Earth Hour Tonight!

Just a last minute reminder that tonight from 8-9 p.m. Earth Hour takes place. This is a chance to join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

For more information about Earth Hour and the ways that you can save energy, check out their site: http://www8.earthhourus.org/

Even Google turned off the lights on their homepage in support of Earth Hour!

Happy Spring & Happy National Ag Day

Happy National Ag Day

Today is not only the first day of spring, it's also National Ag Day, part of National Ag Week, (March 16-22) designed to celebrate agriculture.

Now, while many of the largest agri-businesses do sponsor the day, it's still important to celebrate National Ag Day because its crucial that citizens understand how their food and fiber is produced, realize the important role that agriculture plays to our economy, get increased knowledge of agriculture and food so they make informed personal choices about diet and health, and because informed citizens participate in establishing policies that support sustainable agriculture and family farms.

So today, try to take at least one small step in support of our sustainable farmers:

• If you go shopping ask where and how your food was produced
• Look for "Buy Local" signs at your local market showing that the food was produced in California, if you don't see any, ask for them
• Shop at your local farmer's market
• Initiate a farm day at your child's school or at work, or invite a farmer to come and speak in your community
• Write or call your legislative Representatives urging them to support sustainable agriculture provisions in the Farm Bill or local legislation
• Take your children to a local farm or farm stand, a petting farm, a u-pick farm or orchard and teach them where their food comes from

Book is Done and In!!!

Another very quick post to let everyone know that I will be back in the blogging business starting next week! I submitted the book and the photos and now it's just a matter of waiting. I am crossing my fingers that it's acceptable. I think the photos are awesome and the people I met are even more so, like Tom Ishibashi pictured here at his farm at Torrance Airport.

I am going to be posting some more about them so watch for it. And, for those people who have emailed to ask me to include info. about them on the blog, rest assured I will. I am just going to take a little vacation, going up with my sister to Santa Cruz, where no doubt I will be re-inspired to keep writing and working on sustainable agriculture issues.

LA Farm Girl Is Still Alive But Under Deadline!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I am still alive! The book deadline is fast approaching its next Wednesday, March 12. So, I have been running around getting photos, taking photos, and interviewing the awesome farmers in our area.

It is truly incredible how generous and kind they are and how great their memories are. I am definitely going to have to do more with their stories after I complete this very brief pictorial history book. I feel so lucky to be involved in such an important project telling their stories and preserving this history.

I thought I'd post a couple of great shots I took today at Tom Ishibashi's Farm at Torrance Airport. He is a great guy, very funny and very nice.

It's hard to believe that his strawberries come from the Torrance Airport, but here they are growing right there in the middle of it!

He has early season strawberries which are awesome, and people line up to get them once his stand opens. He just opened last week so come and get your berries and support the last farmer in Torrance!