- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The “locavore diet” originally focused on supporting small farms and protecting the environment, says the blog Triple Pundit, however, large grocery store chains and big box discount stores are now writing their own definitions of “local.”
Their definitions include:
- Grown and sold in the same state - Walmart
- Grown within an eight-hour drive of the store - Safeway
- Grown within one day’s drive - Whole Foods
- Produced either in that state or that region of the US - Krogers
- Grown in regions as broad as four or five states - Supervalu (Albertsons,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A campaign on Facebook is encouraging Americans to assert "food independence" on July 4th and enjoy sustainable holiday picnics as an inspiration to others.
The effort drew the attention of Huffington Post columnist Leslie Hatfield, who declared in an article published yesterday that "eating local food is patriotic."Hatfield contacted the director of UC Cooperative Extension in Ventura County, Rose Hayden-Smith, to get her take on food and patriotism. Hayden-Smith just finished her dissertation on...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Is retail grocery giant Vons Supermarket co-opting the local food movement? The retired director and farm advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Ventura County, Larry Yee, seems to think so. In an opinion piece published in the Ventura County Star over the weekend, Yee expresses displeasure in Vons' loose definition of the term "local."
His curiosity was piqued, Yee writes, when he noticed cherries labeled "locally grown." A Ventura County ag professional for 24 years, Yee said he came up blank trying to think of a cherry orchard within 200 miles, a generally accepted and even liberal definition of "local." He...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension takes the adage "Think Globally, Act Locally" to heart. With 52 county offices all around the state, the organization is poised for local action. Such efforts were covered by a number of local news outlets in recent days.
The Pine Tree, with "Celebrated News of Calaveras County and Beyond," ran an article on local agritourism with information from UCCE farm advisor for Plumas and Sierra counties, Holly George.
“If you eat food or wear clothes, you’re already involved in agriculture,” George was quoted. “An important part of agritourism is to...
