One way of hiding sugar in your food is to give it different names, break it down into smaller ingredient amounts so it doesn't seem like it is the leading ingredient (when it is) and slap words like "bran" or "natural" or "whole grain" and "good source of fiber" on it. Assume the average consumer (or the U.S. Government) doesn't know or doesn't care and abracadabra - your food is "Generally Regarded as Safe!" And, if some respectable doctor or scientist like Dr. Robert Lustig says that sugar is a leading cause of disease in our diet, just call him a radical member of the food police.

Poverty is spreading, and the suburbs aren't immune.

Poverty has risen dramatically in the Bay Area over the last decade. Hard to believe? Read this article.

"While the poor are with us everywhere in greater numbers than ever before, the authors of "Confronting Suburban Poverty in America" conclude that the Bay Area's two largest metropolitan areas have experienced the spread of this scourge in starkly different ways. The percentage of people living in poverty in the suburbs rose 56.1 percent in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area from 2000 to 2011, compared to 64 percent nationwide. The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metropolitan region surged 53.1 percent. But Silicon Valley experienced a corresponding rise (49 percent) among its urban poor, while in San Francisco, inner-city poverty increased by only 18.4 percent."

From the original report by the Brookings Institution:

"It has been nearly a half century since President Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty, setting in motion development of America’s modern safety net. Back in the 1960s, tackling poverty “in place” meant focusing resources in the inner city and in isolated rural areas. The suburbs were home to middle- and upper-class families—affluent commuters and homeowners who did not want to raise kids in the city. But the America of 2012 is a very different place. Poverty is no longer just an urban or rural problem but increasingly a suburban one as well.

In Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube take on the new reality of metropolitan poverty and opportunity in America. For decades, suburbs added poor residents at a faster pace than cities, so that suburbia is now home to more poor residents than central cities, composing over a third of the nation’s total poor population. Unfortunately, the antipoverty infrastructure built over the past several decades does not fit this rapidly changing geography. The solution no longer fits the problem. Kneebone and Berube explain the source and impact of these important developments; moreover, they present innovative ideas on addressing them."

Thars' Carbon in Them Thar Trees!

"Wild new way to make money" from urban trees?

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/05/wild-new-way-make-money-urban-trees/5567/

Agroecology and Peasant Agriculture

If you are not already familiar with his research, I would highly recommend looking at the work of Miguel Altieri because he is among the foremost academics that have been looking at peasant agriculture and agroecology. Altieri’s research contradicts commonly held beliefs and assumptions that peasant agriculture is less productive than large scale western style mechanized agriculture. 

Here is some quick references off the web:

http://globalalternatives.org/taxonomy/term/12/

http://agroeco.org/doc/LApeasantdev.pdf

http://www.agroeco.org/doc/agroecology-engl-PNUMA.pdf

http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/mountains-in-balance/indigenous-knowledge-re-valued-in-andean/

and some of his books: https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Miguel+A+Altieri%22

A quote from http://www.agrination.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23:-theres-a-better-way-to-feed-the-world&catid=2:news&Itemid=5:

With starvation threatening one-sixth of the world’s population, and the West’s technological solutions called into question—the Green Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s failed to solve the problem, and now the Gene Revolution, or agricultural biotechnology, is under increasing attack—many think it’s time for another way. Berkeley’s Miguel Altieri, an associate professor of insect biology in the College of Natural Resources, has a world-wide reputation for his alternative solution: “agroecology,” or sustainable agriculture, which respects the knowledge of indigenous peoples, protects the environment, and promotes social equity.

“I was trained in the West,” says Altieri, “but after studying ancient agricultural systems, I realized that Western knowledge is inadequate to deal with the complexities of Third World agriculture.” Altieri has an impressively broad range: he works in the fields alongside the world’s poor farmers, writes influential books and articles about the principles he champions, and attends conferences around the world, speaking out against biotechnology and in favor of agroecology. His advice has been sought by peasants, a Prince, and the Pope.”

I consider his work essential reading that underscores the values of biologically and human intensive agriculture -- particularly relevant to urban agriculture systems.

The job of the company leader now is changing fast: "You have to think of yourself not as a designer but as a gardener" --seeding, nurturing, inspiring, cultivating the ideas coming from below, and then making sure people execute them.

-Jeff Bezo

Transformation of a farm in Silicon Valley

In December 2011, more than 1,000 NVIDIA employees, friends and family members will donate their elbow grease to help Full Circle Farm make the various infrastructure upgrades that are needed to transform Full Circle Farm into a fully sustainable farm – both in terms of the environment and finances. They will work the soil and provide new irrigation to improve crop production. The NVIDIA volunteers will also build a new farm stand, greenhouse, packing facility, and an outdoor teaching kitchen (which we use to educate thousands of children and adults about where their food comes from).  More about the project is described here: http://blogs.nvidia.com/2011/08/transforming-health-nutrition-inspiring-challenge/

Study debunks myths on organic farms

Study debunks myths on organic farms