A visit to Baia Nicchia Farm in Sunol, California

by: mental_masala

Thu Jun 03, 2010 at 20:31:28 PM PDT

I first learned about Baia Nicchia in 2006 when I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about their tomato breeding efforts. What set them apart from other breeders was a focus on the S.F. Bay Area, a region with multiple microclimates — hot and dry in Walnut Creek, cool and sunny in the Mission, damp and foggy in the Sunset, and so on — that create challenges for backyard gardeners.

In the years since, I have bought produce and tomato seedlings* from them at the Berkeley Farmers Market; have been reading their blog; attended a tomato growing lecture at Magic Gardens in Berkeley; and most recently attended their open house.

The Sunol Ag Park

On a recent weekend, a friend and I went to an "open house" at Baia Nicchia's farm in Sunol. Baia Nicchia is run by Fred Hempel and Jill Shepard and has been on the Sunol land since 2006. They lease the land from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (which provides water to the City) and buy water from the Commission at rates somewhere between wholesale and retail. Their farm is part of the Sunol Water Temple Agricultural Park (a.k.a. the Sunol Ag Park), a project that came about because of efforts by the Berkeley nonprofit Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE) in 2006. At the time, San Francisco was developing a food policy that stressed food production within city limits. SAGE realized that it made sense for San Francisco to apply that to city-owned lands outside of city limits — like the Sunol plot — and convinced officials to launch a one-year pilot project in 2006 that eventually turned into a nine-year lease for agricultural uses. The San Francisco Chronicle had an article on the Ag Park in 2008. At that time, there were five groups working the land besides Baia Nicchia, including Oakland's People's Grocery and a group of refugees from Laos.

Flower Power Update: Going Pro

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 23:08:07 PM PST

Just say no to GMO's- A rant

by: Boulder Belt

Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 09:11:33 AM PST

I have a subscription to acres USA and in this month's issue is a chilling interview with Jeffery Smith, author of Seeds of Destruction. A book that takes on the lies of the biotech industry

Here I present to you in a format that allows you to read this interview in your web browser of this interview

After reading this I have decided I can no longer eat from the industrial food stream. I am lucky in that 85% to 90% of my diet is already local and organic (i.e. GMO free) so cutting out the monthly fast food trips won't be that hard to do (though eating at unenlightened friends' homes is another issue). Also I have long been a label reader and have been aware how pervasive GMO's are in the conventional industrial food stream.

But what can you do? Start by buying more of your food from local sources. Find a farmers market or if you want to do more, join a CSA. I happen to know of one near Eaton, OH that is taking members right now-Boulder Belt Farm Share Initiative-that serves members in Dayton, Oxford, Fairfield/West Chester/Northern Cincy.

Read labels and if it has corn, coy, cotton seed or canola assume it has GMO ingredients. And learn what words mean such things are in the food. For example, lecithin means there is soy, vitamin C means corn, etc., etc.. Oh and if there are partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (and Soda pop has both) do not eat it-this is poison they are serving us

Finally, don't be the victim-take back the responsibility from the corporations over what you put in your body. For too long we have allowed them to call the shots and they have returned the favor by serving us poisons that make us sick (but hey, that means big bucks for the drug industry), obese (big bucks for the weight loss industry) and now we are seeing that GMO's may well cause our kids to be sterile. So now is the time to stand up and just say no to GMO's

Oregon Subscription Farm Cooperative Wins Approval To Accept Food Stamps

by: JayinPortland

Fri May 08, 2009 at 17:55:08 PM PDT

The Siskiyou Sustainable Cooperative, a group of farmers who deliver fresh vegetables and other products to customers weekly on a subscription basis, has won state approval to accept Oregon Trail Cards (food stamps) starting in July.

It was apparently a long and arduous process, but now hopefully this will set a precedent for others who'd like to go down this path.  This can only benefit everybody involved.

Noting the higher cost of organic food and its image as "for the wealthy," Powell said bringing low-income consumers into the loop changes that image and economically strengthens local organic growers.

[...]

Powell said the Oregon Trail Card is helping low-income people eat well in hard economic times. "It's an excellent way for children, the elderly and at-risk families to access food that can nourish them and prevent illness and obesity."

Reinventing the CSA?

by: JayinPortland

Wed Apr 22, 2009 at 17:00:00 PM PDT

"We've geared our CSA shares for one to two people," he says. "Everybody wanted a half-share."

[...]

McGuire says part of the CSA's mission is promoting small, local farming on a personal level. Shareholders won't just receive newsletters with tips and recipes; they'll also be invited to gatherings at McGuire's Clay Street home, including a cider-pressing party in the fall. Picking up their boxes every week, subscribers can see the intimate workings of the garden and even gather a few more herbs, McGuire says.

Sounds like something I'd definitely go for!  And again, I must ask - what exactly is stopping us from turning abandoned municipal properties, and maybe even corners of large public parks, into projects like this?

Perverting the CSA Label

by: DennisP

Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 15:19:04 PM PDT

Of course there is no legal definition of the concept (and I don't want there to be!).  But this confusion of the label for rather different kinds of food activities can only be harmful to honest farmers who put in long hours to provide good food to their customers.

As in consumers who decide to buy food from a home-delivery CSA: do they know if their food is locally grown? Do they get a low price that may undercut or at least compete with local farmers, because the food is commercially grown elsewhere? Could the home-delivery CSA just be a front for a large corporate enterprise?

Do you agree with this kind of marketing?  Or is this it acceptable?

For a specific account, click on this URL which takes you to Boulder Belt Blog in Ohio. http://boulderbelt.blogspot.com/. You'll have to scroll down. The story is (currently) the third item down.  

Late Night Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 20:59:01 PM PST

• Natasha Chart writes about a really innovative online CSA program. If I lived near this farm, I would SO sign up!

• Civil Eats talks to a few urban hen owners. Are they pets or food? Well, if I owned some they would be egg-laying pets. But my friend Jamie? His are food. He told me as a kid he'd own turkeys and name them "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas"... you can guess why he chose those names.

• Civil Eats also says that supporting farms is everyone's business. I quite agree.

• Obama Foodorama takes on the anti-Obama Tea Parties (Here's a 2nd write-up on them, also by ObFo. This one tells how the tea parties were planned - and planned to look spontaneous.). Ugh, why does the right wing even exist (other than for me to laugh at)?

• Marion Nestle takes on osteoblast milk, a new stupid food industry idea to make a kind of super-milk. They add "OMP" (osteoblast milk protein, whatever that is) to make milk extra-milky. Or something.

• Tom Laskawy wonders if the USDA fudged the numbers in the 2007 Ag Census. Remember all the excitement over the growth of small farms? Well... for the past several years, the USDA has been padding its numbers to account for farms who didn't respond to the census survey.

• Organic Consumers provides a write-up of Brooklyn's new culinary movement, which appeared to be alive and well when I visited last October.

• The USDA is tightening oversight of organic fertilizer. I assume this is in response to an incident in California in the past year in which organic farms were sold fertilizer that was labeled as organic but actually prohibited by organic standards.

• A new blog called Organic on the Green helps college cafeterias move to a more sustainable system.

• Check out this video on the National Animal ID System and why it should be rejected. We may be in the clear on some issues now that the Dems are in power, but NAIS is something several Dems actually support.

Sunday Dinner with Ruby - summer picnic edition

by: ruby marjoram

Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 08:25:27 AM PDT

Much of my cooking is directed by a CSA that I am a member of.  A CSA stands for community supported agriculture.  A local farm (ours is an organic farm) takes on members.  Some pay for their membership with cash some with labor (I am the latter, a working member).  In return you receive a box of fresh local produce once a week.   Here's a pic of the farm:

to find a CSA in your area go to localharvest.com

It is great for me because it gets me out of the rut of buying the same things at the store each week & instead cooking whatever is given to me.

This week I received lots of basil, cucumbers, green beans & some lovely salad greens, come with me over the jump for recipes...

I Quit My CSA Today

by: OrangeClouds115

Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 21:30:16 PM PDT

What the hell am I talking about? Today, I quit my CSA. I got my very last box. A CSA, for those who don't know, is like a subscription to a farm. Each farm has different terms but typically a share provides enough food for a family of four.

There's a lot of good things you can get from a CSA. Obviously there's some bad too, as you get a delivery of whatever's in season. And I think my CSA farm is in a climate of perpetual arugula season. Today's box (my last box) was arugula-free, I think.  Details on the flip.