The book itself is dedicated to those dynamic second-generation and new farmers at the market, as well as to students in our K-12 schools learning about the importance of food and agriculture in our state.”

Evans is a leader in the sustainable food movement with deep ties to the college. As an undergraduate studying consumer food science in the 1970s, she worked with community development professor Isao Fujimoto to create better access to healthy food. She and other young alumni later joined with local growers and fellow community members to establish the Davis Farmers Market.

About the same time, UC Davis students were establishing the Student Farm as a place to experiment with agriculture. The type of out-of- the-classroom learning that is a hallmark of the Student Farm is supported with Dean’s Circle funds. Because of support from the Dean’s Circle, undergraduates visit working California farms, graduate students receive travel stipends allowing them to present their research at prominent meetings, and student clubs are able to participate in industry events and networking opportunities.

“It’s all about ensuring that the students’ formal coursework is enhanced by experiences out of the classroom and in the community,” said CA&ES Dean Helene Dillard. “We are thrilled that alumni like Ann are so enthusiastic about our students and want to give them access to life-changing opportunities.”

The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook is available from UC Davis Stores on campus and online. For additional information about the Dean’s Circle, please contact CA&ES development officer Melissa Haworth.

Melissa Haworth
UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
530-979- 1440
mdhaworth@ucdavis.edu