Fall 1995 (v7n4)
Endangered Peaches & More
Epitaph for a Peach, by David Mas Masumoto, HarperCollins, 237 pages, 1995, $20. Masumoto, a third generation California farmer, writes about his peach and grape farm in Fresno County, and about his choice to continue growing delicious Sun Crest peaches with limited shelf life. Rave reviews in the New York Times Review of Books and the Atlantic Monthly extol Masumoto's descriptions of the daily uncertainties of farmers. A cooperator on a UC SAREP project, Masumoto has long been a chronicler of the complexities of farm life. Available at bookstores.
Bioengineering & Sustainability
A Garden of Unearthly Delights: Bioengineering and the Future of Food, by Robin Mather, Dutton, 195 pages, 1995, $23.95. Mather, the food editor of The Detroit News, details the way bioengineering could change the way we grow, eat and think about food. She shows consumers the link between farmers and their grocery baskets. Mather explains sustainable agriculture, compares genetically engineered tomatoes and farmers' market tomatoes, discusses the implications of dairy cows being treated with recombinant bovine growth hormone, and compares free range vs. supermarket chickens. Available at bookstores.
Edible Plants
A Taste of Nature: Edible Plants of the Southwest and How to Prepare Them, by Kahanah Farnsworth, Sunbelt Publications, 197 pages, $10. This field guide to edible plants includes three sections on each plant. A drawing of each plant appears on the left side of the page, and on the right side are descriptions and information about it (uses, comparisons with other plants), and a recipe. To order, send checks or money orders for $10, plus $2 shipping and handling (add $0.70 tax for California residents) to Kahanah Farnsworth, 14135 Ezra Lane, Poway, CA 92064; Tel: (619) 4864083.
Food Policy
Shifting the Burden, by Laurie True, Ed Bolen and Wendi Gosliner, 13 pages, 1995. Published by the California Food Policy Advocates, this report analyzes the impact of Congressional food block grant proposals on all 58 California counties. Statistics on participation, and data on the economic contributions of the federal food programs in each county are included. For a free copy of the report, hich is available in individualized versions for every California county, contact California Food Policy Advocates, Tel:(415) 2910282.
Ag Coops
Two publications on agricultural cooperatives are available from the University of California Center for Cooperatives. Starting an Agricultural Marketing Cooperative (45 pages, 1994, $10), includes market research and feasibility studies, as well as finance and cooperative incorporation information to guide new agricultural marketing cooperatives from conception to operation. Sample legal and accounting documents are included. California Agricultural Cooperatives: Managers' Strategies and Attitudes Towards Finances and Risk, by Steven C. Blank and Robert Thompson (30 pages, 1994, $6), describes agriculture's changing risk environment, and details the practices of cooperatives in borrowing, lending and financial services. Both publications available from the Center for Cooperatives, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; Tel: (916) 7522408. Checks payable to UC Regents; $3 postage and handling per order.
Fruit Trees
Orchard Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to Healthy Fruit Trees, by Steve Page and Joseph Smillie, 176 pages, agAccess, $16.95. New, revised edition is aimed at commercial orchardists and backyard fruit growers who want to grow healthy fruit trees using less pesticides. A strict organic approach, as well as integrated pest management techniques are detailed. Order from agAccess, Tel: (916) 7567177; Fax: (916) 7567188. Add $4 shipping and $1.22 tax for California residents.
Farm Bill
Agriculture and the Environment: Listening to the Grassroots, 48 pages, 1995, Soil and Water Conservation Society. This report provides a crosssection of citizen opinion in eight U.S. focus groups and identifies 12 issues to be addressed in the 1995 Farm Bill: commodity program reform; conservation compliance; farmland protection; private, nonindustrial forestland management; private property rights; reorganizing agricultural agencies; sustainable agriculture; water availability and use; water quality; wetlands conservation; and wildlife restoration. The report includes a forward by Paul Johnson, chief of the USDANatural Resources Conservation Service; an executive summary and a list of panel presenters. Copies re available from SWCS for $15 ($12 for SWCS members) plus $3.50 shipping and handling. Send orders to Soil and Water Conservation Society, 7515 NE Ankeny Road, Ankeny, IA 500219764; Tel: (800) 8437645 or (515) 2892331; Fax: (515) 2891227.
Food Systems Newsletter
Community Food Security News is a newsletter produced by the Community Food Security Coalition, a coalition of sustainable agriculture, community gardening, farmers' markets, environmental and community development organizations. The newsletter disseminates information about the coalition's two main goals: developing 1995 Farm Bill legislation related to a community food system, and promoting local food security coalitions. For more information contact Mark Winne, Hartford Food System, 509 Wethersfield Ave., Hartford, CT 06114, Tel: (203) 2969325; hn283@handsnet.org; or Andy Fisher, Community Food Security Coalition, PO Box 209, Venice, CA 90294, Tel: (310) 8225410, asfisher@aol.com.
Sustainable Ag on the _Net
The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) established the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), which produces publications and databases and also includes an electronic mail group called sanetmg. To subscribe to this free online network send the message subscribe sanetmg to the Internet address: almanac@ces.ncsu.edu. Almanac is the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service's information server. It handles all mailing groups. Almanac also keeps an archive of articles that have been posted to sanetmg. To receive a catalog of archived articles, send the following command send sanetmg catalog to almanac@ces.ncsu.edu. If you have general questions about the mailing groups or Almanac, mail to almanachelp@ces.ncsu.edu. For more information about electronic resources or SAN's publications contact: SAN Coordinator, c/o Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Room 304, NAL/ARS/USDA, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville, MD 207052351; Tel: (301) 5046425; Fax: (301) 5046409; email: san@nalusda.gov.
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