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Our local food system—from seed to table and back to soil again—is vital, yet fragmented. The inaugural day-long Sonoma County Food Forum Feb. 24th at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds was an attempt to start putting those pieces together for the 21st century.
Sheana DavisFood growers and producers in Sonoma County welcome and, in many cases, actively court local customers. But that's not enough for most of them to be economically sustainable, says, Sheana Davis, an ag entrepreneur in Sonoma.
In addition to the policy discussions that dominated the inaugural Food Forum, Davis said she welcomed the opportunity to get acquainted with some of her colleagues.
Joe PozziThe worth of Sonoma County's agricultural producers extends well beyond their products, says lamb grower and former Sonoma County Farm Bureau President Joe Pozzi. Speaking with KRCB in the wind outside the forum, he suggested that the physical existence of farms and ranches such as his add to the quality of life for everyone in the area.
This first-ever Sonoma County Food Forum was hosted by the Sonoma County Food System Alliance, which in turn is a project of Sonoma County Health Action 2020. Organizers indicated they expect to hold additional such events in the future.
Sonoma Count's agriculture sector is, as one would expect, dominated by winegrapes, which are categorized as a fruit crop. Dairy, livestock and poultry comprise the next largest segment, with a multitude of small and specialty growers adding diversity, if only a comparatively small economic impact. This graph is taken from the annual Sonoma County Agricultural Crop Report.
Republican members of Congress who want to block the Environmental Protection Agency from setting stricter clean air standards are facing opposition from public health advocates who say such a move would be disastrous for children and others with asthma.
The outcome of the debate over the EPA and its clean air standards will have a significant effect on California, says Dan Lashof of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Carbon emissions are a major component in smog, Lashof adds, and smog exacerbates asthma.
The dozen California reps who have signed on to support some or all of the EPA-blocking measures are: Mary Bono Mack, R-CA 45, Ken Calvert, R-CA 44, John Campbell, R-CA 48, Elton Gallegly, R-CA 24, Wally Herger, R-CA 2, Duncan D. Hunter, R-CA 52, Darrell E. Issa, R-CA 49, Jerry Lewis, R-CA 41, Daniel E. Lungren, R-CA 3, Tom McClintock, R-CA 4, Howard P. McKeon, R-CA 25, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA 46. Read the NRDC's analysis of the issue.
A laundry basket of poached abaloneIn the current economic downturn, the lucrative black market for abalone is providing more incentive than ever for abalone poaching, which comes in a variety of forms.
If it is the black market that is driving the demand for poached abalone, then who are those buyers? California Fiosh and Game Warden Don Powers saysthey are a diverse and elusive group.
On high traffic abalone fishing days, Fish and Game wardens will set up checkpoints on major acess roads, such as Highway 1, to seek out poachers. These enfrocment actions can result in some major interceptions, such as this one.During abalone season, the California Department of Fish and Game wardens assigned to the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts spend most of their time watching abalone divers and trying to prevent or intercept poaching. Sonoma coast warden Tiffiany Stinson describes a normal workday.
In addition to the wardens who patrol the coast, notes Stinson, Fish and Game also has a special unit that cocentrates on the buyers and distribution of illiegally taken abalone. But she believes their efforts are sometimes weakened by inconsistent penalties for convictions.
Open season on California's most popular mollusk has ended, but the fate of the Pacific red abalone fishery won't be determined by those who obey the laws governing it.
If you find abalone on the menu at an area restaurant, says California Fish and Game warden Tiffany Stinson, it isn't necessarily there illegally. But it might be.
Abalone popaching is hardly a new problem, as you can read in this North Bay Bohemian article from April 2008, There is much more information about the abalone itself as well as the regulations that apply to in on the California Fish & Game website
From the untamed Smith River near the Oregon Border to the southernmost San Diego River, all of the Golden State's Rivers are captured, beautifully, in a new book of photographs by conservationist Tim Palmer.
This is the image of the mouth of the Russian River at Jenner, taken by moonlight shortly before dawn. Although Palmer has a clear appreciation for the agricultural and recreational value of the Russian, it doesn't take much prodding for him to admit his greater fondness for the state's wilder, high mountain rivers.
As is often the case with those who excel in their chosen field, Palmer discovered his passion for running water early on, as a child on the family farm, far from California.
Tim Palmer will present a slide show of his photography and talk about Rivers of California Tuesday eveing, Nov. 30th at Copperfields Books in Sebastopol, and Wednesday, Dec. 1 at River Reader in Guerneville Both programs begin at 7 pm.
While Palmer is deservedly recognized for his photography, he is also an accomplished writer and advocate for river conservation. The passage below is taken from his introductory chapter in Rivers of California.
Whether we actually jump in the water...or float on its surface in a raft or canoe, or walk along the shore in a city or wilderness, or cast a line in hopes of catching a trout or just gaze in wonder at the common yet enchanted movement of water, rivers flow inseparably with our lives. This is true even for people who have never laid eyes on whitewater or a living fish. Our bodies are 70 percent water and every drop of it comes from a river or associated groundwater. The rivers literally flow in our arteries and veins. Ultimately that means being connected to their sources, to their destinatons, to their greater community of life, and to their outcome and fate in a changing world.
