Petaluma Bounty

Local Authors Speak at May 5th Plant Sale

Ruth — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:04:22 +0000

9-10 am: Local author and tomato expert, Mimi Luebbermann of Windrush Farm, will be giving a “Tomato Talk” at the plant sale. Everything you need to know to select, plant and grow delicious tomatoes throughout the season.

10-11 am: Local author, Rachel Kaplan, presents “Urban Homesteading for All” with book signing afterward.

The 2nd Annual Petaluma Bounty Plant Sale is held May 5th from 9-2 at the Bounty Community Farm - 55 Shasta Avenue (off Petaluma Blvd. North near Lucky grocery store). Map it!

More details at http://www.petalumabounty.org/blog/bounty-plant-sale-may-5th/.

Thank You Heritage Salvage!

Ruth — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:40:20 +0000

Thank you to Mr. Bug Deakin and the whole Heritage Salvage crew for their stellar support over the years of Petaluma Bounty, the Bounty Community Farm, and school & community gardens throughout Petaluma. From greenhouses, shade structures, roofing, raised beds, benches, and bandstands to fundraisers, parades, radio shows, and Petaluma Rumas, there is no end to their generosity and commitment to helping us grow and thrive!
We You!

Kaiser Features PB-PHC Collaboration

Ruth — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:13:44 +0000

Kaiser Permanente featured Petaluma Bounty’s collaboration with Petaluma Health Center’s innovative PLAY program in its newsletter this month:

Building Healthy Communities by PLAYing Together
In 2011, Kaiser Permanente SRF Community Benefit funded a unique collaboration that makes healthy lifestyle choices a “playful” experience for children with pre-diabetes and obesity issues.
The program, called P.L.A.Y. (Petaluma Loves Active Youth), brought Petaluma Health Center (PHC) and Petaluma Bounty (a community-based farm and nonprofit organization) together as partners in the mutual goal of engaging children and their families in making healthy lifestyle changes before diabetes, obesity, and other lifestyle-related diseases cause more serious and permanent health problems.

Families participating in the program have learned to grow, prepare, and eat healthier meals, and to incorporate more physical activity into their daily routines.

“Twenty-five children were selected to participate in the 12-week pilot, based on having a body mass index above the 85th percentile, and other medical markers,” said PHC Physician Assistant Kyla Simpson, who created P.L.A.Y. “An important component was having entire families attend the weekly sessions and participate in goal setting for behavioral change.”

A Bounty of Farm-Fresh Education
Working together, P.L.A.Y. participants and program coordinators identified the following objectives:
Increase consumption of minimally processed foods.
Improve attitudes of children toward consumption of fruits and vegetables,
as well as willingness to try new foods.
Increase physical activity.
Decrease body mass index (not necessarily weight loss, since children are still growing).
For the first six weeks: Families attended sessions at Petaluma Health Center, where parents received nutrition training, and children engaged in fun physical activities. In addition, everyone tasted healthy recipes that used freshly harvested Petaluma Bounty (PB) produce, and each family received a weekly “Bounty Box” to take home.
The last six weeks: Families visited Petaluma Bounty’s Community Farm, where they engaged in nutrition and gardening activities—harvesting vegetables, reading nutrition labels, and getting their hands dirty. Again, Bounty Boxes were distributed with helpful nutrition hints and recipes.

Lasting Impressions on Health
“I like the program, because I’m eating healthy foods, and it’s helping me to lose weight,” said 8-year-old Wynter Dean, who came to appreciate green bell peppers and jicama while participating with her mother, two sisters, and brother. “The second reason I like P.L.A.Y. is that it’s changed my life, so I can be healthier in the future.”

Wynter’s time at the Petaluma Farm helped her gain a better understanding and appreciation of the journey nutritious food takes from seed-to-table.

“Working together with Kyla and Petaluma Health Center ensures that our produce is going to community members who really need it,” said PB Programs Director Ruth Persselin. “If we provide families the produce, nutrition information, and the opportunity to connect with their food source, we can help young people make changes in their lives and behaviors today that last into the future.”

The Petaluma Bounty/PHC P.L.A.Y. collaboration is seeking community partners, sponsors, and donations to continue and/or expand the program. For more information, e-mail info@petalumabounty.org or kylas@phealthcenter.org

Save $ - Plant a Garden!

Ruth — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:35:30 +0000

Read how one family saved over $150 a month in grocery bills by planting a vegetable garden! Grow your dinner and save money: http://bit.ly/cF3p8G

Plant Sale List - Tomatoes, Herbs & Vegetables

Ruth — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:06:14 +0000

TOMATOES

T.SUGAR SWEETIE CHERRY
T/SILVERY FIR TREE
T.ZOGOLA
BEEF STEAK
ITALIAN ROMA
PINEAPPLE
BEEFSTEAK BI-COLOR YELLOW RED
VIOLET JASPER CHERRY
YELLOW PEAR CHERRY
PRINCIPE BORGHESE
LEMON BOY MEDIUM SLICER
RED SIBERIAN MEDIUM SLICER
TLACOLULA PINK BEEFSTEAK
GREAT WHITE BEEFSTEAK
CHEROKEE PURPLE MED SLICER
BLACK KRIM MED
BEEFSTEAK, RED
BRANDYWINE
BEEFSTEAK VARIETY
BRADLEY PINK
COUR di BUE
OXHEART TYPE
CRIMSON CARMELLO
DRUZBA MED SLICER RED
GOLD MEDAL
GOLOVA NEGRA
CHERRY TOMATO
ISIS CANDY CHERRY TOMATO
ITALIAN HEIRLOOM BEEFSTEAK
LEMON DROP CHERRY YELLOW
MONEYMAKER
PURPLE SMUDGE
JAPANESE BLACK
TRIFELE SLICER
AUNT RUBYʼS GERMAN
GREEN BEEFSTK
JELLY BEAN RED AND YELLOW PEAR
SPECKLED ROMA -
ACE BEEFSTEAK RED
BEAMʼS YELLOW PEAR
JAUNNE FLAMME
LARGE CHERRY
ORANGE M-80 days
GREGORIʼS ALTAI
LARGE SLICER
BASINGA SLICER YELLOW
LONG TOM ROMA RED
SAN MARZANO RED
GREAT WHITE BEEFSTEAK
GERMAN LUNCHBOX PINK RED
EMERALD EVERGREEN GREEN
COURE DI BUE
OXHEART TYPE
CAMP JOY CHERRY RED
SUPER BUSH RED
GRANDMA OLIVERʼS GREEN
HENDERSONʼS “WINSALL”
LIME GREEN SALAD
MALAKHITOVAYA
SHKATULKA
MARMANDE
MILLIONAIRE
MISSOURI PINK LOVE APPLE
MORTGAGE LIFTER
OZARK PINK
PEARLY PINK
BRANDYWINE PINK

HERBS

ANISE HYSSOP
BASIL, CINNAMON
BASIL, CUSTOM BLEND
BASIL, DARK PURPLE
BASIL, DOLCE VITA BLEND
BASIL, GENOVESE
BASIL, GREEK YEVANI
BASIL, ITALIAN LARGE LEAF
BASIL, LARGE LEAF
BASIL, LEMON
BASIL, MRS. BURNS LEMON
BASIL, THAI, OG
BASIL, SWEET AROMA, OG
BEE BALM
BORAGE
CALENDULA, RADIO
CARAWAY
CATMINT
CHERVIL
CHAMOMILE
CHIVES
CHRYSANTHEMUM, SHUNGIKU
CILANTRO, SLO BOLT
DILL, BOUQUET
DOCK, BLOODY RED SORREL
ECHINACEA
EPAZOTE
FENUGREEK
HOREHOUND
HYSSOP, BLUE
LEMON BALM
LION’S TAIL
LOVAGE
MUGWORT
NASTURTIUM
OREGANO
OREGANO, GREEK
PARSLEY, ITALIAN GREEN FLAT
PARSLEY, CURLED DWARF
PARSLEY, MOSS, OG
ROSELLE, THAI RED
RUE, HERB O’GRACE
SAGE, OG
SAGE, ITALIAN AROMATIC
SAVORY, SUMMER
SHISO, PERILLO
SKULLCAP
SORGHUM
SORREL
SUNSET FLOWER
TARRAGON, RUSSIAN
WONDERBERRY, AKA SUNBERRY
YARROW, PARKERS

PEPPERS

AFRICAN CAYENNE
ALBINO BULLNOSE
ANAHEIM
ASHE COUNTY PIMIENTO
BLACK HUNGARIAN
BLACK NIGHT
BURMESE LOOK TO THE SKY
CARIBBEAN RED HOT

CALIFORNIA SWEET GIANT
CALIFORNIA WONDER
CAYENNE LONG THIN
COBAN RED PIMIENTO
CORNO DI TORO GIALLO
CORNO DI TORO ROSSO
DOUX D’ESPAGNE
EMERALD GIANT
HABANERO
HUNGARIAN WAX YELLOW
INDIAN JWALA
ITALIAN
PEPPERONCINI
JALAPENO, EARLY
JALAPENO, TAM
JUPITER
KOREAN DARK
GREEN
LIPSTICK
MARCONI RED
MARCONI YELLOW
ODESSA MARKET
ORANGE BELL
PADRON, SPANISH
PERMAGREEN
PEPPERONCINI, GREEK
PURPLE BEAUTY S
QUADRATO D’ASTI GIALLO
QUADRATO D’ASTI ROSSO
RED BELGIUM
RED CHEESE
SANTA FE GRANDE
SANTAKA HOT ASIAN
SIGARETTA DI BERGAMO
SWEET YELLOW STUFFING
THAI BURAPA
VIETNAMESE
MULTICOLOR

VEGETABLES

BEAN, CAL BLACKEYE #5 Bush
BEAN, CONTENDER bush 55 days
BEAN, EDEMAME
BEAN, EMERITE Pole 55 days
BEAN, FIN DE BAGNOL Bush 45-55 days
BEAN, FORDHOOK 242 Bush 75-85 days
BEAN, HENDERSON BABY LIMA Bush 65 days
BEAN, HYACINTH RUBY MOON Pole
BEAN, PENCIL POD
BEAN, PETALUMA GOLD RUSH-dry
BEAN, PROVIDER Bush 50 days
BEAN, ROMA II
BEAN, SCARLET RUNNER Pole
BEAN, TAVERA Bush
BEAN, TENDERGREEN IMPROVED Bush 55 days
BEAN, YARD LONG

SQUASH, COCOZELLE
SQUASH, CUCUZZI
SQUASH, DELICATA
SQUASH, MAGDA (F1)
SQUASH, GOLDY F1
SQUASH, SPARGO (F1)
SQUASH, STRAIGHTNECK
SQUASH, SUMMER Y-STAR
SQUASH, SUNBURST (F)
SQUASH, TROMBETTA
DIALBENGHA
ZUCCHINI, COSTATA
ROMANESCO

GOURD, LUFFA, CHINESE OKRA
GOURD, BOTTLES, DIPPERS AND BOWLS
GOURD, WINGS AND WARTS
GOURD, MARANKA
GOURD, NIGERIAN SAYBO

CUCUMBER, ARMENIAN
CUCUMBER, FOUNTAINHYB.
CUCUMBER, GREEN
PERSIAN FINGERS
CUCUMBER, GREEN SLAM HYB. 55 days
SUSUMBER, HOMEMADE PICKLES
CUCUMBER, KYOTO
JAPANESE LONG
CUCUMBER, LEMON
CUCUMBER, MARKETMORE
CUCUMBER, PARISIAN PICKLING
CUCUMBER, POON KHEERA
CUCUMBER, SIKKIM
CUCUMBER, SPACE MASTER
CUCUMBER, SUYO LONG
CUCUMBER, TANTE ALICE
CUCUMBER, UZBEKSKI
CUCUMBER, WHITE WONDER

LETTUCE, OAKLEAF BLEND
LETTUCE, RED VELVET
LETTUCE, MESCLUN
VALENTINE MIX
LETTUCE, LOLLO ROSSO RED
LETTUCE, PARIS COS
ROMAINE GREEN
LETTUCE, TANGO
LETTUCE, BLACK SEEDED
SIMPSON GREEN
LETTUCE, LITTLE GEM GREEN
LETTUCE, Q’S SPECIAL
MEDLEY MIX
LETUCE, SPECKELS R/G
LETTUCE, ROUGE D’ HIVER RED
LETUCE, GOURMET BABY GREENS
LETUCE, QUATRE D’SAISONS GREEN
LETTUCE, REDINA RED
LETTUCE, RED ROMAINE RED
LETTUCE, CHEF’S
GOURMET SPICY MIX
LETTUCE, TOM THUMB GREEN
LETTUCE, ROCKY TOP MIX MIX
LETUCE, RED SAILS RED
LETTUCE, EUROPEAN SALAD MIX
MIZUNA, KYONA
MESCLUN SALAD MIX
MUSTARD GREENS, JAPANESE
MUSTARD TENDERGREEN

MUSKMELON, HALE’S BEST
MUSKMELON, YELLOW CANARY
MELON, CHARANTAIS
MELON, TIGGER
MELON, COLLECTIVE FARM WOMAN
MELON, BANANA
MELOCOTON
CASSABANONO
WATERMELON, RAINBOW SHERBET
WATERMELON, MOON AND STARS
WATERMELON, JUBILEE
OKRA, CLEMSON SPINLESS
PUMPKIN, HOWDEN CARDOON
ARTICHOKE, MIXED
GREEN GLOBE, PURPLE ROMANGNA
EGGPLANT, UKRAINIAN BEAUTY
EGGPLANT BANGLADESHI LONG
EGGPLANT, BLACK STEM
EGGPLANT, JAPANESE LONG

EGGPLANT, ITALIAN TRIO:
BEATRICE F1, NADIA F1,
ROSA BIANCA
EGGPLANT, BLACK BEAUTY
EGGPLANT, VIOLETTE LONGUE
EGGPLANT, LAO WHITE
EGGPLANT, LITTLE GREEN
ONION, RED OF FLORENCE
ONION, RED CREOLE
ONION, HE SHI KO BUNCHING
ONION, TOKYO LONG BUNCHING
ONION, HOLLANDSE
BLOEDRODE
LEEKS, BLUE SOLAISE
LEEKS, AMERICAN FLAG
RHUBARB PARAGON
RADICCHIO, ROSSA DI
VERONA DRAGON
SALAD BURNETT
SPINACH, BLOOMSDALE LONG
SPINACH, MERLO NESO
SPINACH, SPARGO
SPINACH, STRAWBERRY
GARDEN CURRY
SWISS CHARD, RAINBOW
CABBAGE, RED EXPRESS
CABBAGE, FAMOSA SAVOY F1
GARDEN BERRY, PEPINO MELON
GARDEN BERRY, NARANJILLO
GARDEN BERRY, TAMARILLO

Over 1,000 Plants Started for May 5th Bounty Plant Sale!

Ruth — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:50:32 +0000

Thank you to the volunteers who came together at Casa Grande H.S. Native Plant Nursery to help propagate seed for the 2nd Annual Petaluma Plant Sale on May 5th at the Bounty Community Farm on Shasta Ave. Gardeners representing Saint James Community Garden, Arroyo Community Garden, Petaluma Bounty, and the Petaluma Garden Club seeded over 1000 4” pots with herbs, veggies and squash. Special thanks to Dr. John Shribbs from Casa High for hosting today’s event. We’ll be back next Saturday March 24th from 9 am to 1 pm. Come join us! For more information email: plantsale@petalumabounty.org

Donate to the Bounty - PHC P.L.A.Y Collaboration

Suzi — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:32:35 +0000

During the 2011 growing season, Petaluma Bounty partnered with Petaluma Health Center physicians assistant, Kyla Simpson to bring farm fresh produce and on-farm lessons to families whose children are facing pre-diabetes and obesity. Simpson created the P.L.A.Y. (Petaluma Loves Active Youth) Program to engage young patients and their families to make healthy changes in their lives before diabetes and obesity causes permanent damage to their bodies.

The pilot program, funded by Kaiser Permanente, sought to develop innovative methods to prevent Type 2 Diabetes and other diet/lifestyle related diseases. Twenty five children were selected to participate in P.L.A.Y. based on a body mass index above the 85^th percentile and other medical markers. Parents of P.L.A.Y. participants were required to attend weekly sessions with their children and be involved in behavioral change goal setting.

Families attended 6 sessions at Petaluma Health Center where parents were given nutrition training, children were engaged in fun physical activities and all were invited to taste healthy recipes cooked from the contents of their Bounty Boxes. Families then took home their boxes that were filled with fresh produce harvested at the Bounty Community Farm.

The following six weeks, families visited the Bounty Community Farm and were engaged in on-farm nutrition and gardening activities. They harvested vegetables, read nutrition labels and got their hands dirty. Again, they were offered Bounty Boxes and helpful hints and recipes.

According to one family, their child’s attitude toward fresh vegetables improved significantly over the 12 week period. “She tried new things and actually asked for avocados and kale!” Petaluma Health Center will conduct focus groups and do follow up physical examinations to determine the effectiveness of the program.

Objectives identified by participants and program coordinators include 1) increase in consumption of minimally processed foods, 2) improve attitudes of children toward consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as willingness to try new foods, 3) increase in physical activity, 4) decrease in Body Mass Index (not necessarily weight loss since children are still growing).

Bounty Farm Manager, Suzi Grady is very excited about the partnership. “Working together with Kyla and Petaluma Health Center ensures our produce is going to community members that really need it. If we provide the produce, nutrition information, and the opportunity to connect with their food source, we can support young people to make lasting changes in their lives and behaviors today, and into their future.”

Petaluma Bounty is grateful to Kaiser for providing seed funding for this collaborative program, Kyla Simpson and her talented co-workers at Petaluma Health Center, and our wonderful volunteers out at the Bounty Community Farm. We are seeking community partners, business sponsors, and donations of any size to continue or even expand this program. If you would like to support the Bounty/PHC P.L.A.Y. collaboration, please send a check to Petaluma Bounty with “P.L.A.Y.” in the memo line at 210 Fourth St. Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94952. For more information, email suzi@petalumabounty.org or kylas@phealthcenter.org.

Small Dairy Farmers Fear Coming Out of the Barn

Chris Fisher — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:17:04 +0000

Here’s a piece written for the excellent sustainable ag and food systems site, Civil Eats (www.civileats.com), about local Sonoma & Marin County dairy herdshares. These farmers are justifiably concerned they’ll be shut down before the state of California acknowledges their existence. Although retail sales of raw milk are legal in California and ten other states, current regulations box all producers in an industrial-production model, requiring an economy of scale that would force all dairies to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to grow large, fast, or be forced out of business. The Olema farmer I spoke with for this piece has one cow, the Petaluma farmer has four producing milk. But, without action on the state level, regulators would shut them down for a lack of the processing permits required of far larger, industrial-scale operations, such as Organic Pastures in the San Joaquin Valley, which sells raw milk produced by over 500 cows.

Chris

Small Dairy Farmers Fear Coming Out of the Barn

by Christopher Fisher

December 22, 2011

Amidst a spate of law enforcement raids and other regulatory actions taken by local, state, and federal officials against raw milk producers across the country, an alarmed group of small California dairy farmers and consumers have recently formed the Food Rights Coalition and begun to push state regulators and legislators to take action to help them.

At a Petaluma, California meeting last week, several local members of the group sought the assistance of 6th District Assemblyman Jared Huffman in an effort to keep on milking, expressing concern for the loss of their livelihoods and rights, and fear for the safety of their families.

The Coalition came together in recent months after the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) began issuing cease and desist orders to a number of small dairy herdshares across the state, ordering them to halt operations.

The CDFA has sent out at least a half dozen of the orders to herdshares in the past year, according to Farmer “J”, a Coalition member and Petaluma farmer who attended the Huffman meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity, in order to stay “off the radar” of the agency.

Prior to meeting Huffman, Farmer J, who operates a small, five-cow herdshare with her husband, stated in an interview that the CDFA’s actions forced them to reach out to other herdshares, farmers, and advocates and begin organizing.

“It was the fear of what they were doing and where that could be heading that led us to come together and try to protect ourselves and fight for our right to do what we’re doing - milking and caring for a few cows and sharing the milk with our co-owners.”

A herdshare is a private business arrangement whereby consumers purchase a piece, or share, of a cow, goat, or herd of the animals and contract with a farmer who is compensated for feeding, caring, and milking the animals, and bottling, storing, and distributing the milk. The details of the relationship between farmers and their herdshare co-owners may vary, but they generally feature the encouragement, sometimes requirement, that co-owners make some regular contribution to the animals’ care themselves.

Herdshares are often begun simply as a means of dealing with the volume of milk that can be produced by a lone family cow. One lactating cow can produce four gallons of milk per day, often much more, an amount which would be a challenge for most families to consume. Sharing that milk with family, friends, and neighbors often seems the logical, neighborly thing to do. According to the farmers interviewed for this piece, it also fits perfectly well within the rapidly growing movements toward small-scale, sustainable local agriculture and re-localized food production that recognize the looming threats to traditional industrial agriculture posed by climate change and fossil fuel depletion.

According to Farmer J, “Since most people don’t have the space or the animal husbandry knowledge, if they want raw milk they hire farmers to care for and feed their animals and get their milk.”

The herdshare co-owners and farmers themselves are often as varied a group of people as the population of the Bay Area itself.

“We wanted to explain to him [Assemblyman Huffman] that our co-owners are mothers, lawyers, doctors, teachers…they tend towards the educated professional side.” Likewise, “a lot of herdshare farmers are retired professionals who decided to go into this because they love milk, and want to do this themselves.”

According to Farmer “A”, who has a small West Marin herdshare and also spoke on condition of anonymity, transparency is key to a successful herdshare operation, and their co-owners are generally a passionate, well-educated bunch.

“A lot of our members have developed a personal relationship with our cow…we’ve had quite a few people come out and really inspect the whole farm. It’s important to them to see how the cows are treated and they have a say in how we feed them. Good pasture-management techniques are a very big deal to them.”

“But,” she continued, the CDFA just doesn’t know how to deal with small dairy operations, treating one or two cow operations as if they’re far larger, industrialized businesses. “They only have these large dairy guidelines, so whether you have two hundred, two thousand, or one cow you’re the same in their eyes.”

Raw milk is legal for retail sale in California, but current regulations regarding its production were largely written with big producers such as Organic Pastures in mind, which has over five hundred cows at its San Joaquin Valley operation.

According to the farmers interviewed for this piece, and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, it has often been the process of bottling the milk that the CDFA has objected to, stating that the co-owners of a cow or goat may drink the milk from that animal on the farm, but when they leave the farm with that milk in a bottle the farm has become a processing plant, requiring special permits. The costs of obtaining those permits can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, an impossibility for most small dairies, said Farmer J.

“The farmers I know…I would say all of us became farmers because we love milk, we love cows, we love farming. I don’t actually know anybody who’s making a living doing it. If we didn’t live on my mother’s property and have neighbors who let our cows graze their land, we wouldn’t be able to do this.”

As alarming as the potential loss of their livelihoods may be, it’s been the wave of law enforcement raids upon raw milk producers across the country that has small dairy herdshares living in fear.
Thanks in part to the popularity of YouTube and a widely-screened documentary called Farmageddon, herdshare owners have grown frightened for the safety of their families after numerous instances where law enforcement officials raided farms and buyers’ clubs in full tactical gear, with guns drawn, rousting families from their slumber in the wee hours of the morning in search of contraband milk.

Meeting with Assemblyman Huffman, who is a candidate for the retiring Rep. Lynn Woolsey’s seat in the House of Representatives, the farmers appear to have found a sympathetic ear.

“The fact that we have policies that discourage local, even self-food production is unacceptable,” said Huffman. “I think you’re doing a wonderful thing. I’m a big fan of community-based agriculture and this is a great example of how it can work. I want the government to be a partner with you and not an obstacle. I certainly don’t want you to live in fear of some heavy-handed law enforcement action, so I’m going to be very interested in doing everything I can to get this turned around.”

It’s possible, however, that help may already be on the way.

Last summer, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross suggested the formation of a working group on herdshares, representing all stakeholders concerned, which would make recommendations on the issue of regulating small dairies. It has become known as the Small Herd Dairy Working Group.

According to members of the Coalition, the CDFA has acknowledged that current regulations do not cover herdshares and state regulations for commercial dairies were not appropriate for them either.

Having concluded its second meeting on December 7, it remains to be seen whether the apparently open and collaborative approach embodied by the Working Group will yield results that allow for herdhshares to relax and keep on milking.

Yannick Phillips, a representative of the California State Grange who is a member of the Small Herd Dairy Working Group and who also accompanied Farmers A and J to meet Assemblyman Huffman, was cautiously optimistic.

“I think they’re [the CDFA] up for this, but they want to make everybody happy, and the big ones are the Farm Bureau and W.U.D. [Western United Dairymen]. If they feel like there’s opposition from them to these proposals, they’re going to swing the other way.”

Farmer A suggested the big dairy players in California may have deep-seeded reasons for resisting legitimizing dairy herdshares. “They might be worried about more people becoming informed about grain. It really upsets a cow’s rumen and changes the bacterial levels in milk. What you feed a cow and how you treat it really affects what comes out of the cow. I think the more people become enlightened about that process, the more they [big dairy interests] might be fearing the public’s knowledge about how they’re farming and possible regulations that might come down the channel at them.”

“There’s a lot of support for herdshares in Sonoma and Marin,” she continued, “But there’s also a lot of worry about the next steps that will be taken. Right now it’s milk, but people are worried about eggs and even community gardens. Where does it stop when they start coming after families’ source of their own food?”

One thing the farmers of the Food Rights Coalition agree upon is that they’d love to live without fear - fear of losing their farms, fear for their families’ safety, fear of being out in the open.

Said Farmer J, “It’ll be nice when everyone can come out of the barn.”

This article originally appeared at Civil Eats: http://civileats.com/2011/12/22/small-dairy-farmers-fear-coming-out-of-the-barn/

Thank You Petaluma Service Alliance!

Ruth — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:01:29 +0000

Petaluma Bounty would like to express its deepest appreciation for the Petaluma Service Alliance’s recent and ongoing work at the Bounty Community Farm. The amazing efforts of members from the seven service clubs that form the alliance - Petaluma 7-11 Lions Club, Petaluma Kiwanis, Petaluma Valley Rotary, Elks Lodge No. 901, Petaluma Sunrise Rotary, Petaluma Host Lions and Petaluma Rotary - have left an indelible mark on the Farm. Their contributions as a collective force have greatly improved the functioning of the farm on so many levels and will for years to come!

We are very grateful for the many projects that were undertaken by PSA, ranging from a work day at the Farm on October 29th, to the coordination of two successful Rotary grants, which provided the farm with invaluable supplies and materials for both our farming and education programs, to the improvement and upgrade of infrastructure on the Farm, which is critical to our daily operations and the long term sustainability of the Farm programs. This incredible support helps us fulfill our mission to grow and make healthy produce available to those most in need in our community, as well as educate people of all ages about the importance of a local, sustainable food system.

On behalf of Petaluma Bounty’s board of directors and staff, we extend a heartfelt thank you to the Petaluma Service Alliance for all of their help in a time when community supporting community means more than ever. Read the Argus article about the October 29th farm work day and Check out the photos!

Kona, Hawaii Raffle Winner!

Ruth — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:22:17 +0000

Congratulations to Patricia Arfsten from Petaluma for winning the Kona, Hawaii vacation raffle!