PHOTO UPDATE!

The 2007 farm slide show is now on our Flickr page. Check it.

Bay Area Resource

Just wanted to give a shout out to Nextcourse. They are a San Francisco based non-profit, working to "improve the health of individuals and communities by designing innovative and collaborative educational programs that inspire people to purchase, cook and eat healthier, locally produced foods."
Follow up 02.22.08: Just found out that Nextcourse currently has a relationship with Nancy and Jared's Pie Ranch, where the kids from Mission High regularly visit to see where food comes from and work the land.

The Future Is Now

Programs to keep salads germfree raise wildlife & conservation concerns

While no one argues against improved germ control, conservation agencies and environmental groups say that the new Leafy Greens rules are triggering changes that will erode hard-won gains in protecting wildlife and its habitat. For example, the rules encourage some growers to eliminate erosion-controlling hedgerows that might harbor disease-carrying animals and to keep out deer by erecting tall fencing that may block wildlife-migration corridors. Judith Redmond, a co-owner of the certified-organic Full Belly Farm near Sacramento, Calif., told Science News that the Leafy Greens rules threaten to put farming at odds with environmental goals. For the past 2 decades, she says, "a vanguard of farmers has been trying to figure out how to farm with nature [and] be good environmental stewards." More here.

New Report: Climate 'could devastate crops'

Climate change could cause severe crop losses in South Asia and southern Africa over the next 20 years, a study in the journal Science says. The findings suggest southern Africa could lose more than 30% of its main crop, maize, by 2030. In South Asia losses of many regional staples, such as rice, millet and maize could top 10%, the report says. The effects in these two regions could be catastrophic without effective measures to adapt to climate change. More here.
Follow Up: Goyder's Line has held since the 1860's. Now farmers aren't so sure.