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ROC and ROC Projects in the News

ROC in print and on radio, TV, and the web.

In San Diego, Gary Petill and Vanessa Zajfen Have KidsÕ Interests at Heart

April 27, 2011 Roots of Change

They started by defining “local.” For SDUSD, there are three tiers: “San Diego Local,” within 25 miles of the county border; “Local,” within 150 miles of the SDUSD distribution center; and “Regional,” over 150 but within 250 miles of the distribution center.

Anna LappŽ Says Food Industry is Out to Get the Sustainable Food Movement

April 25, 2011 Roots of Change

Anna Lappé, the author of Diet for a Hot Planetand the cofounder of Small Planet Institute, was in town this weekend. At a dinner last night, she spoke to a small group of movers and shakers in the Bay Area food world about how food choices influence climate change.

Want to Eat Local and Reduce Carbon Pollution? Start a Front Yard Food Garden

April 18, 2011 Roots of Change

Creating a kitchen garden is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. Not only do you avoid the carbon emissions of shipped food (or even driving to the store), you also replace lawn (that must be mowed, usually by a gas-powered mower) with food.

California’s soda tax Helping Cash-Strapped Communities Protect Children’s Health

April 15, 2011 Roots of Change

On April 21, 2011, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy released a county-by-county analysis of how much of these new revenues would be returned to communities throughout the state.

Nutrition is elementary in No Kid Hungry campaign

March 24, 2011 Roots of Change

No Kid Hungry, intends to help childcare centers and schools make better use of funds already available. The goal is to increase participation in school breakfast programs by 10% the first year.

USDA funds research on crops and climate change

March 21, 2011 Roots of Change

The federal government is investing $60 million in three major studies on the effects of climate change on crops and forests to help ensure farmers and foresters can continue producing food and timber while trying to limit the impact of a changing environment.

Itinerant Life Weighs on FarmworkersÕ Children

March 12, 2011 Roots of Change

The challenges for children in East Salinas, known as Alisal, have deep roots: during the Depression, thousands of Dust Bowl migrants packed into tiny shacks. Today, Sherwood sits on a fault line of violence between the Hebbron Heights Surenos (blue) and the Fremont Street Nortenos (red) street gangs; a first grader was wounded by gunfire last year hiding behind a play structure.

Climate-smart agriculture is needed

March 2, 2011 Roots of Change

Agriculture must become central to future climate-change discussions, because it contributes a "significant" proportion of global carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions.

DonÕt End Agricultural Subsidies, Fix Them

March 1, 2011 Roots of Change

Imagine support designed to encourage a resurgence of small- and medium-size farms producing not corn syrup and animal-feed but food we can touch, see, buy and eat — like apples and carrots — while diminishing handouts to agribusiness and its political cronies.

Farmers Worry As Unually Cold Temps Grip CA

February 26, 2011 Roots of Change

Almond growers and other tree fruit farmers in Central and Northern California are bracing for possible crop damage this weekend as unusually cold temperatures gripped the state and set low-temperature records.