Food First's blog

By Christine White

Food deserts – a term used for communities that have limited access to affordable and nutritious food - are real places and they are affecting the health of millions of Americans. Found in both rural areas and urban clusters, food deserts are defined by their distances from large grocery stores and other supermarkets selling a variety of fresh produce and healthy food options. Deserts primarily form around low-income populations where families live on tight budgets and lack a reliable means of transportation.

By Christine White

A recent appeals court ruling upholds a nationwide ban on GE alfalfa, claiming it can cause permanent damage to crops, the environment, and the livelihood of farmers.

In the 1990’s, Monsanto began developing a variety of genetically modified alfalfa that would be resistant to one of the company’s major herbicides. This Monsanto alfalfa, called Roundup Ready alfalfa, was approved by the USDA in 2005—but not without a significant political backlash.

By Christine White

This October, the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) will present its first annual Food Sovereignty Prize. Eligible candidates for the prize include groups or organizations that have made contributions to food justice, sustainable agriculture, and a democratically controlled food system. The recipient will be chosen by a panel of CFSC committee members, and recognized at CFSC”S 13th Annual Conference, held October 10-13th in Des Moines, Iowa. The Food Sovereignty Prize is an exceptional opportunity to recognize groups dedicated to transforming our food system.

By Christine White

The World Food Prize was recently awarded to an Ethiopian scientist for his work breeding corn for resistance to Striga – a parasitic weed and the cause of significant crop losses for African farmers. The new striga-resistant seeds should be on shelves in the coming year. But as far back as 15 years ago, Kenyan farmers developed their own solution to Striga – one that also provides fertility, animal fodder, helps conserve precious irrigation water, and provides resistance to another major African pest – the stemborer.

By Christine White

The 2009 World Food Prize will be awarded to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia. Financially supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and USAID - Dr. Ejeta developed a drought-tolerant and Striga-resistant sorghum hybrid. The lethal parasitic Striga weed, also known as witchweed, has devastated African crop yields for years. Dr. Ejeta’s scientific breakthroughs in defeating the Striga scourge have made a significant contribution to the productivity of corn hybrids in sub- Saharan Africa.

A new peer-reviewed article by Dr. Don Lotter, Genetic Engineering and the Failure of Science has been making waves as of late. The article is a stark reminder that the jury is very much still out about the long-term health effects of GM foods. Lotter chronicles the history of “red flags” that should have prompted independent research into adverse health effects of GM foods and goes on to explain the academic culture behind the paucity of independent studies. Watch for an upcoming Food First Backgrounder on Dr. Lotter's findings or check out a lecture by Dr. Lotter covering the content of his new paper.

By Christine White

The numbers are in, and the reality is harsh. According to a recent USDA report, one in nine Americans are using federal food stamps. This bleak statistic reflects the intensifying food crisis that plagues our nation. In March 2009, enrollment jumped 2 percent to 33.2 million people. And in the wake of a deep recession and high unemployment, the numbers will continue to grow. In a privileged nation of plenty, threatened by a chronic obesity epidemic, how is it that millions are going without?

By Christine White

Today both the House and Senate are holding hearings on calls to re-regulate commodities markets.

The extremely unpopular National Animal Identification System would require that all livestock animals be registered with the government, tagged and tracked, ostensibly to better trace disease outbreaks. This would mean that small farmers would have to tag and register every cow, pig, or chicken on the farm, while industrial feedlots would be assigned a lot number for each large grouping, further driving up the marginal costs to small producers.

The new documentary, Food, Inc. by filmmaker Robert Kenner has the potential to change the eating habits of Americans in much the same way that Frances Moore Lappé’s book Diet for a Small Planet opened people to a greater understanding of our food system for another generation when it was published in the 1970s. The Food, Inc. preview I attended in San Francisco was well received by a rapt audience.

Food First’s new permaculture garden is planted, mulched, and watered thanks to 35 energetic volunteers. In two months we will be eating the garden's bounty in our daily vegetarian lunches. If you are in the Oakland/Berkeley area, feel free to call and stop by to have lunch with us. We planted table grapes, guava, kiwi, and thornless blackberries, hazelnut and fig trees, plus corn, beans, pumpkins and squash, peas, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, basil and much more. Next we need to learn to cook with some of the more exotic perennial crops just planted. Ever eaten daylillies? Me either.

Food First is building an edible permaculture garden. Our office has been in a house in Oakland since 1993. When we arrived, we took out the water-consuming lawn, planted 10 fruit trees and some raspberry bushes, plus a few herbs. We set up compost bins and even worm composting. And we grew a few vegetables in the summer. Several summers ago, interns put in four vegetable beds on the sunny southern front yard and dug two new beds on the east side of the house. The rest of the yard was consumed by landscape plants that thrived on little water, but harbored lots of snails.

Since the early days of her husband's tenure as California's governor, Maria has been chairperson for California's growing network of school gardens, which now number more than 6,000. Like these school gardens, a garden at the state capitol in Sacramento provides an opportunity to educate children about where their food comes from. With childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes on the rise among children, it's heartening to know that more and more people are stepping in to show the way toward healthier foods that will lead to healthier lives.

Michelle Obama is taking a personal interest in improving the quality of food we eat. In a March 10, 2009 New York Times story, Michelle Obama is seen serving food at a food kitchen. As she served up risotto and steamed broccoli she said “You know, we want to make sure our guests here and across the nation are eating nutritious items.”

By Annie Shattuck and Marilyn Borchardt

After decades of decline in the number of farms in the U.S – seeds of hope are sprouting. The newest USDA census shows that we have four percent more farms than in 2002. www.agcensus.usda.gov/
This increase includes micro-farms that sell less than $1,000 per year, perhaps feeding the grower with excess sold locally. This census confirms observations of recent years that more food is being produced locally.