Food
On the day after the election, as folks were picking themselves up after a night spent celebrating or grieving, Nutiva CEO John Roulac, a major financial supporter of the failed genetically-modified-food-labeling Prop. 37, was putting his best GMO-free foot forward. “Obviously, I would have loved to have won, but 47 percent is respectable and demonstrates that 47 percent of Californians want the right to know what’s in their food,” Roulac said, referring to the 4.3 million Californians who voted yes…
On a sunbaked October afternoon, as shoppers munched on sliced apple samples and children dug into bags of kettle corn at the Main Street Farmers’ Market at Nevin Plaza, artist Malik Seneferu took a break from daubing paint on canvas to explain why he plans to vote for the state’s Proposition 37, which requires labeling food that is genetically engineered or contains genetically modified organisms. “People may say that GMOs are safe, but safe and healthy are two different things,”…
The superfood company Nutiva hosted a screening of the documentary Seeds of Freedom at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts Wednesday that brought together a small crowd of food justice activists and community members from across the Bay Area.
Last year, Rob John, who spent more than 20 years teaching first grade in Kensington, decided to leave teaching and try his hand at starting a small business. He loved food and enjoyed the fare he found at gourmet food trucks, so he raised money to buy an old courier truck (think UPS), found an outfitter in Hayward, and voila: the WhipOut food truck was born. “Richard Branson chose to build spaceships,” John said. “I wanted a food truck.” On…
In Richmond, a city in which 51 percent of students in grades 5, 7 and 9 were obese or overweight in 2010 and where two-thirds of students are from families near and below the national poverty line, how to feed the children, what to feed the children — and if the children choose to eat what they’re fed — has created a world of dietary perplexity.
Richmond Main Street and the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts will team up this weekend for Saturday’s Spirit & Soul and Richmond Arts in Motion festivals. The back-to-back events will kick off at 1 p.m. on MacDonald Avenue between 13th Street and Harbour Way.
Andromeda Brooks is at it again. If she had her way, she’d turn every empty lot near her home into a farm fit for Old McDonald. And to her luck, and maybe Old McDonald’s, there’s more land to be had near the corner of 1st Street and Chanslor Avenue. Linda Schneider, founder of Self-Sustaining Communities, said the city is willing to forgive a lien near Brooks’ home and offer the lot to Self-Sustaining Communities for sustainable neighborhood-type projects. Her Richmond…
On Wednesdays a vibrant civilization springs from trucks and vans to Nevin Plaza, bringing fresh goods to the locals. Fragrant peaches, colorful heirloom tomatoes and delicate cannoli are among the many treats to be found between the 10 or so tents that sit snugly in the courtyard. And as for quality, the produce is spray, pesticide and hormone-free. Yet what some of the more prominent Bay Area markets boast, this one lacks – USDA-certified organic products.
When he was 20 years old, John Roulac had no idea that the pain and sluggishness he was experiencing while shooting hoops would lead him to found Nutiva, one of the fastest-growing health food companies in the United States, which will soon move into a new warehouse in Point Richmond and expects to hire about 100 local workers.