The Farm-to-Table Academy takes up four Saturdays in October. The month also brings the Farm-to-Fork Festive Meal in the dining commons, a Food and Agriculture Roundtable, a World Food Center panel discussion at the Borlaug Dialogue, a Horticulture Innovation Lab open house, a farm-to-fork speaker and panel discussion, and more, including two food days, one world and one national.

Let’s just call it “food month.” Or “food month” plus one day, considering that the UC Davis Farmers Market starts its new season on Wednesday (Sept. 30), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the Quad. The market continues every Wednesday, same location, same hours, through Nov. 11.

The academy comes first in October, presented by the Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy, part of the UC Davis World Food Center; and CLEAR (for Communication, Literacy and Education for Agricultural Research), part of the UC Global Food Initiative.

Members of the general public and campus community are invited to participate in the free academy, examining farming practices and technologies that affect the global food system.

Academy classes will be from 10 a.m. to noon in 1002 Giedt Hall on four successive Saturdays. Here are the dates and topics: Oct. 3 — improving regional food systems and community nutrition; Oct. 10 — developing crops for a sustainable food supply; Oct. 17 — livestock and sustainable agricultural practices; and Oct. 24 — agricultural innovations.

A list of speakers is available online. Go to the same site to register. In-person registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. before each class.

Other 'food month' events:

• Water for Food Security: A Global Conference — Hosted by the World Food Center and its International Food Policy Research Institute. Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 5-6, Conference Center.

• “Eating Insects” — Learn about the role of insects as food for people. Free samples of commercially available products made with cricket protein. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, Bohart Museum of Entomology, 1124 Academic Surge.

• World Food Center panel at the Borlaug Dialogue — UC Davis affiliates occupy three of the four seats on the panel: Roger Beachy, the center’s founding executive director; Christine Stewart, assistant professor, nutrition; and Daniel Sumner, professor, agricultural and resource economics. The fourth panelist is Joe Glauber, visiting senior research fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. The topic: “Launching a New Initiative — Food for a Healthy World.” The panel is part of Borlaug 101: Fundamentals of Global Food Security, the 2015 Borlaug Dialogue, celebrating the presentation of the World Food Prize. The World Food Center panel is scheduled to begin at 1:30 PDT Wednesday, Oct. 14. The World Food Prize communications team plans coverage via Twitter, using the handles @UCDavisFood and @UCDavisCAES.

• “Healthy Eating On the Go” — In the WorkLife and Wellness Brown Bag Series, no reservations needed. Eileen Peterson presents this workshop on easy-to-make healthy lunches. Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, multipurpose room, Student Community Center.

• Farm-to-Fork Dinner — Special event in the dining commons, "a celebration of local, organic and sustainable food from farm to fork." Open to the public: $14.75, or $11.80 for faculty and staff with 20 percent discount. 4:45-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, Segundo, Tercero and Cuarto dining commons.

Menu items include Butternut Squash Soup, Beet and Chickpea Salad with Feta Cheese, Roasted Chicken with Brussel Sprouts, Rustic Olive Loaf, Grape with Gorgonzola Pizza, Flat Iron Steak with Arugula Pesto, Seitan Au Vin Steamed Brown Rice, Apple Galette and Pumpkin Loaf Cake.

• World Food Day — Held every Oct. 16 in celebration of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, on Oct. 16, 1945.

• “Healthy Soils for a Healthy Life” — Keynote by Daphne Miller, author of Farmacology, in which she brings her readers beyond the simple concept of “food as medicine” and introduces them to the critical idea that it’s the farm where that food is grown that offers the real medicine. Panel discussion to follow, with Miller and UC Davis Professors Bruce German (food science and technology) and Kate Scow (land, air and water resources), facilitated by Tom Tomich, professor and director, UC Davis Agricultural and Sustainability Institute. Friday, Oct. 16, Buehler Alumni Center: registration and lunch, 11-noon; program, noon-1:30 p.m. This free event (including lunch) is part of the America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital Speakers Series.

• Horticulture Innovation Lab Demonstration Center — Grand opening of the UC Davis Horticulture Innovation Lab’s new outdoor center featuring African and Asian vegetables, along with technologies that the program team uses around the world to help smallholder farmers better grow fruits and vegetables. Free. 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, Solano Field. Brief welcoming remarks followed by a ceremonial planting to officially open the center. Light refreshments. Plus, you can take home a souvenir plant, one of several varieties of amaranth grown in parts of Africa and Asia as a nutritious leafy vegetable. More information.

• Food and Agriculture Roundtable — Featuring UC Davis Professor Jonathan Eisen (Genome Center, evolution and ecology, microbiology and immunology, and the Center for Population Biology), presenting on the topic, “Microbes in Food and Agriculture.” This is the first quarterly roundtable sponsored by the World Food Center’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy and the UC Global Food Initiative’s CLEAR (Communication, Literacy and Education for Agricultural Research). 1-3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, multipurpose room, Student Community Center.

• Just Eat It — Award-winning documentary about food waste and food rescue. 6:15 p.m. free snacks, 7 p.m. film (running time 1 hour 14 minutes), Thursday, Oct. 22, main lawn, Tercero Residence Halls. Tabling by campus organizations around food waste and food insecurity. Free admission. Presented by Dining Services.

• National Food Day — Saturday, Oct. 24. Organized by the Washington, D.C.-based, nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. UC invites faculty, staff and students to take the “UC Eats Real” Food Day Pledge, while the Food Day website invites people to answer “14 Questions That Could Save Your Life and the Planet.”

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