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Pieces of the Puzzle- Coming Together in Santa Barbara |
May 12, 2008
By Eric Cardenas, Environmental Defense Center
As California’s 13th largest agricultural producer, Santa Barbara County is a critical component of our state’s- and nation’s- agricultural resource base. Strawberries, broccoli, grapes, lettuce, celery, avocados and much more are grown on more than 700,000 acres of land, from Carpinteria in the south to Santa Maria in the north and the many places in between.
While the agricultural industry is a successful piece of our local economy, the path towards this success has not been immune to community concerns over pesticides, species protection, wetlands preservation, and habitat destruction. Santa Barbara has a history of conflict and mistrust rooted in the perception that viable farming, healthy communities, and natural resource protection are mutually exclusive. This conflict is not unique to Santa Barbara, but because all “sides” are connected and well organized, progress has often been difficult.
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May 12, 2008
By Holly King, Great Valley Center
Recently almost 90 people gathered in Fresno for a Great Valley Center/California Agricultural Leadership Lifelong Learning Event – the “Farm to Fork Network: Agriculture’s Response to a Changing Marketplace”. Food system stakeholders began employing two levers in the Roots of Change Strategic Change Framework – Leadership and Value Chains. By bringing 90 leaders together from all sectors of the food network (chain) to discuss, debate, exchange information and perspective, the group achieved the following outcomes:
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Constructive Engagement – discussion of marketplace changes and their impact on agriculture;
- Sustainable Communication Networks – interaction with other stakeholders to gain an understanding of various perspectives and develop valuable relationships; and
- Thinking Forward – development of actionable and implementable strategic responses from agriculture to the changing marketplace.
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Feedback on ROC's Strategic Plan |
April 16, 2008
Mark Wall from the Vista Farmers Market sent us this very thoughtful and useful critique of the ROC Strategic Plan's 2030 goals for farmers markets. Mark is a leader in the Southland farmers market and was on the CAFF board for many years. We were very glad to see him at the February 19th ROC Community Meeting in San Diego. To read more about Mark's insight into how our farmers market goals need to be reworked, simply click here.
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Some Good News on Food Prices, Kim Severson, April 2nd NYT |
April 3, 2008
2007 ROC Planning Fellow Larry Bain wrote this letter to the editor in response to Kim Severson's article "Some Good News on Food Prices" in yesterdays New York Times Food Section. Severson's article argues that the rising costs of food might be a driving force to get people to eat local - Larry Bain raises some issue with her argument -
For another response to this see "Why Michael Pollan and Alice Waters Should Quit Celebrating Food-Price Hikes".
Dear Editor
Kim Severson's piece nicely presented the potential upsides to the food crisis we are facing spurred, in part, by the dramatic increases in the cost of wheat, corn, rice and every other crop that requires fuel or water to grow, process and distribute.
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Changemakers Day at Slow Food Nation |
March 20, 2008
Anya Fernald, Slow Food Nation
The agenda for the first-ever Slow Food Nation event is being built this spring with help from farmers, fishers, non-profit leaders, social venture businesses and more. All aspects of Slow Food Nation will represent the mission of the Slow Food movement: building a food system that is good, clean, and fair. Good means the food is fresh, nutritious, delicious and culturally appropriate. Clean means that the resources from which it is produced and the bodies into which is goes will not be polluted because of the way it was produced. Fair means that low-income people, farm workers, and farm owners large and small are all equitably sharing in the bounty that the food provides. These are all values and principles that I know my colleagues from the 2007 ROC Planning Fellows program share and promote in their important work. I hope they- and you- will participate in Slow Food Nation in two ways.
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