“There’s just something about new school supplies that helps kids get excited about learning, and Huntington Meats in the Original Farmers Market at W. Third St. and Fairfax Ave. is doing their part to make sure all children enjoy that excitement as the new school year kicks off. Huntington Meats' sister shop Farmers Market Poultry will also be participating in the drive. The two shops offering quality product are coming together to participate in their inaugural Back-to-School School Supply Drive to take place the entire month of August. Proprietor/organizer Jim Cascone’s goal is to collect enough supplies for 350 kids for distribution to the Union Rescue Mission in Downtown LA. Customers that visit either of the shops and donate new, unused school supplies valued at $10 or more will receive a complimentary pound of ground beef or homemade sausages from Huntington Meats, or a dozen fresh eggs from Farmers Market Poultry.” Proprietor Jim Cascone joins us providing a brief overview of the effort.
SoCal Restaurant Show
Show Preview with Executive Producer & Co-Host Andy Harris
[MUSIC PLAYING] Good morning, Southern California, and welcome. If you're food obsessed, you've come to the right place. Join us for the next two hours, and you won't go away hungry. One of the first American culinary icons, Julia Child, said, people who love to eat are always the best people. We agree. Live from the AMA 30K LAA studios at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the SoCal Restaurant Show is on the air. And welcome back. It is the SoCal Restaurant Show. And happily, we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 AM until 12 noon, right here on AMA 30K LAA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024. You can also catch us on the AMA 30K LAA Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host to the show. Glad to have you out there. Thanks for sharing a bit of your Saturday morning with us. We do appreciate it. My colleague, Chef Andrew Grool, of the Calico Fish House in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach on Pacific Coast Highway is going to be joining us a little later in the show with his usual Ask the Chef segment. And meatballs seem to be on every restaurant menu around. Chef Andrew has a creative twist. Meatball sliders. And he will be sharing that recipe with us. And you can be sure it is a good one. We do keep up with us on social media, we're on all the platforms, a lot of good information there that just enhances what we do here on Saturday morning, add some visuals, websites easy at SoCalRestaurantShow.com. Facebook is SoCalRestaurantShow. Send us a tweet or an X, whatever, @SoCalRestaurant. And as we love to say for the very best and provocative food imagery, Instagram to @SoCalRestaurantShow. And we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. And keep in mind, Hatch Chili Season has arrived for the next six weeks. Go to the Melissa's website at Melissa's.com to get the schedule of roasting's at your favorite grocery store all around town. The proprietor of Huntington Meats and Farmer's Market Poultry is always giving back. We talk to him annually when he does his annual pajama drive around the holidays, but Jim Casconi is also embarking on a new campaign for back to school to provide school supplies for children in need. And I wanted to squeeze Jim in right as we get the show going this morning to talk about this program because it's a great idea and this guy has got a big heart. And it's a pleasure to welcome Jim Casconi back to the show. Jim, good morning and welcome. Good morning, Andy. I really appreciate what you're giving us the time to do this. Well, Jim, again, you got a big heart. And I love the fact that you actually make homemade sausages. But tell us about this new back to school effort. Well, the step to school effort is the Union Mission, West Union, downtown. Call us up and say they need help. They don't have school supplies. They have about 300 children. And I'm really trying to give them a little boost with this. And we'd appreciate any donations that could be. If you come in, we'll be able to give you like a pound of ground beef to any blend you might like. We also will give you a pound of sausage. At Farmer's Market Pulse, we will be able to give you a dozen eggs. It's my way of giving back to you as well for being so generous and donating. And if not, you can't reach us. Amazon has beautiful back to school packages if you'd like to go that route. But if you come in and you donate, we'll really, really be pleased to offer you some ground beef, some Italian sausage, pork or chicken, sweet or hot. And like I said, a dozen eggs. Jim, I like it. And of course, our listeners should know you are particularly famous for the line of handmade and homemade sausages you do at Huntington Meats. It is a matter of pride for you. And given your Italian ancestry, I would expect when you do a sausage, Jim, it's got to be something that's worthy. But getting back to the back to school program, I know if they go to the Huntington Meats website, you have a list of suggested items for school supplies. But give our audience a little bit of a hint about specifically what is most needed and what they can do because people like direction, and I know our listeners would like to support this effort if they can. Well, this is a little simple. Pencils, pens, woolers, book binders, paper. They're in need, these people, and we need to support them. And that's what's going to get this generation going. They need the tools to do the job. And I'm really for this. I really have a passion for the Union Rescue Mission. I really feel going down there and seeing all these children that we need to do something, please. Well, in Jim, we know that they do a lot with very limited resources. And as I like to say, there's so many causes and great need out there, and it can get a little overwhelming at some point. But the place to start is where one person or one business can make a difference. And that's why I have such strong support for what you're doing at Huntington Meats and Farmer's Market poultry. Because you didn't wait for somebody to do something, Jim. You saw a need, and you figured out, what can I do that will really make a difference? And the Pajama Drive has been an enormous success. And now you've expanded it to the school supplies program. So definitely something that is worth supporting. And of course, we all know the original farmer's market. At Third and Fairfax, it's a wonderful anachronism that we have here in Los Angeles, Jim. Because as you would agree, probably the highest and best use of that large piece of land that the original farmer's market is on in the heart of Los Angeles bordering very affluent areas is not for a one level stall market. And it's really a tribute to the Gilmore family that this has been able to survive and endure for all the years that it has. And with the addition of the Grove not too many years ago, the farmer's market is flourishing, and the Grove is flourishing. And it's really nice to have, because as you've told us on the show before, your clientele, the visitors to the farmer's market, it's equal residents and tourists. So it's really unusual that you'll have that amalgam of people that are coming together and enjoying what the farmer's market is. Yes, and I really feel that farmer's market's been really good to the city as well. So we-- this cause is really important to me, and I think to everybody. And these children need help. We have to give them a start. It's like a carpenter without a hammer. You need the tools to go forward. And it's just a start. Pencils, pens, rulers, whatever you can donate, we really appreciate it. And Jim, this program lasts for the duration of August. And as I understand, you're hoping to supply 350 families. Do I have that right? Yes. Yes, if we can make that goal, that's my goal, definitely. It's an ambitious goal, and we definitely invite our listening audience to get involved. Jim, as we need to say goodbye, where in the original farmer's market are both Huntington Meets and your poultry store? Well, the poultry store, the address is 216, and the meat market is 350. That's 6333, Western Street, Sweet 350, and Sweet 216, Los Angeles, California, 90036. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Casconi, it is Huntington Meets, along with his poultry store and farmer's market poultry. This program lasts for all of August. If you missed any details and want to be part of this, the website is HuntingtonMeets.com. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. When in return, we're going to New Orleans. It's a celebrity chef, Nina Compton. She has two of the busiest and most honored restaurants in New Orleans, and a wonderful person. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Proters and West Coast Prime Meets. Give us a minute, we'll be back. (upbeat music)