Food
Corey Tufts and his best friend, Wayne Pierson, founded the produce-delivery service Golden Gate Organics earlier this year. The two Coast Guard members source pesticide-free fruits and vegetables…
A 49-year-old East Contra Costa County woman is recovering after being hospitalized from the first confirmed case of West Nile Virus in the county this year. And although no cases have been reported in Richmond, the weekend’s rainfall has likely created additional breeding areas for the insects, and residents should be on alert, according to health officials. “Every year is different, and we can’t predict West Nile activity because of weather, because of how much water we get—it’s just very…
In a 5,000-gallon fish tank in a 1980s greenhouse off a side street near Fred Jackson Boulevard, about a thousand koi fish, the fish so often found in Japanese garden ponds, are busy growing lettuce. The “tank” is actually an uncovered, blue-tiled, above-ground swimming pool that local organic farmer Pilar Reber purchased at Target about nine months ago. To see the fish clearly, though, you have to walk on tip-toe to the pool’s edge because the koi are, well, coy….
When Amanda Elliott, the executive director of the Richmond Main Street Initiative, describes the menu for the upcoming Spirit and Soul Festival, she scoots to the edge of her seat and flashes a smile. “There’s greens,” she says, “smoked-baked chicken, red beans and rice, and cornbread.” The caterer calls it “healthy soul food,” Elliott says, and it’s a fitting menu for a fundraiser dedicated to the health and soul of downtown Richmond. On Saturday, Sept. 17, the third annual Spirit…
Thirteen Contra Costa County cities participated in the third annual Mayors’ Healthy Cook-Off on Saturday in Clayton. The event encourages friendly competition and is a way for area cities to show their commitment to healthy eating.
On any given Friday, Victoria Williams serves up to 100 people at the McGlothen Temple Church of God in Christ. They leave with full bellies and a bag loaded with groceries. The 86 year old, known as “Mother Williams,” has spent every Thursday in the temple’s North Richmond kitchen for nine years, prepping food she collects from the food bank and wherever else she can. But the temple is busier than usual this week, as Williams has 1,000 bags of food to…
Kaiser Permanente wants to HEAL Richmond. Not with expensive medicine or shiny surgical knives, but with good old-fashioned Healthy Eating Active Living, or HEAL Zones, the acronym chosen for a program that will help residents fight obesity through education. The program also includes a small business action plan that will encourage local businesses to promote responsible food and exercise choices. The three-year $10 million HEAL Zones’ initiative is a continuation of Kaiser Permanente’s 2006 Healthy Eating Active Living Community Health…
A group of women from local churches got together Saturday to cook a meal and mark the end of 12 weeks of classes called A Taste of Health that focused on exercise and nutrition. The group met every Saturday for the last few months—skipping a few here and there for holidays—to exercise, cook and learn together.
More that 220 nutritionists, physicians, policy makers and community activists met in Richmond on Friday to discuss ways to improve and transform public health.