Terry Hankins Farm manager Amy Rice-Jones has enjoyed the challenge of starting and running an urban farm for Petaluma Bounty.

“As a child, Amy Rice-Jones was not interested in spending time in the garden…’I did not have an interest in agriculture as a child,’ said Jones, farm manager of Petaluma Bounty. ‘My mother is an avid gardener and she would nag me to pull weeds in our garden when I was growing up.’”

“It wasn’t until her freshman year in college that her feelings began to change… ‘I came to realize how important growing food for oneself and your community is to the health of our planet,’ she said… ‘Growing food organically is at the heart of community care for me.’”

Click here to read the entire article.

“We, the undersigned, believe that a healthy food system is necessary to meet the urgent challenges of our time. Behind us stands a half-century of industrial food production, underwritten by cheap fossil fuels, abundant land and water resources, and a drive to maximize the global harvest of cheap calories. Ahead lie rising energy and food costs, a changing climate, declining water supplies, a growing population, and the paradox of widespread hunger and obesity.

These realities call for a radically different approach to food and agriculture. We believe that the food system must be reorganized on a foundation of health: for our communities, for people, for animals, and for the natural world. The quality of food, and not just its quantity, ought to guide our agriculture. The ways we grow, distribute, and prepare food should celebrate our various cultures and our shared humanity, providing not only sustenance, but justice, beauty and pleasure…”

Thus begins the Food Declaration, drafted by the Roots of Change (ROC)  organization, whose mission is to create a sustainable food system in California, the nation’s largest producer of food and agricultural products, by the year 2030.   To read the entire Declaration, add your name to it, or learn more, click here.

Although to some this may just be stating the obvious, a new report to be published in the Journal of Research in Personality asserts that there is a new incentive to doing good things for others: It makes you happier.

Michael Steger, a psychologist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, wondered which behavior makes people happier—seeking pleasure or doing good?

Steger and his colleagues put the question to a group of undergrads as part of a study… Read the rest of the article to find out what he learned.

*    *    *

Are you looking to boost your HQ (happiness quotient)?   Whether it’s working on the Bounty Farm, helping to start a new community garden, harvesting food for families in need, or a slew of other actitivies, we have plenty of opportunities at Petaluma Bounty for you, your family and friends.   Just fill out our on-line volunteer form and let us know about your volunteer interests and availability.  We promise we’ll help you to feel happier (and build a healthier Petaluma food system in the process)!

The following was excerpted from a letter to teachers, staff, gardeners and other contributors to the McKinley Community School Garden, from Ruth Persselin (Petaluma Bounty Gardens Coordinator)…

“I’d like to share with you some inspiring photos of the wondrous transformation that took place this past spring at McKinley Elementary School.  A magical plot of land at the center of campus sprung to life in a short 14 weeks under the stewardship of not just a few, but EVERY SINGLE CLASS,  grades 1-6.  It’s a great testament to all the teachers who participated in launching the McKinley School Garden Program, as well as to Principal Devine who made it possible for everyone to be involved. 

Every child in school had a hand in creating, planting, harvesting, and learning in the garden.  From singing songs and musical serenades, to mulching, measuring, magnifying, composting, worm-boxing, digging, shoveling, raking, bouquet-making, and ultimately sitting down to enjoy a school-grown salad, it was an unforgettable experience.   I would like to thank all of you for making it such a pleasure (and so easy) to be a part of such a joyful, meaningful group effort.

I would also like to thank the McKinley Community Gardeners for all their assistance, as well as the Washington Creek Boys & Girls Club who tended the school plots over the summer.”