From the Bay Area to Haiti:
Creating Local Food Sovereignty

Come learn about Haiti, about urban farming or food fermenting, or just watch an outdoor movie and take part in this event series to support reconstruction, sustainable agriculture, and food sovereignty in Haiti. The Ecology Center, People’s Grocery, Haiti Action Committee, Food First, Planting Justice, Phat Beets Produce, and KPFA’s Hard Knock Radio have partnered to produce a series of events to benefit the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF) sustainable agriculture programs and to help people in the Bay Area understand what’s really going on in Haiti. Click on the events below to learn more details.

Thursday, Sept 16 Wild Fermentation–Sourdough
Sunday, Sept 19 Worm Composting with People's Grocery
Friday, Oct 1 Film Screening, “Lafanmi Selavi”
Sunday, Oct 3 Fall Seed and Guerilla Plant Propagation
Thursday, Oct 7 Wild Fermentation: Ginger Ale, Mead & Kombucha
Thursday, October 14 From the Bay Area to Port-au-Prince: Creating Food Sovereignty in Haiti

Sign Up for a Climate Change Action Workshop Series

The Ecology Center’s Climate Change Action Project helps neighbors, families, co-workers, friends, and other groups to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Through a series of free workshops, the center offers tips and ideas for how each of us can significantly downsize our carbon footprints and save money at the same time. Click here to learn more about this fun project.

Climate Action Facilitator Training: Thursday, September 23, 6-9pm

The Berkeley Farmers’ Market wins Best of the BayList!

The Ecology Center’s Berkeley Farmers’ Market placed #1 among over 70,000 votes in the SFGate BayList’s Best Farmers’ Market category. Thank you to the loyal customers who shop our markets and helped us come out on top!

Berkeleyside, a local interests blog and news source for Berkeley-related topics, interviewed Berkeley Farmers’ Market Program Manager Ben Feldman, one of the many faces that make the Berkeley markets possible. Learn about what makes our markets unique, some challenges of running a successful market, as well as Feldman’s local food hero! Click here to read the interview.

East Bay Express Article Covers Poaching

Poaching has long been a hot-button issue, but with the proposed increase to recycling fees in Berkeley, the frustration around the illegal collection of recyclables has never been higher. Reporter Caitlin Esch interviewed Ecology Center Executive Director Martin Bourque and Recycling Program Manager Daniel Maher for the article, which you can read here. [Photo by Stephen Loewinsohn]

My Health is Important to Me: an Interview with Raheem Hill

This Digital Story features an interview with Farm Fresh Choice Intern Raheem Hill and was produced by First Voice Media as a project of Heart2Heart and LifeLong Medical in Berkeley. On the day this video was shot, Farm Fresh Choice was conducting outreach at McGee and Oregon Streets, where the Heart2Heart mobile health clinic was parked to give free blood pressure screenings and H1N1 shots. Raheem’s work and willingness to be proactive about his own health are an inspiration to us all.

Measure to Ban Plastic Bags Heads to State Senate

California could become the first state in the nation to slap a ban on one-time use disposable plastic bags in stores. The California Grocers Association is now backing AB 1998, a bill that would do just that. "Under this bill, if shoppers forget their reusable bags, they will be able to purchase a recycled paper bag made of 40 percent post-consumer material for a reasonable cost," Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), said. The bill passed in the Assembly and is now heading to the Senate. Take action by telling your representative that you support the bill. And vote in the online poll that KCRA has posted here.