News on Markets
Panel Discussions Focus on Local Consumption
Jan. 2012. The year-long Farm to Fork series came to a successful conclusion on January 25 and 26 with panel discussions at the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara public libraries. This fourth installment of Farm to Fork series, entitled Closing the Loop, focused on the role of consumers in supporting local farmers, ranchers and other producers. Panelists included Gerri French, Nutritionist and Diabetes Educator at Sansum Medical Clinic; Melissa Gomez, Manager at Goodland Kitchen; Jaime Herrera, Executive Chef at UCSB Dining Commons; Liz Powell, Director of Food Services at Santa Maria Bonita School District; and Clark Staub, Owner at Full of Life Flatbread.
CRAE testifies before Cannella Panel
Nov. 2011 The newly re-formed Cannella Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel held their inaugural meeting on November 7, 2011, with the main focus being ecosystem services. CRAE partner Casey Walsh Cady, with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, provided the Panel with an update on the Roundtable’s efforts on the subject, which include identifying key elements of ecosystem services frameworks, compiling a list of pilot projects in California, and building a strategy for creating an enabling policy environment for growing ecosystem services markets in California.
Grist Covers Ag Innovations Network and the James Beard Food Conference
Oct. 2011. Thanks to Kerry Trueman of Grist for her coverage of the recent James Beard Foundation Food Conference facilitated by Ag Innovations Network’s president, Joseph McIntyre. Her article is a good read.
Sonoma FSA Hosts Successful School Food Workshop for Food Day
Oct. 2011 Sonoma County FSA hosted a free School Food Workshop on October 25 for Food Day, which provided a review of best practices, networking opportunities with local farmers.
Read More »Joseph McIntyre featured on Taste Matters, Heritage Radio in NYC
Oct. 2011. On October 12, AIN President Joseph McIntyre joined a conversation about How Money And Media Influence The Way America Eats on Taste Matters, a Brooklyn-based Heritage Radio Network. Taste Matters is hosted by Mitchell Davis, Vice President of the James Beard Foundation, cookbook author, restaurant reviewer, and food scholar. The show was recorded live at Roberta’s in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Listen to the show online.
New Report on Organic Farming
Sept. 2011. The Santa Cruz-based Organic Farming Research Foundation announced the country’s first comprehensive, data-driven report on the social, economic and environmental benefits of organic farming on Sept. 19. Entitled Organic Farming for Health and Prosperity, the document backs anecdotal findings up with a review of the American scientific literature concerning organic farming in the United States.
UCD Report on CSA in CA
August 2011 The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis just released a comprehensive portrait of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in California’s Central Valley, including farm and farmer characteristics, farm-member relationships, economic viability, and information sources and farmers’ advice for starting CSA farmers. Download the report (pdf).
UCS Report on Regional Food Systems
August 2011 This month, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released the report Market Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems. This analysis of the growth, economic benefits, and challenges to expansion of local and regional food systems comes at a time when Ag Innovations Network’s California Food System Alliance Network is making similar strides on the topic.
School Food Service Survey Reports Interest in Local Produce
Aug. 2011 The Farm-to-Institution Committee of the Sonoma County FSA released the School Food Service Produce report on August 8. The document reports the results of a survey of Sonoma County school food service leaders, and indicates that 84% of schools are interested in purchasing local produce directly from a grower or from their distributor. While cost was cited as the biggest barrier to purchasing local produce for school lunches, there is enthusiasm among both food service departments and their parent/student population for seasonal fruits and veggies on the menu. Download the report for more details.
Article highlights local food system efforts
August 2011 The Healdsburg Tribune featured both recent Sonoma County Food System Alliance publications, the Community Food System Assessment and the Food Forum Report, as well as the feasibility study just published by Sonoma FSA member organization, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF). The CAFF study, Establishing an Aggregation and Marketing Center for California’s North Coast, led directly to the development of a 4-county hub concept. Access the article online to learn more about all three efforts, or download the pdf version.
Sonoma County FSA Releases the Community Food System Assessment
July 2011 As eaters, we all have a stake in the health of our food system. A new report from the Sonoma County FSA points out that the many other reasons to care about what’s happening in this area of our community.
Read More »The Signs of a New Mainstream
July 2011 Joseph McIntyre’s most recent column in Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) is called Views from the food system frontier: The signs of a new mainstream. Only subscribers can access the full article, but you get a glimpse of the article on the JAFSCD website.
Context Matters: Visioning a Food Hub in Yolo and Solano Counties
June 2011 The students from a UC Davis graduate seminar in Food System Analysis recently completed an assessment of the local food system for the Yolo Ag and Food Alliance.
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