Environment

“Farm to School” allies plan healthy food campaign

When it comes to food systems, there are as many definitions of “local” as there are varieties of apple. Given federal, state and local regulations, what reforms are truly feasible? Activists gathered Thursday evening in the Oakland Unified School District’s administrative hub to plan and define their healthy food campaign.

Three ingredients travel across the country

A container of pasta. A 10-pound tube of ground turkey. A can of tomato sauce. It was a Monday in November at a central kitchen in East Oakland and dozens of cardboard boxes were being unloaded, revealing the three main ingredients for a pasta and meat-sauce dish that would be served to elementary school kids in the Oakland Unified School District that Thursday. In a matter of hours, stainless steel racks filled with clumps of pasta, each in open-faced cardboard…

As gears begin to turn, Temescal hopeful for new park space

If you could turn a slab of cement and portable classrooms into a vibrant neighborhood park, what would it include? Last night at a community meeting in the Oakland International High School library, a group of approximately 25 North Oaklanders took part brainstorming what a new park could look like in their Temescal neighborhood.