Botanical Beauties

Today was such a festive day with Afro Solo Community Health Fair in Western Addition, Nihonmachi Street Fair in Japantown and Pistahan Festival in SoMa! We had our own fair turnout of volunteers at The Free Farm. Kris took these photos of our botanical beauties.

Finally, John gets honorable mention in this blog for sharing chocolate this afternoon :-).

Public Service Announcements:

Mon., Aug. 15, 2011, 6-8 pm In Search of the Promised Tomatoland
Port Commission Hearing Rm, Ferry Bldg, 2nd flr, The Embarcadero at Market St., SF 94111
In his the recently released book Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook investigates the supermarket tomato’s origin in the fields of Immokalee, Florida. It brings to light the atrocities endured by fieldworkers and the heavy pesticide use that is standard industry practice. It also traces the history of how this once flavorful, nutritious fruit got so mealy and devoid of life. Also hear from Nigel Walker (Eatwell Farm) and Larry Jacobs (Del Cabo cooperative) about their efforts to provide an alternative for tomato shoppers who value flavor, environmental responsibility, and human dignity. Damara Luce (Just Harvest USA), who spent six years living in Immokalee and advocating for better working conditions for migrant farmworkers in the tomato industry, will provide a personal account of the culture and practices there. She will share her experience achieving some significant victories that have already improved the lives of field workers, and describe what work lies ahead.
http://nogrosstomatoes.eventbrite.com/

Wed., Aug. 17, 2011, 9:30 am-5:30 pm California Academy of Sciences Free Admission Day
55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, SF 94118
Visit the only place on the planet with an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a 4-story rainforest all under one roof.
http://www.calacademy.org/visit/ (Be sure to visit The Free Farm, too, during our Wed. volunteer hours, 10 am-2 pm, always free :-)!)

Wed., Aug. 17, 2011, 6 pm Environmental Justice v. California Cap-and-Trade
Center for Political Education, 518 Valencia St. & 16th St, SF
AB 32 California’s landmark global warming bill faces a new threat. The current plans for AB 32 call for 20% of the pollution reductions it mandates to come from industry using a cap-and-trade system that will allow major polluting industries to choose where they will pollute. If polluters can choose where to pollute, we are concerned that communities of color and low-income communities will continue to bear most of the burden of toxic air pollution.
The planned cap-and-trade system also lets industrial polluters choose not to meet a portion of their targets at all by purchasing “offsets” from other locations. Many of the offsets in other cap-and-trade systems have proven to be fraudulent. Others have forced Indigenous Peoples off their lands. Join the panel discussion with Alegría De La Cruz, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment (CRPE); Nile Malloy, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) and Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project.
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/bayarea.php?uid=11615