Consumer Supported Agriculture, a cheap and easy way to eat healthier!

As my beautiful box of fruit arrived this week, I realized that I hadn't ever taken the time to write about Consumer Supported Agriculture and the huge benefits! In a time where money and water resources are tight, supporting locally grown food and CSA programs are one of the best use of your finances. By buying locally grown produce, you reduce the cost to you and the farmer, saving everyone money!

So what is CSA and how does it work? Different local farms run different programs. Our box comes from Farm Fresh To You and is delivered to my house every other week. For $30, every other week, I get a massive box of delicious fresh fruit and veggies. We choose the Mostly Fruit option which this week contained 3 avocados, a bunch of carrots, a pound of kiwis, at least 3 lbs of apples, 3 lbs of two different kinds of pears, and a handful of tangelos and blood oranges. The box is different every week and part of the fun is never quite knowing what will arrive. Farm Fresh has a whole variety of programs that start as low as $20 to large boxes your entire office can share at $140.

Other CSAs like Good Humus, Full Belly, Del Rio and Soil Born, deliver to a local spot where you pick up your boxes. Some farms offer produce, nuts, jams, jellies and bread. Many farms create a special relationship with their customers and offer farm tours, picnics and harvest celebrations.

Even those of us (me!) who are not big on vegetables, have really enjoyed our produce box. Other than actually living on the farm, you don't get much closer than apples with morning dew still on them when the arrive at your house. With my CSA box, there are always healthy and inexpensive snacks on my counter and more choices in the lunch box!

When the bad air isn't enough, take some poison with that!

The air is terrible and we're struggling to breathe. Old and young, everyone has been trapped in their houses or in cooling centers for more than a week. Just as it starts too cool down and the air begins to clear a little we're keeping our fingers crossed for relief. But don't put your mask away yet, the Mosquito and Vector Control folks are about to dump poison on your heads. They are waiting with baited breath for that second where they can fly their spray planes in the clearer air to spray.

What's about to be dumped on your house? Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids. To find out more read this. While pyrethrins may be easily excreted by most mammals, they are considered highly toxic to most fish, tadpoles, beneficial insects and many invertebrates. Those mosquito fish used to eat the mosquitoes in backyard ponds? Dead...

We've written about this before when the vector control bombed our house last year. So much for the beautiful organic garden we're growing in our backyard. Our opinion has not changed much from 2007. The spray is overrated and the health risks are too high to continue after a summer of bad air anyway. In last year's post, we discussed colony collapse and other risks to insects and fish.

Vector control officials are unable to say where or when they'll spray just yet, but it's looking like Elk Grove and the Pocket will be first. If you do not want to get caught by surprise, sign up for email alerts so you can at least have a minute to bring your pets in.
Links of interest:

Stop West Nile Spraying Now
Organic Sacramento
Don't Spray California

Important questions left unanswered in the mayoral race

The Bee took the least effective route to endorsement in the mayoral race this weekend, an absurd attempt to get the election to extend until November. Really people, what happens if we accidentally elect Muriel Strand? It's possible, with the Bee's plan, that whomever the candidate listed at the top of the ballot would be elected. We've seen voter mistakes before so why would our editorial board want to encourage it?

Perhaps it is time the Bee took a serious approach to journalism and started asking some hard hitting questions. I've been thoroughly impressed with the research and detail that Joe Sacramento has put into these questions and I strongly encourage you to email Mayor Fargo (hfargo@cityofsacramento.org) and ask her these questions yourself. A few of Joe's best and my favorites:

In the 2008 State of the City address you disagreed with the Corps of Engineers’ AE flood zone designation, and stated you felt the levees were “strong as ever” —-yet in the KCRA debate with Johnson you agreed with him that we are in fact in severe danger of catastrophic flooding, and you were working hard with agencies to bring the levees up to 100, then 200 year flood protection levels. Can you please discuss the conflict between your two statements?

When members of the Metro Chamber recently complained that you were not responsive to their emails and inquiries, your response was that your job was complicated, and that your limited staff “triaged” requests daily–a word that paints a picture of a frantic hospital emergency room. If your office is so inundated with inbound help requests and questions from folks in our city who need your help, how do you justify missing 125 days of work since Oct 2005?

The NNFF (North Natomas Financial Plan) is said to be in flux now, and residents have heard that a $36 MILLION rebate to developers is even being proposed. Residents in N Natomas are paying EXTRA for amenities and public safety measures that were promised to them in the master plan for the area. What can North Natomas residents expect in terms of your commitment in seeing these broken commitments repaired? And, is it true that a $36 MIL rebate to developers is on the table?

New excitement for Natomas and North Sacramento areas

Why do Roseville and Elk Grove always get to have the fun? They get the best kid stuff, the new restaurants and all the buzz for families. Well it's about time we had something fun of our own!

Funtastic Play Center has opened in Natomas! On Gateway Park Blvd right near KidsPark, you'll find a new indoor play center with soft foam for climbing, slides and more. It's designed for kids under 8 but the pictures look more like kids under 6 will enjoy it the most.

What's in it for you? A chance to hang out while the kids play and you can catch up with your friends while they run around. The Elk Grove location has wi-fi and espresso but I can't tell if Natomas does. I'll let you know after we visit.