Have you eaten your fruits and vegetables? There's a fruit or food festival for every taste bud in California, and in August you can eat your way through wine country, Central Valley and the north coast, sampling a variety of locally grown foods served up in desserts, snacks, breads, and entrees. If you are ready for the immersion experience, here's the list of food festivals and events for every month of the year. Tip: Begin with baby steps, attending just one event in August.

There's a way you can make snacking on watermelon fun at the 50th annual Watermelon Festival in Sunland - Tujunga on Aug. 12 - 14, 2011. Seed spitting contests go on throughout the event!

They say bananas are rich with potassium. But sometimes eating a banana isn't fun. It will be when you visit the Sacramento Banana Festival held Aug. 13 - 14. Smashed Chefs Challenge turns ordinary bananas into luxury dishes you will dream about for years to come. 

Eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away. Boring! In Sebastopol, they celebrate a very special Gravenstein Apple Fair Aug. 13 -14. Apple cider, apple juice, apple pie, apple dumplings, apple turnovers...the possibilities are endless, and delicious!

Have you ever eaten olive flavored ice cream? It's delicious and actually good for you! Olives are the key to health when you replace your artificial margarine made of ingredients you can't pronounce with olive oil. We began doing so about two years ago and would never go back to the plastic stuff now. Get a head's up on luscious olives at the Olive Festival in Paso Robles on Aug. 20.

When your neighbor offers you zucchinis grown from their garden, you often don't know what to do with them. What the heck is this-a vegetable or a fruit? You've got to try lightly battered, fried zucchinis, zucchini bread that's sweet and tasty, and zucchini casseroles or salads. Don't knock your zucchini or throw it in the trash till you visit the Hayward 29th Annual Zucchini Festival held Aug. 20 - 21.

Finding a sweet, juicy tomato isn't that easy in most stores. We all expect more out of our tomatoes, and at the Fairfield Tomato Festival held Aug. 20 -21, you'll find out why tomatoes are the Suisan Valley's top crop.

No month would be complete in California without a wine festival. In August there are dozens of them throughout the state. One of note the annual Bodega Bay Seafood, Art & Wine Festival Aug. 27 - 28, 2011.

Don't settle for low grade foods that are genetically modified with enhanced genes that are Roundup Ready to make the little bugs stay away. We're the guinea pig generation experiencing all kinds of illnesses due to the testing, tampering and and manufacturing of our foods. Food festivals in California aren't just fun, but offer chances to meet and talk with food growers to discuss their methods for growing crops. These events have actually inspired some to start their own farms, gardens, and work toward sustainability in their communities.