California must reform meat supply chain if Sacramento wants to stay Farm to Fork capital
September 16, 2021 Michael R. DimockAmid Sacramento’s annual Farm to Fork celebration, a glaring contradiction remains: The pandemic and this summer’s ransomware attack on JBS (the world’s largest meat processor) disrupted the four industrial processors centered in the Midwest and South. Together they supply the vast majority of California’s meat. California’s small- and mid-scale livestock and poultry producers lost access to […]
Read MoreOp-Ed: California Health Equity Fund Will Improve Health and Resilience Through Healthy Food Systems
June 23, 2021 Michael R. DimockAccess to healthy food systems impacts every aspect of our lives. When hungry stomachs diminish students’ ability to focus, learn, and retain information, their education suffers. In adults, lack of access to nutritious foods leads to overall poor health and chronic illnesses such as heart disease, hypertension and type 2 diabetes – negatively impacting their […]
Read MoreLet’s Feed LA: emergency food relief reveals the power of collaboration
March 20, 2021 Michael R. DimockAt about the time the pandemic hit in March 2020, ROC had entered a partnership with Wholesome Wave to aid them in bringing a new nutrition incentive technology to under-resourced families in Los Angeles and Sacramento counties. But with a request from the Los Angeles County Emergency Food Security Branch, ROC and Wholesome Wave had […]
Read MoreThe Larta Institute Offers Good News in Hard Times
August 20, 2020 Michael R. DimockThere are fires in all directions of the nine Bay Area counties of northern California and over 370 statewide. All of this in the midst of serious level of Covid-19 infections in our state. This is the scenario I feared as COVID took hold in March and April. The climate crisis exhibits a horrifying growth […]
Read MoreGiving Thanks
November 25, 2019 Michael R. DimockImage: Ali Ghiorse (Left) and Rachel Khanna, hosts of Creative Conversations. I am back in California after three weeks on the road. I traveled to southern Baja in Mexico to rest with three friends, then to New York and Connecticut to record eight podcasts for season two of Flipping the Table. In each place, I […]
Read MoreRice and Wine Creating a Great Blend for California’s Ecosystem
July 8, 2019 Michael R. DimockOne might not typically put rice and wine together in their minds. Rice and beer or wine and pasta would be less surprising. But that’s if you are thinking about your next meal. If you are considering the ecological activities of farmers, rice and wine blend nicely. In California, there are no crops that have […]
Read MoreThe Los Angeles Food Policy Council: A model for the nation
June 25, 2019 Michael R. DimockMore than at the state level, and certainly more than at the federal level these days, food activists have traction in cities and counties. They are making good things happen. The best example I can think of is the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. On Thursday, June 21st, the summer solstice, I travelled to LA […]
Read MoreROC and Grassroots Allies Help Move Transformative Bill Forward
April 10, 2019 Michael R. DimockRoots of Change Reaction to the April 9, 2019 Historic Vote in the Assembly Health Committee to Make California Healthy with A 2-cent tax on sugary drinks. We are a long way from the finish line, but the California Assembly Health Committee made a historic first step by advancing Assembly Bill (AB) 138, the California […]
Read More4 Minutes on Healthy Food and Farming: Food is the Basis to our Health
April 2, 2019 Michael R. DimockThis is Flipping the Table and I am Michael Reid Dimock with four minutes on Healthy Food and Farming. Food is pleasure. Food is culture. Food is nutrition, the basis of our health. And that is my focus today. Our nation has a malnutrition challenge. There is a two headed monster running amuck. One is […]
Read More3 Minutes on the Food Movement: Progress is Evident
March 19, 2019 Michael R. DimockThis is Michael Reid Dimock with three minutes on the food movement, a series within the weekly podcast, Flipping the Table, sponsored by Roots of Change and the Public Health Institute. Changing a way of thinking that shapes a culture is hard, no matter the scale. That is the case with the good food movement, […]
Read More
