February Market

This past week in Sustainable Agriculture we had a market during 7th and after school on friday the 7th, changed management jobs, and turned in our food reports along with a socratic seminar. The first half of the market I was unable to sell anything, however when I went to the drama room I managed to persuade two students into buying some quality lavender, swiss chard, and a lemon. As the bell I sold three potatoes to a student, so I am quite happy with how much I sold. Previously my bed group was working on maintenance, building paths and making sure the shed was organised and that every tool was accounted for. Now we have switched to companions, in which we will survey the farm for wildlife that visit and record it and pull invasive plants. The biggest assignment of the year, the food report was due this week. Lots of well researched and written reports of how some food products are made. Focusing on how the ingredients are grown, the impacts of that, how far the ingredients travel, how it is processed into its final form, how it is packaged, and more sustainable local alternatives. This culminated in a discussion about the impact of consumers and the individual, what we should do to improve in the future, and more. As you can tell it was a busy week, but it resulted in some great work being done! --Hobie

Where is your food coming from?

By: Bruna Faria

 

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been focusing on the topic of "food" in Sustainable Agriculture. Learning about where our food comes from, the main ingredients, how methods of growing food are unsustainable, and discovering ways we could improve this very broken system.

After researching deeper into my specific food, I found that most of the foods we eat on a daily basis are very unsustainable, whether it's the ingredients that are used to make it, the ways its packaged, or the distance it has to travel in order to get to you. My food was "pao de queijo" a traditional Brasilian snack. I grew up eating this but never went into looking at the things I was consuming. I researched a brand of Pao de queijo called Fogo de minas which are imported from Brasil and sold as a frozen item at supermarkets across the U.S. The brand itself is very environmentally friendly, using ingredients grown near them, and reusing all the water used for gardening. For people living in Brasil, this snack is pretty sustainable, but for us that are here in the U.S., it's not as much. As an alternative, many Brasilians living in the united states prefer to make their pao de queijo from scratch, adding more of a "home-y" feel to it. 

Throughout discussions in class, we all came to an understanding that there is a lot we can do to help make our diet more sustainable. Buying more local products is something many people have the opportunity of doing, buying local foods grown and made near them. Here in Marin, there are lots of ways of getting these local products, whether it's at the supermarket or going to the farmers market. Making food at home as frequently as possible, using those products. Even though the cost may rise a bit with local products, it will definitely taste amazing, and make a difference for the environment. Getting more people to understand this concept of food miles will help us as a community to become more sustainable as a whole.

Bees at Redwood SustAg

Hello SustAg community! 

I am Elsa Davis, Redwood's beekeeper! I wanted to inform you all on what has been going on with the hive lately. Sadly, over the summer our bees disappeared. I belive that our bees left due to having too large of a hive to protect or in an attempt to escape a disease. In light of this, I have been working on restoring and renovating the beehive to make it welcoming for our new nuc (nucleus colony) that will be purchased in the Spring from a local beekeeper. With the help from two other SustAg students, invasive species were removed from the marshy clearance where the hive is located near the school. The beehive was then brought to my house where it was sanded and sterilized. A heat gun was used to kill any remaining bacteria that may have caused the disappearance of the old hive. In order to sterilize the used racks, leftover wax was scraped off, then each rack was dipped into a large pot of boiling water. Most recently, Devon Ball, an RHS AP Environmental Science student and artist, worked with me to paint the beehive to help inspire our new bees to create an abundance of sweet, nutritious honey for our community to enjoy.