Petaluma Bounty

Organic Gardening Classes Starting March 5th

Ruth — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:26:20 +0000

Want to learn how to create an organic edible garden and eat it too? Not sure where to start? Join us to learn how to grow food beautifully in whatever space you have. Beginner gardening classes taught by Stacey Meinzen of Edible Yardworks start Friday, March 5th at the Bounty Farm. RSVP required.

Download the flyer for Stacey’s organic gardening classes (click link).

SUSTAINABLE FOOD & GARDENING FESTIVAL

Chris Fisher — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:03:41 +0000

Community Action Partnership and the City of Santa Rosa present:

SUSTAINABLE FOOD & GARDENING FESTIVAL

Saturday, April 24, 2010
Noon - 4:30 at Finley Center

This event is a FIRST. It is about anything and everything you may need to grow your own food, buy it from a local farmer or have local food served you.”

Target Audience: about 1000 - 1500 countywide general public is expected
to attend. All city and county officials will be invited.

Cost: FREE to the public attending and farmers & venders participating.

Co-Sponsors: Community Action Partnership and the City of Santa Rosa.

Event Will Include LOTS of information:
* 23 booths including but not limited to:
o Information & help on growing your own food,
o Food growing books inexpensively priced
o Where to find space, plants, soil & mulch, water conservation & gray
water systems, worms, and clubs & free tools.
o How-to replace your lawn & programs paying you to replace your lawn.

* Career and job opportunities in the local food sector.

* Finding a local farmer to grow your food for you.

* Finding a restaurant or caterer that serves local food.

* 30 thirty-minute presentations including but not limited to:
o Master gardeners answering the most frequently asked questions on
growing your own food.
o Dealing with gophers and gardening with worms.
o Plants for beneficial insects & pollinators and hummingbird &
butterfly
gardening.
o Edible landscaping.
o Herbs - first aid and kitchen gardens.
o Lawn replacement - programs & how-to.
o Web sites that help find local food and local growing food help.
o Grass fed vs. factory-farmed meat.
o Learn about and taste Sonoma county cheeses.
o Easy (and healthy) treats to prepare at home.

Event will have a Farmers Market exclusively with Sonoma county farmers.

Celebrate the last hour of the Event with music and dance - Come to a
Hoe-Down

Donate Crutches for Haitians

Bounty — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:38:17 +0000

Petaluma Bounty volunteer Alexandra Appel has been watching a story about Physicians for Peace carefully and her desire to do something of value has culminated in organizing a drive to collect crutches for Haiti. She has contributed the first set. Physicians for Peace (www.physiciansforpeace.org) will ship the crutches into Haiti. Physicians for Peace has been in Haiti working with amputees prior to the earthquake.

As a result of the earthquake, the number of amputees, both children and adults, is staggering, the need for crutches overwhelming. Please bring donated crutches to the Aqus Café on Friday February 12 from 1pm-2pm or you can make arrangements with Alexandra for a pick up. Small donations to cover the cost of packaging and shipping to Physicians for Peace in Virginia will also be greatly appreciated.

To make pick up arrangements or if you have any questions, please contact Alexandra at (707) 992-0027 or email her at alexaea@comcast.net.

USDA Claims You Don’t Care if Organic Foods are Contaminated by GE Crops

Chris Fisher — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:20:51 +0000

The USDA is at it again. In its first draft environmental impact statement for any GE crop, they’ve basically stated that Monsanto’s seed contracts already require sufficient protections for organic farmers from contamination despite considerable evidence that such contamination has already occurred. And they also state that consumers don’t really care anyway if they’re organic products are contaminated by GE crops. If they do not hear otherwise from consumers, they are likely going to side with Monsanto on this issue, with broad implications for future environmental impact statements and processes for handling GE crops. Please take a moment to write to the USDA about your concerns for protecting organic farmers and consumers from GE crop contamination. They need to hear from us. Check out the statement from the Center for Food Safety below.

Tell USDA That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic Food!

In 2006, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued the Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its illegal approval of Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. The federal courts sided with CFS and banned GE alfalfa until the USDA fully analyzed the impacts of the plant on the environment, farmers, and the public in a rigorous analysis known as an environmental impact statement (or EIS).
USDA released its draft EIS on December 14, 2009. A 60-day comment period is now open until February 16, 2010. This is the first time the USDA has done this type of analysis for any GE crop. Therefore, the final decision will have broad implications for all GE crops.

CFS has begun analyzing the EIS and it is clear that the USDA has not taken the concerns of non-GE alfalfa farmers, organic dairies, or consumers seriously. USDA’s preliminary determination is to once again deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for farmers or the environment. Instead USDA has completely dismissed the fact that contamination will threaten export and domestic markets and organic meat and dairy products. And, incredibly, USDA is claiming that there is no evidence that consumers care about such GE contamination of organic!

USDA also claims that consumers will not reject GE contamination of organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat product, despite the fact that more than 75% of consumers believe that they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy organic.

USDA claims that Monsanto’s seed contracts require measures sufficient to prevent genetic contamination, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. But in the lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place!

USDA predicts that the approval of GE alfalfa would damage family farms and organic markets, yet doesn’t even consider any limitations or protections against this scenario. Small, family farmers are the backbone and future of American agriculture and must be protected. Organic agriculture provides many benefits to society: healthy foods for consumers, economic opportunities for family farmers and urban and rural communities, and a farming system that improves the quality of the environment. However, the continued vitality of this sector is imperiled by the complete absence of measures to protect organic production systems from GE contamination and subsequent environmental, consumer, and economic losses.

Tell USDA That You DO Care About Genetic Contamination of Organic Crops and Food

http://truefoodnow.org/2010/01/14/tell-usda-that-you-care-about-ge-contamination-of-organic-food/

Transition Movie Series Night: Fresh the Movie

Chris Fisher — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:16:24 +0000

“Building community resilience” is Transition Sebastopol’s mantra. Their Movie Series Night at the French Garden restaurant continues on Wednesday January 27th with the screening of a film that celebrates the folks who are busily attempting to re-create our food system. I’m told this is a film all the foodies out there should not miss.

Transition Movie Series Night:
Fresh the Movie

Come join us at our next Transition Sebastopol Movie Night at the French Garden Restaurant!

Optional discussion to follow screening.

Watch Trailer here:

http://www.freshthemovie.com/

Wednesday, January 27
7:00 - 9:30pm
free event, donations appreciated

FRESH Synopsis

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy.

Total running time: 72 minutes
Production year: 2009

FREE EVENT
~donations appreciated~

Location:
The French Garden Restaurant
8050 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol
Google map: http://tinyurl.com/frenchgardenmap

Transition Sebastopol’s movie night is always the last Wednesday of the month.

For more information contact connect@transitionsebastopol.org

New Analysis Links Monsanto GM Corn to Organ Failure

Chris Fisher — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:19:26 +0000

A new analysis published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences has concluded that three varieties of genetically modified (GM) corn made by Monsanto and previously approved for consumption by U.S. and European authorities - Mon 863, insecticide-producing Mon 810, and Roundup® herbicide-absorbing NK 603 - have significant, unique pesticide residues that caused major damage to the livers and kidneys of the rats studied, as well as damage to their hearts, adrenal glands, and spleens.

The researchers used Monsanto’s own data, which was originally used to obtain approval for the GM corn varieties from regulators. The data was made public only after court actions by several European branches of Greenpeace made it possible in 2005. Researchers pointed out numerous problems with Monsanto’s study, including its limitation to 90 days, despite the fact that many problems may only show up much later, stating that “…cancer, nervous and immune system diseases, and even reproductive disorders for examples can become apparent only after one or two years of a given intervention treatment under investigation, but they will not be evident in all cases after three months of administration when first signs of toxicity may be observed.”

The researchers conclude that far more study should be done, particularly upon liver and kidney functions as these organs showed the earliest and most dramatic effects.

“However, it is important to note that these short-term (3-month) rat feeding trials are the only tests conducted on the basis of which regulators determine whether these GM crop/food varieties are as safe to eat as conventional types. Given that these GM crops are potentially eaten by billions of people and animals world-wide, it is important to discuss whether the experimental design, the statistical analyses and interpretations originally undertaken are appropriate and sufficient.” See the researchers’ study here: http://www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm#headingA11

Evidence continues to accumulate that would suggest the utility of applying the precautionary principle to the use of GM foods. Doesn’t it seem reasonable to suggest that we make certain GM foods are safe before they’re released for human and animal consumption?

New Community Voice Article: “Petaluma Bounty plants a seed…”

Bounty — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:14:37 +0000

To read a new article by Linda Peterson in The Community Voice about Petaluma Bounty, click here.

Just a Dash of BPA With My Soup Please

Chris Fisher — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:31:18 +0000

Just a Dash of BPA With My Soup, Please

That extra ingredient in your canned food may come free of charge, but it could still cost you plenty.

BPA, that particularly nefarious industrial chemical also known as bisphenol A, has been making headlines again recently with the release last week of a Consumer Reports study that found significant quantities of it in a host of common food products. Another study, just detailed in the November 11 Washington Post, has shown the chemical causes significant harm to the reproductive systems of human males who have been exposed to high levels of it. With the Obama Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expected to complete its review of BPA safety by November 30, it’s likely that its regulation will be a high priority for legislators and health advocates, much to the chagrin of the chemical and plastic industries.

Bisphenol A has been in widespread use for decades: as an epoxy liner of food cans used to prevent spoilage and prolong shelf life, and as a building block of polycarbonate plastic bottles, compact discs, plastic eating utensils, dental sealants, water pipes, and a host of consumer electronic gadgets. It’s ubiquitous, and it’s been repeatedly shown to leach from cans and plastic containers into food. In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a survey which found BPA in nearly 93% of the people tested, indicating a likely presence in the vast majority of the U.S population. This is cause for alarm amongst many consumers, food safety advocates, and environmentalists who have repeatedly drawn attention to more than 200 animal studies showing links between very low doses of BPA and a lengthy list of adverse health effects. That list includes thyroid problems, obesity, genital abnormalities, learning disabilities, breast cancer, prostate cancer, early onset puberty, immune deficiencies and more.

In the Consumer Reports study, particularly high levels of BPA were found in Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans, Progresso Vegetable Soup, and Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. The levels found were comparable to those shown to cause serious health problems in animal studies. Detectable levels, in fact, were found in “virtually all” of the products tested, including various brands of tuna, beans, tomato sauce, liquid baby formula, and some products labeled “BPA free” and “organic.” A toxicologist with Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, said the results show, at the very least, that there is “enough evidence to warrant precaution and to prohibit the use of BPA in anything that would come into contact in food [sic].”

Bisphenol A is often referred to as a synthetic estrogen, acting as a hormone mimic, adhering to estrogen receptors and altering homeostasis - the internal balance of bodily systems. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) stated in 2006 that BPA was a likely endocrine disruptor, with a wide array of potential negative effects upon reproductive, neural, and immune systems. The endocrine system serves as one of the body’s main communication and control networks, coordinating the flow of chemical messages (hormones). This system helps determine a body’s energy levels, reproduction, growth and development, and nervous system responses to one’s surroundings and stress. The Endocrine Society, a public health and research organization, recently issued a statement calling for a re-evaluation of the safety of BPA and other endocrine disruptors in light of evidence of “infertility, cancers, malformations” and the likelihood that these effects may be transmitted to future generations through genetic mutation or continued direct exposure. The Society goes on to argue for the application of the “precautionary principle” in regards to endocrine disruptors, giving public heath precautionary measures primacy in the absence of a conclusive scientific consensus about their safety. An application of this principle to public policy, in this case, would likely lead to the abolition of BPA while further human studies are conducted. This is a highly unlikely outcome of the current public health debate, however, given global sales of BPA are around $6 billion, creating a powerful constituency for its continued use.

In the November 11, 2009 Washington Post, writer Lyndsey Layton reports on the results of a Kaiser Foundation Research Institute study, which “is the first to examine the impact of bisphenol A, or BPA, on the reproductive systems of human males.” In the study, which focused on 634 male workers at four factories in China who were exposed to elevated levels of the chemical, researchers found the workers were “four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely to have difficulty with ejaculation.” While a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council dismissed the results of the study, noting the high levels of exposure were of “little relevance to average consumers who are exposed to trace levels of BPA,” it will likely add considerable weight to calls for further regulation due to the overwhelming number of animal studies showing adverse effects due to exposure to trace amounts.

It will be interesting to note over the coming months, perhaps years, how the FDA responds to the wealth of studies showing the harmful effects of BPA on humans and animals. As Tom Philpott has pointed out recently in the online magazine Grist, the FDA has shown itself to be heavily influenced by the interests of the industry it supposedly regulates. Philpott points to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel series published earlier this year. In this series, the paper reported that the FDA’s deputy director at one point sought assistance from the BPA industry’s chief lobbyist to discredit a Japanese study that showed a causal relationship to miscarriages in workers exposed to the chemical, before its own scientists had been given the opportunity to examine the study. The paper also revealed that the FDA’s 2008 draft review, which declared BPA safe, was based upon just two studies, both of which were fully funded by the chemical industry. Additionally, the paper reported that the American Chemical Council “wrote entire sections of that draft.” Interestingly enough, the aforementioned chief lobbyist for the BPA industry, Steven G. Hentges, to whom the FDA requested help in order to preempt the Japanese study, was the very same source to whom the Washington Post turned for commentary regarding the Chinese factory workers study.

The Obama administration recently announced grants of $30 million over the next two years to study BPA safety. In the meantime, if consumers wish to find answers to their questions about BPA from federal regulators, they’ll have to hope the FDA acts in the public interest on November 30, and not the chemical industry’s. They may also wish to thank the BPA industry for giving them yet another good reason to eat fresh and locally grown.

Petaluma Bounty receives Leadership in Sustainability Award

Ruth — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:05:01 +0000

The Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy will hold its first annual Sustainability Awards Dinner on Saturday, November 7, 2009. The dinner will recognize and celebrate community leaders and organizations who have displayed remarkable achievements in creating socially, economically and environmentally sustainable communities. For more information click here.

Food Inc. available on dvd today, November 3

Chris Fisher — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:42:15 +0000

For those of you who haven’t seen it, Food Inc. is out on dvd today. Stop by your local video store and check it out. It’s highly illuminating. I found particularly gruesome, and remarkably hypnotic, the proud meat processor who displayed the process his “hamburger filler” goes through. Ugh.

From fooducate.com:

Food Inc. – On DVD Today

November 3rd, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

Food, Inc., the powerful, and slightly depressing, documentary about our modern food industry is out on DVD today. You can buy the movie from Amazon.com here. If you didn’t have a chance to catch this movie in theaters earlier this year, it is highly recommended.

The documentary touches upon many aspects of the modern, industrialized food system, whose quest for efficiency and economies of scale has led to cheap food for everyone. This, at a high cost to the environment, farmers, animals, and our health.

The first part of the movie examines meat and poultry “production” by taking the viewer to CAFO – concentrated animal feeding operation – basically a huge factory for building the biggest, fattest, animal in the shortest amount of time and with the cheapest feed possible.

The next segment focuses on corn and how this single crop, heavily subsidized by the US government, has completely changed the food industry. This, mostly through using it as cheap feed for animals, and even cheap sweetener in the form of high fructose corn syrup.

The last part discusses food safety, or rather unsafety that is the result of the huge factory farm systems. A mother who lost her two year old son to e-coli, from a hamburger he ate when they were on a family vacation, is now crusading for improved safety standards. Unfortunately for her, she and the few congress-people on her side are facing a massive, well-funded food/ag lobby that likes things just as they are.

The movie is presented straight forward without the over-dramatizations of Michael Moore’s works, yet it is this lackluster narrative that drives the message home.

Some critics view the movie as a one-sided attack on the food industry that does not provide real alternatives to feeding a planet with 6 billion people. The producers stated that they invited all the large food manufacturers to share their views and participate in the movie, but that they had declined.

We’ll let you be the judge, but don’t base your decision on just one movie. Read more about the food you’re eating, how it got to your table, your supermarket, your country.

For us, one big question looms after learning the issues: Is there an inherent conflict between economies of scale and sustainable food production?

What to do at the supermarket:

You’ll certainly view the food you eat and buy differently after watching Food, Inc. While some people may take an extreme approach and revamp their entire pantry, most of us can make slower gradual changes in our eating habits.

Here are some of the changes the movie’s producers suggest:

Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages. You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

Eat at home instead of eating out. Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks. Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.

Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides. According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS. The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

Remember that whatever small upgrades you choose, you’ll be affecting not only your health, but also impacting the environment, and all the people, animals, and crops along the food chain from farm to the fork.

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