Posted on Categories Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable LivingTags Leave a comment on CropMobster shares the harvest

CropMobster shares the harvest

Rachel Dovey, NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN

http://www.cropmobster.com/

Nick Papadopoulos is a farmer now, but he has a professional background in conflict resolution. So, standing in a vegetable cooler on a Saturday night last March, surrounded by surplus produce that hadnt been sold, his mind began to wander.

"We had all this food that wasnt going to people," the general manager of Bloomfield Farms in Petaluma recalls. "Its edible and its grown for the purpose of feeding people, and we dont make any money when its wasted."

Later that week, he posted a message on Facebook advertising farmers market leftovers at a reduced price. That was the beginning of CropMobster.com, a social media hub addressing local farm waste and hunger—both issues hinging on a centralized, assembly-line food system that, according to Papadopoulos, is full of holes.

via Harvest Share | Dining | North Bay Bohemian.

Posted on Categories Agriculture/Food SystemTags Leave a comment on What's up with the state grange?

What's up with the state grange?

Andrea Granahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The California State Grange Master, Bob McFarland, is in Sebastopol this week for the annual State Grange Convention. He was willing to discuss what is happening on the national level with the venerable agricultural organization.

 Is the National Grange suing the California Grange?

Yes. The National Grange Master Ed Lutrell tried to kick me out, but the California Grange membership that had elected me refused to do so. Then Lutrell revoked California’s 143-year-old charter and tried to seize the bank accounts, offices and other assets, but a court injunction stopped him. So he is suing us, and the trial will come up in late spring I think.

 Why would Lutrell do that?

He supports industrial agribusiness, while in California we support family sustainable farming. We took a stand against GMOs and he favors it, saying there is no difference. He has done the same thing to the Wyoming State Grange, revoked their charter and tried to seize their assets.

via 5 Questions for Bob McFarland, California's grange master.

Posted on Categories Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable LivingTags Leave a comment on Grains go local

Grains go local

Diane Peterson, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

North Bay chefs and growers have long been at the forefront of the movement to eat local, championing the return to the table of heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef.

Nowadays, the farmers are starting to grow grains like rye, farro and wheat as well, providing chefs with whole-grain, freshly milled flours for their breads and pasta.

“Grains are the logical next step,” said Debra Walton of Canvas Ranch in Two Rock. “Were really moving totally local, from vegetables and meat to grain and breads and beer.”

via Grains go local | The Press Democrat.

Posted on Categories TransportationTags , , Leave a comment on Pressure mounts on County to dump Veolia as operator of Sonoma County Transit

Pressure mounts on County to dump Veolia as operator of Sonoma County Transit

Alastair Bland, NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN

Pressure is growing in communities around the world against Veolia Transdev, the worldwide industrial solutions firm based in France, clouded in political and environmental controversy and currently the operator of Sonoma County’s public bus line.

But the 25-year contract that gives the France-based giant several million dollars each year to operate the Sonoma County Transit bus fleet will come to an end in mid-2014, and local activists aligned against the company due to its support of Israel’s presence in Palestine want the county to part ways with Veolia.

via Bus Stop | News | North Bay Bohemian.

Posted on Categories Land Use, WaterTags , Leave a comment on County slows deliberation on stream setbacks

County slows deliberation on stream setbacks

Jeff Quackenbush, NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL

The county of Sonoma has slowed down the process for adopting new zoning rules designed to protect 3,200 miles of streams and rivers from development and agriculture along their banks.

Based on comments received about a proposed Riparian Corridor addition to the county Zoning Code (sonoma-county.org/prmd/docs/riparian_corridor/) that would consolidate existing land-use planning policy adopted in 2008 and as well as allow the incoming director of planning and building to help manage the process, county officials have postponed a Planning Commission workshop on the matter, originally set for Wednesday, as well as a hearing set for Nov. 7.

“We received a lot of comments and suggestions,” said Jennifer Barrett, deputy director of the county Permit & Resource Management Department, or PRMD. “We want to form a stakeholder group of interested parties and then go back to the commission.”

via County slows deliberation on stream setbacks – North Bay Business Journal – North San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma, Marin, Napa counties – Archive.

Posted on Categories Climate Change & Energy, Sonoma CoastTags Leave a comment on California finds more instances of offshore fracking

California finds more instances of offshore fracking

Alicia Chang and Jason Dearen, USA TODAY

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The oil production technique known as fracking is more widespread and frequently used in the offshore platforms and man-made islands near some of California’s most populous and famous coastal communities than state officials believed.

In waters off Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach — some of the region’s most popular surfing strands and tourist attractions — oil companies have used fracking at least 203 times at six sites in the past two decades, according to interviews and drilling records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

via Calif. finds more instances of offshore fracking.

Posted on Categories WildlifeLeave a comment on Otherwordly site near Cazadero captivates researchers

Otherwordly site near Cazadero captivates researchers

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Scientists looking for clues to the origins of life on Earth have discovered new life forms right here in Sonoma County that may shed light on how life evolved — and how it might be detected elsewhere in the universe.

A three-year study of alkaline ponds at The Cedars, a vast but remote serpentine area north of Cazadero, has uncovered microorganisms never before detected, existing in the kinds of harsh conditions believed to reflect those that first gave rise to life, scientists say.

Researchers hope studying these unique microbes and how they function may impart information about the biochemical reactions that imbued inorganic substances on early Earth with the spark of life.

via Remote Sonoma County landscape offers microscopic peek at life's beginnings | The Press Democrat.

Posted on Categories Land Use, WaterTags , Leave a comment on Sonoma County's zoning rules for streamside development delayed

Sonoma County's zoning rules for streamside development delayed

Guy Kovner, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A move to add controversial limits on development and grapevine planting near streams into Sonoma County’s zoning code has been delayed and may not be decided until sometime next year.
Cancellation of a public workshop set for Wednesday on the proposed zoning amendment and indefinite postponement of a Nov. 7 Planning Commission hearing on the matter were announced last week by the county’s Permit and Resource Management Department.
“There’s no real hurry,” said Jennifer Barrett, deputy director of the department, noting that the stream bank development limits are included in the county’s General Plan.
“We are applying them already,” she said. Putting the limits in zoning law “would streamline the process.”
via Sonoma County’s zoning rules for streamside development delayed | The Press Democrat.

Posted on Categories Forests, Land UseTags , , , , , Leave a comment on A fight over vineyards pits redwoods against red wine

A fight over vineyards pits redwoods against red wine

Alastair Bland, NPR, THE SALT
In the California wine mecca of Sonoma County, climate change is pitting redwood lovers against red wine lovers.This Friday morning, a coalition of environmental groups are in a Santa Rosa, Calif., courtroom fighting to stop a Spanish-owned winery from leveling 154 acres of coast redwoods and Douglas firs to make way for grapevines.
Redwoods only grow in the relatively cool coastal region of Northern California and southern Oregon. Parts of this range, such as northwestern Sonoma County, have become increasingly coveted by winemakers.
protest_largeChris Poehlmann, president of a small organization called Friends of the Gualala River, says the wine industry is creeping toward the coast as Californias interior valleys heat up and consumers show preferences for cooler-weather grapes like pinot noir.”Inexorably, the wine industry is looking for new places to plant vineyards,” says Poehlmann, whose group is among the plaintiffs.
via A Fight Over Vineyards Pits Redwoods Against Red Wine : The Salt : NPR.

Posted on Categories Forests, Land UseTags , , Leave a comment on Chainsaw Wine

Chainsaw Wine

Alastair Bland, THE NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN
There is no forest among the trees. That’s what state officials have said regarding a large stand of second-growth redwood and Douglas fir near Annapolis that a Spanish-owned winery has proposed to level and replace with grapevines and a winery.
Artes-large
The project, proposed by Artesa Vineyards & Winery, has been lumbering through the legal process for several years now, and to the dismay of Sonoma County environmentalists, it has progressed almost to the finish line. Now, the only roadblock still in the way is the lawsuit filed against the state by three conservation groups in June of 2012, and which will be heard in the Sonoma County Superior Court this Friday.
via Chainsaw Wine | News | North Bay Bohemian.