- Author: Samikshya Budhathoki
- Author: Caddie Bergren
Steven Cardoza farms 300 acres of organic raisin grapes with his father in Fresno County, California. He met with us recently to share his experiences with cover cropping and more broadly, his transition towards regenerative agriculture.
Steven remembers falling asleep as a kid on their tractor and following around his dad, who began farming before Steven was born, and has been certified organic for over 22 years. Steven joined the family business full-time six years ago and hasn't looked back.
Even though they were certified organic, they suffered from weed and pest pressure. Steven was introduced to the idea of ‘regenerative agriculture' and was intrigued, so he began learning as much as he could on his own. He estimates he has listened to thousands of hours of podcasts about agriculture while sitting on his tractor, and said it really came to life when he could see right in front of him what the podcasts were talking about.
Experience with cover crops
Cardoza made two significant changes from what his father had been doing. First, he began cover cropping every row instead of every other row, and second, he leaves the crop without mowing as long as possible, often as late as August. He has experimented with various cover crop seed mixes and blends, and continues to see what works best. “Nature does not like to be naked, and I want to keep living plants on the ground as much as possible”, says Cardoza.
Now that he cover crops all his vineyards, he has not seen a pest outbreak in the past two years. He also has not applied any nitrogen fertilizer at all, although sometimes he does use compost. He is most excited to experiment with cover crops' ability to suppress weeds, something that is a high priority for organic farmers with few herbicide options. Through trial and error, he is finding that barley has been reseeding along the berms of his rows and slowly outcompeting the Johnson grass. In some blocks, he has estimated a 98% reduction in Johnson grass in the past few years.
Through the CDFA Healthy Soils Demonstration Project program, he has received a grant in collaboration with the UC Coop extension in Fresno to experiment further with his cover crops. He is excited to try out a mower that ejects the mowed cover crops right onto the berms on each side of the row, further suppressing weeds near his vines.
A Central Valley question: But what about water use?
Most of Cardoza's vineyard blocks are drip-irrigated. This means that the cover crops, which are planted in between the rows of his vines, are not irrigated at all. He waits until the first rain in the fall/winter to plant. Some years are better than others, but he says he has always been happy with how they have grown. We were able to tour one block of vineyard that has the ability for flood irrigation. The cover crops were much taller, greener, and healthier looking than in the drip-irrigated sections. However, they have not been irrigated all winter; Cardoza does one post-harvest flood irrigation, plants his cover crops directly afterwards and lets them grow with only nature's inputs after that.
Advice for other growers?
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” he says. He spends a lot of time thinking about and experimenting with his cover crops and other regenerative practices. He also says he's getting the local reputation of “the cover crop guy”, and other growers have called him with questions such as how to calibrate a drill seeder. He says the trend in some of the older generation of farmers was to closely guard your secrets to success from your neighbors and he'd like that to change. “I've spent a lot of time and effort to learn what I have, and I'm very happy to share it with other farmers who want to make similar changes”. When he sees another farmer successfully implementing regenerative practices, he knows it's not just benefiting their bottom line, but their land as well, and that makes him feel good.
Learn about Steven Cardoza in the video link below who is implementing innovative farming practices to improve the soil health of his vineyard!
- Author: Consuelo Cid
- Editor: Emily Harris
Students at Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools receive no-cost nutrition education and food tastings throughout the school year if their teachers are enrolled in the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program. The aim is to instill healthy eating behaviors and physical activity habits at an early age!
The beauty of learning is that it is an ongoing feat for all people of all ages! Parents at Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools joined in on the nutrition education fun as they explored how to make healthy eating the right and easy choice.
Parents were eager to learn about how they could plan, purchase, and prepare healthy food choices on a budget, and they agreed that eating healthy can sometimes be straining on the budget, but small changes can make a world of a difference!
Small steps are the key to success.
Here are some easy ways to save money when purchasing healthy foods for your family:
- Make a grocery list and stick to it!
- Buy in bulk.
- Shop when you are not hungry.
- Plan your meals around sale food items and use coupons!
- Compare unit prices and try store brands!
- Visit your local Farmers Market for seasonal fruit and vegetable options.
- To find a Farmers Market near you, visit the Ecology Center.
- Look for Market Match. Learn all about Market Match on our blog so that you can extend your fruit and vegetable dollars even more!
- To find a Farmers Market near you, visit the Ecology Center.
Do you have a thrifty tip or something that helps you buy healthier food, while on a budget? Comment below and share with us. We love hearing from you!
Preparing a healthy recipe is always the most anticipated class activity. Learning how to read a recipe and prepare healthy meals is a lifelong skill that can be used immediately to improve the eating behaviors of our participants. Our program participants are also encouraged to keep an active lifestyle, and move more! Does this mean parents got a little taste of physical activity in every class? You bet they did!
Upon the successful completion of a four-week nutrition education series, parents received a University of California certificate that acknowledged their commitment to adopt healthier lifestyles. Additionally, they received a bag containing reinforcement items, such as cookbooks, measuring cups and spoons, scrub brush, grocery list, and much more!
Give it up for Balderas' Plan, Shop, $ave, and Cook class of 2017!
Give it up for Winchell's Plan, Shop, $ave, and Cook class of 2017!
Let's hear some of the parents' successes:
"I am more aware of what I buy, I take my [grocery list] notes when I shop so I don't overbuy. I am also reading the contents on cereal, I am saving money when I do my grocery shopping." - parent
"Estoy mas consiente de las compras, [h]echo mas apuntes para no comprar de mas. Tambien estoy leyendo el contenido de las cajitas de cereal, estoy...ahorrando dinero al [h]acer mis compras." - padre de familia
"I learned how to make healthy recipes (ranch dressing), to read food labels, and to [read] the percentages of sugar and salt that foods contain." - parent
"Aprendí a hacer recetas más saludables (ranch dressing), leer las etiquetas de los productos y [ha] saber el porcentaje de azúcar y sal que contiene [los alimentos]. " - padre de familia
Thank you to both Balderas and Winchell Elementary Schools for opening their doors and allowing us to help improve eating behaviors for families in Fresno County!
Would you would like to invite us to host a no-cost parent nutrition class at your school site?
Contact Javier Miramontes, UC CalFresh Program Supervisor, to get started!
Javier Miramontes
Nutrition Program Supervisor
(559) 241-7539
/span>/h2>/h4>/h3>- Author: Laura J. Van der Staay
This year, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center participated in both the Kings County Farm Day and the Fresno County Farm and Nutrition Day. KARE's mini workshop discusses what it takes to be a healthy plant and what it takes to be a healthy person. The students plant leaf lettuce to take home so that it can grow and they can eat it. The Kings County event attracted over 2700 students and the Fresno County event attracted over 3500 students. Left over lettuce transplants were used by different FFA programs. These events were made possible by generous donations from Greenheart Farms, The Plant People, and Valley Soil & Forest Products. Our ability to deliver these workshops are in great part due to the wonderful volunteers who come and work hard at the events. Fresno's lettuce planting was featured on the KMPH Channel 26 Great Day morning show. We also thank the respective fair staff and Farm Bureau staff.
![Julie Sievert discussing what it takes to be a healthy plant and a healthy person with Kings County students. Julie Sievert discussing what it takes to be a healthy plant and a healthy person with Kings County students.](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/29575.jpg)
![Kings County student planting lettuce with a volunteer. Kings County student planting lettuce with a volunteer.](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/29574.jpg)
![Fresno county students enjoying being on the Great Day morning show. Fresno county students enjoying being on the Great Day morning show.](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/29576.jpg)
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
“This initiative reduces hunger among children in high-poverty areas, and ensures students have access to the healthy food they need to succeed in school,” USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon said during Tuesday's visit to Edison Computech Middle School in Fresno.
“About 20 percent of U.S. households with children were food insecure at some time in 2013 – meaning they had trouble affording enough food to eat,” said Lorrene Ritchie, director of UC Nutrition Policy Institute.
The new provision allows school districts to serve all of their students at no charge to the students, reducing the districts' paperwork for the school meal program. It also removes the stigma that deterred some students from accepting the needed nourishment.
“One of the largest and most accessible means to reduce food insecurity in children and improve their diet is the federal school lunch and breakfast programs,” said Ritchie. “Research has shown that school meals are healthier than most meals that students get elsewhere. For these reasons, we are highly supportive of the Community Eligibility Provision, which makes it easier for the kids who need it the most to have access to healthy meals at school.”
“It is wonderful to see that Fresno Unified School District has jumped on the brand new opportunity that the Community Eligibility Provision offers to bring nutritious meals and snacks to all of its students without charge,” Kenneth Hecht, director of policy for the UC Nutrition Policy Institute.
“More than four out of five families of Fresno Unified School District's 75,000 students have such low-incomes that they qualify for free or reduced-price meals,” Hecht said. “Many students' families are not English-language households, and the school district has been struggling — effectively — to improve its dropout and graduation rates. Free school meals are a major element in the district's successful effort to improve student success: nutritious free meals bring children to school, contribute to their health and academic performance and let families spend the money they save when their children can eat at school to improve the nutrition quality of the meals that are prepared at home.”
In addition to being able to serve more students, Fresno Unified School District's seven-year-old, state-of-the-art kitchen enables school chefs to prepare all meals and snacks within the district, according to Hecht. “This means food can be freshly prepared, without relying on preprocessed foods that often include fats, sugars and other unhealthy additives that contribute to childhood obesity,” he said, adding, “Children in Fresno County experience a more than 40 percent rate of overweight and obesity.”
“Not surprisingly food insecurity can result in lower diet quality,” said Ritchie. “For example, in a new study to be published in the Journal of Nutrition, we found that higher levels of food insecurity among children was related to increased consumption of energy, fat and sugar, and a lower intake of vegetables. Food insecurity can also have negative behavioral and cognitive effects.”
During Concannon's visit to Computech, members of the UC CalFresh nutrition education team met and got a photo of the USDA under secretary touring the kitchen.
“We were present due to UC CalFresh's close partnership with the district,” said Shelby MacNab, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition program manager in Fresno County. “We teach nutrition and are leading the Smarter Lunchrooms movement (SLM). Computech was our pilot site and the district was thrilled with the outcome. The undersecretary said SLM was music to his ears.”
- Author: Shelby MacNab
- Contributor: Emily Harris, Evelyn Morales, DeAnna Molinar, Shawna Rogers, and Brittanny Zweigle
As the school year comes to a close, the schools we work with are humming with end of the year festivities. Students are looking forward to summer break, but always ask if we will be on campus teaching nutrition next school year. The answer is an enthusiastic yes!
As we say our temporary goodbyes for the summer, we've been reflecting on all of the wonderful experiences we've had. UC CalFresh staff really enjoy collaborating with teachers dedicated to helping children and families build healthier lifestyles. It's a joy to see children learn to make healthier choices over the school year.
Here are some of the highlights from our work in community nutrition education that we couldn't wait to share!
Teaching Yokomi elementary students how to build a healthy body
Trying new foods at Columbia elementary
Learning about edible plant parts at Sunshine Day
Teaching 3rd graders to choose "anytime" foods at Farm and Nutrition Day
The above images capture just a glimpse into the exciting world of nutrition education. This year we've celebrated alongside parents who have earned a certificate in our class series, helped establish nutrition corners to promote healthy eating, and so much more! We can't wait to see what next school year holds!
To learn more about the nutrition education happening in Fresno County, visit the UC CalFresh blog.