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A Development Kitchen in Hollywood |
June 23, 2008
By Evan Kleiman, ROC Stewardship Council member, Owner/Chef of Angeli Caffé, Board Member of The Hollywood Farmers Market, and Host of Good Food on KCRW 89.9 fm and kcrw.com
Say the word Hollywood and all kinds of red carpet images come to mind. From paparazzi images of Hollywood highlife, to the nuts and bolts of shooting television and film entertainment, most Americans think that the streets of Hollywood are full of glitter and glitz. But for many of us, the day-to-day reality is quite different. In addition to the glitterati actors and actresses, Hollywood is also home to many low-income residents who find it very hard to make ends meet. So it’s no surprise that The Hollywood Farmers Market, which appears like magic each Sunday morning at Selma and Ivar, is such an important and vibrant part of the community. About one third of revenues generated each Sunday at the market come from shoppers using food stamp/EBT cards and Women and Infant Children (WIC) and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons.
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Oakland’s Food Renaissance |
June 19, 2008
By Brahm Ahmadi, ED of People’s Grocery and ROC Fellow 2007
While efforts to create jobs in green industries have dominated the spotlight of Oakland’s current renaissance, Oakland is also abuzz with an energetic movement to bring about a sustainable food system in the East Bay region that provides access to fresh, healthy foods for Oakland’s low-income communities of color. Oakland is home to numerous organizations that have emerged in recent years to improve Oakland’s “inner city food environments”. These organizations include People’s Grocery, Mo Better Foods, City Slicker Farms, and the Oakland Food Connection; they are hip, innovative, and grassroots. Together, these organizations- and othersm - are shifting the understanding of how social entrepreneurship and Oakland’s changing demographics combined with a rising awareness of a national obesity epidemic, can provide momentum for new solutions to the health AND economic needs of low-income residents. New opportunities are emerging that use social entrepreneurship to address Oakland’s need for fresh, healthy foods AND that simultaneously creates local jobs and spur economic development.
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Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in Urban Los Angeles |
June 19, 2008
By Mable Everette, DrPH, RD, ROC Fellow 2007
Public education efforts related to sustainable food and agricultural systems often appear disjointed or even non-existent, especially for the urban dwellers like those living in my town, Los Angeles. As a food and nutrition educator working in the public sector, I have the opportunity to help inform individual clients, consumers, and the community at large. My organization, Community Nutrition Education Services, Inc. (CNESINC) has undertaken the challenge to concentrate efforts on creating a broad public understanding of the interrelated roles of personal health, public health, and environmental conservation in the growth and evolution of a more diversified, healthier, and environmentally sustainable food system.
The problem in promoting sustainable food systems with many of California’s urban dwellers is the basic lack of knowledge of the very concept of agriculture. The task that we now see ahead for CNESINC is deciding how to best relay the concept of sustainable agriculture and its importance to urban consumers. The implementation of our approach has begun with clients, the consumers served by other partner community based organizations, and professional peers.
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Helping California Grow the Next Generation of Farmers |
May 16, 2008
By Steve Schwartz, California Farmlink
There is a saying that goes “There are two ways to get into farming: marry in or inherit.” This reflects the low wages of farm owners and employees in relation to the high costs of agricultural property, equipment, and other inputs like seeds or livestock. The future of agricultural production is far too important to be left to a random process of “marry or inherit”.
California's agricultural lands are being developed at ever increasing rates, and young people interested in farming are facing increasingly difficult barriers to pursuing their dreams. A few facts to put this in perspective:
- California farmers age 65 and over outnumber farmers under the age of 35 by approximately 8 to one. Those 65 and over outnumber farmers under the age of 25 by approximately 60 to one.
- The number of California farmers under the age of 35 declined to 46% between 1992 and 2002.
- California farmland acreage dropped by 1.2 million acres from 1997 to 2002, with over 200,000 acres of harvested cropland being lost.
- California is facing a loss of more than one million acres of farmland over the next 25 years primarily due to development pressure.
- Small farms of 1 to 9 acres are increasingly important, with 65% of farmers on these smaller acreage having more than 10 years of experience. Previously these experienced farmers were more likely to have large operations.
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May 15, 2008
By Sylvia Drew Ivie
At age 13, I was sent to a Quaker boarding school in upstate New York to shield me from the strained school integration efforts going on in the District of Columbia. I met Quaker farmers there; I have never forgotten their hard work and quiet heroism.
The Civil Rights movement was in full swing by the time I got back home. I decided to join the movement as a lawyer, and went to work for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund right after law school. Along side local civil rights lawyers, I brought suits all over the south in education, employment, housing, and health care access.
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