The beautiful strawberry stand photos that graced a New York Times story yesterday about the locavore movement were shot at a UC event last Friday designed to remind Sacramento residents about the beginning of their local strawberry season and promote two UC initiatives to help local growers.

It was great that Time's photographer Max Whitaker showed up, but it would've been nice to have credited UC for the purpose of the gathering. UC researchers received a half-million-dollar grant from USDA to work closely with Southeast Asian farmers in Sacramento and Fresno counties on improving production practices,...

Scientists at UC Riverside will apply compost to wildfire-ravaged land after the flames have been doused to determine whether it helps reduce erosion and water pollution and restore vegetation. The project is one of several to be undertaken with funding from the California Integrated Waste Management Board aimed at finding uses for what is expected to be an abundance of compost made from organic waste diverted from landfills, according to a story in the April issue of BioCycle.

The Waste Management Board plans to cut the amount of organic materials now going to landfills by half in the next 10 years. Meeting that...

The second best thing about May -- the first being Mother's Day, of course -- is sweet, fresh and flavorful Central Valley strawberries, especially those purchased at a roadside stand next to the field where they were grown. Even as the number of small-scale strawberry growers dwindle, the extraordinary fruit is getting some ink in Valley newspapers.

Today, the Sacramento Bee ran a business-section article about Southeast Asian farmers featuring Lo Saetern, who has grown "impossibly sweet strawberries" on 25 acres south  of Sacramento for 11 years.

The article was prompted by a UC press event slated for 10 a.m. tomorrow at...

Most consumers like their strawberries bright red and juicy through and through, but some seek fruit that is a little bit green, at least in the ecological sense. Fresno Bee food writer Joan Obra ran a front-page column in the paper's food section yesterday that makes it easier to find the local low-input strawberries.

To determine why strawberry stands are scarce in Fresno, Obra turned to UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar. He said Fresno County's strawberry acreage has dropped from about 500 to 100 acres in the past nine years. Only about 25 local strawberry farmers are left.

"The processors aren't paying a premium,...