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Who Says Organic Isn't as Productive?
Study shows yields & nutrition at least as good as conventional.
A recent study undertaken by the University of Wisconsin and published in the latest Agronomy Journal demonstrates that in many cases organic crops (corn and alfalfa) were 90% to 100% as productive as conventionally-grown crops.
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Another study from the Organic Center shows that the pursuit of higher yields of conventional crops has led to decline in their nutirient levels, whereas organically grown crops have maintained their nutritional density. How long will it be before conventional produce's last advantage - price - is eroded?
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Renewable, But Not Sustainable
Food prices on the rise? Blame agrofuels.
It has been estimated that the renewable fuels standards in the latest US Energy Bill will lead to half of US corn produced this year being diverted to ethanol production. The increasing demand for fuel crops is predicted to lead to a reduction in acreage for food production which will raise food prices significantly. Italians are have already been hit with a hike in the price of pasta, and it looks like other countries will find many of their staples becoming more expensive.
These worrying forecasts have led Food First, and a coalition of progressive organizations to call for a moratorium on US agrofuels.
Read more >>
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Educate yourself about NAIS
NAIS spells potential disaster for small farmers
It seems that a consortium of biotech and RFID companies has been pushing its agenda with the USDA, and unless farmers and consumers start asking the right questions, the National Animal Identification System will enforce an unwieldy system of microchips, licences and permissions onto the entire farming system - from big agribusinesses who can bear the costs to family farmers and smallholders, who can't.
Find out more >>
An Apple Moth a Day... brings aerial spraying.
In case you haven't heard, we have a moth problem! If not controlled soon the Light Brown Apple Moth makes a serious impact on crops of the 250 plants it is known to feed on, and poses a serious threat to our state's agricultural economy. Spraying for the pest using Checkmate, a pheromone-based spray that does not affect the organic certification of any farm, has begun in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and will expand to Bay Area in the coming months. Concerned groups such as stopthespray.org have been doing outreach about the adverse health affects of the spraying.
An more focused alternative would be to set pheromone traps, but the California Department of Food and Agriculture claims such a method would be too costly, and that it lacks the community coordinator to organise the trapping effort. Spraying, they say, is the only option that works within their restricted budget. According to USDA spokesperson Larry Hawkins, interviewed in the SF Chronicle, the light brown apple moth could cause $640m in crop loss per year. The USDA has given CDFA $74.5m to conduct the spraying program.
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Cattle Abuse Leads to Huge Beef Recall
Slaughterhouse breaches USDA guidelines.
Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif. has been ordered to recall 143m lbs of beef due to shameful abuse of cattle on its site. Non-ambulatory - and therefore potentially unhealthy - animals were shoved and dragged through the slaughterhouse and into the food supply. Much of the meat from the plant was destined for school meals, and a significant portion had already been eaten by the time the recall was announced.
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See more >>
If you're keen to find humanely treated meat two good starting points are CAFF's Local Food Guide and the Eatwell Guide.
Local Food Guide >>
Eatwell Guide >>
Planet Organic to buy New Leaf
Ownership changes, management largely unchanged.
Canadian natural foods chain Planet Organic will acquire three New Leaf Community Markets in Capitola and Santa Cruz amid promises that the stores will retain their identity and autonomy. Two of the three current owners will remain in leadership positions at the markets. It is hoped the acquisition will give New Leaf the ability to build new stores in Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay and make improvements to its original downtown Santa Cruz store.
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Go Green or Go Bust
Big Food wants to be part of the solution, too.
Environmtental News Network reports that recent studies show at least 30 percent of consumers look for environmentally friendly products and packages. Fear of poor environmental ratings tainting their brands has brought at least some large food companies to consider how they can reduce their impact on the world's resources. Sara Lee is claiming that it is shortening its truck routes to save 240,000 gallons of fuel in the coming year, although a sceptic would suggest that this is more to do with gas prices than anything else. Regardless of the motivations, this news proves that consumers are forcing manufacturers to realise there are economic costs for failure to protect the environment. Keep sending the message by buying local!
Source: Environmental News Network
Read the article >>
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2nd Edition Food Guide Due in Spring!
"Seasonal food at your fingertips"
If you want to get listed in the guide, here's your chance! The second edition of the Bay Area Local Food Guide will be available this April. Don't miss your opportunity to get listed or advertise. The deadline for both is Friday, February 29. Email us at the link below or call at (510) 832-4625 to find out more!
Email Kristen >>
Senator Pelosi, have a heart!
Ask Pelosi to support a fair and healthy Farm Bill
At 12:00 noon the day before Valentine's Day, the California Food & Justice Coalition will be calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to have a heart and support a Fair and Healthy Food and Farm Bill. We need a Farm Bill that stops subsidizing corporate agribusiness at the expense of public health and instead invests our tax dollars into creating a sustainable, healthy, community-driven and just food system! Take a brown bag lunch and join the festivities at the UN Plaza Farmers' Market.
Find out more >>
Local Food Reaches Bay Area Hospitals
Kaiser execs tour farms with Growers' Collaborative
A team of directors from healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente spent some quality time touring Durst Organic and Riverdog Farms, getting to know the people and places growing the food for their patients' meals. The tour was hosted by the Growers' Collaborative, a distribution venture which sources exclusively from local farms and builds connections with buyers through farm tours like these. In the last six months Growers' Collaborative has sold over 60 tons of local produce to Kaiser.
See the slideshow >>
Light Brown Apple Moth
Imported moth threatens specialty crops of California
In March 2007, the presence of the light brown apple moth (LBAM), Epiphyas postvittana, was confirmed in CA by the USDA. It was first found in Alameda County and as of July 2007, has been found in eight San Francisco Bay counties and in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties. Arial spraying has begun in Santa Cruz and two other locations with discussions occurring to discuss the possibility of arial spraying in the Bay Area. It's a contentious issue - as one might expect.
Find out more >>
Glassy Winged Sharpshooter
Pesticide spraying is not the answer
An insect called the glassy winged sharpshoonds have been alloter is being blamed for vineyard diseases in wine country. Substantial State and Federal fucated to address the problem and unfortunately pesticide use is the only method being given real consideration. There are now plans to spray residential districts with pesticides to kill sharpshooters in people's yards. East Bay Pesticide Alert is working to raise awareness of the dire ecological and health consequences of pesticide use. Check their website to discover more about the risks to your health posed by pesticide spraying.
Find out more >>
Local Food Market to Grow in 2008
Food Navigator predicts "hot trends" for this year
Food Navigator is a website that reports on all aspects of the food industry, be they GM technologies used by multinationals or food labeling in European supermarkets. When they predict that "Consumer interest in ethical consumerism, including sustainable, organic, local and natural foods, will continue to rise." you know they're looking at cold hard data rather than helping us bang the drum for sustainability.
The article's worth a look, but be for-warned, the web page does contain advertisements from global chemical agribusiness miscreants.
Read the article >>
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Locavore: the Word of the Year!
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary.
Congratulations to the Locavores and other advocates of eating fresh, local produce. You're all part of a movement that is changing the way we eat and having an impact on the way we speak, write and think!
More of NOAD's words of the year >>
Raw Milk to be Banned... NOT!
New legislation that will enforce stricter standards on California's dairy industry have been threatening to put raw milk producers out of business. As recently as the end of December the outlook for dairies such as Claravale and Organic Pastures Dairy Co. was dark.
However, with the New Year comes new hope for raw milk producers and consumers. A lawsuit against bill AB 1735 and meetings between Organic Pastures and Agriculture Secretary, A.G. Kawamura have kept unpasteurized dairy products legally available.
The two dairies at the forefront of the campaign are urging customers to mail photos of themselves holding bottles of raw milk to the offices of their government representatives. Find out more at Organic Pastures' website.
Read more >>
Source: Organic Pastures.
Organic Market Consolidation
As the organic food industry continues to grow its profile is changing. The consolidation of Whole Foods and Wild Oats will lead to consolidation of their supply chains, which means some suppliers could be squeezed out.
Find out more >>
Source: Food Navigator.
One Step Closer to Soylent Green?
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA could declare the meat and dairy of cloned animals safe to enter the American food supply as soon as next week. The agency has concluded that there are no additional safety risks posed by cloning technology, a position that has been challenged by Senators Barbara Mikulski and Arlen Specter.
Products made from cloned animals could reach the shelves within three years of their approval by the FDA. Whilst foods from cloned animals are viewed unfavorably by the majority of consumers, the safety determinations of the FDA would boost their profile. BFBL staff predict it's unlikely that cloned meat will find a place on the tables of locavores.
Read more >>
Source: Food Navigator.
Michael Pollan opines on the Farm Bill
For Americans who have been looking to Congress to reform the food system, these past few weeks have been, well, the best of times and the worst of times. A new politics has sprouted up around the farm bill, traditionally a parochial piece of legislation thrashed out in private between the various agricultural interests (wheat growers versus corn growers; meatpackers versus ranchers) without a whole lot of input or attention from mere eaters.
Not this year. The eaters have spoken, much to the consternation of farm-state legislators who have fought hard - and at least so far with success - to preserve the status quo.
Read more (NY Times) >>
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Wildfire damage hits southern California growers
Over the past two weeks, fires have ravaged nearly half a million acres in Southern California, destroying thousands of structures and forcing the evacuation of 500,000 residents. The effect on the region's agriculture has yet to be quantified, but preliminary accounts from Growers Collaborative producers indicate that many of our farmer partners sustained some damage to their crops. {read more}
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Food Safety Rules Threaten Local Leafy Greens
Nearly a year has passed since the widespread outbreak of E. Coli 0157:H7 damaged people's impression of spinach, torpedoed sales and nearly crashed the market. A recent recall of Dole pre-bagged leafy green products in the US and Canada further exasperated our food-bourne illness woes. Our advice to you is stop buying industrially processed bagged products and go for "fresh from the farm" greens. Based on data CAFF compiled from the US Food and Drug Administration, since 1999, 80 percent of California's leafy green E. coli 0157:H7 outbreaks and 98.5% of the reported illnesses have been traced back to processed, bagged salad.
The industry believes its rules will boost consumer confidence and prevent the feds from stepping on our greens. However, some of the rules are not scientifically proven, most of them discourage biological practices and biodiversity on farms, and all of them will place stress on smaller local growers. Unable to bear the cost of the measures necessary to comply with rules designed to fix a problem they did not create, many small and medium sized traditional growers of these crops may be forced to abandon them - in which case consumers will find the variety of local leafy greens in stores severely restricted.
We need your letters this month. Please check out our Food Safety Pages to learn more about the proposed leafy green rules, almond pasteurization and animal IDing, all of which will affect your access to safe, nutritious, locally grown greens and goods.
To get involved, sign up for our Policy Newsletter or email Kira Pascoe at kira@caff.org.
SF Chronicle Reports that Farmers burn out on Markets
Thinking that you want a farmers' market in your neighborhood? Think again! There may not be enough farmers to go around nor the volume of shoppers to make it viable. See what some farmers had to say about it in the SF Chronicle article titled: Farmers burn out on Markets.
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Local Food Month is here!
Just in time for winter canning and preserving! During this month, we're encouraging folks to eat as locally as possible. For example, try your hand at harvesting salt from the Sonoma Coast to supplement your sodium, shop at a new farmers' market, or invite some friends over for your interpretation on a seasonal sensation. For more ideas on what you can do, check out the Eat Local Challenge website and sign up to declair your personal local eating goals at the Locavores website.
On the Central Coast, we've partnered with the County of Santa Cruz and cities of Watsonville and Santa Cruz to approve a resolution to officially make September Local Food Month. Mardi Wormhoudt, Third District Supervisor, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors said, "Santa Cruz County is world-renowned for its fresh fruits and vegetables, and as a center for local family-owned farms in the United States. It is fitting that we encourage all members of our community to join in a month of celebrating local agriculture and recognizing the farmers who provide our food." To get a copy of the declaration, email Tim Galarneau at tim@caff.org and encourage your city or county to do the same! In other Central Coast news, the Central Coast Local Food Guide is out!
Look for your copy of the guide at farmers' markets, retailers and from our farm and organizational partners. You can also search locally and download a copy here at our website.
If you're a farm, restaurant, retailer, institution or run a farmers' market and want to learn more about partnering with Buy Fresh, Buy Local please contact our office at (510) 832-4625 or by email at bfbl@caff.org.
The Grav Box takes on California!
For those whom aren't aware, the Gravenstein apple has been added to the the Slow Food Presida Ark of Taste - a project to conserve heirloom varities of edible species by supporting the marketing efforts of groups of producers. CAFF, Slow Food Russian River, and the Fruit Guys assisted a group of Gravenstein growers in direct marketing their product through an innovative "Gravenstein Box" that included fresh Gravenstein apples and processed applesauce and juice. The boxes - which sold for $20 each - were purchased by 320 California Slow Food members, and were packed and distributed by the Fruit Guys, a CAFF collaborator and major client of the Growers Collaborative. To learn more about Slow Food and the Ark of Taste/Presidia Projects you can visit http://slowfoodfoundation.com.
The Leafy Greens Marketing Order
Who thought there would be legislation that could limit our access to leafy green products and encourage environmentally damaging on farm practices? Well, here it is! The Leafy Greens Marketing Order will be on the Governator's desk in October and we need you to get involved! If you are interested in learning more about the Leafy Greens Marketing Order check out our policy pages at http://www.caff.org/foodsafety/. To get involved, sign up for our Policy Newsletter or email Kira Pascoe at kira@caff.org.
News from the North Coast
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is currently having hearings on their draft General Plan 2020. The draft plan is a considerable improvement over the present general plan but implies that the planners consider currently zoned agricultural lands in transition as residential. This is detrimental to the preservation of agriculture. CAFF's North Coast Chapter will finalize their position on this general plan issue during their next meeting on 9/4 in coordination with Sonoma County Farm Trails. For more information, or to attend, please contact Terry Harrison at fresh@hughes.net.
Farm to Institution Connection Made!
On July 25, Chefs, dining directors, family farmers and sustainability advocates gathered around tables to talk about variability in fruit sizing, budget cuts to kitchen staff, and other challenges for bringing produce from local family farms into institutional dining halls. Ninety (90) participants attended this Farm to Institution Connection meeting organized by CAFF and the Growers Collaborative. Making connections, building excitement, sharing perspectives, tasting fresh produce and demonstrating tangible possibilities to source local food were just a few of the outcomes. Above all, relationship building increases all of our capacity to help create a more localized food system.
If you are interested in learning more about how your school, college, hospital or other institutional dining facility can source local produce, contact Aliza Wasserman at aliza@caff.org or 510-832-4625.
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Campaign Update
The Bay Area Local Food Guide sprouted on June 10th at the Jack London Square Farmers' Market in collaboration with Jack London Square and Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association . Pictures from the Food Guide's release celebration can be seen here. The Bay Area guide contains information on over 200 farmers, lists dozens of retailers, 15 institutions and contains over 150 restaurants where you can find local food. If you have feedback or changes to any of the listings please email us at localfoodguide@caff.org.
Look for your copy of the guide at farmers' markets, retailers and from our farm and organizational partners. You can also search locally and download a copy online at www.buylocalca.org.
Now that the Food Guide is out (whew!) the campaign is working on increasing its market presence. We've been meeting with retailers about providing sourcing information in their stores and letting people know that a food item is local. Beyone our materials for farmers and retail markets alike, we have created "locally made" labels so that baked goods and other grocery items such as olive oil can be labelled as local. Of special mention is one of our retail partners the Bi-Rite Market and Creamery in San Francisco. Check out our TV20 News Coverage by clicking here TV20 Newscoverage
We will continue meeting with retailers and will begin outreach to restaurants. We're also undergoing Phase II of our website development which will add a "search by keyword", a merchandising section for partners and better visibility for our organizational partners.
In addition to growing our partners in the Bay Area, we're excited to announce that the Local Food Guide for Central Coast - 3rd Edition has just been released! Look for your copy in our Central Coast region which includes Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. We're proud to be expanding the program from the Central Coast after many years of successful community involvement in the region.
If you're a farm, restaurant, retailer, institution or run a farmers' market and want to learn more about partnering with Buy Fresh, Buy Local please contact our office at (510) 832-4625 or by email at bfbl@caff.org.
A special thanks to all of our partners and members who made the Food Guides possible and for the sponsorship of the Columbia Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz and Randy Repass.
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Campaign Update
CAFF opened the new Bay Area office last fall and has been working on creating a local food database of producers, organizations, CSAs, restaurants, institutions and retailers for inclusion in our online and print Local Food Guides being released in June. It's a huge milestone for our organization and we can't tell you how exciting it is!
All of this work wouldn't have been possible without the assistance of our wonderfully supportive partner organizations. We'd like to thank them for all of their support to date. They include:
- Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT)
- CAFF North Coast Chapter
- Center for Urban Agriculture of Sustainable Agriculture
- City of Fairfield
- Contra Costa Wine Grape and Olive Oil Association
- Harvest Time Growers of Brentwood
- Marin Ag Commissioners Office
- Marin Organic
- Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
- OM Organics
- Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association
- People's Grocery
- San Francisco Food Systems
- San Francisco Mayor's Office
- San Mateo Farm Bureau
- San Mateo Visitors and Convention Bureau
- Slow Food
- Solano Irrigation District
- Sonoma Farm Trails
- Suisun Valley Fund
- Suisun Valley Growers Association
- Urban Village Farmers Market Association
All of these great organization's contact info will be listed online and in our print guide - both to be released on June 9th at Fort Mason. Stay tuned for future newsletters where we'll feature the farms and folks that are making the local food connections possible!
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