In Search of Good Food

Food, Farms, and Jobs Act

2011-11-25T09:17:00.001-08:00

This is an interesting time for the Farm Bill, with Supercommittee nonsense and Occupy Wall Street craziness. BUT THERE IS HOPE, in the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act! See below for what it does.

PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND URGE CO-SPONSORSHIP of the LOCAL Farm, Food and Jobs Act. And ask your colleagues, supporters and networks to do the same.

The larger number of co-sponsors, the greater likelihood that provisions in this bill will be included in the 2012 Farm Bill—assuming that Congress actually writes a Farm Bill in 2012. Either way, it is very important to build support for these measures among the California delegation. We especially need support from Representatives Baca, Cardoza and Costa, our three California representatives on the Ag Committee who have not yet signed on to the bill.

If you don’t know who your representatives are, you can find them at this website:http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ In addition to your representative, please contact Senators Boxer and Feinstein.

The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act

sponsored by Representative Chellie Pingree and Senator Sherrod Brown

The Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act will improve federal farm bill programs that support local and regional farm and food systems. This legislation will help farmers and ranchers engaged in local and regional agriculture by addressing production, aggregation, processing, marketing, and distribution needs and will also assist consumers by improving access to healthy food and direct and retail markets. And of utmost importance, this legislation will provide more secure funding for critically important programs that support family farms, expand new farming opportunities, and invest in the local agriculture economy.

The Benefits of Local and Regional Food Systems

Local and regional agriculture is a major economic driver in the farm economy. There are now more than 7,000 farmers markets throughout the United States—a 150 percent increase since 2000, direct to consumer sales have accounted for more than $1.2 billion in annual revenues. Now, on the heels of that expansion, we are witnessing the rapid growth of local and regional food markets that have scaled up beyond direct marketing. Together these markets represent important new job growth and economic development.

The Local Farm, Food, and Jobs Act will:

Boost Income and Opportunities for Farmers and Ranchers by –

Improving access to Farm Service Agency credit programs for farmers and ranchers producing for local and regional food markets.
Requiring Farm Credit Services institutions to enhance lending opportunities for farmers and ranchers producing for local and regional food markets, beginning farmers, and small farms.
Funding Value-Added Producer Grants at an annual amount $30 million and expands the program to include food hubs and outreach to underserved states and communities.
Authorizing the Risk Management Agency to develop a whole farm revenue insurance product for diversified operations, including specialty crops & mixed grain/livestock or dairy operations.
Directing the Risk Management Agency to eliminate the organic premium surcharge and to complete the development of organic price series.
Funding the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program at an annual amount $7 million and raising the maximum cap per participants from $750 to $1,000.
Expands the production of fruits and vegetables by allowing greater planting flexibility for commodity program participants.
Funding farmer food safety training through the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach and Technical Assistance program at an annual amount of $15 million.
Improving opportunities for local and regional food producers to participate in the Conservation Stewardship Program Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Farmland Protection Program, Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative, and Technical Assistance.

Improve Local and Regional Food System Infrastructure and Markets by –

Increasing the Business and Industry loan funding set-aside for local and regionally produced agriculture products and food enterprises.
Providing authority for local and regional food system funding under Rural Business Opportunity Grants, Rural Business Enterprise Grants, & Community Facility Grants & Loans.
Funding the Local Marketing Promotion Program — the former Farmers Market Promotion Program plus funding for larger scale, non-direct local marketing — at $30 million per year.
Funding the Specialty Crop Block Grant program at an annual amount of $90 million and creating an annual allocation for local and regional crop and market development.
Improving Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) outreach and technical assistance to small and very small livestock processing plants.
Requiring FSIS to create guidance for small and very small livestock processing plants to better enable compliance with food safety requirements.
Requiring FSIS to provide an electronic submission option for the meat label approval process and to create a searchable database of existing meat labels.
Directing USDA to produce a report to Congress on additional steps that can be taken to better meet the needs of small poultry growers and processors.

Expand Access to Healthy Foods for Consumers by –

Improving SNAP participant access to farmers markets, CSAs, and other direct marketing outlets by creating a level playing field for electronic benefit transfer among vendors.
Improving SNAP Education and Outreach by encouraging states to use farmers markets and other direct marketing outlets as a venue for nutrition education activities and providing states the discretion to include nutrition incentives as part of educational efforts.
Funding the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program at $25 million a year.
Providing $10 million for the Community Food Projects program and increasing the maximum grant term from three to five years.
Allowing schools the option to use a portion of their AMS school lunch commodity dollars or DoD Fresh program dollars for the purchase of local and regional foods.
Bolstering requirements that specify AMS purchases use a geographic preference for the procurement of locally produced foods.
Amending Section 32 to support the development of local and regional agriculture markets.
Encouraging States to include community-supported agriculture programs as eligible to participate in the Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

Enhance Agriculture Research and Extension by –

Establishing local and regional food systems as an added new priority area within the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
Authorizing an Extension technical assistance initiative to help create sustainable local and regional food systems in the neediest parts of rural America.
Creating a new initiative for the collection and production of critically important research data on local and regional food systems.
Directing USDA Research, Education, and Extension Office to coordinate classical plant and animal breeding research activities and projects to develop locally-adapted cultivars and breeds.

Right to Know and GMO Report Release

2011-10-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

After the success of the conference Justice Begins with Seeds & GMO Awareness Week, California Biosafety Alliance would like to invite you to attend the West Coast launch of:
A Global Citizens Report on the State of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms)—

False Promises, Failed Technologies
Published by Navdanya (India), Navdanya International, the International Commission on the Future of Food with the participation of the Center for Food Safety and contributions from other partners and groups around the world.

Speakers:
Dr. Vandana Shiva, Philosopher, Environmental Activist and Eco Feminist
Debbie Barker, International Program Director, Center for Food Safety
Miguel Altieri, Associate Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley and Associate Entomologist

These new reports highlight scientific research and empirical experiences from around the globe demonstrating how genetically modified (GM) seeds and crops have failed to deliver its advertised promises. The reports document and expose how contrary to the myths of feeding the world and protecting food and environmental safety, GMOs have increased the prevalence of herbicide resistant 'superweeds' and pests, have led to farmer debt and suicides from the high price of seeds, have degraded ecosystems and have benefitted the corporate industry while failing to increase food production.

The reports further illustrate the alternative solutions we need to see real food security, just agricultural systems, and outline how we can act together to see this necessary transition.

The release of these reports will take place:

October, 13 2011: 7:00pm to 9:00pm at
San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center.
(401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102)

In addition, we are hosting a press conference at the San Francisco City Hall at 12:00 Noon, featuring Dr. Vandana Shiva, elected officials and other speakers.

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There is also a right2know march/ride to Sacramento next weekend. Details below from Miguel Robles:

On Friday October 13th at 9:00 AM we will depart from San Francisco City Hall, our first stop, will be in around 10: AM. West Oakland, from there we will ride to the Rising Sun Entrepreneurs/ La Placita Commercial Kitchen in Oakland, where we will have a presentation and around 1:pm we will go to City Hall to Deliver the Report to Mayor Jean Quan's Office.

Around 1:00 PM we will be at Peoples Park in Berkeley to have a gathering and Berkeley University to pass some stickers and flyers, then we will walk to the City Hall where some members of the California Biosafety Alliance are arranging a meeting with a City Council Member, we will drop a report at the Mayor's office.

Around 4:00 PM, we will ride to The City of Richmond, where we will be making a presentation at a urban garden, then we will give a report to Mayor Gayle McLaugin and maybe we will screen a movie during the evening.

We will stay over in Richmond.

On October 15th during the morning, we will cross Vallejo Bridge and the plan is to meet with people in Vallejo, Vacaville, Fairfield, Davis.

We don't have anything confirmed yet in this area, so it would be good to have local contacts if you have.

We are riding to Sacramento on Sunday morning to join the rally.

On Monday we are delivering the report at Governor's Jerry Brown office.

Please let us know if you have any suggestion, we are still working in the details, so there will be some changes.

What do we need?
Support, support, support!
Outreach, forwarding the invitation to join us, this will be a weekend action!
If you can organize a meeting at any venue, we can add it to our route.

Contact for more info:

Miguel Robles etereas [at] gmail.com

Lastly, check out this video for the trailer to a new movie about the attack on scientists who dare to question the safety of GMOs.

Re-post from the Nation

2011-09-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

This was a great, succinct post from the Nation's recent series of articles on the "Food Movement"; it definitely merits reposting.
Social Justice Food Is Not Just About Food

Saturday 24 September 2011
by: Eric Schlosser, The Nation

Forty years after the publication of Diet for a Small Planet, thousands of farmers’ markets are thriving across the United States, countless young and well-educated people want to become farmers, community gardens are being planted in inner cities, Walmart is championing local foods, the White House boasts an organic garden—and the poorest workers in the United States are earning about $1.50 less for every hour they work.

That decline of almost 20 percent in the federal minimum wage since 1971, adjusted for inflation, suggests the limits of the food movement—and the necessity for it to have the sort of broad view that Frances Moore Lappé has always embraced.

Any movement that focuses too narrowly on food is bound to fail when 46 million Americans live below the poverty line. Without a fundamental commitment to social justice, the estimated 1–2 percent of Americans who eat organic food will be indistinguishable from the 1–2 percent who control almost all of this country’s wealth and power.

The corporate monopolies and monopsonies, the contempt for labor unions, the capture of federal agencies, the corruption of elected officials, the lies routinely told to consumers, the disregard for the environment and for public health—none of these things are unique to the food industry. You will find them in the oil, chemical, media and financial industries, among many others. They have become commonplace in the US economy. They are signs of a much larger problem, of a society where a handful of corporations choose the lawmakers, dictate the laws, control production and distribution, widen the gulf between rich and poor.

Groups like the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Edible Schoolyard Project, the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and Slow Food USA are doing essential work, trying to improve the lives of people at the bottom of society. Food is a good place to start when seeking to make change. But it’s only a start. I hope that the food movement will continue to grow and thrive. More important, I hope that it will become part of a larger movement with a broader vision—a movement committed to opposing unchecked corporate power, to gaining a living wage and a safe workplace and good health for the millions of Americans who lack them.

This story originally appeared in The Nation.
Copyright © 2011 The Nation – distributed by Agence Global.

We're on TV!

2011-09-05T10:55:00.001-07:00

TV, the drug of the nation*, will be playing our particular brand of substance known as In Search of Good Food
on
September 9th on Channel 27 (Comcast & Astound) at 8pm.

If you're in the Bay Area, try to catch it!

*a song reference

Volunteer Steward needed for Alemany Natives

2011-08-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Help Alemany Farm:
Find over 70 species of San Francisco native plants, enhancing the habitat resources for birds, butterflies, herps & other species, at the center of the farm, while also providing opportunities for visitors to learn about native plants, local ecologies, and how to increase habitat value in agricultural practices, landscaping, and in the urban environment.

As the volunteer managing the area may be leaving the city, we need committed, reliable, and inspired people to volunteer to manage this area asap! If interested, please contact Iris at alemanynatives (at) gmail (dot) com, 415-312-2214

Also, check it out in person and come by the 3rd Sunday workdays from 1:00-4:00. Next ones: Aug 21 and Sept 18 at Alemany Farm, 700 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco

See some photos of the area taking shape here.

To Profit or Not?

2011-08-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, I wrote an article last month for civil eats entitled:
"To Profit or Not To Profit on the Food Movement?"

It's an examination of the two threads of motivation I see in food activists in the Bay Area, and whether they can be made more mutually compatible and successful.

Enjoy, and please remember you can read many other such essays/posts at
http://insearchofgoodfood.blogspot.com/p/best-of-this-blog.html

Biosafety Alliance Conference!

2011-07-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

Invitation to conference:

Justice Begins with Seeds

September 14 to 17th 2011

The Women’s Building and other locations in the Mission District, San Francisco
California Biosafety Alliance www.biosafetyalliance.org

About:

We are at a time of many crises. And in the face of all the global challenges before us, the domination of the food supply, and the contribution of the current food regime to climate change, numerous environmental crises, humans rights abuses and displacement of people to name a few, makes it perhaps the most pressing issue before us.

To control food is to control people. To destroy topsoil is to destroy the most elemental thing upon which we all depend. And to convince people that this system is the only way and that there is no other option is one of the most pressing myths before us that needs to be shattered.

The conference: Justice Begins with Seeds will be a space for movement building to actively address the the symbol of the corporate food regime: genetically modified food, address the many layered implications of GE/GMO food, and build strategic coalitions and deeper collaborations amongst diverse stakeholders more widespread political action addressing GMOs in varying levels throughout the state of California.

The conference will focus on hands on workshops and panels on how to build alliances, how to start a rights based campaign, and how to get involved with GMO labeling initiatives throughout California. People from different organizing contexts will have the space to discuss, share strategy and build the movement to address the corporate food regime.

The conference is timed strategically to follow the Heirloom Seed Exposition in Sonoma and to precede the annual Food Justice Coalition Conference which will take place this year in Oakland. With this, we see this event feeding into upcoming events and pushing the issue of GMOs back onto the radar screen, while encouraging people to actively take on the issue politically.

Keynote:

Vandana Shiva: Navdanya

Plenary panelists:

Ignacio Chapela: UC Berkeley
Miguel Altieri: UC Berkeley
Anuradha Mittal: Oakland Institute
Gayle Mclaughlin: Mayor of Richmond
David Campos: San Francisco Supervisor
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman: Pesticide Action Network
Eric Holt Gimenez: Food First
Carl Anthony: Breakthrough Communities
Jeffrey Smith: Institute for Responsible Technology
Mari Margil: Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
Dave Henson: Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

The California Biosafety Alliance is a cross sector, multilevel and inter-ethnic alliance of individuals and organizations working together to engage in broader outreach around genetically modified (GMO) food issues and to bring together strategic coalitions of diverse stakeholders to advocate for a GMO free food supply, as a means of pushing for a shift from an industrial food model, to a model of local resilience. GMOs are a symbol that represent the industrial food system and a key point that needs to be addressed in order to address and shift away from the industrial food model.

Our vision is to get the multi-faceted number of issues with GMOs, ranging from health, to social justice, to environmental destruction, to a major contributor to climate change though topsoil degradation and numerous un-factored externalities, to corporate consolidation, to enter the framework of various groups that have not traditionally focused on the issue of GMOs as a central theme and point that needs to be addressed to push for a systemic shift in the current corporate food regime.

Workshop and Panel Tracks:

1 Local global connections:
GMO movements, trade policy, low-income and food access--systemic problems, global connections, land grabs, human displacement and immigration, past GMO campaigns and perspectives, global perspectives on food and farming, IAASTD report and global policy.

2 Biocultural diversity: from soil to plate: what is and what can be
Food sovereignty and small farmers successes, monoculture and soil degradation, land management, problems with GMO 'co-existence', farm practices: dry farming, carbon farming: restoring topsoils, agriculture and climate change: how agriculture contributes to climate change, and how it can solve climate change, resistance and resilience through diversity, peasant perspectives.

3 Food, health and policy:
Legal issues, policy, health issues and our right to know, emerging GMO issues, current legal challenges, deregulation of GMOs, issues of patents, health implications of GMOs, Roundup and health and environmental impact, food access, etc.

4 Building the Movement: resistance and alternative structures
Our democratic right to know, organizing and effective campaigns, passing local ordinances, rights based organizing, learning from what was and moving forward, storytelling and movement building, grassroots experience from other contexts, lobbying, pressuring business, educational strategies, working with local politicians, etc.

Your participation will build the conference and the results obtained will be your achievements.

If you would like to submit a proposal for a panel or workshop, please get in contact.

The California Biosafety Alliance

www.biosafetyalliance.org

Bad USDA, Bad Idea!

2011-07-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Today Food and Water Watch sent me the following notice, which resonates if you've seen In Search of Good Food (in which we talk about the horrible Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement); please take action if you can!

While we want to ensure that our lettuce and spinach are always safe to eat, it doesn't make sense to create food safety rules that only the biggest farms can follow. Unfortunately, that's just what USDA is suggesting with its proposal to establish a national Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. If we're not careful, this strategy will hurt small farms and allow Big Ag to write its own rules for food safety.

Shortly after the E. coli outbreak in 2006, the leafy greens industry in California got together to try to fix its image, creating something called a marketing agreement for lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens grown in the state. Problem is, the standards developed by the California agreement required drastic measures that were most suited to large-scale producers, including trying to keep all wildlife off of farms. Small farms and those that tried to incorporate water quality protection, wildlife habitat preservation, or organic methods found it hard to comply. Even though the marketing agreement is voluntary, it sure doesn't seem that way to farmers if all of their buyers require participation.

The biggest players in the produce industry want to take this flawed model nationwide and the USDA has proposed a way to do just that. Right now, USDA is taking public comments on its proposal for a national version of the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. Tell USDA you don't want the biggest players in the produce industry to write their own food safety rules that hurt small, sustainable producers.

Submit your comment here.

Guatemala and Gophers

2011-06-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

Hello-

I'm actually writing this from San Martin Jilotepeque, Guatemala. I'm here on an agroecological journey into the world of highland coffee, maize, and etc growing. And making new friends, and getting a litte "two-thirds world" perspective on the world of agroecology in the U.S. I will be putting together a presentation of my trip (photos, etc), for when I get back in August.

But I write to say that, if you are in SF or thereabouts, and want to grow food without major pest problems, you are in for a treat if you attend this upcoming workshop at GFE:

CONTROLLING GOPHERS, MOLES AND OTHER PESTS WITHOUT POISON
Date: Saturday, July 9, 2011
Time: 10am - 12pm
Location: Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave at Lawton Street, San Francisco
Instructor: Thomas Wittman, Sustainable Gopher Management Specialist and Owner, Gopher's Limited.
Cost: $15

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION here

A New Approach to the Farm Bill?

2011-05-27T13:03:00.001-07:00

I've had a thought the last few days, thinking about the farm bill.

What about a concentrated effort at activating Midwest Expatriates to influence their hometowns' residents to understand and voice opinions about the farm bill to their legislators? I get the sense that the coasts' influence on the bill will be negligible since none of our Senators are on any of the agriculture committees. And I imagine that Michael Pollan-reading liberals don't have a lot of cachet with the Senators that are...

So what if we were to create a campaign, within our communities, to encourage transplants (those who escaped the corn fields for supposedly better pastures---ooh I couldn't help the puns!) to reach out to their friends, family, neighbors, from back home. By opening up those lines of communication, and cross-educating consumer-to-producer and back, perhaps we will find unlikely allies in the Red States that can actually influence the course of the farm bill?

I also get the sense, due to folks like Brad Wilson, that there are lots of farmers out there (the kind vilified by many well meaning food system activists) who understand that the food system is broken, and are looking for solutions to it that don't harm themselves in the process (as would be the case should subsidies be dismantled, with no other associated reforms to pricing, for example). Citizens representing (most dominantly) consumer interests have an opportunity to be making alliances with citizens representing the few farmers we have left.

For one good example of farmers who should be supported in their work, check out the National Family Farmer Coalition.

This may be too hopeful, but I think it's a tactic worth investigating...

June 2nd Mental Health Cookbook Event

2011-05-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mental Health Cookbook Release Party: A Benefit for Radical Health

Stop by Mission Pie (at Mission and 25th) from 6-8p on Thursday, June 2nd to get a copy of the newly published Mental Health Cookbook written and illustrated by Finn Cunningham. All publications sold this evening will benefit local organizations that support health justice including the Lyon-Martin Clinic and the Bay Area Icarus Project. So come on over, get a zine ($7) and enjoy some tasty food and fermented beverages in good company.

--
http://sourcehere.wordpress.com

Action on Farm Bill

2011-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

At many of the screenings of the movie, I've been asked "what to do" about the farm bill. Well, it is complicated, and many issues and opportunities to act will be coming up this year as we get closer to voting time (in 2012), but here's something that's already happening. (I got this from Eco-Farm.org)

Please call your Senators to defend conservation, extension, renewable energy, and rural development programs!

Yesterday afternoon, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee adopted a government funding bill that if passed would turn back decades of progress to achieve a more sustainable and just food and farming system

This 2012 bill makes a second round of steep cuts to conservation, extension, research, renewable energy, and rural development programs. And just like in fiscal year 2011, none of the cuts are directed at crop subsidies, the largest federal agricultural spending item. The bill takes a total of $2.7 billion (13.4%) out of the food and agriculture budget including:

· Farm bill conservation funding would be cut by nearly $1 billion. The bill would force USDA to break contracts it has already signed with farmers enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program!

· Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) funding would be cut by $3 million. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) would be cut by $40 million.

· Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program would be cut by $6.4 million. Rural Micro-lending program would be completely eliminated.

· The Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Biomass Crop Assistance (BCAP) would both be completely eliminated

· Doing the bidding of multinational meat and poultry conglomerates, the bill forbids USDA from using any funds to write or publish the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule to make livestock and poultry markets fairer and more competitive, a rule Congress directed USDA to write as part of the 2008 Farm Bill.

This bill has yet to become law until it passes the Senate. In this climate - every call counts! Let your Senators know we support a healthy, just and sustainable food and farming system. Letters from Senators stating their appropriations priorities are due Friday.

Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code. Click on your Senator's name, and then on the contact tab for their DC phone number. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Senator's office: 202-224-3121.
If in California:
Call Fienstein's DC office: 202-224-3841
Call Boxer's DC office: 202-224-3553

· Tell them to reject the House Agricultural Appropriations Bill.

· Tell them to support full funding for farm bill conservation programs, to reject cutting jobs and growth with cuts to research, energy and rural development programs, and to stand up for farmers by protecting the GIPSA rule from meat packer interference.

For more information, visit the blog of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition: http://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/

Thank you for supporting sustainable agriculture!

Urban Ag Legislative Success!

2011-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't hear, San Francisco passed new zoning codes to allow urban agriculture and commercial sales of city-grown foods. Yea-uh.

You can see my happy face, along with some city supervisors and other local farm folks, behind Mayor Ed Lee signing the legislation on the city's homepage.

Also, I wrote a piece for Civil Eats about it.

Also, you can always find more information at the website of the SF urban agriculture alliance, SFUAA.org.

Truck Farm looking for Farmers

2011-04-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Spreading the word for some fellow farmer/filmmakers:

Truck Farm is a simple concept with a big impact. It’s a 1986 Dodge pickup with a mini-farm planted in the truck bed. It’s a traveling, edible exhibit that brings a rural experience to urban students. It’s a Brooklyn based CSA that makes weekly deliveries to 20 families. And it’s the focus of a new short documentary coming out this winter. What if every urban center had its own Truck Farm traveling from school to school teaching kids about how fun farming and healthy food can be, engaging them in thinking about where food comes from and getting them excited about growing food themselves? This is our vision and we’re looking for a few good urban farmers to help us bring it to fruition. Here are the details:

What: A fleet of Truck Farms that will take to the road this spring popping up at schools, camps, street fairs, outdoor concerts, little league ball fields and anywhere else large groups of youth congregate. These micro-farms will be prepared and managed by nonprofits, food educators, graduate students, food co-ops, gardening groups, urban food activists and anyone else with the passion to teach kids about growing and eating healthy food. For extra credit the Farms can serve as CSA’s and for extra extra credit the trucks can be run on bio-fuel. Click here to see photos of the original New York City Truck Farm.

Where: Communities in the US and Canada that do not have easy access to farms and/or farm fresh food. Please note: the original Truck Farm is parked in Brooklyn, NY so we are not currently accepting applicants for NYC.

When: Our Truck Farms will be planted in early April, in time for a “premiere” on Earth Day, which will double as our kick-off for our second annual Garden Contest, a challenge to see which student group can grow food in the most creative place. Truck Farmers will need to register with us by January so they have three months to find their trucks, prepare their farms and begin booking their spring “tour.” Our squad of trucks will hit the road throughout May and June, visiting as many area schools as possible. Please note: While our goal is for each truck to visit a minimum of 25 groups throughout the growing season, we do not expect the Truck Farmers to work on this full-time.How: We will provide you with step-by-step instructions for building, maintaining and showcasing your farm. If you can get a donated truck, the cost of materials will run you less than $300. We are hoping to secure funding in the next few months to help our Farmers cover the cost of these materials. We will create a special Facebook page where all Truck Farmers can convene and swap ideas and resources. We will be available for troubleshooting five days/ week by phone or email. We will also provide Truck Farmers with educational materials, workshop ideas and copies of Truck Farm (the film) to use during school visits and workshops.

Who: Ian Cheney is the creator of Truck Farm. You might know him and his longtime collaborator Curt Ellis from their popular documentaries such as King Corn, Big River and The Greening of Southie.

Contact Them at info@truck-farm.com

Ferment Change!

2011-04-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

For you east bay folks: Check out the lineup at www.fermentchange.org and the lineup is below.

2011 Schedule Ferment Change!

Date:Friday 4/15/2011
Event: Ferment Change Skill Share
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley
Description: Come out to our 1st event of the season. We will be having a free skill share where we make lots of large batches of fermented items such as sauerkraut, pickled veggies, and others to share at our FERMENT CHANGE “Potluck and Culture Swap” on May 15th to benefit the City Slicker Farms Backyard Garden Program. The event is free, bring a knife/cutting board and some veggies and spices to share. Cabbages and instruction will be provided. RSVP’s welcome at info@fermentchange.org.
More Info: http://www.phatbeetsproduce.org/events/
Cost: Free

Date: Saturday 5/14/2011
Event: Ferment Change skill share with Sandor Katz
Time: 12-2pm
Location: North Oakland Farmers’ Market 5715 Market St- Arlington Med Center Parking Lot
Description: Part of the Phat Beets Produce “Food N’ Justice” workshop series, author and Food Activist Sandor Katz will be presenting a hands on workshop and talk about wild fermentation and making sauerkraut. Learn about the health benefits of making your own live foods. Bring your own jar, RSVPS welcome: max@phatbeetsproduce.org.
More Info: http://www.phatbeetsproduce.org/events
Cost: Free

Date: Sunday 5/15/2011
Event: Ferment Change Cocktail and Culture Swap with Sandor Katz and the East Bay Refugee Gardeners
Time: 6-7pm
Description: Pre-party cocktail with Sandor Katz and gardeners from the East Bay Refugee Garden Program in East Oakland. This intimate pre-event will feature a short talk and cross cultural ferment with author Sandor Katz and Tila Dhakal from East Oakland’s Bhutanese-Nepali community and the East Bay Refugee Garden Program. Homebrewed/cultured drinks and fermented treats will be served.
Cost:$75+ - 100% of proceeds go the amazing urban food sovereignty project “The East Bay Refugee Garden Program,” working with Oakland’s new-immigrant refugee communities to develop urban agriculture opportunities and facilitate the continuity of agrarian and culinary traditions through culturally appropriate food production. Check out the linked article about the program featuring “gundruk,” Nepal’s national ferment!

Date: Sunday 5/15/2011
Event: FERMENT CHANGE! potluck and culture swap w/Sandor Katz
Time: 7-10pm
Location: Humanist Hall, Oakland, 411 28th Street, Oakland, CA
Description: This is the forth annual Ferment Change to benefit the amazing work of City Slicker Farms “Backyard Garden Program”. This event features 100′s of homemade fermented items to share, live music, slide shows, culture swap, and 5 rotating skill shares. This venue has an indoor and outdoor space. Bring a dish to share and get entered in our drawing. RSVP your dish with info@fermentchange.org
Cost: $10-30 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds

Date: Sunday 5/22/2011
Event: EAST BAY TOUR DE FERMENT (bicycle tour) w/Dylan and Sandor Katz
Location: All over the East Bay on bike!
Description: Spend a lazy Sunday touring the East Bay on bike on this homebrewers tour. Various homebrewers, winemakers, and fermentors will open up their homes, backyards, gardens, crocks, and taps to share with you. We will be hosted by at least 6 different sites. All by bicycle, the Tour De Ferment is not to be missed. Sandor Katz will join us on this adventure through the East Bay on bike! All labor and goods are donated, 100% of proceeds go to a TBA urban ag/food justice program in the East Bay.
Cost: $15-$40 sliding scale. 2 work trades available for those that can’t pay, email us and we can work it out at info@fermentchange.org.
RSVP: Required! Please RSVP to Dylan at geodylan at comcast dot net so we know how many people to expect.

*** Also check phat beets website for upcoming skill shares & workshops happening at the North Oakland Farmer’s Market. ***

Urban Farming is a go in SF!

2011-04-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

The organization I helped found last year, the SF Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA) will be having its Monthly Meeting / PARTY - April 12, 2011, but this time, it'll be no agenda, just hanging out, and celebrating the (expected) passage of the revised urban agriculture zoning ordinance. Come out! For more info check SFUAA.org

Time: 6pm-8pm

Location: Global Exchange, 2017 Mission Street (@ 16th), 2nd Floor Conference Room

Details: Even though we will be meeting at our usual date and time, we will not be having a "work" agenda. Instead, the agenda: show up, meet, eat, chat, compare aphid stories, celebrate, drink, and (time permitting) be merry.

Anyone involved in or wanting to get involved in the San Francisco urban agriculture community is welcome. Please bring a snack to share. Food from your garden is especially encouraged!

Mapping the Bay Area Food System

2011-04-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

If you're involved in some food-system related work, consider filling out this short form for a new mapping project of Om Organics.

It also has something to do with this funding organization.

I'm not sure what this all means, but I'm curious!

Green Festival and Farm Job Opportunity

2011-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday, April 10th, I will be hosting an event (featuring SF Supervisor Eric Mar) at 3:30pm at the Green Festival:

"Getting Your Hands Dirty in Urban Farming"

Interested in getting your hands dirty in urban agriculture? Hear representatives from SF’s 3 largest farms share the why, when, and how to engage in urban farming projects. Then, after a sneak peak at the documentary In Search of Good Food, join the discussion on government’s role and how we can make agriculture thrive in the city.

The Green Festival is on April 9th –10th at the Concourse Exhibition Center at 635 8th Street (at Brannan Street) in San Francisco. Seven stages and pavilions give attendees a chance to be engaged by 125 local experts and nationally-renowned speakers and visionaries in lectures, panels and workshops. Keynote presenters include Amy Goodman, John Perkins, Zoe Weil, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, Sylvia Mendez, Mark Hertsgaard and Dr. Sharif Abdullah.

Green Festival offers affordable admission on any budget. Admission is free for youth 18 years old and under. All students (with ID), seniors, cyclists (with bike valet ticket) and public transit riders (with ticket stub) receive a $5 discount at the door. Regular admission if purchased online is $10/day, $15/weekend; or at the door it’s $15/day, $25/weekend. Local, state and federal government employees with a valid work ID receive free admission. As always, Green America and Global Exchange members receive free admission to Green Festival.

Green Festival hours:
Saturday April 9th: 10:00am-7:00pm
Sunday April 10th: 11:00am-6:00pm

For more information visit http://www.greenfestivals.org

Also:
Just got news that the current farm managers at Oz Farm are moving back to Austria and the position is opening up. Feel free to check out the website for more details about the farm/etc.
www.oz-farm.com

Crop & Plant Swap-Oakland

2011-03-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

from a friend:
Greetings,

We are organizing a monthly crop and plant swap the 1st Saturday of every month at the North Oakland Farmers market at 57th and Market in North Oakland. Participants are encouraged to bring backyard fruit, veggies, plants, cuttings, or cultures to swap, trade, or barter.

1st Crop Swap is Saturday, April 2nd 10-3pm at:
North Oakland Farmers' Market
57th and Market St, Oakland 94608
in the Arlington Medical Center Parking Lot

There is no fee, please rsvp with max@phatbeetsproduce.org and let us know what you will bring. 1st Saturday of the month is also live jazz music with the Ways and Means Club.
more info at www.phatbeetsproduce.org

Thank you,
max

Save the Date for San Francisco Premiere!

2011-02-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up; It's not set in stone, but we're looking towards screenings of In Search of Good Food on May 19th and 20th, in San Francisco.

Also, a host of other screenings are popping up around the state (and some elsewhere!)...check out the screenings page for more info!

Alemany Farm Apprenticeship Opportunity

2011-02-13T18:54:00.001-08:00

Info on the year-long gardening class i co-teach:

Dear Farm Friends:
As you know, the volunteer coordinators at Alemany Farm try to use every workday as an opportunity for skills sharing and community education. But many people remain eager for some more structured learning.

So we are very pleased to announce that for the third year in a row, Friends of Alemany Farm will be offering an Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture. To apply, please complete the application (available at alemanyfarm.org) and return it to: ecologicalhorticulture {@} gmail.com. We will only be able to accommodate 30 people in the class. The application deadline is March 1.

The 11-month course will take participants through the seasons, covering key garden and orchard tasks that occur in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Apprentices will learn core principals of food production such as soil fertility and composting, propagation and planting, seasonal tree care, water-wise irrigation, plant identification, integrated pest management, and crop planning. The hands-on training — using our vegetable gardens, herb gardens, and orchards — will cover several methods of sustainable horticulture.

The Ecological Horticulture classes will start on Saturday, March 19 and will take place the third Saturday of every month at Alemany Farm. The workshops will take place from 10 am to 5 pm, with a generous break for a potluck lunch.
We look forward to receiving your application!

An Interview About the Movie

2011-02-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

I was recently interviewed at the Eco-Farm conference by Laetitia Mailhes from thegreenplate.org

Check out the video here, if you're not yet sick of hearing me talk. I have to say, good music does a lot to spice up an interview!

Upcoming Speaking Events

2011-02-04T14:58:00.001-08:00

For those in the bay area, I have two upcoming speaking engagements.

First is the Strengthening the Roots conference at UC Santa Cruz, the weekend of February 18th to 20th. I believe that I'll be on a panel of youth activists (I think I may have a couple years left of youth-dom!) Friday evening, but the schedule has yet to be posted so check out the site and stay tuned!

Second is Shaping San Francisco's winter talks series. I'll be speaking as part of a conversation about "Underground Food Politics", with Leif Hedendal and Iso Rabins. That's on February 23rd, at 7:30pm.

Also, I'm still looking to screen the finished movie, so get in touch if you have ideas!

Greenhorns Look for Farmer Essays

2011-01-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Farmer Friends:

The Greenhorns want your stories! Please see the below Call for Essay Submissions for potential inclusion in an official Greenhorns Guidebook. You can also access a copy of our Contributor Packet which includes more specific information on suggested essay topics and guidelines for submission by clicking here.

Feel free to forward widely to your own farmer friends!

------------ Greenhorns Call for Submissions ------------

You might have seen the greenhorns guidebook for beginning farmers.

The great news is that on the merit of that little pocket guide we got a book deal from Storey Publishing to expand the guidebook with essays from young/beginning farmers.

Greenhorns GUIDEBOOK is a resource for the new generation of farmers who are popping up all over the country. This collection of essays and stories conveys our ethic of thrift, innovation, persistence and strength. One part pep talk, one part advice column, and one part celebration, this book aims to give readers a taste of the beginning farmer experience: the pitfalls and the poetry of choosing a livelihood so far left of mainstream--of building a business around our love of agriculture. The book will give new and aspiring farmers – Greenhorns – a glimpse of the road ahead in order to help them steer a satisfying and realistic trajectory into farming. For non-farming readers, this collection of witty, gritty, raw essays written from the trenches will shed some light on what it takes to pay your bills when you decide to start growing food for a living.

In the collaborative spirit of The Greenhorns Project, these written pieces by young and beginning farmers are woven together with how-to guidance and interjected with wise words from our agrarian elders. Inspired by the pluck and purposeful protagonism of these young farmers, we hope that readers, eaters, voters and moms will come to understand the tremendous potential of sustainable agriculture in the reclaiming of America.

THIS IS THE LAST CALL for essay submissions. The deadline has been extended to January 15th.

Please send essays to farmer@thegreenhorns.net!

Across the States, A Movement Continues...

2011-01-07T10:30:00.001-08:00

Hey all-

I've been doing a lot of online research on the resurgence of urban farming nationwide, and I found this blog post from a member of New York's urban ag network, about the "hip-ification" (mainly increased media converage) of urban farming, and I thought it was very well written and expressed a lot of my concerns as well.

Enjoy!
Antonio

Similar Projects

2010-12-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmahannukawanzaapalooza!

I hope that your late winter holiday and family celebrations are going well, and just wanted to announce a few things.

First, another screening of the movie will take place in January, this time on the 27th at the 31st annual Eco-Farm conference in Pacific Grove, CA. Check here for info on the conference...it usually sells out, so don't wait if you plan on going!

Second, a couple of friends' projects with a very similar idea as In Search of...

1) FARM RUN --A guy named Andrew contacted me on his country-wide trip looking at urban agriculture projects. We chatted for a bit over coffee, and wished each other luck in our projects!

2) FARM TOGETHER NOW--Friend Amy Franceschini put together this new book consisting of photos and interviews with farmers from around the country, urban and rural.

Best wishes for your end of 2010!
Antonio

Help Hayes Valley Farm

2010-11-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Hayes Valley Farm folks are looking for support via their Kickstarter campaign!

Check the deets and the video:

YouTube VIDEO

The Kickstarter Donation Link

Wild and Scenic-OUR WORLD PREMIER!

2010-11-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

We're in a festival!!!

I can't believe, not only did we finish within three years, we've been accepted to a festival as "official selection"! The Wild and Scenic Film Festival is a well known and respected environmental-themed festival in Nevada City, CA. I'm not sure of the exact date that we'll be showing, but the festival is from January 14th to 16th, 2011. Check for info and updates here.

Nourish: Now Playing

2010-11-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

A film I was interviewed for (and narrated by Cameron Diaz--but unfortunately, our paths did not cross in the making of the film) is now playing on PBS...

check here for info on when, depending on where you live.

Extending the Season Workshop

2010-10-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all-

I'm doing this class at Garden For the Environment in November--please pass it on to those who might be interested.
Thanks!
-Antonio

Want to get most out of your growing space? Well, there's one resource that people often forget when planning out their garden: time! That's right, we can grow food year round thanks to our climate, yet most gardeners tend to focus on their summer crop. At this workshop we will explore methods for growing through the winter, as well as different types of crops that are suitable for this time of year and when to plant them. Antonio Roman-Alcalá, of Alemany Farm, will share ideas and strategies for the use of coldframes, row cloth, mulch, and more, in the service of growing your favorite crops in these colder, darker months.

Here are links to the calendar and the eventbrite where you can sign up online:

GFE Calendar:
http://gardenfortheenvironment.org/pages/calendar.html#10

Eventbrite:
http://extendingtheseason10.eventbrite.com/

(Those who don't want to pay the eventbrite processing fee can just shoot an email to info@gardenfortheenvironment.org and rsvp a spot that way.)

Media Training for Young Farmers

2010-10-24T13:57:00.001-07:00

October 30th, brought to you by the Greenhorns. If you're an aspiring farmer or farming activist, this'll be a great resource for you!

Garden City Workshops

2010-09-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

A Three Part Workshop Series- October 10, 17, and November 7th.

Have you been dreaming of starting your own urban oasis, a garden where you can grow you own food and find some peace of mind, but you don't have any space and don't know where to look to find some? If so, this 3 part practical workshop series is for you! Attend one workshop, or all three. This workshop series is co-presented by the San Francisco Parks Trust and Garden for the Environment.
Garden City Workshop I: Finding City Land for a Garden & Bicycle Tour

Date: Sunday, October 10, 2010
Time: 9 AM - 1:30 PM
Location: San Francisco County Fair Building, 9th Ave @ Lincoln Way, just inside Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94122
Cost: $15-$30 sliding scale

Pre-registration is required, and space is limited, so sign-up soon.

To pre-register, please call (415)750-5110, or email julia@sfpt.org

If you want to be part of reducing carbon emissions in your community and be part of the local urban agriculture movement, look no further- this workshop is for you!! You'll learn how to identify possible spaces for gardens in San Francisco, including city property, privately owned lots, school gardens, sidewalks and backyards. The pros and cons of each option will be explored. Workshop participants will venture out on bicycles for a rolling tour of innovative gardens implemented in such spaces and to meet the visionaries that created them. All participants should bring a bag lunch, water, and a bicycle.

The bicycle tour will end at Hayes Valley Farm at 1:30 PM. Workshop participants will then have the opportunity to get keyed into and play a crucial role in garden actions throughout the city organized by Kitchen Garden SF, including garden installations, maintenance and harvesting. Also planned at Hayes Valley Farm are afternoon workshops and a harvest party. The entire day's activities are part of the Global Environmental Work Party, day of action 10.10.10, organized by 350.org and local urban agriculture organizations.

check sfpt.org or http://gardenfortheenvironment.org/pages/calendar.html#3 for info on the other workshops in the series.

10-10-10

2010-09-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Forward this announcement widely:

Are you a city-dweller with a green thumb? Do you want to learn more about growing fresh-off-the-farm ingredients in your own house, condo or apartment? Then mark your calendars for 350 Garden Action Day, presented by Kitchen Garden SF, on October 10, 2010. We’ll be offering a day of bike tours, workshops, music, and urban farming with materials from Hayes Valley Farm.

On 10.10.10, Kitchen Garden SF will transform 350 balconies, community spaces and yards into plentiful food gardens to promote food gardening in San Francisco. Kitchen Garden SF and Hayes Valley Farm are issuing a challenge to San Francisco residents to register over 350 kitchen gardens. From potted herbs on windowsills to sidewalks, backyards, and reclaimed lots, no planting is too big or too small to be included. Sign up now at http://kitchengardensf.org/register and be counted as having a solution to climate change. Hayes Valley Farm will provide seedlings, compost and volunteers to assist with planting. Kitchen Garden SF will provide garden design and consultation. Cole Hardware and Sloat Garden Centers are offering a discount to all registrants.

The 350 Garden Action Day is part of 350.org’s 10.10.10 call to action for solutions to climate change, and is one of over 1,000 work parties happening simultaneously in 110 countries and throughout the Bay Area.

Joining us for the Lots of Abundance bicycle tour on Sunday morning, hosted by the San Francisco Parks Trust, the San Francisco Permaculture Guild and the Wigg Party. Bring your bike, a lunch, and ride around our beautiful city while learning more about opportunities for urban farming around town. The bike tour will commence at 10:45 AM at the only apple tree in Golden Gate Park, near Oak & Stanyan (map), and end at the Hayes Valley Farm at 1:30 PM. The bicyclists will then be deployed throughout the city to deliver materials, volunteer in a garden and document garden actions.

What is a kitchen garden? Well, it’s any space in which you grow food. Whether it’s a pot of herbs on your balcony, or some tomatoes in your backyard, kitchen gardens help bring local food production to urban areas. Kitchen Garden San Francisco is a network of gardeners, farmers, garden educators and permaculture designers who have been dedicated to helping San Franciscans grow their own food since 2009. Swing by the Hayes Valley Farm on October 10th, 2010 to help San Francisco grow.

To celebrate all our hard work, we will be having an after-party at Hayes Valley Farm that will feature live music, a twilight potluck, a seed swap, and much more. Pack up a picnic dinner and head over to the farm as the sun sets, because at twilight, the Pocket Seed Library Press will release its first publication: The Alphabet Garden Booklist. Stick around for some rousing performances from some of San Francisco’s finest local musicians and reward yourselves for all of your contributions to the urban farming community.

Support Greenhorns!

2010-09-21T14:28:00.001-07:00

As you may know, my friend Severine has been working on a movie about the young farmer movement in the U.S. They're just about done with the film, and busy with many many other associated projects.

www.thegreenhorns.net | www.thegreenhorns.wordpress.com

--
+++The Greenhorns+++
an american agricultural revival

With the film done, here's some of what they're trying to do...and below, a link to donate for the cause:

1. Take the film all over the country and get many more young people psyched about entering agriculture, and connect them with the resources to get started (like the Greenhorns Guidebook for Young Farmers). *This begins in October 2010 on the west coast*

2. Put 5,000 more young farmers up on our online map and database, Serve Your Country Food - all the better to SHOW people what is happening and boost nationwide young farmer networking capacity.

3. Stage many more unique and delightful events for young farmers, i.e., ringing bells in communities all over America, sharing skills, making art, planting gardens, serving fresh food, providing spaces for connection and cultural bloom, mixing it UP.

Support them on KICKSTARTER!

Bernal Heights Cinema

2010-09-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

The IN SEARCH OF GOOD FOOD 12-minute trailer will be screening tomorrow in Bernal Heights.
There I'll be talking up the upcoming release of the actual movie, and trying to find help to set up screenings!

Eat Real Fest this weekend!

2010-08-27T11:22:00.001-07:00

(I'm doing a Seed Saving workshop on Saturday--tomorrow--at 11am at this event)

Eat Real Fest is a local food festival that takes place in Jack London Square on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 27th-29th. The festival (and all its programming) is FREE to the public and all food items at the event are required to cost $5 or less. We strive for the festival to be accessible to the entire Oakland community. Our mission here at Eat Real is to show everyone that good food can be fast, fresh, healthy, AND affordable. We want to make sure this message reaches ALL the people of our community, so please pass the word on. And we hope to see you at Eat Real!

If you want to get even more involved in the fun, see below for a few of the pre-festival activities and check the website www.eatrealfest.com for even more!

Eat Real Fest es un festival de comida local que toma lugar en Jack London Square en el viernes, sabado y domingo, el 27-29 de agosto. Este festival (y todas los programas) es GRATIS y toda la comida se requiere costar $5 o menos. Estamos tratando de crear un evento que es asequible para la communidad entera de Oakland. Nuestra mision de Eat Real es para demonstrar que la comida buena puede ser rapida, fresca, saludable Y barata. Queremos que asegurar que toda la gente de la comunidad reciba este mensaje, entonces por favor diles a sus amigos. Y ojala que nos vemos en Eat Real!

Si quiere ser mas involucrado en estas diversiones, lea debajo para unas actividades antes del evento y cheque el sitio www.eatrealfest.com para mas!

Anarchy & Sustainability

2010-08-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Another blog post written for CivilEats.com, this time on Murray Bookchin's legacy of anarchist political theory, in the service of environmental sanity.

Check it out here.

August Events and Community Congress

2010-08-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

Among the many many many local food happenings this month, like the
SF Street Food Festival
and
Eat Real Festival (where I'll be doing a workshop on seeds),
there is this, which I find very interesting and important:

2010 Community Congress
Saturday, August 14, 9am - 5pm, and Sunday, August 15, 9am - 1pm
University of San Francisco, Fromm Hall

The Community Congress will be held on August 14-15th to bring together community activists, residents, workers, artists and thinkers seeking to create a progressive vision for the future of San Francisco. Topics will include how San Francisco can begin to become energy independent; strategies for creating alternative systems of municipally controlled finance; progressive revenue reform; sustaining arts and culture as a vital aspect of urban development; improving public transportation; increasing affordable housing; supporting critical health and human services; and participatory budgeting.

For more information, please check out this week’s San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Reinventing San Francisco." And pick up the Guardian for another installment next week!

The Congress will take place on Saturday, August 14 from 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday, August 15 from 9 am to 1 pm at the University of San Francisco, Fromm Hall, at Parker and McAllister, directly behind St. Ignatius Church (Muni lines 5, 21, 31, and 33). See USF map at http://www.usfca.edu/campusmap/. This event is wheelchair accessible. Light lunch will be provided.

2010-07-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

This article does a pretty good job of summing up the realities of federal government "support" for organic, local, sustainable food production (warning: it's not pretty):

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=slowed_food_revolution

Thanks Sally for bringing it to my attention!

Actual Movie Update

2010-06-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

Guess what?
We have a rough cut!

Sascha (editor extraordinaire) magically had a couple of weeks to spare, so I dropped everything and spent the last of my money to get him out here to edit the movie...and edit he did. The final cut will be around one hour long, and could probably be finished in the next month, if all goes according to plan.

However, Sascha is back off again--this time to Japan to film the Yakuza (!), so I'm in need of someone familiar with Final Cut to finish things up: adding images and B-roll, sound fixing, adding animation and titles.

Please Please get in contact if you know anyone who may be interested in this pro-bono work!
After these things are finished, we will be organizing screenings, so if you have any opportunities for that, please get in contact as well!

Thanks!

CONCERNING THE UNBEARABLE WHITENESS OF URBAN FARMING

2010-06-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

First off, let me start by stating who I am. I am a native of San Francisco, born to two U.S. citizens. My ethnic background includes Mexican Mestizo, Eastern European Jew, and (like many younger people) smaller parts from all over the world. However, from an outsiders perspective, I could easily be considered "white". This is the frame that I bring with me; growing up as latino in a latino neighborhood, but losing much of that background to the ease of being white. I have, in part, grown into being "Ant-oh-knee-oh" instead of "Ant-ohn-yo".

That said, I identify strongly as an anti-racist activist. Not meaning that I am not racist, or still struggling with issues of race, but that I strive with my life to question, address, and confront the ongoing oppressions we all experience in a white supremacist world.

My entry into the world of Food Justice organizing, through my work at Alemany Farm, was unavoidably steeped in these sorts of issues. But how I go about my work, and my perspective on the complexities of race politics, have changed much since that period. I now see a much more complicated picture, and not one that is simply rosy when it comes to being a white-identified person working for justice with or in communities of color. And it seems like an increasingly unfunny joke to note that most people working in the sustainable/fair/green/organic/local/urban food production world are white.

There's no way I could posit a solution to this joke, or make it somehow funnier, but I hope to at least offer one perspective on it.

----

What guides me still are the words of Aboriginal artist Lilla Watson:

"If you have come here to help me,
you are wasting our time.
If you have come here because your liberation is bound up with mine,
then let us work together."

Black, White, Latino, whomever: we are all subject to the whims and injustices of an exploitative, inhumane, and grossly unsustainable capitalist system. While in the present moment, we must acknowledge that having certain attributes (lighter skin color, upper class status, male gender) can lead to more resources and opportunities (and that the long-touted American Dream is but a mirage for many sectors of the U.S. population), we must also see that "No one is free when others are oppressed". This goes for the "poor" folks in West Oakland as well as the "middle class" folks attending UC Berkeley. Besides a minute percentage of the population who don't have to work for a living, we are all survivors of a broken system, and it's incumbent on us to find ways to challenge this system together.

I don't blame anyone for having a background that put them on a path towards Food Justice activism, just because they are white. The question is, how do they go about that activism? What are some methods and strategies for being an anti-racist food justice activist, working to change the norm of a white-dominated food sustainability scene? Here are some ideas to start with:

1) Go to where people are at, not where you want them to be. Stay far away from "knowing what is best for people". If people in your neighborhood don't care about growing food, don't force it. Maybe people feel more excited about an after-school program teaching photography to youth? If so, try to integrate your food-based ideas into programs that the community actually wants. Unite your interests with those of whom you work with; don't patronize.

2) At the same time, don't accommodate people to the extent of ignoring your own needs, desires, strengths or personal mental health. While we must acknowledge the role of people's internalized oppression and racism, and the "problem" behaviors that come from it, giving license to someone to act badly, because of their skin color, is just another form of racism. Likewise, don't deny that you want to address food issues, if that's your passion.

3) Don't operate from assumptions. This is general life advice, of course, but goes especially for activism. For instance, the somewhat naive notion many new food justice activists have, that "if only they [read: poor, black/brown people] knew about where their food came from, they would make better choices". Maybe this is true, for some people. But if your goal is to change and improve people's lives, you start by asking folks what that change would look like, and what it might take to accomplish it. Maybe it's not about getting organic food, maybe it's just about having time to cook? Maybe having a better income would allow for more freedom in food spending habits? Consider the possibility that a local grocery store might be more helpful than 15 community gardens...

4) Always be focused on leadership development. One of the main problems for anti-racist whites is that they don't like being treated as, well, white people. The sad reality in many marginalized communities of color is that there is a lot of resentment and distrust of outsiders (those seen as "others" or part of the dominant elite). We must work to break down these barriers, of course, but perhaps more importantly, we must use whatever privilege we have to increase the capacity of these communities to work for themselves. Youth especially love to be taught by someone who looks like them, and so, if you are interested in being of service to a community that doesn't look like you, train the trainers. Work towards your own position being obsolete.

5) In group processes, always be aware of how privileges may be effecting group dynamics (but once again beware of over-accomodation to the point of being patronizing). Simple strategies like effective, shared facilitation, and checking in with each participant to make sure they feel heard, do wonders for the efficacy and longevity of any project. The operative words for white/male/rich activist: step back.

6) Don't downplay, and even more, CELEBRATE non-white contributions to Food Justice. Many events that I go to centered around urban farming tend to be homogenously white. But I know that, around the country (and of course the world!), people of color are leading the charge for socially-relevant farming. Growing Power's Will Allen is a beacon; as is Boston's Food Project, LA's South Central Farmers represent the agrarian vitality of Central American immigrants, while here in the bay People's Grocery and the Richmond Eco-Village are both led by people of color. We can also learn something from the Asian immigrant community, some of whom (the Hmong) are among the best urban farmers in California. In many cases, Asian neighborhoods (with just as low incomes as other "food desert" areas) manage to have thriving food markets and healthy family diets. We all have something to learn from each other, and we must be careful to not downplay or denigrate any particular ethnic/racial group's ownership over the concept of universal access to food that is good, clean, fair, affordable, and delicious.

Urban Ag at the Hub

2010-06-02T12:54:00.001-07:00

June 8th

Urban Permaculture and Queer Farmers

2010-05-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

A few notes:
1) The Urban Permaculture Institute (associated with the SF Permaculture Guild) is in need of students for the Summer semester Urban Permaculture Design Certificate course. Check them out if you've been wanting to get Permaculture Certified.

2) This event is still looking for performers, queer or non...please contact Maggie if you're interested.

The Rainbow Chard Alliance, Apprenticeship Program at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), and the UCSC Lionel Cantú LGBTI Resource Center are hosting the second annual

Queer Farmer Field Day

Saturday, June 19th

At the UC Santa Cruz Farm

You are invited to come celebrate the summer with other LGBTQ and supportive gardeners, farmers, and food lovers.
All sexual/gender identities welcome.

Festivities from 2 to 9 pm.
· Farm Tours @ 2 & 5 PM · Workshops (Beekeeping, Fermenting, Pickling, & more!) · Work Party · Potluck Dinner @ 6 PM
· Live Music and Films

Stop by for a bit or stay for the day.

All participants will be encouraged to bring their own gloves and garden tools, plate for dinner, and food to share. The CASFS apprentices will provide one large dish to serve to the group at dinner. Families and youth welcome. Unfortunately, no pets will be allowed on the farm during this event.

Find event on Facebook or call Farm Center @ 831.459.3395

3) I have posted new classes/events to the page, so check it out!!!

Support SF Market Gardens!

2010-05-13T11:17:00.001-07:00

In case you weren't aware, Little City Gardens is one of the city's only currently operating market garden, and they are experiencing trouble with their new plans of expanding to a larger plot of land.

Read Farmer Caitlyn's letter below, and get active in supporting changes in local planning code!

Hello urban ag friends,

Recently, Brooke and I (Little City Gardens) have been faced with a pretty
hefty obstacle in regards to the gray areas of current zoning code. Based on
the way the code reads now, a market-garden (that proposes commercial
activity) is only allowed in a residential area if it is first granted
Conditional Use Authorization - a process that is involved and costly (we're
hearing anywhere from $1500 to $5000 per site). This type of bureaucratic
process seems in direct conflict with the Mayor's Executive Directive, and
the city's visions of encouraging local food production. We are working to
convince the Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and Mayor Newsom
that current interpretations of zoning code are outdated, and if the city is
to facilitate financially sustainable urban food production, it is important
that zoning code reflects that.

Here is a sample letter we are sending to the addresses below:

To the members of the SF Planning Commission,

Little City Gardens is an innovative and experimental new business in San Francisco. (Please see attached for more information) Our aim is to strengthen San Francisco’s urban agriculture movement and food security by creating a functional model of a financially self-sustaining, urban micro-farm (Market-Garden). We are working to embody the important language put forth by the Mayor in the July 2009 Executive Directive: Healthy Food for San Francisco. We have negotiated a temporary Land-Use Agreement (at least 1.5 years) with the owner of a vacant lot in a residential neighborhood (RH1). We will grow healthy organic produce, which we will sell to local restaurants and to community members through a vegetable box subscription program. We plan to operate Little City Gardens as a registered business, but equal to our identity as a business, is our identity as social activists piloting a new model of sustainable economy, as educators, as contributors of experience, and information to the growing healthy food-systems movement. We feel that a clarification in zoning code should be made to allow for Market-Gardening in residentially-zoned neighborhoods (without first obtaining a Conditional Use permit) for a few reasons.

1. Market-Gardening is an approach to urban agriculture that could flourish and grow without dependence on limited city and foundation funding. We believe that urban food production (a field strongly promoted in the aforementioned Executive Directive) will not reach its full potential unless there are unhindered avenues in the local market economy for food gardeners to make a living wage through the sales of their produce.

2. Most of the open spaces in cities that are easily accessible to individuals (especially those who are not affiliated with city programs or non-profits) are backyards and vacant lots in residential neighborhoods. Due to traffic and pollution, parcels of land in Mixed Use, Business, or Industrial zoned areas are often less appropriate for Market-Gardens. Access to property in residentially-zoned neighborhoods is essential for Market-Garden projects to succeed.

3. Due to the small scale of most urban Market-Gardens in the context of the larger food economy, the business of Market-Gardening has an extremely low-margin of profit. Most Market-Gardeners have low start-up budgets because they do not expect to have a large return on their investment. In many cases, including ours, the aim of Market-Gardening is to provide more healthy food for the immediate community while compensating the labor of production. In most cases, including ours, the projection of Market-Garden businesses is not profit, but rather self-sustenance. Our Land-Use Agreement is temporary (at minimum 1.5 years). We will be putting this lot to temporary best use until the property owner decides to develop housing. The cost of the Conditional Use application is prohibitive to this type of business and could amount to a significant percentage of our start-up budget.

4. Functionally, our use of the land will be most similar to the uses typical in Community-Gardening. Our activities will be restricted to gardening. We will not be running a produce stand or making commercial transactions on site. In relation to an average small business, the operation Little City Gardens will be extremely low impact. We will commute to and from the garden by bicycle with occasional truck use for bringing in compost and materials. Once every three months we expect to have an 8ft truck drop off compost. Our work will not draw more regular daily traffic to this residential neighborhood than any household. Our work will not contribute more noise to the neighborhood than an average household as we will rarely be using machines or loud equipment.

If the prohibitive obstacle of the Conditional Use Application is lifted, we believe the field of urban agriculture will be more accessible to would-be urban farmers, thus broadening the urban agriculture movement, our overall food security as well as opportunities for creative entrepreneurship.

Thank you for your Consideration.
Brooke Budner & Caitlyn Galloway
Co-owners, Little City Gardens

Right now we are directing letters to gavin.newsom@sfgov.org,c_olague@yahoo.com, rm@well.com,wordweaver21@aol.com, plangsf@gmail.com, bill.lee@flysfo.com, mooreurban@speakeasy.net, hs.commish@yahoo.com, mike.farrah@sfgov.org,
chris.daly@sfgov.org, john.avalos@sfgov.org, Craig.Nikitas@sfgov.org, Kate.Conner@sfgov.org

The addresses are for: Mayor Newsom, Planning Commission President: Ron Miguel; Vice-President: Christina Olague; The Planning Commission (Michael J. Antonini, Gwyneth Borden, William L. Lee, Kathrin Moore, Hisashi Sugaya), Mike Farrah, Chris Daly, John Avalos, Acting Zoning Administrator: Craig Nikitas, and our Planning Department contact: Kate Connor.

Activities Picking Up

2010-05-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Believe me, there's been a lot going on in the local/sustainable/organic/socially just/yummy/hip/community-serving food scene, but I've just been too busy to re-post so many invitations! I've listed one below, coming up this weekend, involving the Esperanza community garden (one of the sites I will be teaching gardening classes this summer).

Soon, I will have a more complete schedule of classes up and listed in a separate "classes" page...in the meantime, get caught up In Search of Good Food's "Best of" blogs!

Best,
Antonio

A Florida St. Community Garden Celebration
hosted by Esperanza Gardens!
Spend a day creating community through art, bicycles, and gardening!

Sat., May 8, 2010; noon to 6pm
(if there is rain, the music and mural painting will be in the CELLspace Gallery noon to 3pm)

Esperanza Gardens
685 Florida St. @ 19th
San Francisco, CA
esperanzagardens@gmail.com

Activities for the Day:
- Help paint the Bike Kitchen mural with artist Henry Kitchen
- Help with planting in the garden and prepping other beds for vegetables
- Listen to live music from Birdlips, Pamela Parker, and others
- Ask questions about CELLspace's Florida St. Mural Project
- Work on your bike at the Bike Kitchen ($5)
- Grill out and eat some food (some food provided while supplies last)

Florida St. has gone through many changes recently, with a square block of new neighbors, a new Bike Kitchen, a revived garden, and an in-progress mural project. On Saturday, May 8, all of these neighbors, artists, and volunteers will get a chance to meet one another, learn about the projects, and participate in some community activities. No experience is necessary, and all are invited to drop in on the fun! Paints will be available to help paint the Bike Kitchen mural, and you might want to wear work clothes if you wish to help in the garden.

Looking forward to seeing you!

www.cellspace.org
www.bikekitchen.org

SF Noodle Fest

2010-04-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Noodle Fest 2010: Chinatown and North Beach, A Cultural and Culinary Celebration is almost here! Come out Sunday, May 2nd from 3 to 7pm to sample delicious noodle and pasta dishes from over thirty restaurants from Chinatown and North Beach, enjoy live entertainment, watch noodle making demonstrations by renowned chefs, vote for your favorite restaurants, and enter to win a grand prize raffle of two roundtrip tickets from SFO to New York City! $15 presale tickets for the festival can be purchased online http://noodlefest2010.eventbrite.com or $20 day of the event. For more information, go to www.chinatowncdc.org. Hope to see you there!

Date & Time: Sunday, May 2, 2010 from 3-7pm

Locations:
Chinatown: Grant Ave (Pacific and Broadway)
North Beach: Grant Ave (Columbus and Vallejo) & Vallejo (Columbus and Grant)

Event Sponsors: Chinatown Community Development Center and North Beach Merchants Association

Website: www.chinatowncdc.org

Ticket Presales: http://noodlefest2010.eventbrite.com

New Workshops!

2010-04-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

Garden Workshops
at the Free Farm Stand (23rd and Treat Streets) 1:30pm-2pm
and at Esperanza Community Garden (Florida St at 19th) 2:30-4:00pm

April-May 2010

The Free Farm Stand is about sharing the wealth of urban gardens and farms. “Shop” for some local vegetables and then learn how to grow your own so you too can share some surplus with those in need.

I will be doing ½ hour workshops for free on the dates below in Treat Commons Community Garden next to the Free Farm Stand. This will be a preview to the longer 1 ½ workshop that will be held at Esperanza Garden. Those workshops cost $15 donation but absolutely no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Also, a Spanish translator will be available at the Farm Stand workshop.

Here are the subjects and dates...
04/11/10 Workshop: Vegetative Propagation
It's not likely that you could grow a whole human body by taking
off a piece of your finger, sticking it in the ground, and keeping it
moist over some months time. Surprisingly, though, this about all
it takes to make more plants from perennial bushes, herbs, and vines.
In this class, you will learn the subtle differences in plant forms and
growth, and how to maximize your asexual reproductive power!

04/18/10 Workshop: Intro to FRUIT TREES
Who doesn't love fruit trees? They bring such sweetness into our lives, and with very little effort needed to coax a bountiful crop, compared with labor-intensive annual vegetables. This class will answer basic fruit tree questions: what kind of trees are out there? Which can I grow here? How do fruit trees grow? What do I have to do to keep them alive and productive?

04//25/10 Workshop: Sexual Propagation: VEGGIES
Have you planted what seemed like thousands of seeds,
only to have just two weak-looking carrots emerge? If
you're getting started at planting vegetables from seed,
or are just curious as to how to refine and perfect
your seeding techniques, this class will help.
You will leave this class confident enough to grow any major
vegetable from seed, and know how to avoid the most common
mistakes leading to seed death and seedling ill-health.

05/02/10 Workshop: Vegetable Focus: SOLANUMS
This class will cover as much as possible on the more palatable
and locally-appropriate varieties of these variously loved and
hated gems of South American descent. We will discuss tomatoes,
potatoes, peppers, and eggplants, and how to coax a crop from the
most heat-loving family in an area renowned for its cool summers.

05/09/10 Workshop: Vegetable Focus: BRASSICAS
Gardeners of The Bay take note! Brassicas could be your best friend!
Learn the needs of and tricks for growing the following veggies: kale,
arugula, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and the
Chinese choys. Come away confident that, no matter the time of the year,
or your proximity to the ocean, you will be fed from your own garden!

05/23/10 Workshop: Vegetable Focus: LEGUMES
Take some time out to get to know the Fabacaea family, including bush beans, pole beans, peas, and perennial legumes. Legumes are not only vital in helping you maintain soil fertility, they taste great and are easy to grow as well! Come get to know them better.

Ferment Change for the East Bay!

2010-03-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Hello Fermentors and Friends,

The Ferment Change planning committee is happy to announce the launch of our new website at http://www.fermentchange.org
and to announce our Ferment Change series for May 2010 to benefit Urban Ag Heroes "City Slicker Farms".

We are calling out to all pickle makers, beer brewers, sour dough wranglers, winos, et al to get involved and support Ferment Change 2010.

WHAT IS FERMENT CHANGE?
Ferment Change is a string of events each spring that include workshops,
skill shares, dinners, bicycle tours, parties, and potlucks to benefit the
work of City Slicker Farms and their trailblazing Backyard Garden Program.
We organize a small series of events that range from free to not free to
support urban ag projects in the East Bay.

FERMENT CHANGE "A fermented feast"
Our main event is hosted an the Humanist Hall in Oakland and gathers 400+
attendees for live music, skill shares, culture swaps and a fermented food
feast in the form of a community potluck. 100's of homemade pickles,beers,
krauts, kefirs, and more to share. Email info@fermentchange.org to tell us
what you are bringing or to get on our email list.

GET INVOLVED! HOST AN EVENT
The Ferment Change planning committee plans a series of events that will
be listed on our webpage to benefit City Slicker Farms. Be an urban ag
hero and host your own satellite to benefit City Slicker Farms, Haiti
Relief, or an urban ag project in your neighborhood and we will include
your event on our calendar and our website. Check out our website at
www.fermentchange.org or email info@fermentchange.org to get involved or
make a suggestion. Our next planning meeting is March 8th, email
info@fermentchange.org to attend

WHAT IS CITY SLICKER FARMS?
Check them out at www.cityslickerfarms.org

LIST OF UNCONFIRMED EVENTS for April and May- check calender next week for
confirmed events and dates

Ferment Change, a fermented feast at the Humanist Hall
Tour De Ferment, a homebrewers/distillers tour and tasting on bicycle
throughout the east bay
Ferment Skill Share- Five skill shares, one space. Sourdough, Kim Chi,
Kombucha, Kraut and more- A free event
Bring yo Motha- a culture swap
Sit down fermented foods dinner w/ keynote speaker and presentation on CSF
A bicycle tour of CSF's West Oakland Gardens and stops at select backyard
gardeners' homes
and much more check out the calendar at www.fermentchange.org next week
for more info
DONATE YOUR SPACE

We are looking to have nice sit down dinner to raise some serious funds
for City Slicker Farms. We are looking for a space that can hold 50-75
people for a sit down bourgeois dinner with a TBA guest speaker on urban ag
and food. Do you have a space to lend? Let us know at
info@fermentchange.org

Thank you
Ferment Change Planning Committee and City Slicker Farms

Ecology Emerges

2010-03-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Shaping San Francisco presents

ECOLOGY EMERGES, a four-part Public Talk Series, Spring 2010

March 18, March 31, April 28, and May 17, 2010

San Francisco, February 2010 - Legendary and inspiring examples of Bay Area ecological activism over the past 50 years unfold in four events in San Francisco and Berkeley this spring. From a collection of 23 oral histories gathered by local historian Chris Carlsson, we trace the birth of the modern ecology movement, the founding of dozens of environmentally-focused nonprofit organizations, through to today's recognition of the need for environmental justice. 12 speakers will investigate their own personal involvement in the evolution of ecological activism, the role of the Bay Area in shaping national and international ecological movements, nature in the cities, and the problem of sustainability within a growth-based economy.

“The organizational ecology in the Bay Area is totally filled out. There's not been much effort to tell what's gone on here...the clarity that marries the people, the politics, the institutions. Systems that sit on the land. The Bay Area is a pointillist painting.”

- Larry Orman, Longtime director of the Greenbelt Alliance, now with GreenInfo.net

Each event will be intimate and informative spotlights on a life of Bay Area ecological activism. Jon Christensen, Executive Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, will host each set of speakers, conversing with them and the audience. Each event will highlight a short video synthesizing the gathered oral histories and imagery from the Bay Area. All events are free and accessible. Donations welcome.

1. Evolution of Eco-Activism Thursday, March 18, Humanist Hall, Oakland, 390 27th Street, Oakland

Jerry Mander, Karen Pickett, Carla Pérez

2. Bay Area as Incubator Wednesday, March 31, Koret Auditorium, SF Main Library, 100 Larkin St, SF

co-sponsored by the SF History Center

Larry Orman, Kirsten Schwind, Harold Gilliam

3. Nature in Cities Wednesday, April 28, CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission St (at 9th), SF

part of the Shaping San Francisco Public Talks series

Peter Berg, Miya Yoshitani, Jason Mark

4. Economies of Nature Monday, May 17, SPUR Public Assembly Hall 2nd Flr, 654 Mission St (at 3rd), SF

Dick Walker, Rebecca Solnit, Antonio Roman-Alcalá

We, The Corporations

2010-02-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

I've been wondering when people would begin to wise up to the crucial issue of corporate personhood, and it seems like it's finally happening! Whatever your cause is, corporate personhood is tied to it, and without addressing this issue we're not likely to succeed in bringing about progressive change or environmental sustainability, or anything good really!

I was sent an email from the organization "Move to Amend", who are trying to mobilize to amend the constitution to expressly prohibit corporations from having the rights of people. This reminded me to pass on the word, and encourage you, whatever you are working on, to incorporate this issue into your work...

If you're not up to speed on what corporate personhood is all about, I would advise checking out Move to Amend or Reclaim Democracy, although there are many groups working on this now, and as usual, the internet is full of information if you seek it out!

Preachin Teachin

2010-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

In case you missed the annoucement a ways back, I am teaching some workshops these coming months, in addition to the regular classes I've been co-facilitating with the Urban Permculture Institute and SF Urban Permaculture Guild:

Sunday, February 21st: FRUIT TREE CARE in Half Moon Bay

Sunday, February 28th: Intro to SEED SAVING at the new Hayes Valley Farm.

Saturday, March 27th: Spring Garden Planning at Garden for the Environment.

Also, we are about to start the 2nd year-long Alemany Farm Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, and applications are due March 1st, so if you are looking for a more in depth urban farming education, this is as good of an opportunity as any!

For questions about the first workshop, write me at antidogmatist [at] gmail.com; for the others see the sites' respective websites.
Thanks!

2010-02-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

If you are involved in Urban Agriculture in one way or another, you may have the moxie to be published in a new journal! Click on the image to see it larger, or go to www.AgDevJournal.com for more info.

The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) announces its call for briefs and articles related to

Best Practices in Urban and Peri-Urban

Agriculture Development

To be included in JAFSCD Vol. 1 Issue 2
Deadline: June 5, 2010
[This submission deadline may be extended with permission of the publisher]

JAFSCD welcomes
research or policy briefs, and case studies (up to 2,500 words)
and full articles (up to 8,500 words) on best community-development practices related to:

Urban livestock management and regulation
Urban market gardening and backyard gardening
Marketing and value-adding
Waste management and reuse
Urban farming by immigrant or other special populations
Farming on the fringe

Briefs, case studies, and articles should focus on illustrative programs or projects, survey results, literature reviews, and public policy related — but not limited to — land-use planning and regulation, health ordinances or their implementation, training and educational programs, marketing systems or value chains, partnership development, systems approaches, issues of scale, and farm-neighbor relations. We are particularly interested in holistic approaches that combine community and economic development with environmental protection. Examples of applied research questions include:
Poultry, rabbit, swine, and small ruminant production versus community health: can a balance of interests be found?
Where and why are urban live animal markets flourishing? What are the SWOTs?
Where and why have some conventional family farmers been able to successfully adapt to urbanization, and what are winning programming strategies to support them?
What are key programmatic ingredients in helping older immigrants with a background and interest in farming gain access to agricultural opportunities in and around cities?
What are the trends in growth of urban and peri-urban farming, and what hinders or encourages urban or peri-urban agriculture?
What architecture or landscape designs are successfully accommodating urban or peri-urban agriculture?
Where are urban farming policies working or showing promise? Why?
What are viable approaches to market analysis and modeling for urban food production and sales outlets?
There is a rich literature on urban agriculture in the Global South. Can that literature inform approaches that can be taken in the North?

Please submit an abstract or concept piece directly to JAFSCD publisher Duncan Hilchey for initial screening and feedback: duncan@NewLeafNet.com .

FOR DETAILS on this call for papers and submission guidelines, visit www.AgDevJournal.com.
The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development is published by New Leaf Publishing and Consulting (www.NewLeafNet.com).

Other Movies Also Need To Be Made

2010-01-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

I know that it's supposed to be a "dog eat dog" world out there, but that's not how I see it. As someone trying to get the word out about sustainable food politics, I appreciate other peoples' efforts to do the same.
Maybe it's because I may end up as a character in the movie, but I'm really excited by the forthcoming release of EDIBLE CITY.

If you think it sounds like a great project, too, why not donate some money? Here's an email I got recently:

Greetings Edible City Supporters!

Our kickstarter.com campaign to raise finishing funds for Edible City
is going strong as we close in on the last two weeks. We're well past
the halfway mark, having raised over $3000 towards our $5000 goal. We
need to close that gap by February 2nd in order to receive the
pledges!

If you've already pledged or donated, we thank you so much for your
support! If you haven't yet and feel compelled to, please do! This is
the best time to help us finish the film, and every little bit counts.

And don't forget to tell your friends!

The Edible City page on Kickstarter.com can be found here.

Thank you for your support, Happy New Year and Long Live Good Food!

-Andrew Hasse
Co-director, Edible City

EcoFarm and the Next Generations

2010-01-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

As I understand it, the Ecological Farming Association's annual EcoFarm conference has been held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds for 20 of its 30 years (the unofficial conference motto this year was "Still Dirty at 30"). With that long of a commitment to this beach-side central coast location, you'd think that there was a good thing going. However, things are not always that rosy, and EcoFarm is needing some help.

Last year the owner of Asilomar, the CA State Parks department, signed a 20-year contract handing over the running of the property to Aramark, a national corporation with 260,000 employees. This led to some controversy at the recent Hazon sustainable food conference, where certain local, sustainable producers had their products rejected as donations for the conference. The reason? "Food Safety", according to Aramark.

And now, this "Alcohol Announcement" from the 2010 EcoFarm program guide:

"Dear EcoFarm Friends! We know that celebration is a very important component of the EcoFarm Conference and you are probably noting a reduction of fun activities, especially reagarding the consumption of alcohol. The new Aramark management at Asilomar changed several longstanding policies regarding alcohol in the months leading up to the conference and we did not have time to figure out a new cost and activity structure to accommodate this. Therefore, we needed to cancel several bars and activities. We hope that you will still find plenty of fun - ask EcoFarm staff if you are looking for ideas! Thank you for your patience and understanding!"

I'm not that much of a drinker, and I did still have plenty of fun, but I understand a certain disappointment. Many farmers see this conference as their vacation for the year; its the one time they can kick back with their organic-growing buds from across the country, talk shop, get inspired, and party. While I had a great time at this year's conference, I can see how Aramark's new management style might be just a signal that EcoFarm needs to move into a new phase. And sure enough, EcoFarm's organizers are openly considering a move.

With 1,300 registered attendees and more who wanted to attend but couldn't register, the popularity of ecological farming may finally be catching up with the EcoFarm community. The organizers really seem to know what they're doing, helping us come together "for education, inspiration, and creative solution-building". There are workshops for everyone; for the farmer, for the gardener, for the activist, for the policy wonk, some practical, some aesthetic, some en Español. Over the three years I've gone, I've learned what I love most about the conference (besides the conviviality, and the seed swap) is that I really come away inspired to continue working on these issues, with these people.

Particularly, I get inspired by talking to "heroes" of the movement, like Bob Scowcroft or Judith Redmond, who have done so much to advance the cause of just, sustainable food systems, yet remain so humble and approachable. Sure, it instills in me hope to know that progress can and has been made, but it also makes me think about how (personally) I am only at the beginning of my journey as an activist. My goal is not just to create change, it is to create change while having a good time and being good to people, and it's nice to know that I have role models for that!

As for the conference itself, I've learned that I get the most out of the practical workshops, so the ones I attended were:
"High Quality Organic Wheat for the Local Whole-Grain Market"
"Advanced Soil Fertility Topics: The Wise Use of Micronutrients in Organic Farming"
"Farming With a Sharp Pencil!"
"Are Internships Illegal?"
and "Classical Plant Breeding for Improving Vegetable Crops".

With the exception of the wheat one (where a UC researcher babbled about the chromosome locations of wheat/rye hybrids), I learned a lot. I learned how to be a better farm business planner. I learned that regulations intended to protect workers are ruining the prospects for on-farm internships (which have no doubt played a huge role in the expansion of ecological farming's success). I learned the importance of proper Boron levels in your soil (and what to do if they're out of whack). And, in the workshop which could have been titled "Dorkin' Out on Seed Saving", I learned how to effectively set the right genome composition of desired traits into a summer squash plant, over years of selection and growing.

The most theoretical session I went to was "Planting the Future: New Leaders in Activism for Food Justice". This was a plenary, so all minds were on deck to ponder a newly-emphasized aspect of ecological farming: urban food access, and the various forms of environmental racism associated with food. This was a wonderful presentation, full of hope for more collaboration between social justice advocates and the ecological farming community. It made me think, however, about what the next step was. With so much press and emphasis on urban farming and urban food issues, you'd think that once people start growing food in the city, a sustainable food system is inevitable. But clearly this is too simple a read on the problem. I love that people are making efforts towards urban food self-sufficiency, but maybe we should think three steps ahead: we may be growing more of our own food in 20-30 years time, but we likely won't be able to grow all of it. So I'd like to see a concurrent emphasis, along with urban food production, on connecting urban communities with their rural counterparts. This connection could be rooted in physical trade of food and work, but also serve to foster inter-cultural dialog. Obama may not be able to unite the country, but perhaps sustainable food can?

Honestly, after attending many other food conferences, I have almost nothing bad to say about this one. It was a blast, and I'm grateful to the organizers for sticking with it for 30 years. I encourage anyone who has ever been, or would like to go in the future, to contact EFA with your ideas for a new conference venue, or any other suggestions you can make to help them improve and expand the conference while maintaining its integrity.

And Finally, a Report-Back!

2010-01-13T13:51:00.000-08:00

After my stay in Half Moon Bay, I finally visited my brother in Berlin, where he has been living for 6 years. My girlfriend Danielle and I had never been to Europe, so we did the quintessentially American "finding yourself in Europe in your twenties" trip (even though Danielle is 30, and I think traveling as a couple may ruin the finding yourself thing). After Berlin we went to Czech Republic, visiting small historic rural towns, churches filled with bone pyramids, and the usual Prague monuments.

Mostly, though, we traveled through Spain. The trip, while a somewhat typical "tourist" jaunt, was marked by some agriculturally-related happenings.

First, in Madrid, was the largest farmer demonstration/march since the 80s, with estimated 10,000-200,000 attendees. You can read the article (in spanish) here. And images from El Pais (Spain's largest daily newspaper) here. A much more brief article (in English) is here. Some of their demands (for those who don't read Spanish) include:
1) Set "just" prices for ag products, and regulation of them instead of the dominant free market ideology,
2) Financing and re-financing of producers' debt,
3) Government support for the Cooperative organization systems emerging in the ag sector,
4) Development of sustainable rural energy sources and support for growers in the face of a changing climate.
[Something I thought was rather interesting: El Pais' coverage of this protest was so much better than any equivalent coverage I've seen in the Bay Area of other protests. The report is so much more broad, with historical context, multiple interviewees, and "facts" presented as opinions from different sources, etc. Their news makes the SF Chronicle look like a tabloid joke. For every one-paragraph fluff story in the Chron, there'd be a 3,000 word piece of actual journalism in El Pais...but I digress.]

Then there was the Valle De Jerte area of Extremadura (literally translated means "extreme hard"). This area produced the most notorious conquistadors like Cortéz and Pizarro, yet the beautiful mountainous surroundings looked like paradise to me: fruit trees terraced far and wide, small houses lining the valley, and a setting sun leading down into the hotter flatlands. I can't imagine why these conquistadores felt the need to leave, rape, and plunder...they seemed to have a nice enough scene going on!

We would've stopped and stayed but alas, we had already booked a room farther on in Trujillo (actual hometown of Pizarro). You could see the thermal transition from the topmost cherry trees (completely bare) to the fully-leaved and green cherry trees down below. Later, I looked up property for sale in Tornavacas (my ideal town)...but didn't find what I was looking for. Plus, it might be hard to secure EU citizenship as a farmer anyway...

Then there was the southern coast of Spain, traveling from Alméria's desert beaches to Tarifa, the southernmost point in Western Europe (you can see Tunisia from there). The hotter, more easterly coast (from Motríl to Alméria) is covered in greenhouses, the main crops (as far as I could tell) being (in late November, mind you) cucumbers and tomatoes. I stopped in a farm-supply (read: chemicals, seeds, and utensils) store outside San Jose, and chatted up the proprietor (Jose) as best I could. I learned the following:

1) The farmers in this area are mostly small-scale landowners (owning and operating one or two hectares), and are increasingly threatened by the low prices created by large-scale growers from Morocco and Turkey. Jose told me that Ag workers in Spain earn minimum 40 Euros a day; Morocco and Turkey don't have the minimum wage laws of Spain, so workers earn more in the realm of 5 Euros a day. Jose also maintained that these large agri-businesses are invested in and owned by Europeans, which reminds me of the US-dominated Ag holdings in Baja California.

2) The greenhouse growing relies on chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides. Some farmers use "biological" pesticides, but I didn't find out whether that entailed them to an "Ecologico" certification or what. For sure, Jose didn't think many farmers made their own compost. Some "ayuntamientos" (local governments) create a composting center where the farmers can take their crop residue instead of burning it or throwing it away, but other than that, composting is not a part of their farming practice.

Some other notes:
Spain grows a lot of olives. Portugal: a lot of citrus.

They sell fully roasted baby pigs (called Cochinillos) in restaurants. It looks gross, but at least the places that produce them (as seen from the road) have the honesty to call themselves "ham factories" not farms.
The vegetables were better tasting closer to the coast, but the pizza still sucked.

Fruit Tree Course!

2010-01-13T13:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you excited about growing more of your own fruit, a one-day class I am co-teaching next month may be your chance to get going! See description below, and don't forget the California Rare Fruit Grower's "scion exchange" this Saturday in Berkeley (details here)! Happy fruit tree-d new year!

Looking to start growing fruit trees, or wondering how to take care of the trees you already have? This introductory, day-long workshop will cover the basics of fruit tree selection, biology, ecology, placement, planting, pruning and care, propagation and grafting, watering, and orchard management. Instruction sites, located in the Half Moon Bay area, include three different sized orchards of various varieties and ages, including Apples, Plums, Asian and European Pears, Persimmons, Avocados, Loquats, Figs, and Walnuts. Payment for the workshop is $25-$75 sliding scale. No one will be turned away, however, so please contact us if you cannot afford the tuition. Class size is limited, so sign up now!

Participants are asked to bring their own pruning clippers.

This class will be facilitated by Aaron Dinwoodie (farm manager at Tunitas Creek Ranch) and Antonio Roman-Alcalá (Alemany Farm), and meets Sunday, February 21st, at 9:30am. It ends at 4pm, with one hour for BYO/Potluck lunch. To register, please write Antonio at antidogmatist [at] gmail.com, with "TREE COURSE" in the subject line.

Seeds As Art

2010-01-04T10:42:00.000-08:00

My friend Aurora is curating an art show at the Curiosity Shoppe, themed around "SURVIVAL".

I have put together a set of seed packets from seed I have personally grown and saved (cilantro, dill, arugula, and amaranth: some of the easiest crops for seed saving in an urban area), along with a comic book of my perspective on the connection between seeds and survival. They will be for sale at the shop at the "Grand Opening", which will be held this Friday:
January 8th 2010 from 6-8pm.

Of course, I will probably also be giving away lots of these comics and seed packets at other events...but if you want to support my interim career as an "artist", come to the opening!

The Curiosity Shoppe is located at 855 Valencia St btwn 19th and 20th streets.
Also check out http://survivalannex.blogspot.com/

uh oh

2009-12-22T22:19:00.002-08:00

Possibly one reason why the food system (and all our systems) are not sustainable:

Normally this type of media is steeped in conspiracy theory-type approach, which turns people off. This is the first piece I've seen that makes a reasonable argument that the financial system is BASED on debt, which requires exploitation of people and planet in order to be paid off. Yikes.

Please watch it yourself.
Related, I am helping organize a loosely-food-based film festival in 2010. Suggestions for films are most appreciated!

New ORG for New Gardens

2009-12-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

If you've got a space that works for this organization (they're out of Detroit; I'd never heard of them til this but it sounds like they know what they're doing), you could have a garden installed!

Urban Farming is looking to convert unused land in San Francisco to grow an organic food garden. If you are interested in this possibility, please contact Karleen Eberle directly. Her email is karleeneberle@gmail.com Her phone number is 608-320-1028.

Urban Farming is a non-profit that converts unused land into organic food gardens. It is our mission to end hunger in our generation, alleviate poverty and green our environment. We have a sponsor that is funding 6 new gardens in San Francisco. The ultimate goal is to create long term, self sustaining garden that directly benefits and uplifts the community. We provide all of the garden essentials. Below are the technical details:

Site Selection Criteria

· 20’x20’ plot, or space netting approximately 400 square feet – all sites should have some extra room for participants, should not contain existing community gardens

· There should not be existing gardens on the sites so we can create a new garden there

· Appropriate sunlight and accessible water supply

· At least one site with sufficient space around the planting plot to allow for events of 30-50 people, small tent, product promotions display, signage, equipment

· Reasonably safe area/neighborhoods, Ideally a mix of urban and suburban sites

· Easy access from car/truck

· Ample parking for tour vehicle

· Concrete may be acceptable, but asphalt is not

Suggested Site Types: Community center grounds; Parks; City lots; University/College campus; Faith-based organization sites that accept other community member involvement and also those that are non-denominational. (no elementary or high schools grounds)

Urban Farming will provide:

· Soil testing

· 60 yards of top soil spread over a 20X20 garden (aka 440 sq ft) area (Soil dropped and spread- we will pay for it)

· Vegetable plants for first growing season (for future, on a best-efforts basis only).

· Tools (one time basis)

· A part-time garden supervisor who will oversee garden operations, including keeping the garden aesthetically pleasing and free of debris through Oct. 2010.

· Standard agreement between Urban Farming and Property Owner, defining the responsibilities of each (official MOU)

· Assistance with obtaining any necessary city permits.

How it Feels to Be Back

2009-12-11T16:25:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a month-long journey in Europe. I have an agriculturally-related blog account written, and was waiting to upload photos to post it. But alas, the charger to the camera seems to have been left somewhere abroad, and I'll have to post it some time later.

Meanwhile, I was surprised to return to such bitter cold and moisture! Although the trip took me to climates known for cold winters (namely, Berlin and Prague), I feel like the coldest I've been in the past month was yesterday! But of course, I'm grateful for whatever rainfall we're lucky enough to get (and wise enough to catch and store!). And I know that many of our most loved fruit trees need this cold in order to bud out next spring, so I can't complain too much...

One thing that struck me in my first days back in the city: It's funny how, on vacation, I was willing to spend any amount of money for foods that I knew nothing about. Really, I just wasnt't worrying or thinking too much about what I was eating when I was eating out. I just knew that I was hungry and didn't want to spend too much time looking around for "the right place" to eat. Of course, I wanted the food to be tasty, and I tried my best to be able to judge that from no prior knowledge of a place. Often, I used my best sheep-like logic: if the place had many customers inside, it might be good. And, being on vacation, I was less concerned with saving money than usual, so I didn't let the fact that I was spending more than I would normally bother me.

My point is that, immediately upon finding myself in the Mission, I was filled with the same feelings of conflict I get every time I am hungry and not in the position to cook at home: what should I eat? What has the best combination of taste, price, portion, and quality ingredients? Is caring about what you eat, as a restaurant-goer, just a form of self-imposed neurosis?

The sad reality is that, even in the incredible diversity of options available in a culinary city like San Francisco, our outside food choices are limited by the same old factors: a lack of well-produced ingredients, the inadequacies of our wallets, and (for people like myself) an overly-busy lifestyle which prioritizes convenience and te ability to fill ones belly over taste and (expensive) quality.

Luckily, I found a compromise in YAMO (18th and Mission). Since I'm no longer vegetarian, I went for the chicken noodle soup. Maybe it was all the spices, but on this cold rainy day the dish was satisfyingly filling, nutritive, and delicious. And less than $6! Just don't ask me where the chicken came from!

In the realm of events/announcements, here's a weekend of food events for ya!
Hiya folks!

Just wanted to let you all know that we're having a holiday JAM SALE to benefit Produce to the People this upcoming weekend, Saturday Dec. 12 from 12-4pm at our favorite local pie shop, Mission Pie (2901 Mission St., the corner of Mission and 25th).

All jam is home made from locally and organically grown fruit and herbs and sweetened much less than store-bought jam with organic, fair trade turbinado and demerara sugar. We re-made some favorites from the last jam sale, like apricot lavender, and have some delicious new varieties like spiced apple, and fig with a touch of home fermented red wine vinegar. All jam is $5 a jar, and all proceeds go to benefit Produce to the People's harvest, garden, and youth programming.

Jam (and all consumables!) make a tasty and low-impact gift, and I can assure you these jams were made with a great deal of love and dedication. Come early for the best selection, last time we sold out much quicker than we expected! And stay late for the delicious pie and all the other sweet and savory treats inside the pie shop!

A big thank you to Mission Pie for generously hosting us again, and to Rainbow Grocery for donating many of the canning jars and sugar that made all this jam possible. Also, YOU can keep the jam alive by donating empty canning jars at the jam sale (or getting in touch with me if you can't make it to the jam sale). And if anyone is interested in volunteering an hour or two on Saturday, drop me a line, I would love a little help and company!

Stay warm! See you Saturday!

All my best,

Lauren
--
Lauren Anderson
Director and Program Coordinator
Produce to the People

www.producetothepeople.org
producetothepeople@gmail.com

Planting Justice would like to invite you to our first annual concert/party at the historic Humanist Hall, this Sunday December 13th at 6 pm!

We are so excited to celebrate the hard work and quick progress we have made creating tangible change throughout the Bay Area towards a more just and sustainable urban food system.

We will be blessed by performances from some of the most incredible dancers, musicians and eco hip hop artists in the area...Mariee Sioux, Dascrybe of Debajo del Agua, Communitree, the Space Pirates Cooking Show, the Halau O Keikiali'i Hula Group, and Bollywood Dancer Archana Sachdev!

Our silent auction will offer wonderful installations of sustainable urban food systems, including a custom permaculture garden, a bee hive, a chicken coop, an earthen cob oven, a greywater system, and more! Enjoy a warm, lovingly prepared dinner by Pachamana Cafe, organic beer from Linden Street Brewery and Triple Rock, organic wine from Frey Vineyards, and much more!

All proceeds go to support our Green Jobs program in 2010 and our urban permaculture empowerment projects at San Quentin State Prison, middle-schools and high-schools in Oakland, and various backyards and frontyards that are helping community members grow healthy food right where they live.

Get Tickets early, or sponsor a low-income attendee at www.plantingjustice.org

$30 for dinner, entertainment
$40 for dinner, flowing wine/beer, and entertainment
$30 to sponsor a low-income attendee (no one turned away for lack of funds.)

When: Sunday December 13th from 6 - 11 pm
Where: Humanist Hall, 390 27th street in Oakland, between Telegraph and Broadway

Feel free to send this invite to your friends!

And thank you for supporting tangible food justice projects and the right of all people to healthy, affordable food!

Farm Apprenticeships in 2010

2009-12-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Looking to get your hands dirty next year??? The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA) is a really cool resource that was created to provide "information and other technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States." In addition to featuring a bunch of publications and articles about topics like soil management and pest control, it is also a great tool for finding farm apprenticeships and internships on farms in the US and Canada. You can search for positions here, and can connect directly with the farms who have posted, looking for people to work. Happy farming:)

The Food Preservationists’ Harvest Party Fundraiser

2009-11-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

“a party to pay for a delivery truck so that we can deliver the bounty of the harvest to your neighborhood”

Saturday, November 14th 2-6pm
in the oldest surviving barn in Oakland! Corner of Clark and 49th
Old time drinks, local organic dinner, cuban folk music, raffle, preserving contest with prizes and more!

$35-$200 and up donations.
all proceeds go to paying for a delivery truck so that we can deliver the bounty of the harvest to your neighborhood.
For every $5 you donate, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. Raffle items include: happy girl mega sampler (22 jars), antique canning kit, workshop gift certificates, catered dinner party for 10 and more!

canning contest: show off your canning prowess and share your preserved bounty to become Prestigious Processor of the Pantry!

old time drinks: Featuring hard cider made by Todd Champagne with champagne yeast! Fancy that!, wine by naki, chai cola, kombucha on tap and more.

dinner: Buffet style delicious dinner catered by Happy Girl Kitchen Co. using all organic and local ingredients. This is going to be good!

Music: Bluegrass and old timey music that will move your feet for you and a special visit from SF DJ Juggle Geof. (maybe he will even juggle for us?)

Raffle items: For every $5 you donate, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. You may buy more at the event once you see how fabulous the raffle items are!

To buy tickets go here

It's Easy Being Green

2009-11-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend, the "nation's premier sustainability event" will be taking place in our backyard -- the Green Festival -- on November 13, 14, & 15. Check out the website to learn more about the schedule, the speakers (including Bill Ayers, Amy Goodman, Marion Nestle, and Dead Prez!), and the exhibitors.

Yes We Can (or Pickle!): Bringing Food Justice Home

2009-10-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Be the change, in your kitchen! The American Jewish World Service (AJWS)-AVODAH Bay Area City Team invites you to take the next step in working for food justice, in your own home. Local practitioners and activists will lead hands-on workshops on growing food in the city, preserving seasonal produce, and demystifying food labels. Whether you are a novice or a pro, join us for an interactive and informative evening with delicious goodies and great company.

When: Wednesday, October 28, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Congregation Shaar Zahav, corner of 16th St and Dolores in the Mission District
RSVP/Questions: sfcityteam@gmail.com

Co-sponsored by Progressive Jewish Alliance, Hazon, and Eco-Jews of the Bay

CUESA: In Search of a Righteous Porkchop

2009-10-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

In Search of a Righteous Porkchop
A panel discussion about responsible meat eating and animal agriculture

Sponsored by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) and Book Passage
Thursday, October 29, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

The reality behind industrially produced meat — cramped confinement, routine use of antibiotics and growth hormones, E. coli epidemics, pollution of air and water, enormous carbon footprint, and so on — has made some eaters into staunch vegans. For others, however, all-or-nothing is a false choice. This panel will explore the middle ground: moderate consumption of meat from animals raised humanely and sustainably on family farms. Panelists will include Nicolette Hahn Niman, attorney, rancher, and author of Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms; David Evans, fourth generation rancher and owner of Marin Sun Farms; and Aaron French, chef at the Sunny Side Café, ecologist, and writer. Moderated by Elanor Starmer, researcher and policy analyst for the national consumer advocacy organization Food and Water Watch.

The event is free and and will be followed by a reception with farmers’ market snacks. No RSVP needed. For further information, contact Julie Cummins: 415.291.3276 x106 or julie@cuesa.org.

Cool Event Coming Up on Oct 24!

2009-10-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

Use Your Roof! Project Opportunity
Build a School Rooftop Garden in Oakland!

Bay Localize has teamed up with Oakland Food Connection and the Ella Baker Center's Soul of the City Campaign to build out new garden beds at the E.C. Reems Academy in East Oakland. In prep for the winter season, we will host two workdays:

WHEN:	October 17 and 24, 2009 10 am - 2 pm
WHERE:	E.C. Reems Academy 8425 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland

Please join us! Please RSVP to leah@baylocalize.org for October 17 or October 24 so we know you'll be there.

Bring yourself, a pair of gloves, some snacks to share, and whatever tools you have (i.e., hammers), and let's get to work! We will expand East Oakland's first green rooftop garden by:

Building 10-16 new garden beds;
Planting new winter crop vegetables, donated by City Slicker Farms;
Adding new soil to existing and new garden beds;
Getting to know youth and adults in the green movement; and
Having fun and getting dirty!

Seed Saving workshop this weekend!

2009-10-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

WHAT: A two hour workshop exploring the wonderful world of seed-saving (specifically for food crops), facilitated by me, Antonio. 11am-1pm, Saturday, October 10th.

WHERE: Glide Foundation (330 Ellis St @ Taylor St, San Francisco, CA)
Meet in Classroom 504 (5th Floor)

UPON ARRIVAL: Please sign in at the front desk. You can get exercise by taking five flights of stairs to the fifth floor classroom (Room 504) or you can opt to take the elevator.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES: Food and Drink will not be provided; however, feel free to bring a something to share!

GETTING THERE: Glide Foundation is located just north of Market Street in the heart of the Tenderloin at Ellis St and Taylor St. Enter on Ellis Street. Glide is 3 blocks from the Powell Street BART station, and is on or near several MUNI bus lines. For a map and directions, clickhere.

BICYCLE PARKING: There is a bicycle rack in Glide's parking lot.

HOW MUCH? Suggested donation of $10, but (of course) no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Hope to see you there, and pass on the word if you can!

Apprenticeship Opportunity in West Oakland

2009-09-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Urban Farm Apprentice Job Announcement

One Year Apprenticeship (approx Dec 2009-Dec 2010)

City Slicker Farms, a non-profit urban farming program in West Oakland, California is seeking qualified applicants for a 1 year long apprenticeship. Urban Farm Apprentices work in all areas of the program, including farming (planning, obtaining supplies, propagating, planting, harvesting, etc.), volunteer management, farm-stand sales, community outreach, event planning, technical assistance for community members, administrative work, and record-keeping.

We will welcome the talents and opinions of the apprentice in our collective decision-making process. This is a great position for motivated people who are interested in all aspects of community food security and food justice. We will tailor the apprenticeship to your learning needs as much as possible.

Qualifications:
•At least 1 year experience in farming/gardening, with at least 6 months of on-farm job experience
•Able and willing to do hard manual labor and to lift at least 50 pounds
•Basic computer skills (Word, Excel, e-mail, etc.)
•Organizational & communication skills (record-keeping, data entry, planning, filing, managing schedules,
e-mail, etc)
•Farmer’s market sales experience preferred
•Comfortable working with a diverse group of people (age, race, gender, ethnicity, economic status)
•Driver’s License and ability to drive a standard shift truck a plus
•Outgoing and friendly with the public
•Ability to stay on task while handling multiple distractions
•Comfortable directing volunteer workers
•Attention to detail (attractive produce displays, clean tool sheds, etc.)
•Experience in community outreach and/or marketing a plus
•Ability to instruct community members in gardening techniques
•Basic construction skills preferred
•Spanish language fluency a plus

Duration & Work Schedule:
•Year Apprenticeship, Mid-November through Early December (somewhat flexible start & end dates)
•35 hours per week, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays required
•Three weeks paid vacation in December/January plus two weeks paid vacation (negotiable);

Compensation:
•Housing is provided within walking/biking distance to most work sites and regional public transportation.
•Board (food) stipend.
•$300 stipend per month.

If interested please find the application online!

Urban Farm Solidarity

2009-09-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

In doing some online sleuthing for information about the recent G20 protests in Pittsburgh, I came across the website for the Landslide Community Farm.

It thought their story is interesting. How is a small, grassroots urban farm such a threat that they must face repeated intimidation?

Check it out here, and reprinted below.

"Landslide is a Hill District based farm dedicated to providing a free source of healthy food to the community. We are committed to sustainability and are working with the concepts of permaculture. We hope to be a neighborhood run project that focuses on education and mutual aid.

______________________

UPDATE:

In Lead Up to G-20, Police Harassment at Community Farm

More than forty police officers stationed in front of Landslide Community Farm as Department of Public Works removes tires

PITTSBURGH—On Sunday, September 20 just after noon, more than 40 uniformed police officers arrived at Landslide Community Farm in four unmarked twelve-passenger vans. The police were not forthcoming with their reasons for visiting the farm but some officers indicated that their presence was in relation to the upcoming G-20 summit.

Several officers got out of their vans, walking deep into the privately owned farmland to examine the area. During the investigation police were repeatedly told that they were on private property and asked to leave, but refused to comply with the request until tax receipts indicating ownership of the land were presented. At several delicate plants were trampled in the investigation but the extent of the damage is unknown.

Eventually the police left the farmland to investigate a pile of tires on a city-owned lot adjacent to the land. The tires had been gathered from city-owned lots in the area during neighborhood clean-up days. Farm volunteers say that the lots had been neglected by local authorities for years. As part of the clean-up efforts Landslide requested help from various city agencies in removing the tires. While city officials were very helpful in securing dumpsters for other trash, they refused to assist in removing the tires.

The forty police officers remained on the scene for more than eight hours while Pittsburgh Public Works investigated the situation, examined property lines, and eventually hauled away the tires. Employees promised to return at 6:00 am the next morning. They did not comment on the purpose of their return to the Farm.

Farm volunteers expressed concern that so many police officers were called to the scene just to remove tires. “If they had given us a dumpster two years ago this wouldn’t have been an issue. This isn’t about trash or tires; this is a show of force. The police are clearly trying to intimidate anyone who opposes the G-20’s policies or anyone who looks like someone that would protest the G-20” said Claire Schoyer, a fulltime Landslide volunteer.

While Landslide members are generally opposed to the G-20 and its neoliberal policies, the farm is not hosting any protesters or protest activities. Also, in the face of likely repression, the Farm has decided to scale back activities during the summit.

This is not the first time police have been at Landslide. In August, Landslide volunteers filed a complaint with the Citizens Police Review Board when two plainclothes police officers visited the farm and aggressively told volunteers that they had to leave because they were trespassing on city land. During the August incident the officers left when they were presented with tax receipts for the land.

_____________________

Our farm is sustained entirely by the hard work of our volunteers and funded entirely by individual contributions. We’re a new and growing project and over the next several months we are hoping to buy additional land, install rainwater collection and irrigation systems, build a greenhouse, and continue to rehab our farm houses to provide sustainable homes for our full-time volunteers. Please think about donating some money to help us secure the long-term viability of this valuable project."

Last Minute Notice-Event 9/16

2009-09-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Growing Resilience"
Community Resilience Toolkit Launch Event!

In response to worsening energy, climate, and economic crises, Bay Localize is equipping organizers in our region with the tools they'll need to build strong communities. Join us for "Growing Resilience," a launch event for our long-awaited Community Resilience Toolkit! The Toolkit guides groups to think holistically about how to build ecological, economic, and social resilience in their communities while decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. Come hear dynamic speakers, see live performances, dance to our DJ's eclectic selections, take part in interactive Toolkit sessions, and enjoy tantalizing ice cream, organic produce, and local drink!

Thanks to Kaia Foods, City Slicker Farms, Produce to the People, Rainbow Grocery, Straus Family Creamery, and the Women's Building for their generous contributions.

Co-sponsors include Transition US and Movement Generation.

This event is wheelchair accessible. Please RSVP today at rsvp@baylocalize.org.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 16, 6-8:30 pm

WHERE: Women's Building, 3543 18th St., SF (Near 16th St. BART)

COST: $0-20 sliding scale benefiting Bay Localize (no one turned away)

We will accept payment ONLY at the door

Labor Day Madness

2009-09-03T13:12:00.001-07:00

We all labor--some more than others.

This labor day, the organizers at Slow Food USA want you to eat some food with your friends and neighbors to raise attention to the need for good food in schools. Check here to see where what it's all about, and where there will be an "Eat-In" near you.

Also in the labor day realm is this event at the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA):

The Fruits of Their Labor
A panel about farmworkers and how your food choices can support a just food system

Thursday, September 10, 2009, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Truly sustainable food is not only healthy, humane, and environmentally sound, but also socially just. In honor of Labor Day, CUESA is sponsoring a talk to highlight the workers who feed us. Who are our farm laborers, and what are their lives like? What can farm owners do to keep their workers safe and happy, without breaking the bank? Four panelists will tell success stories of advancing working conditions in the fields and discuss how concerned eaters can stand up for fair food.

The panel will be followed by a short reception with farmers’ market snacks. The event is free (donations gladly accepted) and open to the public.

Location: Port Commission Hearing Room, second floor of the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero (at Market Street) in San Francisco.

Panelists:
Sandy Brown, co-owner of Swanton Berry Farm (the first organic farm to have a contract with the United Farm Workers) and UC Berkeley doctoral candidate researching the role of Fair Trade certification and labeling on agricultural labor practices

Alida Cantor, research associate with the California Institute for Rural Studies, a nonprofit research organization focused on issues such as farm labor conditions, sustainable food systems, and rural health

Alegría De La Cruz, staff attorney for Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, former directing attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance's Migrant Farmworker Project in Fresno, and daughter of farmworker union organizers

Maisie Greenawalt vice president of communications for Bon Appétit Management Company, which recently signed a groundbreaking tomato purchasing agreement with the Coalition of Imokalee Workers establishing labor requirements including fair wage, worker safety and worker empowerment stipulations

More info: Julie Cummins 415-291-3276 x106 or julie@cuesa.org

New Civil Eats Post

2009-08-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This post is an example of what I spend my time thinking about when I'm not working on the movie.

Enjoy.

Savor the Summer Benefit Dinner this Saturday (8/29)!

2009-08-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool event happening this weekend...come out and support a great organization with a new campaign!

On Saturday, August 29th, the California Food and Justice Coalition is pleased to partner with Bocanova restaurant for Savor Summer with CFJC, a dinner featuring local, organic ingredients and a talk by Laura Stec, chef and author of Cool Cuisine: Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming. All proceeds from the dinner benefit CFJC's newest campaign, Grow Local, focused on rebuilding local food systems. We hope you can join us. To reserve a seat, please visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/77497

Here's some more info about CFJC:
The California Food and Justice Coalition (CFJC) promotes the basic human right to healthy food while advancing social, agricultural, environmental and economic justice. Through advocacy, organizing and education, we collaborate with community-based efforts to create a sustainable food supply for the residents of California. We envision a California food system in which all activities, from farm to table, are equitable, healthful, regenerative and community-driven. The Grow Local campaign works to rebuild local, sustainable food systems by empowering the grassroots to push for local-level policy change. We find that the benefits associated with local food systems are immense: strengthened local economies, improved access to healthy foods, reduced green house gas emissions, and increased access to green-collar jobs. Plus, as you will witness at the dinner, local, organic food just tastes better.

The Word on the Street

2009-08-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Rick Bacigalupi and I recently finished up a little compilation of some of the conversations I've been having with "the people" on the street.
Mostly, I asked people about what they ate, where it came from, and if they cared.

Enjoy, and don't forget to go to the EAT REAL festival this weekend. Part of the movie will be played on Friday evening. Check this for details.

Young Farmers Come Out

2009-08-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

If you're a young farmer, here are two things you should know about:

First, a contest from the folks at Civil Eats Blog, for young farmers to win farmer/author Mas Masumoto's new book.

Second, remember to put yourself into the online young farmer's database at
serveyourcountryfood.net . The information gathered will be crucial to quantify the young farmer's movement, lead us to better supports for young farmers, and more!

Happy farming!

The Insatiable American Appetite

2009-08-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

When we think about moving toward a more sustainable food system, we are often focused on changing the ‘food industrial complex’ that delivers us our food. We’re aware that our food has become more processed and less nutritious, but how much have we been altered because of the changes made to what we’re now consuming?

So, we’re eating an entirely new kind of food that is unprecedented in human history, basically unrecognizable to people even 50 years ago. And a whole new set of norms has evolved around that food, e.g. it’s now socially acceptable to never cook for yourself. What effects has this new food culture had on us? How has this relatively recent shift affected our predilections and attitudes? Dr. David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner and author of "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite", addresses some of these issues in his interview with Amy Goodman and Anjali Kamat of Democracy Now. The interview is long, but definitely worth watching/listening.

We know that our bodies are physically affected (obesity, heart disease, etc.) by our unhealthy food intake, but Kessler believes that our brains are changing on a neurological level in response to the composition of our increasingly processed diet. The culprit is the unholy trinity of sugar, salt, and fat, and their endless permutations prevalent on our shelves, care of the food industry. Corporations might not know exactly which biological buttons they are pushing, but the proof is in the pudding, quite literally, with our expanding waistlines and their profits to prove it. In the interview, Kessler discusses how he and his colleagues have found evidence that repeated exposure to this combo can actually rewire our neural pathways. He is particularly troubled by the implications of these studies for America’s youth, who are starting down this path even earlier.

Another interesting point he raises is how our larger culture has come to condone our increasingly unhealthy eating behaviors: eating between meals, food as entertainment, etc. Our attitudes and choices are highly influenced by the prevailing social norms, and Kessler holds that responses towards food are no different. However, he advocates for change and thinks we are capable of it. He brings up an interesting parallel to cigarettes, and describes how people’s perception of smoking shifted over several decades, from one of collective desire to collective distaste.

Kessler’s interview made me recognize that our return to more sustainable food practices is not just about people embracing seasonality, locality, etc. It will also require the unlearning of many of the new behaviors and beliefs about food that have become highly integrated into American life, like huge portion sizes, continuous snacking, etc. I think it is important for us to explore how these recently evolved tendencies can be addressed as we advocate for sustainability. How difficult is it to resist that Twinkie when our own brain and our culture at large are coyly suggesting, “How about two?”

Detroit Rising

2009-08-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

In the July 13th entry of ISOGF, Will highlighted SF Mayor Gavin Newsom's executive directive to reshape the city's food system. I reckon that most people would guess San Francisco if asked which American city could become one hundred percent food self-sufficient. Strong political will and an educated, wealthy population that is prepared to stand behind progressive legislation may seem like the necessary factors to produce bold initiatives in sustainable food.

However, there is a sustainable food movement afoot in a very different city, under very different circumstances, that you might not expect:

An American Institute of Architects panel concludes that all Detroit’s residents could fit comfortably in fifty square miles of land. Much of the remaining ninety square miles could be farmed. Were that to happen, and a substantial investment was made in greenhouses, vertical farms, and aquaponic systems, Detroit could be producing protein and fibre 365 days a year and soon become the first and only city in the world to produce close to 100 percent of its food supply within its city limits. [Guernica Mag]

Long written off as a city in its death throes, Detroit does not seem like the most likely candidate for one-hundred percent food self-sufficiency. When you consider its realities: no grocery stores that carry produce, polluted soil, widespread poverty, devalued real estate, a dwindling urban population, etc., the idea sounds pretty unbelievable. But when you consider these factors in a different light, and combine them with strong food sustainability activists working from the bottom-up, large tracts of available and arable land that can be remediated, plentiful water, and local farming knowledge (just to name a few of its assets), Detroit seems like exactly the city where this type of fundamental shift could be the most possible. Read the full article here.

Alice Waters to Recieve French Legion of Honor

2009-08-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Local foodies are buzzing this week after San Francisco Weekly's Meredith Brody reported that Chez Panisse founder and local food matriarch Alice Waters will be receiving the French Legion of Honor.

France is well known for it's exciting culinary culture (read about the Bureau du Fooding), and has played a prominent role in the global Slow Food Movement. It is significant to see an American local food proponent to be bestowed the honor. Surprisingly enough, she is not the only American chef to receive the award - the French government pinned the medal on Julia Child in 1991. So we know Alice will be in good company.

Details are still forthcoming, and a date for the ceremony has not been set, but will take place in the Bay Area.

Congratulations, Alice.

IMMEDIATE ACTION Needed to Preserve Important East Bay Agricultural Research Land

2009-07-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

This is last minute, but we need action TODAY (Tuesday, July 28) to save the Gill Tract, an invaluable agricultural resource center in Albany. If you want to help support resources and research for agroecology and sustainable agriculture in the Bay Area, please read on and act NOW!

Direct Action to stop Whole Foods and UC Berkeley: Protect the Gill Tract

Tuesday July 28, 2009
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Albany Community Center
corner of Marin Avenue at Masonic Avenue
Albany, CA 94706

From IndyBay.org:

“We need folks to show up for direct action to stop Whole Foods from coming into Albany, and to help us stand up for the Gill Tract, the largest piece of agricultural land in the immediate Bay Area. The early summer release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Whole Foods has been timed when many UC students and community members are away. The implications of allowing a Whole Foods at this site will allow UC to build on the Gill Tract. We want a full scale urban farm at the Gill Tract. The Gill Tract's 109 acres has dwindled under UC's ownership and now only 14.6 acres remains. Now they want that too. We have been at this for the last 15 years in an effort to secure the Gill Tract in its remaining entirety for community food security for the future.

“At a time where climate change and sustainability is at the forefront of planning processes, the City of Albany as the lead agency in this EIR and many 'progressives' have chosen to circumvent what's wise for the future in order to broker a deal for more tax revenue and their ‘Whole’ foods.”

(Apologies for the cut-and-paste method of this post.)

ACT NOW!

Documentary Screening: “What’s the Economy For, Anyway?”

2009-07-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

There will be a screening of “What’s the Economy For, Anyway?”, a new documentary by John de Graaf on Saturday, July 25th at the newly-opened David Brower Center in Berkeley. Definitely worth checking out. Here are the details:

Saturday, July 25, 2009
7:30 pm
David Brower Center
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
Admission: $10 donation at the door
Sponsored by Earth Island Institute
RSVP: events@earthisland.org

Description (from Earth Island Institute)
“’What’s the Economy For, Anyway?’ a new film by producer John de Graaf offers an edgy and timely critique of our consumer-driven model of economic growth and its supreme cost to our planet and the quality of our lives. The film presents facts, entertains, explains and engages, and reminds us that the purpose of our economy is to serve people, not for the people to serve the economy. A screening of a short work in progress and Q & A with de Graaf will follow.

“John de Graaf is an award-winning documentary film producer with more than 15 nationally-broadcast films including Affluenza and the biography of Earth Island ’s founder, For Earth’s Sake: The Life and Times of David Brower. In addition to receiving more than 100 regional, national and international awards, de Graaf founded the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival. He is also the co-author of the book, Affluenza: the All-Consuming Epidemic and the Executive Director of Take Back Your Time. The de Graaf Environmental Filmmaking Award, named for him, is presented annually at the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival in Nevada City, California.”

San Francisco Goes Sustainable

2009-07-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

On July 9th, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced an executive directive outlining a new initiative to reshape the city’s food system. This move marks a critical attempt by the mayor’s office to organize efforts to support the local, sustainable food economy and address growing concern over food insecurity, malnutrition and hunger in the city.

The directive, entitled “Healthy and Sustainable Food for San Francisco,” includes creating new food sourcing procedures for government programs. These new policies, to go into effect immediately, include the requirement that, in making purchase decisions, all city agencies and departments must “utilize guidelines for ‘healthy meetings’ and purchase healthy, locally produced and/or sustainably certified foods to the maximum extent possible.” This will foster much-needed changes in the food purchased for city council meetings, government-owned vending machines and more. For the coming months, Newsom has also promised changes in the purchasing guidelines for city community centers, jails and hospitals.

The directive also requires a comprehensive evaluation of unused government land suitable for urban gardening, as well as increased financial and administrative support for urban farming programs carried out by the Department of Recreation and Parks. We can also plan to see changing zoning regulations, increased tax incentives and modified permit timetables to support new food businesses.

The broader effort will be supervised by a new Food Policy Council, which will comprise representatives from various government agencies and stakeholder and community groups. Across the bay, a similar Oakland Food Policy Council is also bringing public, private and community interests together to tackle food sustainability and availability issues. These organizations will join a growing national list of councils organizing long-term strategies to assess, improve and localize urban food systems.

This announcement is an important step toward institutionalizing cultural and economic shifts toward sustainable and nutritious living. While many citizens have the luxury to adapt buying, eating and disposal patterns to make our cities more sustainable, governments are now playing an active role in making clean, healthy, local food available to the broader community. And holding city government officials, purchasers and programs accountable to this immediate need is an important part of the process.

Urban Homesteading: Bringing Some Country to the City

2009-07-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we are all going to our weekly farmers markets this summer to take advantage of the abundance of quality organic food. But what about those of us who want to bring a little bit of the farm home? A new article in the New York Times Magazine shows how even on what they describe as “a gritty block in Oakland,” people are bringing farming traditions to urban areas. There is a growing national movement of urbanites, perhaps more sedentary “back-to-the-landers”, who are growing, pruning, canning, fermenting and brewing their way to a more sustainable and bucolic life.

Much like so many of our small farms struggling to get by, today’s urbanites are trying to get the most out of every food purchase the make. So when tomatoes are plentiful, it makes sense to buy in bulk and can some for leaner times. And when prices of staples such as cheese and beer go up, it just makes sense to produce your own. The list things urban homesteaders are doing is long, from freezing soup bases and fermenting krauts to raising chickens and making honey wine—there really is something here for everyone, regardless of gastronomic preferences.

Luckily for us, Oakland is a homesteading hotbed, with a variety of resources and publications feeding this exciting movement. A good place to start is to visit the Institute for Urban Homesteading, which offers a variety of classes for a very cheap rate. (There are even classes on animal husbandry and bee keeping.) I suggest you take a look and sign up now, as the classes are filling.

Despite our desires to be out in the country, this is an exciting time to be urban. More and more, creative and energetic people are finding new ways to have a piece of rural life in our biggest cities. This truly brings the politics of food home. More than what food you buy, this about what your household does with it.

I hope to see you in class!

Food Stamped - Independent Local Film

2009-06-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Coming up this weekend and the next, check out Food Stamped, a documentary made by local filmmakers!

Berkeley educator Shira Potash teaches nutrition-based cooking classes to students in low-income neighborhoods, most of whom are eligible for food stamps. In an attempt to walk a mile in their shoes, Shira and her filmmaker husband Yoav embark on the "food stamp challenge", eating on roughly $1/meal. Along the way, they encounter different perspectives on the intersection of food, money, healthcare, politics, and marital bliss.
See the trailer here.

Saturday, June 20 - 8:00-10:00pm Film screening + panel discussion with Food Stamped experts and social justice advocates along with tips on how to eat healthy in lean times.

Sunday, June 28 - 7:00pm Film screening + Q&A with the filmmakers

Location: JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA 94709

$8 JCCEB Members /$10 Non-Members

Questions? Call 510-848-0237 x148

Local Grain on the Brain

2009-06-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

In the never-ending search for great local food, we often overlook some of our most staple food products. Fruits and vegetables from local farms and neighborhoods are always available, and there are incredible options for local meats, dairy and eggs. But what about bread?

The Bay Area has no shortage of small, local bakeries producing outstanding breads with signature Bay Area flavor. But the truth is, local bread is nearly impossible to get. The trouble is in the grain. Where do these bakeries get their flour? Likewise, when you go to the market, what are your options for flour? From what fields did the grains come from? The United States has a history of subsidizing and depending on its Midwest breadbasket for much of its grain, and today most bread in California is produced using ingredients from the heartland, or even abroad.

Have you noticed your bread prices going up this year? That is partially due to the increased volatility of the global commodity markets, particularly the rising cost of grain that was the result of increased conversion of land globally to agrofuel production and a recent drought in grain-growing regions around the world that wiped out much of the global supply.

Luckily, there are exciting alternatives to the dependence on non-local markets for grain. On the East Coast there is a growing movement of farmers and bakers attempting to bring back the use of local grain varieties. A recent article on Grist.com explains how stakeholders in and around Asheville, NC are attempting to recover and bring to market local grain varieties. They have created the North Carolina Organic Bread Flour Project to organize their efforts. They in the beginning stages of building a network of farmers, millers and bakers that will facilitate the return of local grain economies that disappeared more than one hundred years ago.

What is happening in Asheville is indicative of local-food trends we’ve seen in recent years. And as bakers begin looking for alternatives to flour priced at the mercy of a volatile global market, maybe we will see more California grain in our breads in the coming years.

For full disclosure, David Bauer, owner of Farm & Sparrow, who is profiled in the article, is one of my oldest and closest friends. But this is not just a shameless plug. He is doing a number of amazing things in his brick-oven bakery, including milling his own grain (which will soon come from a local farm) and using some surprising ingredients, including heirloom white corn. His bread is delicious, and if you are ever in the area, seek his bread out!

Another Documentary

2009-06-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't really food-related, and it's last minute (hey, I just got word myself), but if you're interested, I recommend you check out this film playing at the Roxie Theater this weekend.

It's a doc about New Orleans made by my aunt over the course of 15 years, about 12 into which came Hurricane Katrina. It is very well made, historical and personal at the same time, and fascinating subject matter. Go if you can!

Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans

At the Roxie Theater
3117 16th St., San Francisco, CA
(btwn. Valencia & Guerrero) San Francisco
Friday, June 5 at 6pm
Sunday, June 7 at 2pm

Director Dawn Logsdon and Producer Lucie Faulknor will be present to answer questions after each screening.

This is part of the traveling "Burning Fuse Film Festival." Other fabulous films are playing that weekend, too. To view the festival trailer, go to:
http://www.burningfusefilmfestival.com

The Man To Know: Dean Florez

2009-05-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Disappointed in California’s judicial branch this week? More tired of the Governator than ever before? The legislature might be also getting you down, but there is good news coming out of Sacramento... If you haven’t heard, the current Senate Majority Leader, Dean Florez, is a huge ally on food issues, going so far as to change the name of the Senate Agriculture Committee to the Committee on Food and Agriculture back in January after becoming its Chair. According to livablefutureblog.com, the Senate document announcing the switch states,

[the] California State Senate is shifting the public policy paradigm as it relates to food and agriculture. As the nation’s leading agricultural state and the fifth largest supplier of food to the world, California as an obligation to ensure that food produced in the Golden State is nutritious, safe, and accessible. For too long consumers have not had a voice at the table in Sacramento.

Not bad.

Dean Florez represents the 16th District, a rural part of the state between Fresno and Bakersfield. He is progressive on a variety of food-related issues, including farmworkers’ rights. Check out his homepage to learn more about his background (he and several family members have worked in the fields in his district), details about his support for forward-thinking statewide legislation (banning antibiotics in school lunches), and some links to current happenings in the food world. You can also read here about how he is ruffling feathers both in the Ag industry (quite literally, at the California Poultry Federation) and amongst his colleagues in the Senate.

Article for Civil Eats aka Life on the Farm part 2

2009-05-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to an article I wrote for my new friend Paula, editor of the food politics blog Civileats.com:

Is Farming a Form of Activism?

It's a bit long, since I try to tackle both my transition out of the city and my new experiences here on the farm, but I think it's worth it.

Whole Foods, Whole Sham

2009-05-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

In case you still think that Whole Foods is a good place to buy organic food, (ignoring the fact that they're often more expensive than local health food stores) this article, by Sharon Smith, exposes the true nature of Whole Foods' "progressive" image.

WHOLE FOODS Market is a highly profitable corporation that far outperforms its competitors, while maintaining an aura of commitment to social justice and environmental responsibility. Its clientele is attracted not only to its brightly lit array of pristine fruits and vegetables, organically farmed meats and delectable (yet healthy) recipes, but also to the notion that the mere act of shopping at Whole Foods is helping to change the world.

In 2007, Whole Foods launched its "Whole Trade Guarantee," stating its aim as advancing the Fair Trade movement--encouraging higher wages and prices paid to farmers in poor countries while promoting environmentally safe practices. In addition, Whole Foods announced that 1 percent of proceeds will be turned over to its own Whole Planet Foundation, which supports micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Meanwhile, the company's Animal Compassion Foundation seeks to improve living conditions for farm animals, while stores periodically hold "5 Percent Days," when they donate 5 percent of sales for that day to an area non-profit or educational organization.

Whole Foods also has a distinctive reputation for rejecting traditional corporate management models in favor of decentralized decision-making, described as an experiment in workplace democracy.

There are no departments at Whole Foods stores, only "Teams" of employees. And Whole Foods has no managerial job titles, just Team Leaders and Assistant Team Leaders. Nor does the company admit to having any workers, only Team Members who meet regularly to decide everything from local suppliers to who should get hired onto the Team.

Generally, the company strives to achieve consensus at Team meetings, where workers brainstorm about new ways to raise productivity. And new hires need to win the votes of at least two-thirds of Team Members in order to make the cut.

The liberal dress code at Whole Foods allows nose rings, Mohawks, visible tattoos and other expressions of individuality to help promote a stated goal of "Team Member Happiness" for its relatively young workforce. Each Team takes regular expeditions, known as "Team Builds," to local farms or other enterprises to educate themselves on how to better serve their customers. When Team Members show extra effort on the job, Team Leaders award them with "High Fives" that can be used to enter an onsite raffle to win a gift card. When a Team Member gets fired, it is sadly announced as a "separation."

For all its decentralization, the "unique culture" so beholden to Whole Foods' supporters bears the distinct stamp of its cofounder and CEO, John Mackey, who declared in 1992, a year after Whole Foods went public, "We're creating an organization based on love instead of fear."

The former hippie is known for shunning suits and ties, and wearing shorts and hiking boots to meetings--and for insisting that before the end of every business meeting, everyone says something nice about everyone else in a round of "appreciations." In a 2004 Fast Company article, business writer Charles Fishman favorably quoted a former Whole Foods executive calling Mackey an "anarchist" for his eccentric executive style.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BUT SOMETHING sinister lurks beneath the surface of Whole Foods' progressive image.

Somehow, Mackey has managed to achieve multimillionaire status while his employees' hourly wages have remained in the $8 to $13 range for two decades. With an annual turnover rate of 25 percent, the vast majority of workers last no more than four years, and thus rarely manage to achieve anything approaching seniority and the higher wages that would accompany it. If Whole Foods' workers are younger than the competition's, that is the intention.

But another secret to Whole Foods' success is its shockingly high prices. When Wal-Mart began promoting its own organic products last year, Whole Foods' Southwest regional president Michael Besancon scoffed at the notion that Wal-Mart could present serious competition. "There's no way in the world that we'd win a price battle with Wal-Mart," he told the Rocky Mountain News. "I'm relatively smarter than that."

On the contrary, Whole Foods orients to a higher-income clientele willing to pay significantly more for somewhat higher quality foods. Whereas the average supermarket chain's profits traditionally hover at around 1 percent, Whole Foods was able to sustain a profit margin of 3 percent for 14 years after it went public in 1992. After hitting a low of 1 percent in the economic downturn in late 2008, "now the margins are expanding again," according to the Cabot Report's investment adviser Mike Cintolo on April 26.

Indeed, Mackey is no progressive, but rather a self-described libertarian in the tradition of the Cato Institute. He combines this with a strong dose of paternalism toward the company's employees. Mackey complained about his unique dilemma at the helm of Whole Foods to fellow executives in an October 2004 speech:

I cofounded the company, so I'm like this father figure at Whole Foods. I'm this rich father figure, and everybody's pulling at me saying, "Daddy, daddy, can we have this, can we have that, can we have this, can we have that?" And I'm either like the kind, generous daddy, or the mean, Scrooge daddy who says "No."

Using a carrot and very large stick, Mackey managed to "convince" Whole Foods workers across the country to vote in 2004 to dramatically downgrade their own health care benefits by switching to a so-called "consumer-driven" health plan--corporate double-speak for the high deductible-low coverage savings account plans preferred by profit-driven enterprises. As Mackey advised other executives in the same 2004 speech, "[I]f you want to set up a consumer-driven health plan, I strongly urge you not to put it as one option in a cafeteria plan, but to make it the only option."

There have been setbacks for Mackey, to be sure. He suffered public humiliation in 2007 when he was exposed as having blogged under the false user name "rahodeb"--his wife's name spelled in reverse--between 1999 and 2006 at online financial chat boards hosted by Yahoo.

For seven years, he backstabbed his rivals--including the Wild Oats franchise that Mackey later purchased as an addition to the Whole Foods Empire. The Wall Street Journal reported a typical post: "'Would Whole Foods buy (Wild Oats)? Almost surely not at current prices,' rahodeb wrote. 'What would they gain? (Their) locations are too small.'"

At one point, rahodeb even admired Mackey's latest haircut, gushing, "I think he looks cute!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

PREVENTING WHOLE Foods workers from unionizing has always been at the top of Mackey's agenda, and the company has been successful thus far at crushing every attempt.

Perhaps the company's most notorious attack on workers' right to unionize occurred in Madison, Wis., in 2002. Even after a majority of workers voted for the union, Whole Foods spent the next year canceling and stalling negotiation sessions, knowing that after a year, it could legally engineer a vote to decertify the union. Mission accomplished.

At the mere mention of the word "union," Whole Foods still turns ferocious. Even when United Farm Workers activists turned up outside a Whole Foods store in Austin, Texas, where Mackey is based, the company called the police and had them arrested for the "crime" of passing out informational literature on their current grape boycott.

And as Mother Jones recently reported, "An internal Whole Foods document listing 'six strategic goals for Whole Foods Market to achieve by 2013...includes a goal to remain '100% union-free.'"

Mackey launched a national anti-union offensive in January, in preparation for the (remote) possibility that President Barack Obama, upon his inauguration, would make it a legislative priority to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), allowing workers to win unionization when a majority of a company's workforce signs a union card. Although union card check is standard procedure in many countries, Mackey claimed to the Washington Post that it "violates a bedrock principle of American democracy" and has vowed to fight to prevent its passage here.

"Armed with those weapons," Mackey argued, "you will see unionization sweep across the United States and set workplaces at war with each other. I do not think it would be a good thing." Workers don't want to join unions anymore, Mackey declared, contradicting every recent opinion poll: "That so few companies are unionized is not for a lack of trying, but because [unions] are losing elections--workers aren't choosing to have labor representation. I don't feel things are worse off for labor today."

In January, Whole Foods launched a nationwide campaign, requiring workers to attend "Union Awareness Training," complete with Power Point presentations. At the meetings, store leaders asserted, "Unions are deceptive, money-hungry organizations who will say and do almost anything to 'infiltrate' and coerce employees into joining their ranks," according to Whole Foods workers who attended one such meeting.

"According to store leadership," the workers continued, "since the mid 1980s, unions have been on decline because, according to Whole Foods 'theory', federal and state legislation enacted to protect workers rights has eliminated the need in most industries (and especially Whole Foods stores) for union organization...No need to disrupt the great 'culture' that would shrivel up and die if the company become unionized."

When rumors recently began circulating that a union drive might be brewing in San Francisco, the response from the company was immediate--including mandatory "Morale Meetings" to dissuade employees. But company leaders failed to address workers' complaints that they have gone without any pay raises, sometimes for more than two years, because Team Leaders have neglected to hold "Job Dialogue" meetings (known as "annual performance reviews" in traditional corporate-speak).

There was a time in decades past when liberalism was defined in part by its principled defense of the right to collective bargaining. That liberal tradition was buried by the market-driven neoliberal agenda over the last three decades, allowing companies like Whole Foods to posture as progressive organizations when their corporate policies are based upon violating one of the most basic of civil rights: the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Indeed, Whole Foods has ridden its progressive image to absorb its smaller competitors and emerge as a corporate giant.

As the Texas Observer argued recently, "People shop at Whole Foods not just because it offers organic produce and natural foods, but because it claims to run its business in a way that demonstrates a genuine concern for the community, the environment and the 'whole planet,' in the words of its motto. In reality, Whole Foods has gone on a corporate feeding frenzy in recent years, swallowing rival retailers across the country...The expansion is driven by a simple and lucrative business strategy: high prices and low wages."

Indeed, Whole Foods now stands as the second largest anti-union retailer in the U.S., beaten only by Wal-Mart. Most of Whole Foods' loyal clientele certainly would--and should--shudder at the comparison.

FOOD, INC free screening

2009-05-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

May 18th, 2009.
New food movie (they just keep coming, don't they?) being screened for FREE. Just RSVP for your ticket.
See graphic below:

I can't go, so see it for me and let me know what you think!

Soupstock!

2009-05-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

SF Food Not Bombs seeks partners for Soupstock, FNB/food justice convergence and concert

Open call for submissions, assistance. Distribute this release widely!!!

On May 23-24 San Francisco Food Not Bombs will host the SoupStock
festival and regional convergence in San Francisco, California as a
commemoration of 29 years of Food Not Bombs. We hope to use this
opportunity to create dialog about food justice, poverty, and the current
crisis, to plan many 30th anniversary actions/celebrations around the world.

We are seeking individuals and organizational partners who are
interested in participating in various capacities, speaking, teaching
workshops, helping with logistics and working the day of the event.

For more information please visit http://soupstock.org

Synergy Seeds

2009-04-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Check out our latest video, on seed saving, featuring George Stevens of Synergy Seeds up in Willow Creek, CA. The video was edited kindly by Rick Bacigalupi, and also features a cameo of Peaceful Valley's seed packing machine.

"The Garden" and the struggle for Urban Farming

2009-04-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

That old saying about not knowing what you got unil it's gone is often not true at all. It certainly wasn't true for a group of residents in South Central Los Angeles, who built a 14-acre urban farm in the middle of their downtown. Unfortunately, it would not last forever. The city of Los Angeles sold the land to a developer well under market value, and the garden was razed in 2006.

The community, mostly Latin American immigrants, knew what they had before it was gone, and fought in the streets and in City Hall to keep their farm. Ther fight is an inspiration to anyone concerned with food security and the creation of community-based healthy lifesytles in American cities.

This tragic story is told in "The Garden," an Academy Award-nominated documentary by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. There is going to be a screening of this film this Thursday, April 30 at 5:45 at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland. After the film, there wil be a panel discussion with Rufina Juarez and Tezozomoc, two of the farm's leaders featured in the film. The event is sponsored by the Public Health Institute, The Oakland Food Policy Council, and The California Food and Justice Coalition. It is free, though donations to the CFJC are encouraged.

It is important to come out and see this. It is a reminder to all of us to value what access we do have to good food, and to never stop fighting to keep it.

Food and Society Conference, Year 2 Day 2 (and 3)

2009-04-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

This day ended up being far less than I'd thought. Mainly because, after day one, I just didn't seem to have the energy to sit and listen, much less talk and talk.

And that's what Day 2 was about: open space discussions on the topics of your interest. You can either post and host a topic, or just float around other peoples' discussions, putting your thoughts in when it calls you. During the three distinct session times, I ended up attending one film screening and one discussion, hosting my own topic (Land Reform), writing this blog, and taking a short nap. The nap was literally only 7 or 8 minutes, so that might not really count as an activity. But it helped.

Talking so much the first day (food people get me blabbin!) really took its toll. I'm normally a big mouthed, opinionated guy (when it comes to food/politics especially), but during the first session I decided that, instead of talking, I would watch to myself talk. That is, I went to a screening of two films in which I appear, The Greenhorns (by my fairy princess genius friend Severine) and Nourish (by some guy named Kirk). Both interviewed me long ago, and now I finally got to see the results.

Severine's short version of her soon-to-be-finished feature was a mix of characters, shooting styles, and themes. Somehow the pimple I was so concerned about didn't come across on screen. And Marquis, one of the Alemany youth who comes to the farm, had his chance to shine as well. The movie looks promising, so someone give her some money so she can finish already!

Kirk's film, however, doesn't seem to need money. It looked amazing, like a high-budget discovery channel production. Every shot was clear, every edit perfect, every sound aligned with the movement of the screen. This makes sense as they are producing this as a series for PBS. The "high profile" interviewees are Michael Pollan, Anna Lappe, and Bryant Terry. My interview was one of many with "youth" (the audience for the film), who were speaking to their experience with sustainable food. I think the idea is that youth who watch the film will identify more with the take-home message if it comes from youth rather than the other talking heads alone. Which makes sense, but now I come off as just another anonymous youth, instead of the sustainable agriculture expert that you know I'd like to be!

The session I attended was on working with youth (I didn't get the actual given topic name, I just picked it up from listening in). I didn't speak, just sat there, but I did glean one piece of wisdom that always bears repeating: Start where people are at. One organizer told his story of putting together events for teens that used food as a way of drawing participants. If they had started off serving vegan food, it would've likely scared these teens away. Instead, they did buffalo wings, and other foods that seemed "normal" to the kids. Over time, they started substituting veggie options for meats, and eventually, 90% of the meals they were serving were vegan, and the teens didn't even care.

The discussion I hosted went well, considering we were tackling a topic that, by all accounts, is unsolvable. True Land Reform (ala Mexican Revolution, Brazilian Landless Peasant's Movement, etc) is unthinkable in our country, as there is such an emphasis on the primacy of private property, and complete control of the political process by the landed elite. Not to mention that there isn't really a large land-based peasant population like in many other countries. So what options are there? We discussed various forms of cooperative ownership of land, long-term lease agreements with land trusts, the possibilities of converting unused "protected" land to "wise use" (land owned by an organization like the Nature Conservancy is typically managed with a "leave it alone" approach), and other tactics, including planning, legislation, and litigation. It was a good session, but all we could really do was brainstorm ways to protect farmland and increase access to land, and increase the stability of tenure on land for farmers. I guess it's a start.

I was worried for a second when I checked the program schedule, and didn't see dinner listed. Instead, we were invited to "California Hors D'Oveurs", which sounded minimal. As it turned out, those Hors D'Oveurs (cheese, crackers, meats, cioppino, sushi, homemade ice cream, veggies, salads, etc) turned out to be the best meal of the conference!

I didn't really do any of the allotted activities on the third day (a drum circle and closing gathering); I just hung out in the lobby with all my new and old friends, chatting and saying our "later"s. I ended up being offered a ride back to the farm at the last minute, from my new friend Leo Buc, one of the organizers of the Common Vision bus tour. It was a nice ride back, and we talked about permaculture, alien invasions bringing the human race together at last, and and how if I try to come take Leo's land with all this "land reform" nonsense, he's got a shotgun ready for me.

Big shout out to Leo, Severine, Amie, Maya, Nicole, Gordon, Bonnie, Bart, Maggie, Todd, Lief, Barbara, as well as all the many other new folks who I kicked it with this year! You are my heroes!

Last note: I just returned to my bed at the farm, after staying in that fancy hotel for 3 days, and I think I have fleas...I shouldn't have let that damn cat stay in my bed overnight! She was meowing so much at the door, and such a sucker for petting, I thought no harm would come of it...

Food and Society Conference, Year 2 Day 1

2009-04-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in the world of food and farming (which you probably are if you're reading this blog), you'd probably want to be here in San Jose, at the ritzy Fairmont hotel.

Why? Because this is the site for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's annual Food and Society conference, an invite-only convening of "good food" activists from all over the country. This is where the "movement", as defined by who this foundation invites, gets together and figures out where it's at and where it's going.

I'm lucky to have been invited for the second year, and I figured, hey, I may as well share some experiences and thoughts on how cool (or uncool) it is.

APRIL 21ST, 2009: FIRST DAY

The Good Food Movement was probably approaching this year's conference with trepidation, as last year we received a sort of "break up" speech from the foundation's manager, Gail Christopher. Basically, her opening speech had explained that the foundation had decided to return more closely to the founder's vision, which was "helping vulnerable children". This followed after 15 years of Kellogg funding going to a variety of agriculture, health, and sustainability related programming. All of the organic farm researchers, land trust operators, and farmworker advocates looked around, asking themselves, "Um, so does Kellogg still care about us?".

This year, the answer seems to be, "Yes, we still love you, but we're not IN love with you". Christopher's speech this year reiterated much of the reasoning behind the change in focus (partially the result of long-term strategic planning, which foundations love so much), as well as how the foundation intends to direct their (more limited--since the economic downturn decimated their investment portfolio) funds. In one way, this was like the "let's be friends" conversation; a little more mature, refined, and relaxed than last year. And there was a particularly surprising and positive development in their announcement: the Kellogg foundation has adopted an explicitly anti-racist approach to their funding, recognizing that race is a DRIVER for inequality and the unhealthiness of communities. This is really exiting for a lot of us in the food movement who have been trying to emphasize the importance of race and class in these discussions about the food system.

The conference itself is set up in three days, the first with many plenary-type speakers, the second based on "open space" principles, and the third as a wrap up.

There were many speakers on day one, but I'll just write about a few.

First was Will Allen and his daughter Erika Allen, who run Growing Power, an urban farming project out of Milwaukee. Will is an ex-football player, as exemplified by slideshow pictures showcasing his huge biceps. He's also recently been awarded as a MacArthur Genius for his work for in transforming Milwaukee's harsh urban landscape to one of food production and community cohesion.

Hearing the statistics coming from this man's mouth ($200,000 in produce per acre of land!), and the pictures showing their different production schemes and methods (ranging from intensive vegetable beds on concrete to aquaponics and vermicomposting in large-scale integrated greenhouse systems), I was inspired, thinking about how much more could be done at Alemany Farm, as well as all the other bay area urban farming projects.

Allen is not only my hero as a farmer and activist, he's also my hero in a smaller way. You see, I had splurged on one of those $3 bottles of pre-made juice/kombucha mix (which one can easily make themselves), and somehow in my journey down to San Jose for the conference, the lid became stuck. Seriously stuck in a way I've never experienced. I blame the new plastic lid, which is just one more sign that the world is crumbling down: hippy 'Booch companies are going back to plastic (this brand used to have metal lids). I had been offering my first born child to conference attendees, challenging them to open it, but nobody could. Maya mentioned that Will Allen could probably do it ("didn't you see his biceps?"), and what did you know, there he was standing across the room. Maya boosted my confidence, saying she would go with me, so we went up and asked him directly and without hesitation, "Mr Allen, we figured you might be the only person who can open this bottle".

At first he didn't seem to know what to think, but he could read our earnestness and responded by clarifying: "You don't really need to drink what's left in this, right? It's just because you want to get it open, huh?". We responded in the affirmative and he was off, using his huge hands to budge this awful plastic lid. It took some cajoling, slapping the bottle on the bottom and hitting it on the top, but after a minute or so, it was off. Will Allen, community leader, urban farmer, genius, and master bottle opener.

On to the second round of speakers: a roundtable of different "community food enterprises". Basically, a CFE is an organization that is making a positive local impact on the food system, while making a profit as a company. It could be a sole proprietorship, co-operative, or corporation. There are many forms they could take, but ultimately, CFE's are forms of food activism that do not rely on grants, philanthropy, or donations to function and flourish. While I found some of the information and presenters to be inspiring as well, what I thought was interesting was the choice of these models in the context of decreased (or completely cut) funding from Kellogg. This presentation seemed to be a sly way of encouraging the activists in the room to give up seeking money from foundations and rich people, and instead to create their own wealth for projects through capitalist ventures.

On the whole, I think this makes a lot of sense. For some time, I've been a proponent of grassroots organizations relying less on grant funding and more on individual donations and self-made cash. But there was something slightly irritating about the promoted solution to losing foundations' support: live the American Dream and become a businessperson. I fear this de-emphasizes community solutions and collective efforts to challenge inequality and address local issues, but what can you do?

Well, I know what I want the foundations to do: quit maintaining 95% of their endowment in amoral stock options, which they do in order to maintain and/or expand their endowment and use the remaining 5% to fund what their founders (or board of directors) decided was worthy. My idea is for them to take that wealth, which was likely ill-gotten in the first place, take it OUT of the stock market, and use that 95% to fund emerging CFEs (or whatever small-scale mission-driven enterprise) with the expected outcome of having those business's profits put into a new, Grameen-style bank to multiply that investment within the communities of these CFEs. This way we could truly redirect wealth that is a result of long-term inequity into locally-controlled sources of investment, multiplying on CFE successes and getting the control of social change out of the hands of philanthropists and foundations and into communities that have vision, love, and localized commitment.

Of course, this is a hard sell for those program officers and such whose livelihoods (and all the travel and fancy dinners that come with it) depend on a continuation of the foundation structure.

Next up, I'll discuss the results of the Open Space discussions.
But for now, it's time for Hors D' Oveurs.

Gary Nabhan at CUESA!

2009-04-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

Renewing America’s Food Traditions:
Gary Paul Nabhan in conversation with Ashley Rood

Followed by a tasting of heritage foods from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Wednesday, April 29 from 6 to 8:30 pm

Hosted by the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture

Gary Paul Nabhan may be best known by farmers’ market fans for the pioneering Southwestern locavore experiment he described in Coming Home to Eat. He founded the Renewing America’s Food Traditions alliance (RAFT) and edited the book by the same name. Renewing America’s Food Traditions: Saving and Savoring the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods is a journey across our continent’s 13 distinct food nations that details over 90 endangered plant and animal foods and brings them to life with cultural histories, folk traditions, and historic recipes. In this conversation with sustainable agriculture advocate and contributing writer Ashley Rood, Nabhan will offer tidbits and tales of renewal from the book, discuss biodiversity in California, and remind us how our food choices can support a region’s distinct culinary identity.

The presentation will take place in the Port Commission Hearing Room, second floor of the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
Books will be for sale by Book Passage.
Tickets: $10 (plus $1.24 service fee) from http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/60855

"Renewing America's Food Traditions gives us a great food adventure to embark on—really no less than discovering ourselves through foods that we didn't even know were, in some way, ours. And what an amazing adventure this is!" Deborah Madison, from the foreword

Gary Paul Nabhan is a world-renowned ethnobiologist, food and farming advocate, conservationist, and writer whose work has been translated into five languages. The author of Why Some Like It Hot, Coming Home to Eat, Where Our Food Comes From and many other books and articles, he has been honored with a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and The John Burroughs Medal for nature writing. Founder and facilitator of the Renewing America’s Food Traditions collaborative, he is currently a Research Social Scientist at the Southwest Center at the University of Arizona.

Up Tunitas Creek

2009-04-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

It's a windy day. Really, it's a very very windy day, here on the farm. This is the wind of a storm, the kind that seems dangerous and unending. Grass bends, windows shake, and a howl drowns out my record player.

I just returned from my second weekend trip back to the city; a weekly break from my life on the farm. Having spent the past few days doing "city" stuff (seeing friends, teaching a class at Alemany Farm, attending my weekly city college class) I was eager to get back to the farm, to farm. Today is a "leaf" day, according to the Biodynamic planting calendar we've been using, and we have some lettuce and cabbage (both "leaf" crops) to plant out into the field. Last week we planted out chard, dinosaur kale, broccoli, and onions, as well as seeding out arugula, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, quinoa, amaranth, wheat, and fennel.

But today is too windy for fieldwork. So windy that I had to re-place and weigh down all the floating row cover we used to cover up the last transplants we planted out, twice. So windy that the 40 foot pine tree outside my door lost multiple main branches while I sat inside. The snap was loud enough to scare me into jumping across to the "safer" side of my room. When the air stands still here, one could easily mistake this farm for paradise. Not today.

So I worked in the greenhouse, potting up some Salad Burnet, checking on my Sea Kale (which continues to be munched by some unknown pest), and watering all our other seedlings. Inside the greenhouse, layers shed quickly as the air sits, heated by the sun and not moving at 50 miles per hour. I checked on the starts under the row cover, and moved around some plants I just brought back from the city. One of these I am really excited about, an Andean tuber called "Mashua"--aka Tropaeolum tuberosum. I got two tubers from the fine folks at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center. They've sprouted nicely, and they look like a prettier, toothed version of Nasturtium (a garden-variety Tropaeolum found in landscaping and vacant lots the world over). I plan to harvest them only for more tubers to plant next year, though no doubt I'll eat one to make sure they're worth planting again!

I found a copy of Paul Hawken's "Ecology of Commerce". I have never read any of his books, and for some reason I have always associated him with the kind of "green capitalist" business world that I have serious issues with. However, Tomas (my farming partner) did mention that he saw him speak at a Bioneers conference, and was impressed. According to Tomas, at his plenary speech Hawken derided "socially responsible investing" as nothing more than a mechanism to alleviate the guilt of the privileged. He complained that it is a form of activism that doesn't require the wealthy to actually do anything substantial about the problems of inequity and sustainability.

This piqued my interest, as Hawken was addressing a group no doubt composed mostly of wealthy, "progressive" and "green" individuals, the very types who use and would defend socially responsible investing.

So today, feeling confident about tomorrow's farming promise, but hesitant about today's, I decided to stay inside and read. I should learn something about the business world and how it works within nature's bounds. Hopefully, it'll be something revelatory and inspiring. But you can't hope for too much these days...not much more than for the wind to die down.

Economy or Ecomoney?

2009-04-09T23:28:00.001-07:00

Here's the first straight-forward and intelligent thing I've read about the USA's recent "economic downturn".

Obama Administration Careening Towards Disaster (And Taking the Country With It)

* By Dave Lindorff
March 24, 2009

Six months after the failed Bush administration effort to "rescue" the US financial system, and after two months of failed efforts by his own new administration, at an expense to the American public of several trillion dollars and counting, the Obama administration is announcing plans to blow another $1 trillion in a massive taxpayer giveaway to investors who will be subsidized in an effort to get them to buy the so-called toxic assets on the books of the nation's biggest banks.

The problem with this plan is that its goal--getting these zombie banks to start lending again--is not going to work.

It doesn't matter how good the balance sheets of the banks are. Good companies, and even individuals and families with good credit, are simply not borrowing. As I wrote last month in an article titled "Follow the Money" in the magazine Treasury and Risk, the problem isn't that banks are too weak to lend (though the zombie banks certainly are), it's that the strong banks don't want to throw money at bad borrowers.

It is the nature of economic downturns like this current one that companies and ordinary families don't borrow, but rather cut back on their spending and try to reduce their debt, the better to ride out the hard times. It is only the companies that are in trouble, like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, that are looking for loans, and no bank is going to want to lend to them regardless of how much money the government pumps into it. (And if the public decides that it is in the national interest to prop up such companies, it is much more effective to have the government loan them the money directly, rather than try to get banks to lend it to them at much higher interest.)

What this means is that all the Obama administration, the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve are doing by buying the toxic assets off the books of banks like Citigroup, Bank America or Wells Fargo is giving a taxpayer handout to those banks' investors and bondholders--the very people who enabled those companies to invest in the corrupt credit default swaps and other shady derivatives in the first place.

What should happen? Citibank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and the other financial institutions that made bad bets on these structured financial instruments, should be allowed to fail, taking with them the investors who played this dirty game, and the managers who decided to gamble instead of run conservative banking operations.

The government would protect the assets of depositors in those failed banks, which would be sold to healthier, better run banks, making those banks much stronger and better capitalized in the process--and thus ready to start lending as needed. This is standard operating procedure for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Note that this process would mean no crisis in the economy, since the ability to access credit would not be crimped in the least by the failure of some of the country's larger banks. It would, in fact, probably be enhanced.

The toxic assets would be eliminated through the bankruptcies, and the government--and taxpayers--would be $1 trillion less in the red.

Why isn't the Obama administration doing this? Because Obama has put his trust in the advice of men--Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Chief Economic Advisor Larry Summers, and, informally, former Clinton Treasurer Robert Rubin, all linked to the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which was also the corporate home of Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The same Goldman Sachs which was given $10 billion in Troubled Assets Relief Program funds directly, and which then snagged another $13 billion in TARP funds in secret, which was laundered through the now-government-owned insurance company AIG.

Columnist and Nobel economist Paul Krugman writes in today's New York Times that the latest White House bank rescue plan will fail. He goes on to say, "This is more than disappointing. In fact, it fills me with a sense of despair. ... It's as if the president were determined to confirm the growing perception that he and his economic team are out of touch, that their economic vision is clouded by excessively close ties to Wall Street."

It should be clear at this point that the Goldman cabal burrowed deep inside the Washington apparatus is working not to rescue the US economy, but rather to ensure the survival and enrichment of the big banking establishment, and of course Goldman Sachs.

What we are witnessing in the policies of the Obama administration is not the creative experimentation of a modern-day Franklin Roosevelt, but rather the greatest heist in the history of mankind, as trillions of dollars in public funds are shifted from taxpayers' pockets into the hands of the very banks and bankers and bank investors who brought us this financial debacle.

Instead of decrying the bonus payments to AIG executives, the American public should be demanding the indictment of Paulson, Summers, Geithner and Co. for IGL: Incomprehensibly Grand Larceny.

Instead of trying to rescue the nation's giant banks, we should be demanding that they be shattered into little harmless pieces.

Come to think of it, maybe it's time for a run on the banks--not because your money is not safe at Chase or Citibank or B of A, but because these institutions need to be killed off for the good of the nation.

If you have an account at any national bank, go there tomorrow and take it out. Transfer it to a local bank in your community. You'll get better service, your money will still be just as safe, and you won't be propping up institutions that have been stealing the country blind.

Quotables

2009-03-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Check out this article in the SF Chronicle, featuring yours truly as expert in local food-growing techniques for a low-water future!

Here's the link.
Or read my part below:

Using less water

Even if dry farming is not for you, there are ways to save water in your home or community garden. Here are some tips from urban gardener Antonio Roman-Alcala and Flatland Flower Farm's Dan Lehrer.

Always use mulch. Mulch (any organic material placed at the surface of the soil) will prevent evaporation and retain soil moisture. It also regulates soil temperature, suppresses weeds and provides a habitat for beneficial organisms. Straw is good for annual beds and wood chips for perennial crops.

Drip irrigation. If you have to irrigate, use drip lines as much as possible. They are far more water efficient than sprinklers and hoses and deliver water where it's needed - to the roots, rather than the leaves. It also reduces mildew and disease.

Watering schedule. If all you've got is a hose, reduce evaporation by watering in the early morning or evening, not during the heat of the day.

Water catchment. During the rainy season, capture precipitation in barrels, small ponds and other storage containers. Although the legality is in question if not up to code, home gray-water systems are also a way to recycle large amounts of water from sinks and showers.

Plant thickly. Reducing open space in beds will cut down on evaporation.

Row cover. The translucent fabric can be draped over crop rows to protect against pests and help retain moisture and heat.
What to plant

Flatland Flower Farm's Joanne Krueger recommends these non-edible plants that look good and don't ask for much in return.

Succulents, Kangaroo Paws, asters, lavender, blue-eyed grass, bay trees, rosemary, artemisia, perennial sunflowers, gladioli and a variety of bulbs, especially daffodils.
Tips, techniques and how-tos

Several parameters should be considered to grow food crops successfully without irrigation, says Dan Lehrer.

For one, it won't work with greens and other water-dependent plants, which will quickly wither in dry months. Dry farming is also geographically specific, generally exclusive to temperate coastal climates with periods of consistent rainfall, as well as some fog exposure.

In addition, it's necessary to have a decent amount of space and deep, rich clay soil without any obstruction. It won't work in pots, since the roots should reach down far, upwards of 10 feet in the case of tomatoes. This factor is an automatic deal breaker for people gardening in raised beds or in yards on top of concrete foundations. Also excluded are most residents of San Francisco's Sunset and Richmond districts, who live on sandy ground that won't hold enough moisture during dry months.

But it can be done in areas of the city where food has traditionally been grown, including the Mission District, Bayview-Hunters Point and Noe Valley, said Lehrer. And, he adds, it's perfect for the rich clay alluvial plains of the East Bay that stretch from the flatlands in Richmond to the red earth of San Jose.

The chances of success for the plants will also increase if the soil is amended with compost before transplanting, and a generous helping of mulch laid down afterward to hold in the moisture.

"In the Bay Area, in a normal year of rainfall - though clearly normal may no longer exist - one can grow lots of crops over the rainy season with little or no additional irrigation," says Antonio Roman-Alcala, an urban gardener who works at Alemany Farm, a community project on a 4 1/2-acre plot off I-280 in the south end of San Francisco.

For the past two summers, the farm has grown dry-farmed tomatoes and this summer will likely try to dry-farm pumpkins as well. Outside of summer, Roman-Alcala notes, garlic, onions, cole crops like kale and collards, fava beans, peas and others can grow with minimal irrigation from October to June. "If there is enough rainfall, you just plant, maintain and collect your produce. No watering necessary."

Most experts agree that the best dry-farmed returns come from tomatoes, especially the Early Girl variety, a popular and hearty hybrid with deep roots.

"They're a really tough plant," said Lehrer. He notes that in the middle of the summer, after months without water, the plants might not look great. "You'll start to worry about them, but don't worry about it. They're putting all their energy into the fruit."

Jim Leap, the farm manager at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, began dry- farming Early Girls 19 years ago, a technique he learned at Molino Creek Farm in Davenport (Santa Cruz County). He's been teaching his students how to do it ever since, and has more recently experimented with beds of winter squash, dry beans and grain corn, as well as apple and apricot trees. He also knows of a Marin farmer successfully dry-farming potatoes.

"People just like to water plants, and plants just don't need that much water," he said, noting dry farming also cuts down significantly on weeds.

When Leap first started selling his dry-farmed Early Girls at local farmers' markets, they sold like hotcakes as customers became quickly enamored by their uniquely sweet, rich flavor. He describes a trial test he once did with irrigated and dry versions of his Early Girls, finding the former, in comparison, completely devoid of flavor. During one year, he said he made $10,000 selling dry-farmed yields from a third of an acre alone. But in recent years, he's lost that market niche as more small farmers are growing them, some his former students. "Our sales are way off because there's so much more on the market," he notes. "You can blame us because we taught everyone else how to do it."

Leap said the challenge is to get the timing just right and trap the moisture by tilling the soil after the rainy season. In years of standard rainfall, he then transplants his tomato starts in late May. The plants will send roots into the moisture layer, typically as much as 10 feet down into the deep clay in search of residual rainfall.

Full sun exposure and generous spacing is required to accommodate the plant's extensive root system, he adds, which may be a limiting factor for home gardeners. He's calculated that each season, his crop conserves about 325,000 gallons of water per acre-foot compared to their irrigated counterparts.

"I'm this one lone voice in the woods, saying, 'You don't need to water, let it go,' " said Leap, noting that many growers make the common mistake of watering heavily after transplanting, causing the plant to establish a shallow root zone and immediately wilt without steady irrigation. "If you over water, you're just leeching nutrients into the groundwater and wasting precious resources during drought times."

Urban Permaculture Design Course

2009-03-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hey!
If you're wanting to get the skills necessary to be an effective pioneer in urban agriculture and sustainable design, consider this opportunity!

From the SF Permaculture Guild website, a description of the course:

Urban centers like San Francisco need innovative solutions for the persistent problems of the built environment. We feel that Permaculture holds many of the answers needed to build a truly sustainable city and we would like to invite you to join us for a new and exciting Permaculture Design Course (PDC) with a specific focus on the urban setting.

While the general content of the PDC will be maintained to the original standards set forth in, "Permaculture: A Designers Manual" by Bill Mollison, we will be modifying and adding content to specifically address the particulars of the urban environment. All the principles still apply, but how and where and why we apply them may be different in some cases.

Many permaculture courses are very expensive and rightfully so, it does take a lot to create a meaningful and effective course. However, we have developed a few strategies to reduce our costs and so would like to extend that to you. We will be offering the course for $600 which is roughly half of some other courses. Each student will also be supplied with the Designers Manual, a $100 value. This decision does not come lightly and what we ask for in return is an additional commitment of your time and effort towards furthering the permaculture projects here in the city (or starting your own).

We would like to emphasize a very local focus for this course and place the highest priority on learners who live in San Francisco. We wish to build a strong coalition of permaculture designers here in San Francisco. We need your help, the whole world does, but we must start with where we live. To further this intention, we will offer a $100 discount for Potrero Hill residents.

We think this is very fair. If for some reason our reduced rate is more than you can afford, please apply to us explaining why you need a scholarship and what you can offer in return and we will be more than happy to consider this. Our primary goal is to get more trained designers on the ground right here in San Francisco, not to make a buck.

The standard PDC runs 72 hours, while ours comes in at 82 hours to accommodate our additional urban spin. On top of that, we request that you participate in one of the many exciting projects we already have, or start your own, for a total time commitment of 100 hours which includes the time you spend in the course and at San Francisco Permaculture Guild meetings.

Learners will be committed to presenting a final design project to receive their certification. This design requirement will be focused on actual projects here in San Francisco and learners are expected to apply professional level effort on these projects. All the essential tools and methods for design will be provided. The goal is to equip each learner with the skills they need to produce quality designs.

We will be covering a wide variety of topics in the course. While the PDC does cover a lot of material about interacting with vegetation, if what you are seeking is an in-depth gardening training, this is probably not for you. We will employ a mix of learning methods, including lecture, hands on, and multimedia/video. We will also be experimenting with various forms of project documentation: learners will be trained and expected to document their projects using video, audio, blogging, or other digital media. We feel that getting the word out about our work is one critical key to achieving success in the global digital era.

The course starts soon, so sign up now!

Speaking Next Wednesday

2009-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

If you're interested in other aspects of sustainability beyond food, make sure to attend this discussion and presentation next Wednesday. It is being put on by Planet Drum Foundation, one of the oldest local organizations working on urban sustainability issues.

How Can Making Products Locally From Recyclables Solve Local Economic Challenges?

On Wednesday March 11th from 7:30-9:30pm Planet Drum Foundation and CounterPULSE's Shaping San Francisco, will present a panel discussion and question-and-answer session that is FREE and open to the public. It will be held at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission Street (near 9th Street), San Francisco.

Neil Seldman, President of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute For Local Self-Reliance, will spearhead the first panel discussion in San Francisco on "Local Remanufacturing Our Way out of the Recession." Peter Berg, Planet Drum Foundation director, and Kevin Drew, Zero Waste Program Coordinator for the San Francisco Department of the Environment, will join Seldman on the panel, along with local remanufacturing entrepreneurs. Alemany Community Garden organizer, Antonio Roman-Alcala, will facilitate the question and answer period.

"The purpose of this event is to inform the public on our need to make products locally from local recyclables." said Peter Berg. "Remanufacturing provides meaningful work, closes the energy loop, and stimulates creativity. It is a practical response to the economic slump that builds on our physical and human resources."

We invite anyone who is interested in jobs, the environment, sustainability, alternatives to landfills, recycled art objects, and public policy to attend.

See you there!

Planet Drum Foundation, P.O. Box 31215, San Francisco, California 94131, mail@planetdrum.org, 415-285-6556