White House Economic Policy Advisor 10/4

LECTURE White House Economic Policy Advisor, Jason Furman

Tuesday, October 4th, 4-5pm @ Goldman School of Public Policy, Room 250

From my inbox: The Goldman School of Public Policy cordially invites you to attend a lecture entitled, “Headwinds and Tailwinds: The Path Forward for the U.S. Economy,” by Jason Furman, President Barack Obama’s Assistant for Economic Policy and Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. He will discuss President Obama’s new jobs plan and how we can get the economy moving forward.

I wonder, as I sit in this cafe with my cider, fretting over the possibility of becoming an overqualified and underemployed statistic. Trying. To stay optimistic.

Bird from the National Heirloom Festival. I think it looks a bit skeptical, or at least paranoid.

Harvest Festival

WEEKEND ACTIVITY Harvest Festival

This Sunday from 11 to 5 at the Farm in Santa Cruz. I'll paint your face if you want. Or if not, you could do an apple tasting or go on a hay ride or learn to cook. $5 please.

Fingers Crossed

BUSINESS Farmscape, your family farmer

Having been a part-time residential gardener for five years in college, I spent a whole lot of time planting, weeding, and pruning all kinds of things. It's a good thing I loved it. Anyhow, I remember spending hours each week gathering pounds and pounds of plant debris and thinking that it'd be neat if all those branches and leaves I had individually hand-cut were somehow valuable.

weeding & pruning:waste material

as harvesting:fruits & vegetables

So, fingers crossed, I get to interview for a company that answers to such an opportunity, Farmscape. Maybe I'll get to be someone's 'friendly' family farmer and we'll all get to smile and eat healthy food under the sunny skies of so-cal.

Until then, I'll be savoring my last three weeks at the UCSC Farm & Garden. More specifically, the Up Garden (Alan Chadwick Garden).

Two Days

TWO DAYS Left of Summer, officially

The Fall, reminds me of cozy times in Berkeley with the smell of leaves on the floor <3

About a year ago:

Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley

Altieri Lab, UC Berkeley

Ridge Winery, Sonoma County

North Berkeley

Heirlooms (Vegetables & Fruits)

Are absolutely beautiful and superior in every sense: visual, tactical, aromatic, cultural. (I don't have my pictures uploaded yet, so I'll try to process my memory into really descriptive words, eek.)

Today, I attended the 2011 National Heirloom Exposition in Sonoma, and I found myself - In the show room on sensory overload, feeling and smelling heirloom fruits and vegetables, wishing just wishing I could take a bite of that delicate, pale golden pear skin as I quaff its floral scent - Talking to this lovely man:



at the trade show about how his neighbor, the founder of Baker Creek Seed Company, started off his heirloom seed business as a boy at the age of 15, stapling xeroxed pages of his home-made seed catalog at the local copy shop - Asking the buyer of Bi-Rite Market whether similar 'community-based' markets might be viable in less fancy neighborhoods and finding that it's a difficult question to answer - Marveling at the general beauty of heirlooms in their intense colors, shapes, and smells, wondering why all food isn't this pleasurable to hold and look at - And lastly, feeling mild resentment build towards those dull cookie cutter lumps of pale vegetables and fruits at Safeway :(

Small Business Development

SERVICE Small Business Development Center, LA Region

Free and low-cost services around small business start-up and development, including workshops and one-on-one consulting. Centers all over California, not just LA.

GUIDE Governor's Office of Economic Development: Business Permits

Enter in your 'business type' and city to find out what specific permits and licenses may be required on the city, county, state, and federal levels.

APPLICATION California Seller's Permit

Legally required for any sales occurring more than twice per year, including Ebay and Craigslist sales! More research to come...

LIST of Farmers' Markets in the LA Region

Why? Because omg I need a job! and if all else fails, I can at least try to make one up, maybe. And for practice, maybe.

Right Time

CONFERENCE Good Food Conference & Trade Show

It seems as though fate has it in for me. Whether it's an unplanned, long-awaited reunion of friends in the Cheeseboard line, or the first sustainable food conference in LA held just a month before I return from the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems. Timing is just right.

Laden with key experts and pioneers within southern California food, I hope to hit up these talks:

FOOD POLICY & HEALTH SUMMIT (Friday, 9/16 @ Santa Monica College)

9:00-9:45 am Public Health & Food

10:00-10:45 am Food with Integrity

11:00-11:45 am Public Policy & Food

12:00-12:45 pm Scaling Up to Meet the Demand for Local Food

1:45-2:45 pm School Food Best Practices

TRADE SHOW

12:00-5:00 pm Buyers & Producers/Suppliers

LOS ANGELES FOOD POLICY COUNCIL WORKSHOPS

2:30-3:30 pm Building Power for Fair Food: Grassroots Organizing and the Farm Bill

From Farm to Landfill: Can ‘Good Jobs’ Be Part of the “Good Food” System?

CalFresh: Making SNAP a Good Food Program

3:45-4:45 pm Food Equity, Healthy Retail, and Community Driven Demand

Growing Good Food in Our Neighborhoods: Urban Agriculture, Food Security and Health in Los Angeles

Street Food: Where Food and Social Justice Meet

Now, some maybe related photos:

BUNS.

Apples on the Farm, pruning session

At Pinnacle Farm

Tomatoes