Farm Fresh

From the SAFE library of bookmarked videos. Enjoy!

obama's food politics

I thought this might be an encouraging read during such bleak times.

From our friends at the ethicurean:

So what might we expect from an Obama administration when it comes to food policy? Maybe quite a bit. In his plan for rural America, he lays out a number of policy positions that are a departure from the status quo. Obama:

* Supports subsidies as a safety net, but calls for a $250,000 payment limitation and closing of loopholes, so that the program supports family farmers, not corporate agribusiness.
* Supports regulation of CAFOs (factory livestock operations).
* Wants to enforce anti-trust laws that so that smaller farmers can compete against large-scale meatpackers.
* Wants to cap the size of agricultural businesses that can receive government funds for environmental cleanup so that taxpayers don’t subsidize cleanup for large, polluting corporations.
* Supports Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for meat, a critical issue as we learn how widespread melamine contamination of animal feed is in countries like China.
* Wants to increase support for organic agriculture and local food systems by helping farmers with organic certification/compliance costs.
* Wants to provide incentives to encourage and support new farmers, land conservation, renewable energy on the farm, and microenterprise for farmers and other rural Americans.
* Calls for greater food safety surveillance and communications.
* Plans to encourage local foods in schools.
* Supports providing farmers with incentives that will prevent agricultural runoff.

for the rest of the article...

I am just happy to know that our President-elect possesses the word organic in his vocabulary!

Slow Food Nation 2008

The blogs were humming during and after this coming-out party for the American Slow Food movement. Critiques and analysis kept me busy reading for days. Since the buzz has died down, my pointed opinions about SFN have faded and I've come to see that Slow Food Nation was what it was. Days and days of celebrating and enjoying the production and consumption of superb food and drink.



Cross-posted at The Light Tree

Garden Party Pictures

Hello!

Here are a few images from SAFE's first event, the fall Garden Party, hosted at UC Berkeley's Student Organic Garden. We welcomed new members, made butter, pickled vegetables, raffled off tasty homemade preserves and pies, and generally had a good time. A big thank-you to everyone who helped out, played music, and came to enjoy the atmosphere.



Stay tuned for pictures from our third annual Harvest Festival and olive harvest!