The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities has announced another program in its ongoing series about food access and security:
What: Deserted: How to Solve the Crisis of Poor Access to Healthy Food
When: Thursday, May 1, 2008 beginning at 7:00pm
Where: The California Endowment, 1000 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles 90012
Cost: Free admission and parking, but reservations are required. (See below.)
In 2005, California had more than four times as many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as it did produce vendors and grocery stores. Such a dearth of eating options has turned many places in the state—-namely low-income communities and communities of color—-into "food deserts."
This public program will explore the problems surrounding the lack of access to healthy food, how that affects the obesity epidemic, and what we can do to ensure that all California communities have fresh and healthy food available.
The format will be a panel discussion moderated by Jerry Hirsch, a food industry staff writer for the Los Angeles Times. The panelists will be Duane Perry, founder of The Food Trust, Jan Perry, Los Angeles City Councilmember, and Amanda Shaffer, director of communications and researcher at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College.
Light refreshments will be served. The event will last approximately an hour and a half.
Reservations should be made online. Questions should be directed to rsvpchc@calendow.org.
For more information about The California Endowment's programming on this subject, visit their website.
† The cost of food: Lots of news in the last week about rising food prices, their current effects, and likely future effects:
++ Marion Nestle cites several articles, including pieces in The Economist and The Washington Post in her blog entry, "Food Price Misery".++ Andrew Martin and Kim Severson of the New York Times consider the effect on organic food in their April 18 article, "Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles." (Thanks to Arthur Greenwald and others who forwarded a link to this piece.)
++ Meanwhile, UNESCO has issued a report on the state of world food resources (the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, also known by the acronym IAASTD) and has called for a range of changes in agricultural practices. The BBC News website summarizes the report and provides a link to download the report's executive summary in pdf form. The summary looks at issues linked closely to food production concerns including poverty, environmental sustainability, food security, health and nutrition, and bioenergy.
++ And in today's New York Times, Andrew Pollack examines whether tough economic times and rising food costs signal the start of greater acceptance of genetically modified foods.
++ Michael Pollan asks, "Why Bother?" going green: Is buying locally grown products better? Are local efforts just a drop in the proverbial bucket?++ And this roundup of carbon-footprint and food-related tidbits
† Sustainable Eating in the Palisades: Palisades Cares is presenting an "environmental evening" on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, from 7:00pm until 8:30pm at Kehillat Israel, 16019 West Sunset Boulevard, in Pacific Palisades. Evan Kleiman (the founder of Slow Food Los Angeles, owner of Angeli Caffe, and host of "Good Food" on KCRW), Amelia Saltsman (author of The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook), and Molly Gean of Harry's Berries in Oxnard will discuss what it means to eat sustainably and why we should choose to do so. The event is free but reservations are required: Contact Palisades Cares by email to info@palisadescares.org or by phone to 310.459.1614.
We've just learned that King Corn, the documentary about which we've written before, will air on the "Independent Lens" program on PBS stations beginning this evening, April 15. Visit pbs.org for broadcast dates and times.
Digging out from a few busy weeks and catching up on news of interest to Slow Food members and friends...
† Bill Moyers' Journal and food policy: Tune in or set the recorder: Bill Moyers will turn his attention to food policy:
As food prices go sky high and millions go hungry in America, why are tax dollars being spent on farmers who don't farm? Bill Moyers' Journal teams up with the PBS series Exposé: America's Investigative Reports to follow the trail of Washington Post reporters who uncovered more than $15 billion in "wasteful, unnecessary, or redundant expenditures" that have flowed from Washington to America's farmers. Then, the Journal looks at shortages in America's food banks, and Bill Moyers talks with David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, about challenges of combating hunger and the new farm bill being negotiated in Congress.Check your local/digital/cable listings for air dates; some information available at pbs.org.
† What's going on with the Farm Bill?: Dan Imhoff updates us in Thursday's Los Angeles Times.
† Food policy and the presidential candidates: Thanks to Marion Nestle for sharing a link to Alexandra Lewin's summary of the candidates' positions on food policy issues. Food policy questions might rank below climate change on the priority list of candidate questions this election year, so we're grateful to Ms. Lewin (and to Dr. Nestle) for the information, and we'll continue to post such summaries or Q&As as they come to our attention.
† "How to be a foodie without breaking the bank": Novella Carpenter describes one person who demonstrates that how and what we eat is largely a matter of choice and not dependent solely on the size of our bank account.
† "As Prices Rise, Farmers Spurn Conservation Program": It's no secret that the federal government pays many farmers not to farm. In the current economic climate, however, some are finding less benefit in such guaranteed payments. The New York Times considers the effects.
† "Monsanto's Harvest of Fear": Food policy in Vanity Fair? Yes, at least in the May 2008 issue, where Donald Barlett and James Steele turn a bright light on a dark side of mega-agribiz:
Monsanto already dominates America's food chain with its genetically modified seeds. Now it has targeted milk production. Just as frightening as the corporation's tactics--ruthless legal battles against small farmers--is its decades-long history of toxic contamination.
† Speaking of toxic contamination...: The testing of samples of Italian buffalo mozzarella has shown elevated levels of dioxin, possibly the result of illegal trash dumping in and near Naples. News such as this underscores the need for environmental approaches to food safety and quality.
† Ending this list on a brighter note...: Thanks to Judi Bikel for reminding us to look at "When Push Comes to Chèvre" in the New York Times' T Magazine online.