Civil Eats: A Review

12/8/2014

Civil Eats: A Review

    Civil eats is an activism centric website devoted to the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices and exposing the injustices of the food world. With articles exposing ag-gag laws that unconstitutionally prevent journalists from documenting the inner workings of our food system, the problems of “food deserts” or areas without access to fresh foods, and innovative sustainable farm techniques to name a few.  The site is also devoted to building relationships between citizens and their local farmers, as well as promoting youth interest in sustainable agriculture systems. Back articles such as Freshly Squeezed: The Truth About Orange Juice in Boxes underline some of the unknown aspects of our food and agriculture system that show how consumers are misled by businesses. Articles such as “Pesticides taking toll on farm workers” both show the negative effects of pesticides on our food and health but also how dangerous they are to our agricultural workers when safety is not prioritized.

    Civil eats is an important site to educate us on aspects of the agricultural system that are purposely concealed from us. By better understanding these shady practices we can begin to take step to change our actions and show our dissatisfaction in the form of action or consumer-side activism “voting with our dollars”. If these topics interest you, or maybe you just want to see some cool interviews with chefs, then check out some of these links or go to civileats.com.

http://civileats.com/2009/05/06/freshly-squeezed-the-truth-about-orange-juice-in-boxes/

http://civileats.com/2014/09/12/can-you-trust-the-natural-label/

http://civileats.com/2013/08/09/pesticides-taking-toll-on-farmworkers/

-Gabe Gennarelli

Honey and Bees

Honey and Bees

Right now all I can think about is how much I want some honey.

Over the last few weeks we have been hearing a lot about honey, and the bees that make it. We have watched a movie (More than Honey) and had a number of people from the Planet Bee foundation and from UCSF come in to class to talk to us about bees, their honey, their pests, and how much we need them in our lives.

As much as I love honey, we could all probably live without it. However, bees are responsible for pollinating at least 30% of the worlds crops. Many delicious fruits (tangerines and apples), as well as a number of nuts (hazelnut and walnut), grains (buckwheat) and vegetables (avocado and broccoli) would all probably die out without bees to pollinate them. Beyond the vegetables, many of our cattle are also fed with plants or grains that are pollinated by bees, so they would also be affected. Clearly this is not a desirable outcome, but over the last decade or so, bee populations have been shrinking rapidly as a result of disease and the mysterious colony collapse disorder where many bees suddenly decide to leave the hive and queen.

Bee hives are populated by the queen bee and the worker bees, both of which are female, and drones, the males.

Queen bees lay approximately 1,500 eggs a day and can store multiple types of sperm in their abdomens, ensuring diversity within the hive. Drones don’t do any of the work in the hive and only live for the chance to mate with queen bees from other hives. Once the drones mate, they die, and any remaining drones will be killed off by the worker bees before winter. Although the worker bees do all the work and the drones are necessary for mating, the queen is clearly the most important part of the hive, which is what makes colony collapse disorder so strange. Normally the worker bees would never leave a queen behind because they would have no one to lay fertile eggs, but this phenomenon is becoming more and more common.

Another reason for decreasing bee populations is pests and disease. The most prevalent and dangerous pest for honey bees is the varroa mite which bites bees on their necks and feed on their blood. However, foulbrood, when bacterial spores infect larvae, and deformed wing virus are also serious issues.

One speaker from UCSF came in to tell us all about zombie bees which are bees that have fly eggs hatching inside of them and eating their way out. These flies cause the bees to fly out at night, gather around lights, and wander around in circles, much like the zombies they are named after. Many beekeepers are forced to feed the bees antibiotics to ward off these pests and diseases, and now most bees in America can’t survive without antibiotics.

Clearly the falling bee population is a problem, but sustainable small scale beekeeping may be the answer. Regardless, if something isn’t done soon, we will end up like the people in China who have to hand pollinate all of their fruit trees.

Lets hope that we can get a beehive for our farm!

New Green house/Hoop house Installment!

Through the last month or so, our class has been constructing a ShelterLogic greenhouse.  This has been a pretty big undertaking, and there have been many changes in the course of actions we have decided to take.  We have had many volunteers helping us with the putting up of the hoop house outside of class, however the putting together of the structure has been an in class effort as well, with our building group providing help to those who volunteered.  The house will offer a good, safe place for the plants to grow in the winter.

ShelterLogic greenhouses are  very sturdy with steel stabilizers designed to give solid  anchoring for the frame.  With dimensions of 10 x 19 x 8, the ShelterLogic is known for being relatively easy to erect, as it comes with step-by-step instructions.  Coming with a cover that, has zipper flaps for adjustable temperatures, and protects the plants from harmful UV/UVB rays. Although the cover has not yet been added, this will surely be a helpful asset on the farm.

-Julien Almond

Farm Work Day

Last Saturday's work day was a huge success. Over 70 volunteers came to contribute to the construction of our sustainable farm. During the two hours we spent together, we continued to maintain and plant more fall crops in the beds such as spinach. The framework of the hoop house was also established through the hard work of our many volunteers. The pieces of the house were connected one by one to form a sturdy structure that will soon be added on top of a smooth cement foundation.
A salad of mixed greens was also produced and distributed around the farm. Containing a mixture a fava leaves, lettuce, chard, and mustard greens, it was a great way to get a taste of the rich flavored crops being produced at the farm.


-Morgan Yee

Planet Bee Foundation In-Class Presentation

Last Friday our class received an engaging presentation from Planet Bee Foundation, a nonprofit educational program that aims to increase awareness about the worldwide decline of honey bees.  The presenters brought in various posters of subjects regarding honey bees and an observation hive to get a close up look at live bees.  The class learned that this keystone species pollinates two-thirds of the world's crops, and without them the availability of produce would significantly drop.


The presenters addressed various factors for the decline of bees, including the use of pesticides, monoculture, prevalence of diseases, and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).  Colony Collapse Disorder is the unexplainable massive disappearance of honey bees, a phenomenon threatening the health of this vital species and the economic stability of beekeeping and pollination operations.




Thank you to Planet Bee Foundation for spreading awareness about such a vital species to humans and the entire ecosystem!

- Ruby Lucas

Update of Farm Work- Winter Planning

Cereal Rye
Grow Veg.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

This last stretch of the semester holds some big changes!As we ring in the holiday season we are also ringing in the new seedlings we've been planting to ready ourselves for winter. The cereal rye in our group beds are starting to grow and cover our farm with green. Rye is an excellent winter cover crop because it's deep roots provide support for our soil during some heavy rains and winds expected to come this season. In addition cereal rye can produce 10,000 pounds of dry crop in a single acre! Thats a whole lot'a nitrogen to add to our compost piles. Get ready compost groups! 

Inside a Hoop House
"NSAC's Blog." National Sustainable Agriculture
Coalition Hoophouse Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

In addition to planting winter crops we are starting the process of building our very own hoop house! During the winter the green house type of structure will provide a sanctuary for seeds and seedlings throughout the storms. When springtime rolls around we'll be ready to plant the first seedlings from our house! 

An Example of Hoop House
"The Door Garden." The Door Garden RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

 We're excited to welcome Mr. Stewart back to the classroom 

 and we hope for a speed recovery! 

-Dana Brooks

Iron Chef Challenge!

On November 3rd our sustainable agriculture class took part in one of the most challenging, yet incredibly fun activities we have had the opportunity to do this year. With the help of chef John, we were able to create delicious tasting (and looking) meals! 

The meals we created were scored by three different categories: Presentation, Taste and how sustainable the meal was. For example, we were provided with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables from our very own sustag farm, but we were also allowed to bring in any other ingredients we needed. The goal for these ingredients was for them to be sustainable, or in other words, local or organic materials.

We were given a limited amount of time to prepare the meals, and we were also penalized if our workstations weren’t cleaned up. During the preparation process we were given access to a stove, oven and basic materials like knives and cutting boards.

The first group presented delicious scrambled eggs with quinoa, tomatoes, onion, kale, basil, and cilantro. They also had a tasty side salad with strawberries, carrots, cucumbers and a light lemon dressing. Their presentation was simple and eye catching with lemons lined around the outer edge of the plate.

The second group made a simple, yet scrumptious batch of kale chips with sea salt with the choice of lemon. John admittedly said that he preferred his kale chips “without lemon” but also acknowledged the fact that kale chips were a crowd favorite and were yummy.

The third group created a kale burrito filled with veggies and a side kale salad. This was the most unique presentation of the day, especially with the fact that the burrito was fastened with a carrot slice.

The fourth group made a yummy kale omelet filled with kale, various veggies and goat cheese from Sonoma, which caught the judge’s attention and added a nice touch to their dish.

After much debate and deep thinking about the delicious dishes, the judges came to the final conclusion that the kale burrito won the iron chef challenge! What was the prize? Why, the leftover goat cheese!

-Jamie Ball