Agriculture Sector

Shuck and Jive: Drakes Bay Oyster Company Forces a Redefinition of Environmentalism

Controversy Over Dodge Ram's "God Made a Farmer" Ad

During the Super Bowl on Sunday you probably saw Dodge Ram's visually arresting "God Made a Farmer" ad, which set photos of American farmers in the heartland to a 1978 speech by Paul Harvey addressing the Future Farmers of America. The ad has generated a huge amount of controversy on the Internet ... More >>

French Bees Are Producing Blue Honey

Yet another sign that the end of the world is nigh: Recently a French beekeeper in Alsace found that his bees were producing honey in unnatural hues like blue and green. Genetic mutation? No -- it turns out that instead of frolicking to the flowers for nectar like regular bees have for thousands of ... More >>

5 Things You Didn't Know About Oysters

I was an adult when I had my first oyster, though at 22 I was barely one. A local restaurant offered 50 cent oysters during weekday happy hours, and my friends and I started going because it made us feel like sophisticated high-rollers despite the fact that we were desperately broke (I couldn't even ... More >>

5 Fun Facts About California Strawberries

Strawberries have been one of my favorite foods since I was a kid, so I jumped at the chance to go to a California Strawberry Commission-hosted event at Cotogna last night to learn more about California strawberries and the local farmers who grow them. Over strawberry-vodka cocktails and passed appe ... More >>

This Might Be The Best Peach Smoothie Ever

Yesterday morning we stopped by the Frog Hollow Farm cafe in the Ferry Building to pick up some fruit salad for breakfast, and instead discovered the famous stone fruit farm offers seasonal smoothies. It seemed like a healthy enough breakfast with only five ingredients -- fresh peaches, plums, and n ... More >>

Oysterfest: Show Preview

Happy Birthday, Cesar

Farmer Says State Shouldn't Force Him to Raise Chickens in Comfort

A SoCal farmer is suing the state over a new law that threatens to throw egg farmers in jail if they are busted caging hens in cruel ways, such as preventing the chickens from lying down, standing up, or moving around. According to a lawsuit filed in Sacramento last week, William Cramer, an egg ... More >>

Planting GMO Crops = Butterfly Murder

​Because the only thing that seems to motivate Americans to save the planet is to save cuteness lost, you should probably know: GMO crops are killing our butterflies. Grist reports on a new study that found that between 1999 and 2010, the period in which Roundup Ready corn and soybeans became omni ... More >>

"Salmon Fishing in the Yemen": Romance Diverts Humor

Kitchen Table Talks : Organic Dairy Farmers

Yuri Arcurs/ShutterstockHow serious are you about your milk?​What: Kitchen Table Talks. A discussion about the organic dairy industry. Where: 18 Reasons When: Tuesday, Feb. 21. Refreshments at 6:30, discussion from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Cost: $10 The rundown: Inspired by the occupy movements ... More >>

What Caused the Hole in the Local Salmon Population?

University of California, DavisBaby Coho salmon: worth protecting.​In the latest episode of their new science podcast, Field Trip, local journalists Kara Platoni and Eric Simons set out to ask the question: Why exactly are all the fish in the ocean disappearing, and how do we measure how quickly ... More >>

Our Bay, Our Fish: Local Fishermen Can Now Sell Herring in S.F.

Pacific Salmon May Have Caught a Superbug

Factory farming is being held accountable for the the rise of antibiotic-resistent staph, virulent strains of E. coli, and now a powerful virus that has killed off huge numbers of Atlantic farmed salmon in Europe. But the latter seemed to be restricted to the ocean to the east of us until recently, ... More >>

Farmageddon Cries For Small Farms and Raw Milk

​The US government is at war with small farmers who try to raise animals for meat and milk in sustainable ways. Regulations are written for -- and often by -- agribusiness. And the situation has actually gotten worse under President Obama, with gun-toting agents raiding family farms to confisc ... More >>

Comprehensive Guide to CSAs in San Francisco: Fruits and Vegetables

Contents of a weekly share from Shooting Star CSA​The number of CSAs -- Community Supported Agriculture groups -- available to San Francisco residents has really grown in the last few years. From farm-fresh produce to grass-fed beef and sustainably caught seafood, there are just so many choice ... More >>

S.F. Plays Host to Millions of Bees

Organic Chicken Actually Proven to Be Safer

Alarmed by the recent outbreak of drug-resistent salmonella in ground turkey, which killed one Californian woman? The way to protect yourself might be to buy organic. Yesterday, NPR reported that a University of Maryland study found that big organic chicken farms have much lower levels of antibio ... More >>

Millions of Bees Buzz in S.F. Backyards and Balconies

BotheredByBees/flickr​San Francisco is a gold mine -- not for the precious metal, though. We're talking about honey. Since the 2007 media furor over mysterious honeybee deaths, when alarming numbers of North American honeybee colonies suffered colony collapse, urban beekeeping has taken off. ... More >>

Mee Mee's Cow Ears and Coin Cookies, the Horror of Bycatch

​ Today's notes on national stories, local trends, random tastes, and other bycatch dredged up from the food media. Mee Mee Bakery's macaroons.​1. Mee Mee's sweets. Rice Plate Journal, my block-by-block survey of Chinatown restaurants, is finally hitting the dense restaurant zone of Powell an ... More >>

Becky Selengut Teaches How to Pick and Cook Good Fish

​ Becky Selengut, a cooking teacher and food writer based in Seattle, is coming to San Francisco this weekend to speak about and cook from her new book, Good Fish: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the Seafood Coast. On Saturday morning, she will be doing a cooking demo at the Ferry Plaza Farmers ... More >>

A Timeline of Fishing in the San Francisco Bay

What Fish You Can Buy, and When, in San Francisco

California Wants to 'Decriminalize' Immigrant Farm Workers

​The California Department of of Food and Agriculture calls for a sweeping effort to protect immigrant farm workers -- including those who traveled to the U.S. illegally -- in a new plan outlining the state's agricultural future.The plan, called AgVision 2030, asserts that immigrant labor is vital ... More >>

With Rice Paddy Art, Japanese Village Creates Tourist Bonanza

Shiho Fukada/New York TimesImages are "painted" using thousands of rice plants genetically engineered to have different hues.​In Inkadate, a village in rural northern Japan, rice is not just an important crop, a staple, it's a medium for intricate, colorful paddy art that might make Christo or ... More >>

Pretenders, Protesters Show Up For Trans-Pacific Trade Talks

www.animalliberationfront.comChrissie Hynde ain't pretendin​Foreign trade deals don't need China and Japan in order to be successful, merely relevant. And they certainly don't need to be globe-busting in order to draw demonstrators: several events are planned today as the Trans-Pacific Partnership ... More >>

Industrial Corn's Solution for Gulf Oil Spill? Create Bigger Nitrogen Dead Zone!

AP News/NASANitrogen-filled sediment flowing from the Mississippi into the Gulf, as seen from space.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Shucked: Grist's Tom Philpott registers outrage ― outrage! ― in Big Corn's positioning re: the Gulf oil oil spill. Philpott, take it away: As if being b ... More >>

Does Large-Scale Urban Fish Farming Make Sense Here?

Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago TribuneA student at the Chicago High School of Agricultural Science checks on an experimental tank of tilapia.​Our favorite morsel from the blogs. Mission fishin': While the idea of urban farming continues to crackle through the zeitgeist, for most of us it's still more ... More >>

The Humane Society and big agriculture slug it out over animal rights

Lawyers for Fishermen, Leaky Dubai Star Tanker Talk -- But Disagree On What They Talked About

The opposing attorneys' stories seem to go together like oil and water...​Lawyers representing aggrieved San Francisco fishermen and the oil-spewing Dubai Star tanker spoke this week. They can agree on that. But not on much else, it would seem. After reviewing the $10 million class-action suit ... More >>

It's an Orgy of Harvest Stuff All Weekend at Ferry Plaza, Starting with Today's Booze Bash

Uncle Lynx/Flickr​This afternoon kicks off a weekend of harvest-related activities at the Ferry Building. Free events include an olive oil tasting, apple pressing and cider making, a Barnyard by the Bay petting zoo, and live music. Till 8 p.m. today, an organic spirits (boo!), wine, and beer t ... More >>

Snacktion: Frog Hollow Farm's Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

T Palmer​Name: Cherry Chocolate Chip CookiesBrand: Frog Hollow FarmOrigin: BrentwoodFound at: Frog Hollow Farm Market (One Ferry Plaza at the Embarcadero)Cost: $3.50Ingredients: Organic flour, organic butter, organic sugar, eggs, Scharffen Berger chocolate, organic walnuts, organic dried cherries, ... More >>

Eating Unnaturally, Naturally

Just What You Need Before a Weekend of Rib-Eating: The Latest in Swine Flu Conspiracy News

i,max via FlickrGrist has a nicely conspiratorial analysis (*cue X-Files music*) of the current investigations into the origin of the swine flu epidemic. Among the highlights: The World Health Organization helped author a paper for Science that pinpointed the likely source of the swine flu as La Gl ... More >>

Plan Bee: Top S.F. Beekeeper Doubts 'Colony Collapse Disorder' Ever Existed -- and Many Scientists Agree

Buzz-Kill: Despite the press' fixation with 'Colony Collapse Disorder,' many scientists and beekeepers aren't convinced it's realPhilip Gerrie lives in Noe Valley with, as he puts it, "a spouse, two cats, and 100,000 bees." The past president of the San Francisco Beekeepers' Association is a soft-sp ... More >>

Oyster Lovers Unite

This Valentines weekend may be your best chance to eat oysters for years to come.

New Report Foresees a Short Road to Extinction for CA salmon

It’s Time to Panic. But Then What? By Peter Jamison I recently observed that San Francisco salmon fishermen, despite some relatively good news in an industry that of late has lumbered from one calamity to the next, are still pretty glum these days. That’s because a number of highly publicized ... More >>

Klamath Deal is Cold Comfort for SF Bay Salmon Fishermen

The feds’ good news: ‘Peace in our time’ By Peter Jamison For California’s commercial salmon fishery, which repeatedly finds itself pummeled by bad breaks, the past week has brought an unusual flurry of decent news. Last Friday, federal and state officials announced an “agreement in prin ... More >>

Voodoo on the Vine

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Org. Org. Throws Kegger

The Bee Buzz

S.F. beekeepers hope a mysterious plague doesn't destroy their hives.

Swing and Scarf

Get your fry on at Sweet's

Best Pastries (Outdoors)

Frog Hollow Farm

Traveling Companions

Gray whales are leading tourists, conservationists, and business operators on a rocky voyage toward economic and environmental salvation

The New Economy

The road to Punta Abreojos is paved with hollow intentions

Fins

Just when you thought it was safe to flag down the waiter, a storm brews over shark fin soup.

How We Slice It

Dish