Center researcher Jan Perez worked with members of the campus’s Food Systems Working Group, including UCSC Dining Services, Community Agroecology Network, and Students for Organic Solutions to develop a web-based survey designed to find out what the UCSC community thinks about food system issues. Survey results will help the groups find potential support for their work, tailor education efforts, and determine campus attitudes toward the future of sustainably produced food at UCSC. The UCSC Office of Budget and Planning implemented the survey. Asked to identify food issues and other current issues that were important to them, survey respondents ranked protecting the environment, food access for low-income people, improving food safety, improving job conditions of workers in the food system, and reducing the use of pesticides in the food system highest. The food issues that were the least important to people were limiting genetic engineering, and developing local food systems. In fact, 8% of the respondents were “unsure” about the importance of local food systems—the most people to pick that category. Food safety and nutrition were the primary interests people have in their food,container vertical farming followed by topics that encompass the impact of food production on others and the environment.
The topics garnering the least interest were the distance food travels, and the influence of large corporations. Other questions addressed interest in various “eco-labels” that represent qualities such as organic, humane treatment of animals, water quality, locally produced, and Fair Trade; whether respondents were willing to pay more for food produced with social justice criteria ; and how often people purchased Fair Trade, organic, or locally produced food. Detailed results of the survey will be presented in the next issue of The Cultivar and in a future Center Research Brief.A recent grant from PG&E’s Non-point Source Pollution Projects Fund will expand the Center’s efforts to analyze the impact of alfalfa trap crops in controlling strawberry crop damage by the western tarnished plant bug . The study also entails water quality monitoring to determine whether the use of trap crops can decrease the amount of pesticide sprays needed to control lygus populations when compared with more conventional management techniques. Center researchers Sean L. Swezey, Janet Bryer, and Diego Nieto have established the efficacy of using strips of alfalfa planted in strawberry fields to “trap” lygus, which are attracted to the alfalfa as a source of food and breeding sites . On organic farms, the strips of alfalfa are then vacuumed with a tractor-mounted “bug vac” to physically remove lygus. The new grant will expand the study of alfalfa trap crops to strawberry operations using conventional sprays to control lygus.
The study’s goal is to see whether the trap crop plantings reduce the abundance of lygus bugs and berry damage in the associated strawberry crop; reduce the number and concentration of insecticide applications made for lygus bug control; and reduce the costs of controlling lygus bugs in conventional and IPM operations.In addition, the researchers will provide growers with weekly lygus population level and crop damage estimates from the treatment plots, to use in conjunction with estimates and recommendations made by pest control advisors. This 2-year study will also include analysis of insecticide levels in runoff from strawberry farms to see whether a combination of trap cropping and potentially fewer sprays based on weekly monitoring of lygus population levels can reduce pesticide pollution originating from strawberry operations.A study on the impact of natural enemies on cabbage aphids , a significant pest of broccoli in Monterey County, appears in the February 2006 issue of Environmental Entomology . Center researcher Diego Nieto, the paper’s primary author, conducted the study on 4 organic farms in Monterey County during the summers of 2002 and 2003. He examined such factors as how the arrival date of the aphids and where on the plant they became established affected whether the broccoli head was eventually harvested . He also examined the impact of syrphid larvae , a natural enemy of aphids, on aphid abundance. Co-authors on the paper include Center director Carol Shennan, William Settle, Rachel O’Malley, Shannon Bros, and Jeffrey Honda.
Nieto’s work found aphids were most abundant on the outer leaves of most broccoli plants; these colonies did not affect infestation at harvest. This suggests that spray policies in conventionally managed systems should be adjusted to recognize aphid location as an important contributor to broccoli harvest, rather than using a zero-tolerance threshold for the presence of aphids once the broccoli head begins to form. He also found that aphid populations that became established early in the season were more likely to be suppressed by syrphid larvae and other natural enemies; hence, techniques to enhance the early establishment of natural enemy populations, such as insectary plantings, could help control aphid infestations. Social issues researcher Phil Howard’s work on Central Coast consumer preferences and concerns appears in the January–March 2006 issue of California Agriculture . Howard discusses results of focus group discussions and written surveys on consumer concerns about how their food is produced, processed, transported, and sold, and how they would prefer to get this information. The study indicates that food safety and nutrition generate the most interest, with ethical concerns and social justice issues also of interest. The majority of survey respondents indicated that food labels are their preferred source for information on these topics. Blueberries offer a potentially lucrative niche crop for organic growers that can be adapted to wholesale, retail, direct marketing, and U-pick operations. However, growing blueberries on California’s Central Coast presents challenges: most soils aren’t naturally acidic enough for blueberries to thrive, and winters don’t get cold enough to provide the chill hours that many varieties need to set a good fruit crop. To find out how blueberries can be managed in an organic Central Coast system, the Center initiated a trial of 15 high bush blueberry varieties in cooperation with Aziz Baameur, Small Farm Program Advisor for Santa Clara County’s UC Cooperative Extension office, and Mark Bolda, UCCE’s Central Coast Strawberry and Caneberry Advisor. Planted out in January 2004, the blueberries were stripped of fruit for two seasons in order to let the plants develop. This spring they’re being allowed to bear for the first time, providing the research team with an initial look at which varieties are responding best to Central Coast conditions. “It’s pretty clear that some of the more popular commercial varieties, including Jubilee, Duke, Millenia, and Ozark Blue are so far the most productive,” says Center farm manager Jim Leap, who oversees the trial. South moon is also producing well, and all of the plants are thriving even with the soil pH at 5.6—slightly more basic than is considered ideal. Leap notes that as the fruit ripens, bird predation has become an issue. He plans to install bird netting to protect the plants by early summer. The research team will also initiate a trial of a foliar iron spray this summer to see how the plants respond. “One reason you need to keep the soil’s pH low [ideally at a pH of 5] is so the plants take up iron efficiently,” explains Leap. “Testing the foliar spray will give us a good idea of the effectiveness of our current pH management strategy.”After many years of important contributions, three Center staff members are moving on to new jobs. Thomas Wittman, assistant operations manager,hydroponic vertical garden retired from the University this winter and is pursuing his own business, “Gophers Limited,” which helps gardeners and farmers control vertebrate pest damage using organic techniques. Thomas will also continue to edit a GMO news service that keeps list serve members up to date on the latest developments in the controversy over genetically modified organisms , as well as continue to serve on the Ecological Farming Association’s Board of Directors.
Marc Los Huertos, who has managed the Center’s water quality monitoring work since 1999, has accepted a tenure track faculty position at California State University Monterey Bay, where he’ll be part of the Division of Science and Environmental Policy. Marc’s teaching will focus on watershed science; he’s particularly interested in the role of nutrients in surface waters. He’ll continue to manage several water quality assessment grants for the Center over the next two years. Phil Howard, a member of the Center’s social issues research group, has accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies at Michigan State University, where he’ll be teaching in a new graduate concentration in Community Food and Agricultural Systems. His research will involve the community in addressing questions related to the sustainability and democratization of food and agricultural systems; some topics this work will focus on include consumer interests, health impacts, and corporate consolidation. We wish Thomas, Marc and Phil all the best in their new pursuits.The Center and Global Exchange invite you to join us on a 10-day research delegation November 25 – December 4, 2006 to Havana to learn about how Cuba has become a leader in organic and urban agriculture. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the island nation of Cuba found itself cut off from the chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on which its farms had long depended. To feed its people, the Cuban government undertook an unprecedented conversion to organic and local food production. Today, much of the country’s fertilizer comes from some 175 vermicompost centers that produce more than 90,000 tons of compost annually. Thousands of urban gardens across the country help feed the island’s population, and an estimated one-third of Havana’s arable land is under cultivation. As other countries pursue conversions to more local and organic agricultural systems, many are looking toward Cuba as a model. During the 10-day delegation you will get the chance to talk with Cubans you would otherwise never meet—agronomists, government officials, community leaders, and ordinary Havana residents who are growing their own food. This is a unique opportunity to see an internationally recognized example of how to grow closer connections to our food. There was a mix of pride and apprehension as the Portuguese farmer opened his diverse enlarged home garden to a busload of foreigners. Our group was full of questions as we walked among the chickens, the regionally famous black pigs, and the early winter remains of greens, cabbage, squash, and senescing beans. Urbanites from the nearby town of Odemira recognized this small valley of Old World farmers as a place to build new relationships, or “Reciproco”—more akin to the original Japanese version of Community Supported Agriculture known as “Teikei,” where a number of farmers pool harvests to fill the weekly crate of produce for consumers. These nascent partnerships, where commitment to one another was still forming, mirrored the budding relationships of the members of the second International Symposium on Community Supported Agriculture. CSA projects are collaborations between the local community and the farmers. The community members support the farm directly for an entire season and in return receive a share in the weekly harvest. This partnership increases community involvement in food production and in the health of the local economy and environment.Our group included another Portuguese farmer who had learned about CSA for the first time when we met in Southern France almost two years ago. Now he was six months into creating a CSA project. The tour included a stop at a Lisbon storefront where Carlos’s crates of vegetables are distributed weekly. It was meaningful to see those crates—we took lots of pictures of them because they were so much like our CSA crates at home. No supermarket shelf. A simple box of mixed vegetables produced and enjoyed by people getting to know each other. The box of food, with its heads of lettuce, leeks, lemons, and rutabagas, was the common thread amongst the diverse cultures of the symposium’s attendees. What surfaced as a unique aspect of the Reciproco system, was the farmers’ reluctance to ask for a commitment from members in advance. Rather than pay for a season’s worth of food “up front,” as many CSA projects require, Reciprico members pay weekly when they pick up their crate. The farmers expressed trepidation over not being able to provide for their members, and the members might have been afraid of not getting what they paid for. However, for the attendees at the symposium, supporting the transition to a more conscious relationship between urban and rural was the bottom line.