- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Kermit the Frog's cute lament about being green was used to introduce a story in the Vacaville Reporter recently on the movement to eat "green" by purchasing organic food.
Organic producers say their products are more nutritious, safer, tastier and better for the environment because herbicides and pesticides are not used, wrote freelance reporter Elizabeth Long.
Critics, however, say organic agriculture requires more land to produce the same amount of food, land that should be conserved for wildlife.
For the story, Long spoke with Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Fresno Bee's ag savvy food writer, John Obra, wrote an article for today's Life section on fresh garbanzos, with information gleaned at a recent UC Cooperative Extension garbanzo bean field day at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center.
High-protein garbanzo beans, also known as chick peas, are most familiar to consumers as dried bagged beans or cooked canned beans. Obra says the green fresh beans will be harvested during the next few weeks and make their way into the produce section of grocery stores.
The article said young, fresh garbanzo beans are so highly sought after, they can be a poacher's quarry. At the field day, UC Davis...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An Associated Press story on growing concerns about coyotes in California has reached far and wide over the past few days. Here is the version that appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Google News reports that, as of today, 181 media outlets picked up the story. The articles quoted UC Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist Robert Timm and plugged the Coyote Bytes Web site he created.
The AP article, written by Alicia Chang, says that coyote's agressive behavior seems to be on the upswing in Southern California.
"We're not sure what pushes them over the edge," Timm was quoted in...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Two ANR nutrition experts spent an hour last Friday morning on the air with Michael Krasney, who hosts the daily "Forum" program on KQED, NPR's Bay Area affiliate.
UC Davis nutrition professor Judith Stern and associate director of the UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health Gail Woodward-Lopez provided commentary on a new study from Sweden that determined heavy adults shed and reproduce fat cells too rapidly. One of the study's authors, Peter Arner, a professor of medicine at the Karolinska Institutet, also participated in the program.
Woodward-Lopez said the study adds to the body of evidence that it is better to prevent obesity in children,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Reporter Tim Holt wrote a cute feature story about 4-H for today's San Francisco Chronicle. The article focuses on a club in Oakland's "upscale" Montclair neighborhood, where a group of 4-H'ers are raising chickens, goats and pigs.
The story provides lots of details about this aspect of the 4-H Youth Development program, but unfortunately doesn't mention its connection to University of California Cooperative Extension.
