Safeway Open Nature Picnic & The World’s Longest Picnic Table

A few weeks ago, I was invited to the Safeway Open Nature Picnic event – where they were going to attempt to break the record for the world’s longest picnic table. I was pretty excited about being asked to attend, and I was curious to learn more about Safeway’s new Open Nature line – which has products made with all natural ingredients and nothing weird you can’t pronounce. I was even more excited when I found out that I would be invited as part of the press – because of my blog! I wasn’t sure what to expect – but when we got to SF on Saturday it was a beautiful day – perfect for a picnic.

You could see all the way to the Golden Gate bridge! The hubby and I were able to walk around and explore for a bit before the picnic attendees started showing up and so I couldn’t help myself by snapping a few pictures of the event – which was really lovely. When we first entered, we were greeted by the agenda for the day – which included a demo by Tyler Florence (but more on that later 🙂 )

I was really excited about my Media badge, so the hubby took a picture of me

They also had awesome swag bags with Open Nature products for all the attendees…

As well as a summery, bright decor — full of sunflowers, fresh fruit, and refreshing drinks!

They had a really nice display of all the Open Nature products, and a few folks from Safeway talked to us about the philosophy behind the products: few ingredients, all-natural, no chemicals or anything artificial, and minimal processing which I thought was great. All of the ingredients on the Open Nature products are on the front in big font – so you can see really clearly what’s in the food you’re eating. This is an example of a “big company” getting involved in a problem facing our country and actually making a difference – which I applaud.

Oh and of course – the world’s longest picnic table – which broke the record at 305 feet!

Safeway and Tyler Florence cooked up a delicious meal for all of the picnic attendees – most of which wasn’t vegetarian but there was a cool and refreshing potato salad that I’ll share the recipe for in a later post.

Oh and speaking of Tyler Florence – I got to meet him! He was super nice in person – really friendly and cool.

He did a demo of all the dishes that were made at the picnic. It was like watching the Food Network in real life.

All in all, it was a great day and a really cool event. Thanks Safeway for inviting me and for launching your new Open Nature line! It’s a great step towards helping make all-natural food accessible to people everywhere. Before we left the picnic, the hubby snapped a few pictures of the bay – since gorgeous days in SF are rare occurrences!

I’m so grateful that my blog gave me the opportunity to attend this event. It was the perfect way to start the weekend.