What did surprise me was this morning’s news. San Diego, CA has approved an urban agriculture plan for its residents which includes fowl, goats and bees. “Last March, the city received a $50,000 grant to promote healthier living and urban agriculture. On Tuesday, the City Council voted 8-0 to make it easier for residents to grow and sell food, as well as simplify rules for residents to keep chickens, goats and bees.”
 
There is a great summary table of their regulations which makes it much easier to decipher what you can and cannot do.

If conservative San Diego is willing to support their community to grow and raise their own food (especially during an economic downturn), I am sure Oakland will as well once the ordinance is proposed.

Many moons ago I read some journals that reported on the work of Robert Lustig. In 2008, his was one of the singular voices out there claiming that the behaviors that lead to obesity are not necessary the onus of the individual. Rather it may be the result of an unhealthy environment. This is especially true in the case of children.

Upon recently reading Weighing In by Julie Guthman, I am reminded again that indeed there are many factors beyond just a persons individual action that have affected the obesity rates in the United States. In fact, she goes so far as to say that the unequal presence of these factors is food injustice. She includes in her thesis a bullet list of what she believes are factors leading to the rise in obesity. A few of which are:

The built environment reflects existing social relationships and political-economic dynamics, including racial and class patterns in size, more than it creates them.

Food is cheap because of deeply rooted geopolitical and political economic interests that have encouraged overproduction and failed to regulate food production for health, safety, and welfare concerns.

Eating behaviors are mediated by a more complex set of social factors than education and access; in any case, it is unlikely that the association of alternative food [organic, local etc] and thinness comes to be through individual diets of alternative foods.

Which brings me to my next point. Celebrity chef, Paula Deen, who is known for her over the top decadent food preparations, including a hamburger in a bun of Krispy Kreme Donuts, has announced that she had Type II Diabetes. I have a sibling who LOVES Paula Deen. We argue about her because I say her recipes are disgusting, look bad, unhealthy and irresponsible. My sibling argues that they taste good and Paula Deen is so fun. I’ve argued that Deen’s husband has heart disease and he doesn’t eat her food (I learned this listening to a radio interview with Deen). Now this. Its not bad enough that she has Type II but she’s kept it secret from the public for two years in order to line up a pharmaceutical sponsor before going public.

I don’t blame Ms. Deen for our national health. However, I do think she has acted irresponsibly. I also think she represents values that have lead to the ill health of a nation, and at the end of the day, 2 + 2 does in fact equal 4.

I have to admit this is the first year where the cold weather is a serious deterrent to my outside activity. I still haven’t pulled my dead tomato plants out. In fact, my planting beds are a jumbled mess right now.

January is the last month I can leave anything sitting. February is soon enough to start onions, garlic, potatoes. Though I do wonder what is to come weather wise as December and January have been so dry. I suspect February and March will be a deluge of all the pent up rain.  So may not be the best time to plant roots. I did notice my raspberries are enjoying a spurt of growth. Unbelievable to me still that I have raspberries growing at my house. They seem to exotic to me.

Though I have been indoors staying warm more, I have been busy there. Some home restoration projects and I finally got around to making candles with the wax I have been saving. It was insanely easy and only mildly messy. I looking to these gorgeous and delightful smelling candles as inspiration to kindle the fire I need to tackle my overgrown beds. That and I recently listened to a story on The Moth (my all time favorite podcast) told by Aimee Mullins (view/listen here) which led me to this TED Talk by her. A definite watch if you are seeking inspiration:

I opened the New York Times this past Sunday to see that of 45 places suggested to see in 2012, Oakland was number five. We are alongside Tokyo, Japan, Dakhla, Morocco, Moganshan, China, London (!) to name a few. And why are we listed? Because of our food and music scene. Oakland has some of the worlds most sophisticated restaurants. Add to this our bold food entrepreneurs and urban agriculturalists generating new industry and then come visit this complex city!

We are not a perfect city (whose is?). We continue to have entire districts devoid of appropriate food access. However, these are achievements accomplished during a time of severe economic constraint. It is something indeed.

With that, I have been paying close attention to the rhythm of my little farm project for the last year. I’ve also been paying attention to the amount of energy I put into the project as this is one of the first questions folks ask me when they tour the space. How long does it take? How much effort is it? My answer to them is that if they are maintaining their space to be tour worthy each season, it takes a ton more time and energy.

I’ve also decided on some changes. First, I don’t eat enough rabbit meat to require a full rabbitry (this is what I am calling my two doe, one buck set up). With several friends now keeping rabbits, I can actually seek out their bucks to impregnate my doe. This means two of my rabbits found a new home. I miss them and feel sad but I can also visit them so that helps.

I am also doing something I never thought I would do. I am clearing a portion of my main growing space to accommodate a new building project of my significant other. I wrestled with this as I have been working to build the health and fertility of that soil for nearly eight years. However, my husband is a clever man with many great ideas. So, though I have to witness my soil being covered by concrete (or some such material), I have confidence it will be well worth the sacrifice.

In the midst of this my bee colony disappeared…or died or both. It happened in December. I did not know they swarm in December and I never saw proof of this but lo and behold, one day the hive was dead silent. I checked it and only a few dead workers remained. They were just dead in the middle of whatever task they were doing like their battery plum ran out. So odd. However, with an empty hive I can now move it to a new space without risk of disrupting my colony. Though a loss for now, the timing was incredible. They also left an amazing bounty of honey behind.

Now I set out with the challenge of reconfiguring growing and walking space and try like the dickens to keep up with our Bay Area pace of the season. Good lord. We only get one month off in our season. Its January and I can already see slight buds swelling on the bare tree limbs, which means I have to prune asap. December was my only reprieve but it was a well used one.

Wow. I am finding it hard to keep up with the flurry of articles about projects and initiatives that are generating a new food landscape. Here are a few to catch up on over a cup of hot coco.

Oakland City Council approved a pilot project that will allow mobile food vendors to offer their creative concoctions in more areas around the city. In fact, we can look forward to a new year of food events through Oakland where caravans of food trucks (and bikes!) will huddle up to new areas, kind of like a lonchera flash mob. It will be fun to stay up to date and catch these hip events! Read more.

Now imagine if you will, a pod of mobile food vendors located adjacent to an Oakland urban farm abuzz with community members. If you need any inspiration as to what this could look like, read about this very thing unfolding in Brooklyn.

Wondering if this is pie in the sky thinking? Don’t think you can make this happen in your city? Well consider the District of Columbia’s “Food Production and Urban Gardens Program Act of 1986.” Read more about it here.

“The reason so many Americans are talking about inequality, is because we intend to actually drastically reduce or eliminate it. I am not opposed to working hard. But I am opposed to participating in an economy in which people like [Gene] Marks A) unilaterally set the rules and B) stack the deck against my community and pretend that the real problem is our “ignorance” of opportunities.”

That said, I am drawn to people and groups working to restructure our economic framework. Rock star attorneys, Janelle Orsi and Jenny Kassan, are doing just that. In fact, check out their article on Policies for a Shareable City: Food Sharing. Be prepared to be inspired.

You can listen to the audio by clicking here and selecting October 26th 2011 on Urban Homesteading.