Archive for the ‘Hot Off The Press’ Category
Is this a Tomato or a Tennis Ball?
From Grist here’s a story on what now passes for “tomatoes”.
My obituary’s headline would have read “Food writer killed by flying tomato.”
On a visit to my parents in Naples, Fla., I was driving I-75 when I came up behind one of those gravel trucks that seem to be everywhere in southwest Florida’s rush to convert pine woods and cypress stands into gated communities and shopping malls. As I drew closer, I saw that the tractor trailer was heavy with what seemed to be green apples. When I pulled out to pass, three of them sailed off the truck, narrowly missing my windshield. Every time it hit the slightest bump, more of those orbs would tumble off. At the first stoplight, I got a closer look. The shoulder of the road was littered with green tomatoes so plasticine and so identical they could have been stamped out by a machine. Most looked smooth and unblemished. A few had cracks in their skins. Not one was smashed. A 10-foot drop followed by a 60-mile-per-hour impact with pavement is no big deal to a modern, agribusiness tomato. More..
Q Fever Secondary to Goat Exposure in Grant County
Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacteria Coxiella burnetii. Infected animals shed the bacteria in placental tissues and amniotic fluids during birthing, as well as in milk, urine, and feces. People are infected through inhalation of aerosols during the birthing process or by dust contaminated by dried excretions.
In April 2011, a goat herd in Grant County, Washington, tested positive for C. burnetii. The Washington Department of Health reports that 3 probable human cases and 2 asymptomatic Q fever infections have been identified in Grant County residents who had contact with goats from the herd. Goats that have been sold from the original herd or been at the original farm for breeding since July 2010 have been traced to nine additional Washington counties: Thurston, Clark, Franklin, Pend Oreille, Walla Walla, Kittitas, Chelan, Adams, and Spokane. To date, there are no animal or human cases in King County.
Q fever can cause acute or chronic illness in humans. The acute symptoms usually develop approximately 3 weeks after exposure (range, 2-6 weeks), although as many as half of the humans infected do not show symptoms. Presentation varies from person to person, and symptoms are nonspecific, including: fever, severe headache, malaise, myalgia, chills/sweats, cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and chest pain. Most individuals recover, but some develop complications such as pneumonia, hepatitis, myocarditis, and CNS complications. Chronic infection can cause endocarditis, Pregnant women who are infected may be at risk for pre-term delivery or miscarriage. Appropriate antibiotic treatment may shorten the course of illness.
Resources
- Q Fever diagnosis and treatment recommendations from CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/qfever/symptoms/index.html
Please Help City Fruit with Big Give!
Tomorrow, June 23rd the Seattle Foundation will host the largest day of giving ever planned for King County through its online giving event to assist local non-profits. As part of Give Big, all participating organizations are eligible for “stretch dollars” as the Seattle Foundation will proportionally donate funds from their own donors. The more an individual charity raises through the Seattle Foundation’s website on that day – the greater their portion of stretch dollars.
Click here to learn more and donate. Even a little bit helps!
City-grown fruit is a resource for the entire community. City Fruit works neighborhood by neighborhood to help residential tree owners grow healthy fruit, to harvest and use what they can, and to share what they don’t need. Each year we harvest and donate more than 10,000 pounds of fruit to local, hungry people. City Fruit collaborates with others involved in local food production, climate protection, horticulture, food security and community-building to protect and optimize urban fruit trees.
City Fruit promotes the cultivation of urban fruit in order to nourish people, build community and protect the climate. We help tree owners grow healthy fruit, provide assistance in harvesting and preserving fruit, promote the sharing of extra fruit, and work to protect urban fruit trees.
Delridge Produce Co-op
From the West Seattle Blog here’s info on a new co-op. There is a meeting tonight at 7.
The nonprofit Delridge Produce Cooperative has been working for the past few years to find ways to get more fresh food to the supermarket-less stretches of eastern West Seattle – affordably! – and they’re inviting you to come on board for their next move: Forming a Buyers’ Club to buy local, organic food, “in bulk from local farms.” Anyone and everyone interested is invited to come to the club’s first meeting, 7 pm next Tuesday (June 21) at Delridge Community Center. Questions before you leap in? delridgeproducecoop@gmail.com or 206.660.8958. More…
New Research Show Community Gardens Increase Produce Consumption
Happy Summer Solstice!Am J Public Health. 2011 Jun 16. [Epub ahead of print]
The Influence of Social Involvement, Neighborhood Aesthetics, and Community Garden Participation on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption.
Source
1 Colorado School of Public Health.
Abstract
Objectives. We considered the relationship between an urban adult population’s fruit and vegetable consumption and several selected social and psychological processes, beneficial aesthetic experiences, and garden participation. Methods. We conducted a population-based survey representing 436 residents across 58 block groups in Denver, Colorado, from 2006 to 2007. We used multilevel statistical models to evaluate the survey data. Results. Neighborhood aesthetics, social involvement, and community garden participation were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake. Community gardeners consumed fruits and vegetables 5.7 times per day, compared with home gardeners (4.6 times per day) and nongardeners (3.9 times per day). Moreover, 56% of community gardeners met national recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables at least 5 times per day, compared with 37% of home gardeners and 25% of nongardeners. Conclusions. Our study results shed light on neighborhood processes that affect food-related behaviors and provides insights about the potential of community gardens to affect these behaviors. The qualities intrinsic to community gardens make them a unique intervention that can narrow the divide between people and the places where food is grown and increase local opportunities to eat better. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 16, 2011: e1-e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.300111).
USDA Funds Incubator Kitchen
The USDA just funded this non-profit kitchen in Pennsylvania to do a whole bunch of different activities. Wonder if we could apply and do something similar here?
YORK, Penn., June 17, 2011 –Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined other USDA and local officials today to officially open a kitchen facility in York that will provide education and workforce training. Financial support for the kitchen was provided through a USDA Rural Development Rural Business Enterprise (RBEG) grant.
“Projects like this one encourage development of new food products, train individuals who want to acquire skills necessary to get a job, and provide educational opportunities for residents who want to know more about providing healthy meals to their families,” said Merrigan. “The Obama Administration is helping create jobs in Pennsylvania by developing regional food systems that will stimulate growth of new businesses within rural areas.”
Known as “YorKitchen” and located within York’s Downtown Central Market, the kitchen will help to overcome the road blocks that can stand between a farmer or food entrepreneur and marketing a food product. Operators are also partnering with local community service organizations to provide educational opportunities to low-income individuals who want to learn about nutrition and healthy food options. The kitchen will also provide workforce training opportunities and business start-up technical assistance. A “performance kitchen”, donated by various local companies, will be a complimentary show kitchen within the YorKitchen incubator. More…
Garden Update
Lavender
Thyme
Chives
Roses
Greenhouse
Flowers
Backyard
Keeping warm
Front beds
Front beds
Tomatoes and potatoes
Mason bees
More Urban Ag Resources
From Nebraska State.com here are more great resources!
Ask five people to define “urban agriculture,” and you’ll likely get five different answers. It’s community gardening, economic development and an interest in locally grown foods. It’s education, green-thumb therapy and family togetherness. And more.
However one defines it, urban agriculture has emerged as a movement in American cities. It has a special place in a state such as Nebraska, where agriculture is still the number one industry even though increasing numbers of people have no direct tie to it, say University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension experts.
UNL Extension has created a new website that pulls together a variety of resources. The website defines urban agriculture as “the practice of producing food within or surrounding an urban area, including farms (large and small), community gardens and backyard gardens.” More…
Beacon Food Forest Envisions New Bounds
Imagine a flourishing food forest.
In Seattle a growing group of activists is catalyzing the Beacon Food Forest project and creating new opportunities for growing food on public land. Empowered by a vision, positive community response, and a City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, the Friends of Beacon Food forest will hold the first of three community design workshops on Tuesday, June 7 at the Garden House 2336 15th Ave South on Beacon Hill in Seattle from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Great sun exposure.
The Stop Brings Training to You
The Stop is an amazing food growing, production and education center. They are replicating their model now through on-line trainings. Here’s a link to the first one:
Our first Learning Network Module focuses on the “Community Food Centre” model, and the work happening at The Stop to create Community Food Centres across Ontario and Canada. Watch our first webinar – a discussion about the CFC Model with The Stop’s Nick Saul and CBC’s Matt Galloway – here, and then read more about this project by clicking on the resources below. More…
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