ANR news blog

Meat buying made easy

The San Francisco Chronicle today includes a brief story about new meat clubs forming in the Bay Area.The idea is borrowed from small-scale farms who offer subscriptions to their farms in programs called community supported agriculture (CSA). The subscriber receives a box with a variety of fruits and vegetables each week. Instead of farm-fresh produce, the meat CSAs offer speciality meats, like grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, local pork or goat meat.

The Chronicle article details three Bay area meat CSAs and touches on a Sonoma County meat club initiated by UC Cooperative Extension.

UCCE's Sonoma County Meat Buying Club has been surprised by the demand, the article said.

"We were hoping for 50 in the first month and shipped to 66. Now we're up to 140 members," the story quoted Jacqueline Rotlisberger, club coordinator.

For more on the Sonoma County Meat Buying Club, check out the club's blog.

UCCE advisor's media relations may save lives

UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension natural resources specialist Doug McCreary knew it was a matter of life or death . . . . This spring, landowners were wondering whether they should yank out oak trees that were uncharacteristically brown or bare.

McCreary took quick action to save trees' lives. He gathered information for a news release assuring people the die-back was probably not a sign of Sudden Oak Death and urging them to wait at least a year before pulling out trees. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and run in several Northern California newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News.

The AP article included McCreary's points that many oaks in the Sierra foothills and along the North Coast have been left leafless this spring because of a cold snap, not disease. Most trees should recover.

Meg McConahey of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat called McCreary to localize the story. Her article said landowners and forest stewards on the North Coast are particularly sensitive to oak health because of the devastating spread of SOD. "Sonoma is by far the hardest hit of 14 counties now under state quarantine in California," the article said.

Oak tree damaged by spring frost.

UC expert comments on Santa Cruz fire

UC Cooperative Extension natural resources advisor for Sutter and Yuba counties Glenn Nader provided expert commentary to San Francisco TV station KRON Channel 4 yesterday, providing a wealth of fire safety information to the Bay Area community during a teachable moment.

The story was prompted by the Santa Cruz summit fire. Nader noted on the air that he conducts field research for UC and works with homeowners and communities to reduce the risk of structure damage when a fire occurs.

"You will never be able to get rid of all the risk," Nader told the reporters during the live phone interview. "You're just reducing the risk to your house by doing the right things."

Nader specifically mentioned using bird stops on roof openings to prevent birds from building nests, which can be ignited by a flying ember. He suggested homeowners pay particular attention to the 10 feet area immediately surrounding the house.

"Embers go off the roof and accumulate there," he said. "Flammable material around that house - that’s probably the worst thing."

Nader admonished listeners to "look at the house intently and continuously throughout the year."

 

 

Capital Press runs feature on new ANR vice president

The weekly, ag-oriented newspaper, Capital Press, ran a feature in its most recent issue on the new vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Dan Dooley.

The article said Dooley declined when it was first suggested he interview for the position. But his response changed, according to the article, when he learned UC ANR was changing its approach.

"The department was seeking unconventional candidates who could approach the department's longtime budget difficulties creatively - largely by raising ANR's engagement with the state's growing environmental issues," the article says.

The story noted that California is facing growing environmental regulations and shrinking public funding. The current state budget shortfall comes after UC ANR's funding had already declined steadily for a decade. Dooley told the paper he created a task force to formulate a "direct strategy" for pursuing funding.

"I think we've got to get engaged," he is quoted. "We have a broader and more diverse (body of stakeholders) than anybody in the university."

Reporter Wes Wessander included quotes in the article from a winegrape growers association leader and a project manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

California Association of Winegrape Growers President Karen Ross:
"Agriculture needs to tackle so many issues that it didn't have to before. One person is being pulled 10 different directions because of the needs that are here that weren't 10 years ago."

NRDC's Jonathan Kaplan: "I think this is a very exciting time at the university with Dan's leadership. It's very unfortunate that Dan is walking into this job with the university staring at another round of budget cuts. He has talked about the need to make agriculture a higher-profile part of the university, and I think that is the right direction to go."

 

Dooley assumed his new role in January 2008.

Ventura 4-H reporters produce newspaper supplements

A group of UC Cooperative Extension 4-H members in Ventura County who participated in agricultural and natural resource journalism academies produced informative and creative newspaper supplements that were distributed to tens of thousands of Ventura County residents. The supplements are written "by kids and for kids."

The most recent one, "Fish on Your Dish," went to nearly 80,000 residents with copies of the Ventura County Star last month. The supplement includes articles titled "What is Commercial Fishing?" and "Commercial Fishing Operations of the Santa Barbara Channel." Brief features take on the topics of squid, wetfish, sea urchins and many other sea creatures. "Fish on Your Dish" will be available on the Ventura County Web site after June 9.

The tabloid-style newspaper supplements include fun facts, clever graphics and lots of activities. Ventura County 4-H is planning two more journalism academies this summer and fall, the first focusing on marine resources and the second on issues related to food systems, which will lead to additional publications.

The first supplement in the series, "Fields to Fridge: What's Growing in Ventura County," was distributed in March 2007. Through newspaper and other distribution channels, it has reached 200,000 readers. For more details on that supplement, see the UC Delivers article on the topic.

 

The April 2008 supplement "Fish on Your Dish."

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