- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Every Tuesday, students at the University of San Francisco are presented with "low carbon" diet choices in the school cafeteria, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury News. Gone is cheese pizza and hamburgers. Such savory treats are being substituted with options that are equally delicious - like guacamole and cucumber relish - but are produced on farms that release less greenhouse gasses than dairies and livestock operations.
USF is one example of institutions looking at changing food consumption to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases floating into earth's atmosphere. According to the article, the United...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension director for Tulare County Jim Sullins says a "Perfect Storm" brewing in the San Joaquin Valley is turning the coming spring and summer into a time of uncertainty and challenge about water, according to an article in the Porterville Recorder.
The convergence of three years of below average rain and snowfall with recent court decisions about the fate of water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is just one of farmers' concerns.
“It’s almost a perfect storm situation. We have low commodity prices, the economic situation and now the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The case of the missing workers has frustrated investigators for years. There are no dead bodies and few clues; a "disease" is suspected, but can't be pinpointed. How can the culprit be foiled when there is no evidence of wrongdoing?
Entomologists all over the world are trying to figure out what, if anything, is going down in honey bee hives. The story has been widely publicized and made headlines again yesterday when the BBC News published an article and video focused on what has been called Colony Collaspe Disorder. The story notes that even that term is stirring controversy.
An Australian scientist...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The California Farm Bureau Federation's weekly publication AgAlert contains a clear and concise rundown of farmers's concerns about the 2009 California drought.
Here are some facts presented in the article, written by Steve Adler:
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Fresno Bee reporter Robert Rodriguez opened a story in yesterday's paper about the impending drought with the thoughts of UC Davis pomologist Kenneth Shackel. According to Rodriguez' lead, Shackel is "feeling more like an emergency room doctor than an agricultural researcher."
"It's like triage," Shackel was quoted. "For some, this isn't about controlling diseases or yields, it's about survival."
Shackel was one of several UC experts whose imput was sought on the desperate efforts being planned by farmers to save water and keep their valuable permanent crops alive. Valley growers are already taking...