Making good on Transit First: A Market St. Pilot

Market street isn't working well for anyone--bikes and pedestrians have to dodge cars and buses, while buses get slowed down by traffic. A group of diverse stakeholders are working together to make Market street better--a place to be.

Starting September 29th a series of pilot projects will be aimed at reducing traffic on Market street in the downtown corridor coupled with street improvements like turning sidewalks into plazas and having more music on the street.

I can't wait. Read more about it here.

Pollan connects the dots: Health care & food policy

Check out Micheal Pollan's latest NYT article on the linkages between food policy and health care reform here. It's all connected...

A notable quote:

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases.” Not all of these diseases are linked to diet — there’s smoking, for instance — but many, if not most, of them are.

We’re spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and the many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called Western diet. One recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending over the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly a tenth of all spending on health care."

Cook Food: A book I want to buy by the box-load

I picked up Cook Food, a manualfesto for easy, healthy, local eating the other day and experienced something completely unprecedented: I had the desire to purchase this little gem by the box-load and give it away to all my friends, maybe even to strangers on the street corner.

What inspires such a feeling? This cookbook epitomizes all that is central to my cooking and eating style in a simple, concise way all for the low price of $10. It is about real, local, fresh food. It is not about elitism. It doesn't shy away from politics. It tells you what you need in your kitchen arsenal, everything from the raw materials to the hardware. It's funny. It can practically fit in your back pocket. It has simple suggestions for how to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, (yes sometimes we all need a reminder on how to make these three meals great).

But really, when I saw that the first three recipes are different versions of greens & beans, I was head over heels.

This book makes cooking accessible and approachable for even the most novice of cooks--and has simple recipes to learn from even if you've been cooking for years. Go Cook Food!

Fog city gardening celebrating the end of August

Saturday's volunteer day at Garden for the Environment: a bountiful CSA harvest in the hot sun highlighted by gorgeous strawberries and beautiful blooms. Followed by building free standing compost piles, a composition of sculptures to decomposition.

Arugula is getting a healthy start!

This week at my community garden plot, that blushing tomato turned full-on red, and two more are on the way to ripening!

Onion blossoms are my new inspiration.

Grand opening: EAT Mondays @ Minna

I don't do happy hour without food, really, no one should. But this leaves so many great spots, like the art gallery/bar 111 Minna out of my usual range. Starting tonight, EAT on Mondays at 111 Minna there will be a beautiful menu of sustainable seasonal eats at good prices ($4-10), $5 cover starting next week. Art/music/food & libations=a good way to start the week.

Another beautiful GFE harvest

I spent my Saturday morning in the company of friends new and old harvesting these beautiful veggies for a local housing service for youth!

What's in the GFE box?
Pink pearl apples (they're pink inside!), kale, swiss chard, a bouquet of herbs, carrots (from Thomas the wonder-volunteer's garden), mixed string beans, ornamental squash and loads of eating squash--just look at that patty pan beauty!

Tell all your friends: the time for healthy school food is Now.

I was inspired by a movement gaining ground at an evening talk last night--a movement to return healthy, good food to our schools.

One of the many tendrils of the local food movement is school food--it's one that never really caught my eye--maybe it was because I'm not a teacher or a parent--but last night, a panel of thoughtful speakers and at the latest installment of Kitchen Table Talks brought the issue home. School food is a community issue.

I realized that school food is suffering from the same problems facing our national food system: the commodification of the food that nourishes us and the conglomeration of those who produce, prepare and distribute our food.

Two points of the talk resonated with me: In San Francisco, the meals that kids receive at school--lunch and for some, breakfast plus an after-school snack, usually served in a black pre-packaged bag--may be the only meals they have all day. And secondly, kids who eat healthy, good food do better academically. When our school systems begin to recognize this fundamental need to nourish students, real transformation can happen.

The speakers, which included Colleen Kavanaugh Executive Director, Campaign for Better Nutrition, Lena Brook, grassroots parent advocate, and Ed Wilkins, Director of Student Nutrition Services for SF Public Schools--reiterated that the time is now to change the way we feed children at school. The Child Nutrition Act is undergoing reauthorization this year. For the first time in decades, a President is actually talking about the need for school food reform. The local food movement is gaining political will and know-how. And communities are beginning to organize around healthy food.

What can you do?

• Attend one of the 272 Time for Lunch Eat-In's across the nation on Labor Day (or organize one in your community). It is a national day of action to get real food in schools
  
• Call your representatives and let them know you want more $$ for school food. Call them, don't send a letter or sign a petition. All that counts is a personal call or note. For more info on what to say check out this guide.
  
• Get educated about school food and make it a priority in your community.
  

Do you know any great examples of good school food? Please share them!