Archive for September, 2009
Buckwheat and see: Growing my own grain
When it comes to my gardening, I tend to have a lot of big ideas and not nearly enough space in which to implement them. And the more I try to source my food locally, the more I want to try growing things myself to fill in the gaps of what I can't find at the local farmers market. Last fall, when I picked up a first edition of Gene Logsdon's "Small-Scale
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Outside culinary advice helps revamp school lunch
Cafeteria consulting: Oak Park Unified School District, 3,800-student district in Southern California (map), has revamped their lunch program
Meet your greens, part 2: Industry seeks to outfox FDA
This is the second in a series of posts on my week in Monterey, CA, where I attended the first of seven USDA hearings around the country on an industry proposal to create a national
Looking your bacon in the eye: Notes from a slaughter class
By Jake Lahne I want to describe our unfamiliarity with animal slaughter as "startling," "surprising," or "shocking." After all, in the United States we consume a staggering amount of meat: more
Meet your greens: National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement hearings, Week 1
This is the first in a short series on the National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement hearings held September 22-24 in Monterey, CA. I packed a suit for three days of USDA hearings over an industry-proposed
Oklahoma v. poultry companies case gets underway
Taking CAFOs to court: A stretch of the Illinois River in Oklahoma has been under assault by CAFOs for many years, as poultry producers spread waste onto fields, leading to nutrient run-off that can cause algal blooms and other problems. In recent years, the river has been much cleaner, thanks in part
Flat world, fat world: Report from the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Symposium, part 1
By Nicole de Beaufort On September 21, 2009 in Minneapolis, a crowd of 300 people representing more than 30 disciplines gathered for a symposium hosted by the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute
Teaching food and cooking in elementary school
Reading, writing and ratatouille: In the latest edition of the Chronicle's "What I Do" series, Michael Bauce tells about teaching cooking and nutrition to the 400+ students of Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, California. Bauce's class — which appears to be funded by an outside grant, not
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Students mix cooking, discussion in food politics class
Food Politics 101: Food and Politics, a two-week short course at Stanford University taught by Rob Reich of the Political Science department, gave a dozen incoming sophomores the chance to explore food from all angles. For each session, a group of students would take responsibility for planning and
San Francisco mayor proposes indirect soda tax
No soda for you: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom — who has shown some sparks of food policy brilliance in the past — is planning on introducing a new fee on stores that sell sugar-laden drinks, with the proceeds going to programs that encourage exercise and discourage soda consumption. Newsom has
Dairy runoff in our tap water
Big dairies, big problems: Reporter Charles Duhigg of the New York Times has been on the rampage these past few weeks with a series of great articles highlighting the need for better government regulation, oversight and enforcement of clean water
Mapping Markets and Organic Demand
Today is “Direct Markets” day for the USDA’s new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, with the big event being the opening of a farmers market near the White House. In
Senator plans hearing on dairy crisis
Milking dairy farms for profit: The price that dairy farmers receive for their milk has been in free-fall — from $21.70 per hundred pounds in 2007 to just $12 in recent days — while production costs are holding steady or rising. The hundred pounds of milk that earns about $12 costs a few dollars
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Farm Labor Experts: The Solution is Not For Sale
Friend o' Ethicurean Twilight Greenaway writes about sustainable food for San Francisco's Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA), which nourishes, inspires and educates SF residents and visitors by running the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and other
Life Lab creates farm-to-school learning programs
Today is "Farm to Institution" day for the USDA's new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative. Obama
