Blogs

I found this story on the back page of the San Francisco Chronicle. I don't know about you, but to me, this shocking story seems like front page news!

It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be. The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May - a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.

Get a hold of this documentary and then watch it.

Click here to view the official website of The 11th Hour Documentary.

My food system bookshelf is getting heavier by the day. I thought it might be helpful for some of you who might be interested in exploring this subject to know about some of the great titles that are are out there on the subject of food system change. I am going to start listing them here to make it easy for you to find some of these books that explore the many subtopics of food system change. My list is far from comprehensive, and I greatly appreciate any suggestions for new titles to add to the list. The titles listed are hyperlinked either to the author's website or to Amazon.com.

I recently met with Lisa Hellerich, the founder and director of The HEAL Project based in Half Moon Bay. HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Learning) is a "unique, hands on, award winning program that instills healthy lifestyle habits in elementary school children while inspiring environmental and agricultural awareness through a comprehensive, interactive curriculum."

The level of collectivism at the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market is blossoming...and we are only in our first week of existence. Two local youth focused arts organizations, the Music and Mural Arts Project and For Youth By Youth have joined together to deliver what promises to be an exciting range of visual and performing arts at the market on Sundays through the rest of the summer. This is just one of many exciting collaborations that are unfolding within this new community space. Family farmers and local nonprofits are joining togehter to help feed the hearts, minds, souls, and stomachs of East Palo Alto residents.

You can never predict exactly what will interest your children once they go off to college. Recently our son began a call with “Hey, Mom, I talked it over with my roommates and we all agree that we’d really like to get a composter for our apartment.

Dreams!

“In both the industrial and the developing world, poorer urban households typically spend a greater share of their income on food than wealthier urbanites do. In some cases, poor urbanites spend 60-80 percent of their income on food, making them especially vulnerable to price changes.

"Management wisdom says that nonprofits must be large and in charge to do the most good. But some of the world’s most successful organizations instead stay small, sharing their load with like-minded, long-term partners. The success of these networked nonprofits suggests that organizations should focus less on growing themselves and more on cultivating their networks."

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal documents consumer outrage when an advertising hoax is played out upon innocent fast food consumers. The February 11, 2008 article by Suzanne Vranica, is titled "Advertising hoax by Burger King captures consumer outrage. Here are some excerpts: