Monthly Archives: October 2011

Read the original story on SF Gate A patchwork of food, farming, conservation and environmental groups fear that lawmakers could act on the 2012 Farm Bill as early as this week with no input from California – the largest agricultural state in the nation. Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees are proposing $23 billion in cuts – the …

Read the original story from the LA Times Pity folks carving faces on skinny old zucchini or trying to make watermelons look fearsome this Halloween. There’s a pumpkin shortage plaguing parts of the country this year, because of drought and storms in the Midwest and Northeastern states. In California, the nation’s No. 2 pumpkin state, fine weather has made for …

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/28/4012891/uc-davis-study-questions-link.html Fast food alone cannot be blamed for high obesity rates among people with low incomes, according to a new UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research study. The research calls into question stereotypes that have led some cities in Southern California to cite obesity when passing laws limiting or banning new fast-food restaurants in poorer communities. Nutritionists and …

Inedible kitchen grease (IKG), once regarded as a waste product and used primarily as an additive for animal feed, has become an elixir in the booming green economy.  The grease’s value as a biofuel is being increasingly recognized.  IKG is now coveted, which makes it a target for theft. CDFA has responsibility for regulating IKG transport in California and is concerned that increases in theft is costing legitimate industry millions …

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross is congratulating the University of California at Santa Cruz for winning a grant of more than $2.6 million from the USDA for organic research.  The grant is among $19 million being issued nationally by the USDA for organic research and marketing. The UC Santa Cruz project will facilitate a series of seminars, workshops, newsletters and online …

A 75-square mile quarantine is now in place in the Anaheim area of Orange County, due to an Oriental fruit fly infestation. For more information, including a map of the quarantine zone, please visit this CDFA Internet page .

The UC Small Farm Program and UC Cooperative Extension invite agritourism leaders, advisors, promoters and regulators from all over the state to strategize about building better support for California agritourism operators at a statewide agritourism summit to be held November 4 in Stockton. While California agritourism has so far been primarily organized at the county and regional levels, other states …