UC Blog
Biodynamic farming moves toward mainstream
Nearly 200 growers, vintners, retailers, sommeliers and other tradespeople attended a workshop on biodynamic winemaking Dec. 2, prompting San Francisco Examiner wine blogger Annette Hanami to suggest the process is becoming mainstream.
"Ultimately, biodynamic wines are becoming mainstream because consumers demand it," the author wrote. "Biodynamic products are becoming less 'kooky' and more attractive than the scarier mass-produced alternatives."
UC Cooperative Extension teamed up with Demeter USA to offer the biodynamic program and UC farm advisors Glenn McGourty and Monica Cooper were presenters.
Biodynamic farming is a method of organic production that the involves the use of fermented herbal and mineral "preparations" as compost additives and field sprays, and the use of an astronomical sowing and planting calendar.
With stores like Walmart now selling organic produce and products made with organic ingredients, being “sustainable” and “green” are no longer enough to distinguish a producer in a competitive global market, Hamini wrote.
Currently, there are 75 California wine producers who are certified biodynamic or in transition; the growth rate is 15 percent per year.
Master Gardener news feature 'goes viral'
Alameda County UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Birgitt Evans knows a lot about dirt, according to an article in The Bay Citizen. And now, a lot of people know about Birgitt Evans.
Evans sat down for a lengthy interview with reporter Heather Lynn Wood, who published the Q&A session on winter gardening, getting a garden started, composting and tools, and recounted the Master Gardener training process. The result of each volunteer's 17-week certification course, the story said, is an expert gardener armed with a wealth of research-based information and the ability to mentor others.
"Sometimes the work of Master Gardeners goes viral...and we love it!" wrote statewide Master Gardener academic coordinator Pam Geisel in her blog. "Instead of staying local, (the story) made a big splash all over the Bay Area."
Geisel blogged about her delight that the article shared a message about growing vegetables, and also highlighted the statewide Master Gardener program and it's connection to UC. Wood wrote that UC Agriculture and Natural Resources "has representatives like Evans in each California county." ("Well, that is almost true," wrote Geisel.)
The Bay Citizen story is the first in a series of conversations about gardening in Alameda.
Evans says winter is a good time to compost. Above, an MG compost demonstration.
UC Davis' Thomas Cahill one of 'The Sac 100'
The Sacramento News & Review, an independent "alternative" newspaper, has named UC Davis emeritus professor of physics and atmospheric science Thomas Cahill as one of the 100 most influential, important and interesting people in Sacramento.
"We tried to recognize those people who have made a contribution over the years, who’ve made Sacramento a better place to live," wrote reporter Cosmo Garvin. "We ended up with a pretty epic list."
Cahill was recognized for his involvement in the environmental disaster at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. His work revealed that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency misled the public about the safety of air at the former World Trade Center site, the article said. He later became a champion for the workers at the site of the cleanup.
"The debris pile acted like a chemical factory," Cahill is quoted in a 2003 UC Davis news release about his work. "It cooked together the components of the buildings and their contents, including enormous numbers of computers, and gave off gases of toxic metals, acids and organics for at least six weeks."
The conditions were "brutal" for people working at Ground Zero without respirators and slightly less so for those working or living in immediately adjacent buildings, the news release said.
Cahill speaks to the media at Ground Zero.
UC scientist tries to refute 'woo woo pseudoscience'
UC Davis plant pathologist Pamela Ronald appeared on the Dr. Oz television show, in which the medical personality promised to tell his audience what they need to know about GMOs.
Ronald was one of three guests, and the only one to support the production and consumption of genetically modified food.
"It was a tough go," Ronald wrote in a Tomorrow's Table blog post about her television appearance. "I did my best to refute the worst 'woo woo pseudoscience,' but it was difficult."
She pointed out on the program that, after 14 years of GMO consumption - primarily in food ingredients made from canola, soy beans, sugar beets and corn - there has been not a single instance of harm to human health or the environment.
However, Ronald's point was countered on the program by Jeffrey Smith, an anti-GMO activist, who said GE crops cause infertility, organ damage and endocrine disruption. Ronald said Smith's information doesn't have a scientific basis.
"We need to make policy based on the best science," Ronald said. "I would go with scientific information rather than ideas that have been put forth by non scientists."
Ronald referred viewers to three websites that she said contain science-based information about GMOs:
ANR seeks director to coordinate & lead water research & extension activities
To address the very important strategic initiative of water, ANR has created the California Water Resources Research Institute (CWRRI). Aligned with other state water institutes supported in part by the federal Water Resources Research Act, the CWRRI will be the California part of the National Institute for Water Research (NIWR) and will support research and extension activities that contribute to the quality, quantity, reliability and efficient management of California’s water resources.
ANR has begun recruitment for an inaugural director who can provide leadership and operational management for the CWRRI and serve as ANR’s strategic initiative leader for Water Quality, Quantity and Security.
We are looking for a leader who can bring together local, state and federal stakeholders to identify and prioritize water issues of importance to California and link those issues to the vast, existing capacity in water centers throughout the UC system and Cooperative Extension, as well as water centers and entities in the state and community college system. The director will serve in an important communications role, serving as a key UC ANR spokesperson on California water issues working with federal, state, regional, nonprofit and campus stakeholders to improve the understanding of and solutions to state water issues through research, advocacy and outreach programs.
Ideal candidates will have experience in promoting interdisciplinary efforts in water resources education and research with UC campus-based water centers, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and other federal and state water programs, and Cooperative Extension community-based water quality education programs.
The successful candidate will be based in Oakland and report to the Associate Vice President of Academic Programs and Strategic Initiatives. The appointment will be in the UC Academic Administrator series. Internal candidates with an existing academic title may retain their existing appointment at 0 percent time. To assure full consideration, application packets must be received by Jan. 26, 2011. Read the full position description on the ANR jobs Web page at http://ucanr.org/Jobs/Jobs_990.
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.