·      Thomas Jefferson’s Vegetable Garden: A Thing of Beauty and Science http://n.pr/K00p9P

·      Study: Biodiversity Loss Impacts as Great as Climate Change Impacts

Ecologist: “These extinctions may well rank as one of the top five drivers of global change.”

·      World Watch Institute: UN Report Calls for a Realignment of Agricultural Reform http://bit.ly/KKKKRm

… The report warns that the growing involvement of private corporations in reforming the food and agriculture system could potentially create conflicts of interest between the public’s interest and a corporation’s bottom line. It also predicts that the rapidly expanding livestock and biofuel industries will likely create and contribute to serious food related crises, because of their inefficient use of natural resources… You think?

o   UN Report: Food and Agriculture: The future of sustainability http://bit.ly/IDj9Pk

·      Another Child Falls Into Sonic Grease Pit http://huff.to/JmFPTV

If you have ever worked in a restaurant or food services you know how utterly disgusting a grease trap is, the small can knock you over…

·      Local Food Index Ranks Vermont At Top, Florida At Bottom http://huff.to/IB25s9

·      Seed wars: The right to refuse http://bit.ly/I7z3EA

·      Cruel & unusual punishment: What if Pelican Bay & Leavenworth went organic?

http://bit.ly/JFOKRU

Organic gardens and rehabilitation…

o   Captive Labor on the Farm http://on.wsj.com/p2s6U5

o   US farmers using prison labor http://bit.ly/JlfWWb

·      Groceries for the Rich, Diesel Fumes for the 99% http://bit.ly/IFgNCY

·      Land, life and justice http://bit.ly/KTVt9K

How land grabbing in Uganda is affecting the environment, livelihoods and food sovereignty of communities

·      White House and the FDA Often at Odds http://nyti.ms/HGcbrW

·      Asian Carp: A Threat to American Rivers http://huff.to/JVQd6x

·      The Stench of Bentonville Spreads to Mexico – and Back http://bit.ly/K1Dq20

·      Banner year expected for local salmon (SF Bay Area) http://bit.ly/JPi3kW

After four years of closures and shortened seasons, our prized California king salmon is back…

·      Obesity in US projected to grow, through pace slows: CDC study http://lat.ms/K6WopU

Just over a third of US adults are obese. By 2030, 42% will be, says a forecast…

·      Michelle Obama’s Food Desert Plan Yields Few New Stores: Retail http://bloom.bg/J95XSg

·      Farmers’ Markets Receive Money to Accept Food Stamps Through $4M Government Injection http://huff.to/IJbigY

·      I Call the Vote: A Farm Bill Litmus Test for the Food Movement http://bit.ly/IWIhDe

·      QSR web.com: Healthful, flavorful meals top trends at QWRs, fast casuals http://bit.ly/JNauMY

As diners become more sophisticated in their tastes and desire for flavorful, healthful foods, quick-service and fast casual operators are plating up additional items that satisfy those demands …

·      Organic sales increase despite price premium, marketers say http://bit.ly/JCJ0bS

It may command a higher price than its conventional counterpart does, but that’s not slowing down sales of organic food, particularly produce, according to marketing agents.

·      Unbelievable heirloom corn: Glass Gem Corn http://on.fb.me/KJch76

·      Slow Money: Breaking out of the bank http://bit.ly/IWSrE3

Jason Bradford and Stephen Heuffed are improving their farm operations with a lot of financial help, but much of it didn't come from traditional banks.

·      Who is to blame for the US obesity epidemic? http://aje.me/LnS3wr

As billions are spent treating obesity related diseased, we take a look at the US food industry lobby.

Pizza as vegetable anyone?

·      The New Wall Street Wants to Speculate on our Common Resources (water) http://bit.ly/Jo6WhB

·      Thousands more farmers markets will soon take food stamps http://bit.ly/J0UMIA

·      Who Fishes Matters: A fisherman recently told me he paid $.80 per pound to lease fish quota, or the rights to catch fish. That same day he only got paid 60 cents per pound when he landed the fish at the dock… http://bit.ly/K8Ehw4

·      Organic farming: Beyond the yield debate http://bit.ly/K25L8U

Labor

·      School “Lunch Ladies” Fight for Better Food for Students – And Better Jobs http://bit.ly/LHt7Tg

The move to more and more processed foods has largely been one to cut labor costs, not because anyone thought the food was better for the kids.

Occupy

·      Take Back the Tract http://takebackthetract.com/

o   Occupy The Farm Protest Refuses to Leave Gill Tract, UC Berkeley Owned Land http://huff.to/J0w7HB

o   Occupy the Farm: Democracy for Land Grant Universities? http://huff.to/IS1VQG

o   Public Research, Private Gain http://bit.ly/IhSATj

Corporate Influence Over University Agriculture

o   Occupy The Farm Protest Refuses to Leave Gil Tract, UC Berkeley Owned Land http://huff.to/IKSeUw

o   Gill Tract Raid Results in Standoff, Enclosure… and Dry Farmed Tomatoes (Professor Altieri 5/9/12) http://bit.ly/JWyVBZ

o   Occupy the Farm Highlights Issue of Food Sovereignty http://bit.ly/K1LsZi

o   SF Chronicle: The Occupy the Farm movement… http://bit.ly/JEl9Gg

o   Take Back the Tract Occupies Bay Area Land with Seeds http://bit.ly/Ivi3rv

o   Occupy the Farm Faces Backlash: Does UC Berkeley Car About Public Interests? http://bitly.com/

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

·      USDA Announces New Safeguards to Protect Consumers from Foodborne Illness http://1.usa.gov/JqWfri

·      USDA: OIG: FSIS Appropriately Addresses Appeals of Humane Handling Enforcement Actions http://1.usa.gov/JURavS

Really…

·      Trimming the Fat, Like Feeding Poor Kids and Seniors http://bit.ly/LGINpG

Charged with reducing "lower-priority spending" to avert military cuts next year, House Republicans in their wisdom want to cut billions from food stamps, free school lunches, Medicaid, Meals on Wheels and other social service programs…

·      Food Stamp Foolishness http://bit.ly/JRPIur

·      Human Right to Water: Las Cruces, New Mexico Recieves Citation for Violating the Right to Water

·      Leaked letters suggest Maryland’s governor is henpecked by the chicken industry http://bit.ly/K1MqjS

… right now, O’Malley seems to be Governor of the State of Perdue.

     So if Maryland becomes a major foot-dragger in implementing the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, or works to exempt the poultry industry from doing its part, there will be no reason to wonder why. It’s just friends helping friends.

·      Corn Harvest to Hit Record Numbers this Summer, USDA Predicts http://huff.to/JuQ4Wx

GMOs/Cloning/Nanotechnology/Poisons

·      Monsanto is in the ‘wrong business’, critic claims (Raj Patel) http://bit.ly/IGB6KJ

·      Label It Hawaii – Video from Makana http://bit.ly/KofFOU

·      Making Chemical Giants Happy at Our Expense http://bit.ly/La9Hnd

·      EU watchdog forced out over links to ‘Frankenstein food’ firms http://bit.ly/JgIxc0

o   European Parliament postpones EFSA budge approval over conflict of interest http://bit.ly/LX4VMC

o   Chair of Management Board at EFSA quits because of conflict of interests http://bit.ly/k54U8c

·      Self-Regulation of ‘Extreme Genetic Engineering’ Poses Unforeseeable Risks http://bit.ly/GVPRsY

·      Monsanto, Dow and GE Modified Trouble http://bit.ly/K01hzP

·      Monsanto’s Minions in California http://bit.ly/INXsK6

·      Video: Syngenta Has an Orwellian Herbicide Ad, Too http://bit.ly/KVfTN8

·      How Corporations Like Monsanto Have Hijacked Higher Education http://bit.ly/J8csSF

·      Super weeds no easy fix for US agriculture-experts http://reut.rs/K6pbam

·      ‘Bitter Seeds’ documentary reveals tragic toll of GMOs in India http://bit.ly/JTlV4n

·      Permaculture Visionary: “We Don’t Need to Wait for Permission” to Transform our Societies http://bit.ly/KyBIWc

·      GM Food Labels Legislation Fails In Connecticut http://huff.to/K3vj0Y

·      GMOs and Whole Food Market in St. Louis http://bit.ly/KivNWS

Even in a city full of people working for Monsanto, virtually everyone wants labels on food with genetically modified organisms (GMOs)…

Healthy/Humane/Safe Food & Water?

·      Whole Foods Market Organic China connection http://bit.ly/LBFVbg

With no oversight and contaminated water?

·      Profits over Health: A Short History of the Pesticide Lobby http://bit.ly/Jy8LaF

Chemical Agriculture Goes to the mattresses

·      BPA, again… Food-packaging chemical could lead to breast cancer, study finds http://bit.ly/IYohhQ

o   The Breast Cancer Causer in Your Cabinet http://goo.gl/BCErJ

·      Pink Slime: BPI To close 3 Plants (5/25/12) Over Uproar http://huff.to/IX1gIz

o   BSE and Pink Slime: Lessons to Be Learned http://goo.gl/U9T9s

o   ‘Pink Slime’ Bankruptcy: Worker Says No Warning Before Mass Layoff http://huff.to/J4n8Zb

·      Safeway Says It Will Formulate Plan For Gestation Crate-Free Pork http://huff.to/JbQp3R

o   Wyoming Premium Farms Abuse Alleged By Humane Society http://huff.to/KOUvt3

·      Germany Rejects Fracking http://bit.ly/KfyjeK

o   Vermont Set to Become 1^st State to Ban Fracking http://bit.ly/KT0j4K

o   Silencing Communities: How the Fracking Industry Keeps Its Secrets http://bit.ly/JosuMm

o   How the Private Water Industry Is Teaming Up With ALEC http://bit.ly/IE9tH0

ALEC has worked with the energy industry to create loophole-filled water protections and opposes federal oversight of fracking.

o   EPA’s Fracking Rules Cover Only a Sliver of Land http://huff.to/Jg3eVm

·      How Private Bottling Companies Water-Down Education to Boost Profits http://bit.ly/ICrjFf

Project WET’s supposed mission is a slap in the face to any community that has had its water muscled away by Nestle.

o   Loyola University Chicago Ditches Bottled Water http://bit.ly/IQtAlg

o   Public Utility, Private Profit: Privatization of Water Is a Benign as Lucifer http://bit.ly/yXLR4T

·      Antibiotic Resistance Spread Through Environment, Threatens Modern Medicine http://huff.to/IYetr2

·      Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Plastic Debris In Ocean Impacting Marine Life http://huff.to/IJ27Nr

·      Connecticut Insecticide Bill Passed By House To Protect Lobster Population http://huff.to/ITVuN4

·      BP Oil Spill Photos Posted By Greenpeace Following Freedom of Information Request http://huff.to/IDurAJ

·      Processed Food: 9 Nasty Truths About the Meals You Eat http://huff.to/JfjQN1

·      Scientists Point to Pesticides as Culprit in Honeybee Die-Offs http://bit.ly/J3Bnqx

·      Bans on School Junk Food Pay Off In California http://nyti.ms/JbIEaC

·      ‘Meat glue’ is safe and natural, American Meat Institute says http://goo.gl/cWjbq

·      Farm Animal ER: Factory Farming Hurts Everyone http://huff.to/Kz8mK9

·      Fruit Roll-Ups Lawsuit Over ‘Real Fruit’ Claims Goes Forward http://huff.to/Jo043A

Remember Kraft’s Guacamole that had no avocado? http://bit.ly/bNohg3

·      FDA Halts Shellfish Imports from Korea http://bit.ly/KbocFK

·      Toronto Government Warns Against Eating Raw Fiddleheads http://bit.ly/KXkJJK

·      Massachusetts Uproar Over School Bake Sale Ban http://bit.ly/JmZu74

Education

·      Movement Generation (Oakland, CA) has a training program called Earth Skills that provides hands-on training for skills that help communities reconnect to the resources that provide basic needs, its an important part of our understanding of liberating people from a toxic system where we have no control over the most basic elements of our lives.

MG heard Tassafaronga Farm's site plan included installing bees so they generously asked ANV if we could host a bee-keeping training this year for their Earth Skills series!

All of their trainings happen at sites run by community-based organizations where whatever they train about stays on that site and serves that community. The Bee-keeping session will go from 10am-4pm Sunday, June 3rd and MG will provide lunch, guest facilitators and a dynamic agenda for the day! More info to follow!

http://bit.ly/KOLJfb

 

Events

·      Expanding Urban Agriculture on Public Land, A Panel Discussion, San Francisco
Date: Wednesday, May 16, Time: 12:30-1:30 PM, Location: SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, San Francisco

Hundreds of San Franciscans are on waiting lists for community garden plots and demand for urban agriculture space in the city is high. Public land has high potential for filling the gap, but city resources and institutional support are limited. Join Juliet Ellis, assistant general manager for external affairs at the SF Public Utilities Commission; Mei Ling Hui, urban forest and urban agriculture coordinator at the Department of the Environment; Blair Randall, executive director of Garden for the Environment; and Eli Zigas, food systems and urban agriculture program manager at SPUR, for a discussion about the city¹s current involvement in
and support for urban agriculture. Co-presented with 18 Reasons and Kitchen Table Talks.

Free to SPUR and 18 Reasons members; $10 for non-members
More information: 
http://www.spur. org/events/ calendar/ expanding- urban-agricultur e-public- land

 

·      San Francisco, first hearing on the urban agriculture legislation
has been scheduled for June 4^th. Save the date and mark your
calendars. Like with the zoning ordinance we'd really love to have a
strong SFUAA turnout!

Date: Monday, June 4

Time: Meeting begins at 1:00 PM
Where: City Hall, Room 263; San Francisco