Food
A listing of community meals and activities in Oakland for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Right now, somewhere on your block, a pumpkin is rotting. If you’re lucky, that somewhere is in a Waste Management-sanctioned green bin, where it can safely decay with other compostable trash, and not on your front porch. It is mid-November, after all. This time of year, pumpkins become a major player in the composting program run by Waste Management, the North American company in charge of trash in Alameda County. In Oakland, all degenerate Jack-o-lanterns — as long as they…
Despite an increased demand for food assistance in Oakland and other cities across the US, food stamp benefits have been cut as the federal economic stimulus came to an end this month, marking the end of a four-year period that brought additional funding to social welfare programs. Marcshea White, an East Oakland resident who became permanently disabled with two herniated discs in her back, and her family are just one of the 30,000 households in Oakland that receive benefits from…
At the corner of 23rd Street and San Pablo in West Oakland, dozens of people form a packed queue leading in to the free dining room run by The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County.
Rob Spiro and Alon Salant founded Good Eggs, a website where local food producers can sell their products in the Bay Area. On this site, food shoppers can load up their virtual shopping cart with anything from locally-caught fish and fresh produce, to vegan pastries and baby food, which they can have delivered to their door step or ready for pick up from various locations in their area.
Ross Chan and Ron Parvini’s juicing business, Beet Generation, was inspired by Chan’s new healthy lifestyle brought on by the adoption of his daughter, Brooklyn. The stand opens weekly at the Temescal Farmer’s Market.
Restricting food stamp users from buying soda with their benefits is an idea sparking debate in Oakland, where City Hall officials, food policy advocates and food stamp users are far from consensus on whether a ban would hurt or help the city’s poor.
Food makers and food lovers converged at Jack London Square September 27-29 for three days of music, drinks and cuisine at the Eat Real Festival.
Calls for food bank assistance and food stamps have risen in Oakland and Alameda County despite the official end to the recession.