Newest articles on The Sacramento Press written by George Jackson

Sacramento Prepares for Urban Ag Day

2009-06-15T06:12:14Z

Backyard chickens. Frontyard gardens. Crop swaps. Fruit gleaning. The Good Food Movement, or movement towards a sustainable food and food production, is growing in Sacramento. And residents are seizing on the City's soils and politics to make Sacramento a living laboratory for a new wave of urban agriculture.

"Urban agriculture is providing the forum for a larger social discussion," said Jennifer Lee of EAT Sacramento in an email. "Sacramentans increasingly understand that how we eat and how we grow has profound implications for our health, our communities and our environment."

On July 11th, these efforts will culminate in Urban Ag Day. Participants will have an opportunity to ride their bike around town and visit examples of Sacramento's urban agriculture through the "What's Growing On?" bike tour, watch films like FRESH, and participate in workshops on composting and gardening. These tour stops and events will take place largely in Midtown and Oak Park, some of the greatest hotspots of Sacramento's Urban Ag movement.

Later that evening, at the Common Table celebration, participants will have an opportunity to eat a multi-course local and organic meal in the Fremont Community Garden, and listen to movement speakers, including Brahm Ahmadi of the People's Grocery. According to event organizers, tickets are limited and selling quickly. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the Sacramento Hunger Coalition and Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition.

The event is more than just a fundraiser. According to a Slow Food Sacramento press release, "the goal is to raise awareness about local urban gardening and food programs, as well as to advocate for improved city, county and state food policies that enable more locally grown foods in urban locations." These goals touch on those recently outlined by

Valley Vision

in the paper "Food Access in the Sacramento Region," and speak to the shake-up taking place in the food system.

Urban Ag Day also demonstrates how a diverse coalition of organizations is contributing to the Good Food Movement. Slow Food Sacramento, the Sacramento Hunger Coalition, the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition, Pesticide Watch Education Fund, the Health Education Council are all participating in the event.

Tickets to the day's activities can be purchased through Slow Food Sacramento.

George Jackson is an intern with Pesticide-Free Sacramento

Shriver Gets Her Hands Dirty

2009-05-21T19:46:58Z

Sacramento, CA - Earlier today, Maria Shriver unveiled a community garden at the heart of the Capitol grounds, following a national trend to grow food local and sustainably. The garden will be made up of fruits, vegetables and herbs, and change with the seasons. According to advocates, it is intended to be a teaching tool for children regarding nutrition, agriculture and healthy living.

“Over the years, I have seen how gardens have positively transformed students, schools and communities in California. Gardens are a wonderful resource, and I truly believe in the life lessons they teach and the lives they touch -- and that every school and community should have one. What we’re doing in California goes beyond symbolism, we are truly creating a comprehensive environment for learning all around this garden,” said First Lady Maria Shriver in a written statement.

Also speaking at the event were California Secretary of Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura, chef and author Alice Waters, and TV chef celebrity Guy Fieri.

Increasingly, the movement of people working on food issues has linked the issues of hunger, global warming, and food safety. "Shriver's garden points California in the right direction---towards, healthy, organic and local food," said Claude Black, an activist with EAT Sacramento.

Like the Obama garden, the Shriver garden will be maintained organically, in accordance with the rest of the Capitol grounds. And food grown, will be distributed to the local food banks. Similar fruit harvest operations have already been taking place in Sacramento over the past few months, under the auspices of the Urban Fruit Sustainability Project.

Logo courtesy of the Office of First Lady Maria Shriver

George Jackson is an intern with Pesticide-Free Sacramento, a group that works to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the use of pesticides in the Sacramento region.

Coalition Says "Modernize Chicken Laws"

2009-04-23T00:52:42Z

On Earth Day, Sacramento residents decided to take action in their yards, both front and back. In Oak Park, Environment and Agriculture Taskforce (EAT) Sacramento, a network of activists and organizations, issued a report and called on the city to "modernize" chicken laws by allowing residents to keep a limited number of egg-laying hens. The group also layed out part of a roadmap for achieving greater food security, as well as adressing global warming.

The group also suggested that the city could do more to support and encourage more "green thumbs" through continued gardening trainings, zoning changes, and better use of vacant lands. Citing the need to "fix", or capture carbon dioxide pollution, the group called for more Carbon Gardens and Carbon Farms throughout the city and county. The movement is definitely catching on. First Lady Maria Shriver and First Lady Michelle Obama have planted their organic, or Carbon Gardens, in the last month.

Members of EAT Sacramento have already begun discussions with councilmembers, hoping to build support for a practical chicken law by summer.

“Creating a local environment that allows people to feed their families will make Sacramento a much more sustainable city,” said Sacramento Councilmember Rob Fong.

The report, "The Kitchen Sink: Building a Healthy Food Community", suggests that local governments, in tandem with residents and an existing network of organizations need to:

(1) Help residents reclaim their yards through updating outdated ordinances on water use, animals, and land use.

(2) Build more community food networks through continued support and incentives.

(3) Make Sacramento the carbon capital by piloting projects throughout the city and county, and supporting gardening and composting trainings.

For more information about efforts to modernize chicken laws, visit www.EATsacramento.org.

George Jackson is an intern with Pesticide-Free Sacramento

Photos courtesy of Katie Towers

National Ag Day: Local and Organic In Sacramento

2009-03-20T04:03:27Z

In Washington, D.C., Friday marks National Agriculture Day. While this event is primarily sponsored by and profiles industry heavyweights like the Farm Bureau, Dow AgroSciences and Archer Daniels Midland, Sacramento residents are celebrating in their own way.

“Sacramentans are rebuilding our food system,” said Paul Schramski, State Director of Pesticide Watch. “Facing an increasingly unhealthy food system, and lack of access to more healthy foods, Sacramento residents are embracing a new urban agriculture.”

On any recent weekend, Sacramentans could be found participating in sustainable, urban agriculture. Neighbors in East Sacramento, spearheaded by the Sacramento Urban Fruit Sustainability Fruit Project, harvested fruit from backyards for donation to local foodbanks, while others tended plots with the Sacramento Area Community Gardens. Meanwhile, Soil Born Farms and Oak Park’s Crop Swap are gearing up for new seasons of selling food at farm stands, farmer’s markets, and neighborhood “swaps”.

This scene contrasts dramatically with neighboring industrial agriculture. Just across the Sacramento River, in Yolo County, large-scale farms have begun to spray aerial pesticides for wheat and alfalfa. For the past several days, residents of the Pocket neighborhood have been reporting adverse health effects. “Aerial spraying of the agricultural fields is excessive and I will continue to fight this imminent health risk,” said a resident from the neighborhood who wished to remain anonymous.

Multiple government and scientific research sources including the University of Minnesota and U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, estimate that about 40 percent of an aerial pesticide application leaves the “target area” and that less than 1 percent actually reaches its target. In addition, airborne pesticide drift is responsible for acute poisonings – more than half of agricultural pesticide poisonings reported in California between 1997 and 2000 – and for chronic illnesses including asthma, cancer, neurological disorders, birth defects, miscarriages, and other reproductive effects, according to articles recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Several pieces of statewide legislation, notably The Clean Air for Children, Seniors and Working Families Act (Swanson), as well as two bills recently introduced by Senator Mark Leno and Assemblymember Bill Monning, would challenge industrial agriculture, by creating health-based information and stronger health protections in cases of pesticide exposure.

Meanwhile, Sacramentans are getting some guidance from the Whitehouse in their efforts to create sustainable, urban agriculture. In a New York Times story earlier today, Michelle Obama announced plans to plant an organic vegetable garden on the Whitehouse lawn. Local elected officials have offered similar advice. “As the economic downturn continues, more Sacramentans will look for ways to cut costs. Please consider a vegetable garden. In World War II they were called Victory Gardens. Today the victory should be for pesticide-free growing,” said Sacramento Vice-Mayor Lauren Hammond in an e-mailed statement.

George Davidson is an intern at Pesticide-Free Sacramento, a coalition of civic, health and environmental organizations working to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the use of pesticides in the Sacramento region.

Photo Courtesy of David Baldridge

Event champions local food and organic efforts

2009-03-03T03:53:25Z

On Thursday night, Sacramento residents will gather to celebrate a new brand of "localism". Increasingly, Sacramentans are redefining it's traditionally negative conotations of narrow-mindedness and stubbornness. Instead, "Sacramento localism" is about efforts to build a healthier, more sustainable community, including reducing pesticide use and increasing food security.

Thursday's event, entitled “Organic Sounds,” will highlight two local efforts that are setting precedent for the entire state: the Pesticide-Free Sacramento and the soon-to-be-launched EAT (Environment and Agriculture Taskforce) Sacramento projects. Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong and Chef Michael Tuohy of the Grange Restaurant will be the featured speakers, sharing words about both efforts.

Sacramento localism is more than just lectures. Residents at Thursday's event will also hear performances from Sacramento Americana bands Rowdy Kate, Starts & Garters and regional blues musicians Spotted Dog. And they will also have a chance to taste food from Del Paso gourmets Magpie Catering and Synergy Chef, providing local and organic food. And, not to be outdone, regional wineries Orleans Hill and La Rocca will be providing organic wine.

“Sacramentans are challenging the way toxics pesticides are used in their backyards and finding creative solutions to fix an increasingly broken food system,” said Paul Schramski Towers, State Director of Pesticide Watch, the organization behind the event and organization supporting the two local efforts. “By investing in local food and organic places, we can create a healthier, more vibrant community.”

Over 3.2 million pounds of pesticides are used in Sacramento County, including thousands of pounds in urban homes, schools, parks and workplaces. Area organizations, including Physicians for Social Responsibility, Mothers’ Support Network and the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op launched Pesticide-Free Sacramento as a comprehensive effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate pesticide use in the region.

EAT Sacramento is a more recent effort, emerging from efforts of the members of Organic Sacramento and the Sacramento Area Community Gardens Coalition, and supported by Pesticide Watch. As Sacramento residents face water shortages and increasing food prices, EAT Sacramento promotes new ways to grow your own local food, as well as support and enlarge local, organic farms. This effort will be more formally launched later this month.

Sacramento localism is an exciting movement to reinvest in a healthy, new Sacramento. "Sacramento residents have decided that we not only need green jobs, but we also need green thumbs," Towers added.

For more information about Organic Sounds, visit www.pesticidewatch.org.