Civil Eats

Last week’s California Climate and Agriculture Summit, hosted by the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN), made three things clear: California agriculture has a lot to lose if climate change is not addressed; agriculture can be part of the solution; there is a science gap and a practice gap, and more resources are needed to close them both.

The Summit took place at UC Davis on March 31 and the 200 participants included a diverse range of farmers and ranchers, researchers, non-profit staff, government agency representatives, and agricultural business people. Read More

Apples and apple growers are in trouble. At one time, North America had over 14,000 apple varieties populating habitats from coast to coast. But in the 2001 Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory published by Seed Savers Exchange (Whealy, 2001), the number of apple varieties available to Americans through nursery stocks had dwindled to 1,500. The continued tragedy is that in 2009, only 11 apples comprise 90% of what Americans access and enjoy. Read More