Just a little fun

Naked Baer - your guide to eating sustainably

When I visited UC Berkeley campus as a field observation last month, I found a magazine called "Naked Bear"at their dining center, food shop, and cafe.

This magazine contains of lots of articles related to food sustainability issues and practices. The magazines provides Cal students many educational information with nice pictures and interesting stories, and encourages them to get involved to those action.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naked Bear Magazine was founded in Spring 2010 to educate and inform Cal students and the campus community about food sustainability issues and practices. Undergraduate and graduate students from a wide variety of academic fields took the DeCal Class Food Sustainability Journalism where they wrote articles that focused on topics relating to Cal students and Berkeley residents. - by Cal Dining
Check here to view the magazine: "NakedBearMagazine"
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Also, I have found one local food store just in front of dinning center, not as a part of Farmer's Market but as a snack stand.
Cal Dining is proud to announce its alliance with the "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" campaign -- a sister organization of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Growers' Collaborative. "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" is a group which is committed to "...helping consumers find and choose local products while building relationships between growers, food artisans, farmers' markets retailers, restaurants and institutions."
By signing a contract with "Buy Fresh, Buy Local", Cal Dining has agreed to the minimum standard of at least 10% local purchases, with the goal of 25%. We are proud to announce that already, we are way ahead of the minimum -- with up to 60% of our produce purchases, in season, coming from within a 16 county radius of UC-Berkeley. http://www.caff.org/press/CAFF_and_UCBerkeley.shtml

According to Carol Ness in sustainability progress report, "by 2008 some 19 percent of Cal Dinning purchases were sustainable, defined as organic, local, fair-trade, or humane. A preference for buying locally grown produce has been adopted. All four Cal Dining halls are certified organic and have 100 percent organic salad bars. Waste oil is now being converted to bio diesel, and much of the dining-hall waste is composted."

Additionally, Cal Dining website has a list of participating farmers on their website in order to let students know where their food come from. (I believe that SFSU should also show somewhere.) Farmer'sList
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At last, I found one movie which a Cal student is interviewing the other students about how to live sustainably.
CalTV"GoingGreen"

"Ali Wolf teaches us about how to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle by taking these simple steps... 1) Drive Less: Walk or Bike more 2) Buy Local Produce 3) Compost Your Waste 4) Stop Drinking Bottled Water 5) Recycle 6) Use Re-usable Grocery Bags 7) Take Shorter Showers."

Whole Foods Market

My classmate suggested me look at actions of Whole Foods Market for supporting locally grown foods. So, I have visited one store and their website, and there were interesting findings.

The first thing surprising me was a demonstration booth by a "local" family management store. While I was walking around the store, there was a small booth serving free samples of Hummus dip. That Hummus jar was a little bit expensive than any others in the store; however, their Hummus dips were all handmade and amazingly delicious! They provided me not only free samples and a business card but many information about their products and store, like how they make these Hummus dips, where their original store are located, and how long they can sell their items at Whole Foods Market (this was a temporally booth.) Unfortunately, I could not buy it that day but decided to visit their store when I become craving for their Hummus. (Actually, I can visit their store anytime I want because it is local!!) LOVE&HUMMUS

The next finding was the tags indicating local foods. (This is the reason why my classmate suggested me check out the store.) All products grown and produced locally was tagged like the following picture. So, the customer does not have to see small details of a label but just look at the whole shelf of the items they want to purchase and choose local ones if they want!

On their website WholeFoodsMarket, they state how the market supports local farmers. They determine what is "local" and explain us the benefits of locally grown foods.

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What is local?
Local produce is by definition seasonal. In spring in California, that means artichokes; summer in Michigan means blueberries and autumn in Washington means apples. We value this natural diversity, and each of our 11 regions has its own firm guidelines for using the term "local" in our stores. While only products that have traveled less than a day (7 or fewer hours by car or truck) can even be considered for "local" designation, most stores have established even shorter maximum distances. Ask a team member for your store's definition of "local."

The Benefits

There are as many reasons for supporting "locally grown" as there are farmers, but here are the most important ones:

A Friendly and Fresh Connection
Supporting local farm production puts a "face" behind the foods we consume and keeps us connected to the seasons, as well as the unique flavor and diversity of local crops.

Local Means Green
Buying produce from local growers reduces the environmental impact and costs of transporting product.

Preserving Character
Small local farms are a valuable component of a community's character, helping maintain agricultural heritage, preserve land use diversity, and moderate development.

Crop Diversity and Quality
Many farmers producing for a local market choose to diversify, growing a variety of crops instead of just one. This is a boon for biodiversity and your palate, since local crops are harvested at their peak of freshness and flavor.

Local Means Green — Again
Minimizing handling and transportation costs gives farmers maximum return on their investment. And most of the money spent on local production stays in the community, "greening up" the local economy.
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As their action for supporting local farmers, they offer "Local Producer Loan Program."
Details: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/local-producer-loan-program.php