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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Santa Cruz News

First and foremost, please fire it up and make it to Redwood Pizzeria in Felton, CA on Tuesday June 29th for their Grow A Farmer Campaign benefit. A percentage of their proceeds from that evening will go to benefit the Apprenticeship. We are deeply grateful to Evan and his team of tie-dye-clad-dough-tossers for their generosity and are very much looking forward to some organic pizza and funky tunes!
(Click here for directions).


Second, a pair of interesting stories from SantaCruz.com:

The Organic Farming Research Foundation's (OFRF's) organic farming advocate Mark Lipson is headed to Washington next month for a two-year appointment with the USDA, with an option for more. He says he’ll return to Santa Cruz after completing this assignment, which he regards as a natural extension of the work he’s been doing here. Lipson's qualifications for his new position as Organic Farming Program Specialist stem from decades of hands-on commitment, first at CCOF influencing state legislation for organic certification, and then starting in 1995 at OFRF. He strives to raise awareness of and expand the use of organic farming practices in the United States. We wish Mark the best of luck in the nation’s capital, as he works with his longtime friend and OFRF colleague Kathleen Merrigan, appointed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under Tom Vilsack, to unite the various entities currently on board—government and universities and science and industry—and coordinate their efforts. Read the full article here.

Could chickens be the new dog? Some people in Santa Cruz seem to think so. There’s a new trend in Santa Cruz—raising chickens for eggs in your own backyard. Way back in 2005, Scotts Valley Feed sold just a couple of hundred chicks. In 2009, they sold more than 3,000 to avid backyard farmers, who want to raise the hens to harvest their eggs. Especially popular are the heritage breeds, which add color and flavor to the Food Inc.-style variety eggs typically available in the grocery. No permit is required for raising hens in Santa Cruz County. Roosters, on the other hand, have a nasty habit of waking neighbors up, and do require special permits to maintain in town. Since chickens feast on scraps and bugs, they are relatively inexpensive to maintain too; a flock of 6 birds will typically consume one 50# bag of organic lay pellets ($25 at SVF) per month. Read more here or see the companion piece from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

posted by CASFS 2006 @ 9:06 PM

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