Health

Berkeley farmers’ markets become zero waste zones

By Lauren Rudser and Brittney Johnson/Oakland North The three weekly Berkeley farmers’ markets are now zero waste zones. The goal is to reduce, recycle or compost all materials generated by the markets –- and shoppers are asked to do their part when it comes to how they transport their purchases home.

VIDEO: What’s in your box? CSA members look forward to spring

by Elise Craig and Brittney Johnson/Oakland North Community Supported Agriculture or CSAs are programs that allow consumers to skip the grocery store and buy their produce directly from farmers. Every week, subscribers get a box full of the fresh fruit and veggies of the season delivered to a pick up spot near their homes. Some CSAs even deliver free range eggs, farm-fresh cheese and flowers.

Stem cell ban reversal hits close to home

By Lauren Rudser and Brittney Johnson/ Oakland North Last week, the Obama administration reversed bans, put into place under former President Bush, on Stem Cell research using federal funds. See how this is affecting one local couple.

Organic roots: From the rancho to the market

By Diana Montaño/Oakland North The tropical crops of Maria Inés Catalán’s youth don’t grow in Hollister. Instead of winding through the papaya and mango trees of her native Guerrero, Mexico, here, wearing black loafers caked in mud from the past week’s rain, she steps carefully over the kale, broccoli and artichoke plants that thrive in the Northern California winter.

Seniors and health care: The musical

The patient, a gray-haired grandmother of 75, is unabashedly hitting on her twenty-something male nurse. “What are you going to do to me today?” she says coquettishly. “I’m going to start by taking your vitals, ” he says, trying to quash the flirtation. She cocks her head and flutters her eyelashes. “I think I’m going to need a bath.”

Linking public health to city planning

Many of Oakland’s community health problems can be traced to a history of bad city planning and land use, an expert from the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) said last Wednesday during a panel discussion at the American Institute of Architects East Bay offices in downtown Oakland. Sandra Witt, the County’s deputy director of planning policy and health equity, referred often to a report published last year called “Life and Death from Unnatural Causes: Health and Social Inequity in…

At Manzanita, you really are what you eat

video by MARTIN RICARD If you’re vegan and you live in North Oakland, this is the place to be. Even if you’re not,  1050 40th St., is the place to get a good meal that is both organic and macrobiotic.

Now 80, marathon runner plans to keep running

by BAGASSI KOURA In a ritual that started years ago, Richmond resident George French wakes up every other morning at 2:30 and runs 3 to 6 miles from his home toward El Cerrito BART, mainly along San Pablo Avenue. “At this hour, it is safe to run,” he says. “The streets are empty. There is no traffic. The only people I meet are the streetwalkers.” French is a restaurant manager, which is why he likes getting to work before dawn….