Sustainability series at Long Beach Aquarium, CoffeeCon coffee festival

Care about sustainable food? You really should. The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is sponsoring a quarterly series of conversations hosted by L.A. Times Food Editor Russ Parsons on issues of sustainability.

In the first of these, noted author Paul Greenberg will discuss and sign copies of his books “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food” and “American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood” on Monday from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Upcoming guest lecturers are Anya Fernald of Belcampo on reimagining meat on Feb. 4; noted peach farmer Mas Masumoto on farming as performance art; and chef Michael Cimarusti (Providence, Connie & Ted’s) on balancing sustainability in a fine-dining environment on Oct. 7.

The cost of the lectures is $8 for aquarium members, $10 for non-members; $32 for members and $35 for non-members for the entire series (includes parking).

Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, (562) 590-3100, aquariumofpacific.org

There’s Comic-Con for Marvel geeks, but what about coffee geeks? Well, now there’s CoffeeCon, which is coming to Los Angeles on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake. Billed as a Consumer Coffee Festival, more than 20 of the area’s finest roasters will be pouring samples.

In addition to lots of caffeine, noted speakers George Howell, considered by many to be the Father of Third Wave; Alan Adler, the inventor of the AeroPress; and Ken Davids of the Coffee Review will moderate the “Future of Coffee” panel. There will also be free coffee classes (learn how to use a siphon!).

Tickets to CoffeeCon are $29. George Howell’s tasting seminar has limited seating and an additional $15 lab fee.

Mack Sennett Studios, 1215 Bates Ave., Silver Lake, (323) 660-8466, coffee-con.com

Twitter: @AmyScattergood