California News
AB 581 California Healthy Food Financing Initiative
A statewide bill declaring “access to healthy food is a basic human right) has found its way to the Governor’s desks after having been passed through Senate and Assembly. The bill will support the creation and sustainability of locally-sourced foods and markets in communities throughout the state. Heather Wooten, member of OFPC, provides insight to the bill on Oakland North’s blog at:
Alameda County Climate Action Plan for Government Services and Operations
Alameda County is beginning to take the steps necessary to become more sustainable on a local level. Starting with their own government workers and services, the County governance is taking a lead in reducing carbon emissions and waste. The goal is for a 15% reduction in GHG output by 2020. This past May, the county adopted the Alameda County Climate Action Plan for Government Services and Operations, under which the county government plans to follow 16 “climate commitments.” With the adoption of the new plan, the County hopes to increase jobs and local sustainability initiatives. Alameda County is taking a leading role in sponsoring local initiatives to combat climate change and improve healthy communities that will impact affected local groups just as much as state-wide and even nation-wide policies and practices.
For more information, visit http://www.acgov.org/sustain/next/plan.htm and to view the Action Plan full summary: http://www.acgov.org/sustain/documents/climateactionplan_executivesummary.pdf. , Business Plan
Food Stamps for Good Food
This article compares the experiences of two California women, one in East Oakland, one in San Diego. Click here to read it.
A Tale of Two Landfills
With a pair of giant corporations vying for control over San Fancisco's trash, will the city's zero waste dreams ever become a reality? Click here to read more about San Francisco's waste management dilemma.
Phone Interviews will hopefully increase food stamp enrollment state-wide.
Food Stamp Program participation has increased rapidly in California over the course of the recession, with nearly 2.9 million Californians currently receiving nutrition assistance benefits, resulting in a program that now feeds 1 in 12 Californians. At the same time, only one-third of eligible working Californians receive nutrition assistance through the Food Stamp Program. Click here to read the full article.
Governor Touts "Million Meals Initiative"
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped by an Oakland food bank Thursday to kick off a holiday meal initiative, as the demand for food grows each day. The "Million Meals Initiative" is being championed by the governor and his wife as an effort to donate and provide more than a million meals to needy families across the state. And Schwarzenegger said the tough economy requires everyone to pitch in and help. Read report here.
What's the story of your food? "Nourish: Food + Community" Film
WorldLink, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, is pleased to announce therelease of its latest film, Nourish: Food + Community. With beautiful visuals and inspiringstories, Nourish traces our relationship to food from a global perspective to personal action steps. Nourish illustrates how food connects to such issues as biodiversity, climate change, public health, and social justice.Hosted and narrated by Cameron Diaz, the Nourish DVDfeatures interviews with best-selling author Michael Pollan, good food advocate Anna Lappé,British chef Jamie Oliver, Edible Schoolyard founder Alice Waters, chef and author BryantTerry, pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke, and organic farmer Nigel Walker.
View the Nourish trailer and selected short films at
http://www.nourishlife.org
Urban Agriculture under Fire in Los Angeles
Restaurant owners in L.A. planted a few veggies on the side of their building to bring fresher food to their customers and ended up with a zoning violation. Read the entire article here.
San Francisco Mayor Advocates Healthier Food
The SF Chronicle reports that Mayor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order mandating healtier food in San Francisco. However some city officials are wondering how he plans to pay for the change.
Closing the State Budget: Get rid of the Department of Food and Agriculture?
A number of budget proposals have surfaced over the past few months as State legislators and the Governor struggle to close a $24 billion budget shortfall. One of the most recent proposals is to farm out CDFA functions to other agencies and departments. But what does this mean for food safety? And who pays the cost of such a reorganization? Is this a real solution to a our budgetary problems? Here's what blogger and professor Rose Hayden Smith has to say about it in her Civil Eats blog.
San Francisco Closes the Loop with Mandatory Composting Law
Approximately 36% of San Francisco's landfill deposits are comprised of food and paper. But after a 9-2 Board of Supervisors vote on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, all of that will change.
With the vote, the city enacted the nation's first mandatory composting program. It is an ambitious, and heartening move. The idea is that, coupled with existing recycling measures, the city can dramatically cut green-house gas emissions and effectively close the garbage loop by 2020, with absolutely nothing going to landfills or incinerators.
Visit the San Francisco Environtment Department for more details.
