East Bay Natural Grocers Win StopWaste Award

East Bay Natural Grocers Win StopWaste Business Efficiency Award     Alameda Natural Grocery has been the go-to place for healthy, sustainable foods and other goods for almost two decades, and they recently expanded to Castro Valley, bringing the same “highest-use first” practices to the new location. Alameda & Castro Valley Natural Grocers is an…

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Deadline for StopWaste.Org Grants Extended

  Due to the impacts of the coronavirus, public agency StopWaste has extended the application deadline for their Waste Reduction Grants program to April 3 at 5pm. Grants up to $20K are available to businesses and nonprofits for innovative projects that reduce waste in Alameda County. Grant categories include Repair & Reuse, Food Waste Prevention,…

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Food-saving Tips from StopWaste

It’s Summer Salad Season Keep Your Lettuce Crisp and Delicious What’s better on a warm summer day than a big bowl of crunchy, fresh salad? This time of year, Bay Area farmers’ markets are brimming with many varieties of lettuce, much of it grown in nearby Salinas Valley, dubbed “America’s Salad Bowl” for obvious reasons.…

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StopWaste

The 10-Minute Fridge Reality Check Food Waste Revelations and New Habits to Try As January fades, I can see that my New Year’s resolutions haven’t made it past the initial enthusiasm stage. Take my plan, for example, to incorporate more healthy greens into my diet: At the store, I eagerly pick up several bunches of…

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Tips for Waste-Free Holidays  

For most of us, the holidays are about spending time with the people we love and sharing special meals and food together. During the holiday season, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, more food goes to waste than at any other time of year. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, each year, about 200…

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Fight Back by Fighting Hunger!

    Support your neighbors and community by partnering with your local food bank and pantries. Each week throughout the holiday season, we’ll highlight a fun new way to lend your support starting with an offer from Emeryville’s Prizefighter Bar. Join in to prevent hunger and ease food insecurity. This week, our highlighted event is…

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Lunch (or Dinner) with a Crunch

LUNCH (or Dinner) WITH A CRUNCH Croquettes are the perfect homemade food savers By Francine Spiering | Photos by Raymond Franssen     The French word croquer translates as to crunch, and that is the sensation when you bite through a properly breaded and fried croquette. The recipe is said to have originated in 17th-century…

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Why Worry About Wasted Food?

Why worry about wasted food? Because it’s a pressing issue that affects not only our wallets but also our environment and society as a whole. In the United States, the scale of food waste is staggering, with significant consequences for people, the planet, and the economy. Reducing food waste at home is an essential step…

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Garden of Generosity

At Fertile GroundWorks, volunteers grow food to help ensure that neighbors have full plates By Rachel Trachten   |   Photos by Zach Pine     On a December morning, the rising price of straw is on Brenda Kusler’s mind as she deftly spreads straw mulch around baby cabbage plants. She takes a break from the cabbages…

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The Power of Food

Chef Sarah Germany shows how food heals bodies and communities By StopFoodWaste.org   When Sarah Germany was 20, she attended 13 funerals in 11 months—all family members and friends lost prematurely to health issues related to diet and lifestyle. Struggling with weight herself, she looked at the buckets of fried chicken, sugary desserts, and sodas…

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Does Your Alameda County Organization Need Funds for Waste Prevention? Jan 31 online info session

  Public agency StopWaste is offering grants for innovative projects that prevent waste in Alameda County. A total of $1.1 million in funding is available for businesses, nonprofits, and institutions for projects in these six categories: Food Waste Prevention and Recovery: to prevent food waste through product or process redesign or recovery and redistribution of…

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Editor’s Mixing Bowl

  W ho in the Southwestern United States has not spent most of 2022 dreaming of rain? At Edible East Bay, we have been dreaming of rain as well as liquid pleasures like sauces and cocktails. Looking out at our gardens, we wondered how to capture the laundry greywater as liquid pleasure for the plants. Thus…

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More Feast, Less Waste

Tips to make the most of food this holiday season For most of us, the holidays are about spending time with the people we love, and sharing good food is a big part of that. Sadly, more food goes to waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than at any other time of the year. Here…

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Cooking Classes for Health and Budget, with a Side of Joy

  “Getting people excited about making meals at home.” That’s a goal that would seem easy to reach with mouth-watering classes like “Flavors of Malaysia” or “Japanese Baking and Sweets” at the community cooking school run by 18 Reasons. But this San Francisco–based nonprofit also teaches students how to prepare wholesome, delicious food when budgets…

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Project Pick

Sharing Backyard Fruit and Community Spirit Got a fruit tree in your backyard? Then you’ll know how plentiful the harvest can be! It’s not a surprise that fruit often goes uneaten as many owners are too busy or physically unable to harvest. Others simply have more than they can possibly eat or give away. That’s…

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Do You Need Funding for a Waste-Prevention Project?

  Attend a free webinar on January 20, 4–5pm, to learn about StopWaste grants to Alameda County businesses and nonprofits, including many for food-category projects. Applications are due by February 25. This new cycle of grant funding in five categories is related to innovation in waste prevention. A total of $700,000 is available to Alameda…

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Climate Action in Our Kitchens

Food Shift’s Kitchen Guide Shares Year-Round Cooking Wisdom   “No one and nothing is left behind in the Food Shift kitchen,” says Jen Franco, culinary director of the Alameda-based nonprofit Food Shift. The Kitchen is home to a culinary training program to transform surplus food—produce that would otherwise go to waste. The students, overcoming employment…

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How Can We Attract Good Bugs into the Garden?

  Most people don’t realize that about 90% of the bugs in our gardens are actually beneficial. These critters help gardens by effectively reducing pests like aphids. This free gardening webinar focuses on identifying which insects are most beneficial and what you can do to attract them. The webinar is part of a series sponsored…

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Food in Community for Healing and Resilience

  StopWaste and Bay Area Green Tours invite the community to a premiere of the short film “Food as Medicine: Community, Healing & Resilience.” Produced by Bay Area Green Tours with grant funding from StopWaste, the film looks at the parallel issues of food waste and food insecurity, and how these overlap with community members’…

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Reusable Packaging for Pizza and Ice Cream?

  Did you know that over 3 billion single-use cardboard pizza boxes end up in the waste stream each year? Well, you can be sure that plenty of ice cream cartons are piling up next to them, and that’s why MudLab, Oakland’s zero-waste café and grocery store, is fighting back with ways to buy two…

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Grants up to $20K Now Available

Apply by March 15 for StopWaste Grants   StopWaste is offering grants with total funding up to $475K for projects that focus on preventing waste in Alameda County and supporting local communities in these categories: Reuse & Repair: Up to $20K per grant for projects that prevent disposal or recycling in favor of repair, reuse,…

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Prep Your Edible Garden for Spring

    Join “Compost Gal” Lori Caldwell for a jump start on the edible garden you’ll enjoy this spring and summer. Learn about seeds vs. starts, crop rotation, building healthy soil, watering and irrigation, best spring crops, and how to transition from your fall garden. Instructor Lori Caldwell is an Alameda County Master Composter, a…

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StopFoodWaste

Can a Carrot Cause Climate Change?   As spring rounds the corner, Saneta and her daughter Alma look forward to getting their small vegetable garden in Oakland ready for the growing season. “We love tomatoes, beans, and lettuce. And of course, crunchy carrots. Those are Alma’s favorites,” says Saneta. She knows they’ll be extra tasty…

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Green Your Holiday Party!

  What’s the best part about the holidays? For most of us it’s joyful gatherings with friends and family and indulging in delicious food. With a little planning, hosting a holiday party can also be gentle on the environment. Here are some tips:   Ditch Disposables Serve your guests with real dishes and silverware instead…

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Straight Talk About Food Waste

All are invited to a free community conversation and lunch focusing on the issue of food waste. Nonprofit cooking school 18 Reasons has partnered with StopWaste to discuss food waste and how to keep valuable, nutritious food out of the landfill. Join in for lunch, a presentation, and a chance to share your views and learn…

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Keep your Herbs Fresh

Just a few sprigs of fresh herbs can add amazing depth and flavor to a dish and boost nutritional value too! Parsley, basil, chives, mint, tarragon, cilantro, and dill all have high amounts of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. But even when recipes call for more than a garnish, the better part of most herb bunches…

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Power Moms Fight Food Waste

  Stop Food Waste Two Power Moms Take the Challenge Xouhoa Bowen and Christina Means have a few things in common: Both are activists working to empower women, are raising young children, and don’t like wasting food. Last fall, the two joined StopWaste’s “Food Waste Challenge,” measuring how much food was going to waste in…

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How to Donate Food from Catered Events

  At this time of year, holiday festivities abound—and with them an abundance of food, sometimes more than guests can eat. If you’re hosting a catered event at home or work, plan ahead for the donation of any trays of extra food with these tips from StopFoodWaste.org.   At least a few days before the event,…

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Ready Set Reuse!

Nohemi Perez, co-owner of Ed’s Cheesesteak, packed this BLT in a GO Box for Paul Liotsakis, who launched GO Box in the Bay Area. Ed’s Cheesesteak is a GO Box vendor and also serves as Oakland’s wash site for the boxes. GO Box brings reusable take-out containers to Oakland By Rachel Trachten Photos by Cheryl…

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Cooking with Gratitude

Cherishing What We Have and Wasting Less Around the world, feasts of gratitude for a good harvest are among the oldest traditions, marked by a rest from working the fields and plentiful meals. An abundance of food is at the center of our Thanksgiving celebrations as well, yet few of us have a deep connection…

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Source Guide Fall 2018

Arts, Education & Entertainment BAUMAN COLLEGE  Nutrition Consultant and Natural Chef training programs encompass the revolutionary ideas and scientific approach to nutrition. baumancollege.org EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org EMERYVILLE CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS  Gala opening on October 5. Exhibition runs October 6–28. emeryarts.org…

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Feed Your Soil With Compost

While fall may be the best season to savor local fruits and vegetables, it’s also a great time to plant them. Thanks to a mild Mediterranean climate, East Bay gardeners can grow and harvest fresh produce all winter long. When planting your winter garden, make it thrive by feeding your soil with compost. Compost boosts…

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Source Guide Fall 2018

Arts, Education & Entertainment BAUMAN COLLEGE  Nutrition Consultant and Natural Chef training programs encompass the revolutionary ideas and scientific approach to nutrition. baumancollege.org EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org EMERYVILLE CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS  Gala opening on October 5. Exhibition runs October 6–28. emeryarts.org…

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Jam On!

Love to make marmalade? Jive on jam? Churn out chutney? Enter your favorite seasonal creation in CUESA’s summer preserves contest. Top three winners will take home food-related prizes, and everyone is welcome to taste and vote for the People’s Choice. Also happening at the Summer Jam: Becky Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm gives a jam-making demo,…

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Did You Forget What’s in Your Refrigerator?

Ever Forgotten What’s In Your Fridge? It’s the height of summer and fruits and vegetables are at their prime. This seasonal abundance makes it easy to overfill our refrigerators. With each new shopping trip, food that you already have can get pushed to the back of the shelf and forgotten. An easy way to reduce…

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Love Salad?

Keep Your Lettuce Crisp and Delicious Summer is salad season, and Bay Area farmers’ markets are brimming with many varieties of lettuce. Bought more than you can use right away? StopWaste’s how-to videos show how to keep lettuce and other leafy greens fresh, or how to revive them when they’re already a bit wilted. Keep…

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Source Guide Summer 2018

Arts, Education & Entertainment BAUMAN COLLEGE  Nutrition Consultant and Natural Chef training programs encompass the revolutionary ideas and scientific approach to nutrition. baumancollege.org EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org KOSA ARTS  Artisinal fashion supporting high-level craftsmanship, creative process, sustainable material, and meaningful livelihood. 386…

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Contents Summer 2018

   RECIPES Barbara Kobsar’s Fresh Fig Salsa Romney Steele’s Tomato and Peach Salad Eric Tucker’s Grilled Peach and Quinoa Dolmas Philip Gelb’s Polenta Peach Cake and Peach-Pecan Ice Cream Hanif Sadr’s Kuku Sabzi (Persian Herb Frittata) SolidariTEA’s Cinnamon Peach Toaster Pastries SolidariTEA’s Hunter’s Moon cocktail More Cocktail recipes using SolidariTEA Allison Arevalo’s Dad’s Cannolicchi with…

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Give a Plant, Take a Plant

Calling local gardeners, landscapers, urban farmers, and other garden enthusiasts! At the Plant Exchange, you can donate and bring home plants, tools, and equipment. This lively event also offers garden-related items like yard art, soil, pond supplies, pots, compost bins, and patio furniture. Enjoy a live band, food trucks, and gardening demos, and get plenty…

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What’s Going Uneaten in Your Fridge? 

Do a Fridge Reality Check for Food Waste Prevention Week! Next week, March 5–9, is California’s first annual Food Waste Prevention Week. With support from elected officials, public agencies, and other organizations across the state, Californians will join together in a week of action to learn about food waste and what each of us can…

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Contents Spring 2018

Editor’s Mixing Bowl: About our cover artist Award Winners on Instagram The 10-Minute Fridge Reality Check What’s in Season? A Young Writer Visits La Marcha Tapas Bar Creating Layers in Your Food Garden Renewal Mill Turns Food Waste into Flour Hops Return to Pleasanton Take a Weed & Wine Tour Tastes from the Juhu Beach…

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Source Guide Spring 2018

Arts, Education & Entertainment ALIFORNIA ARTISAN CHEESE FESTIVAL Three Days of Cheese Bliss, March 23–25 in Sonoma Wine Country. artisancheesefestival.com EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org INSTITUTE OF URBAN HOMESTEADING  Offering the best in Bay Area sustainablility since 2008. iuhoaklnd.com KOSA ARTS  Artisinal fashion…

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Bread Gone Stale? Make Bread Pudding! 

StopWaste continues its series on making great use of food that would otherwise go to waste.  Fresh bread is one of the first things to go bad in our homes, in most cases becoming dry and stale. Old-fashioned breadboxes are an uncommon sight in today’s kitchens, but they are still the best way to keep bread…

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Food Shift Turns Rescued Produce into a Dinner Party

Earlier this month, staff from Alameda County public agency StopWaste attended a fundraiser put on by local nonprofit Food Shift. Both organizations are dedicated to preventing food waste and finding delicious ways of using available foods. Edible East Bay is delighted to share this story from StopWaste along with recipes for two of the dishes served…

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Potatoes and Onions: Keep them fresh—or make latkes

In the fourth installment of our newsletter series on delicious ways to use foods and keep them fresh longer, StopWaste shows us how to cook with and store potatoes and onions. You’ll also find holiday meal tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Winter Holidays issue. Back in the day, many households had root cellars…

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Source Guide Winter Holidays 2017

Arts, Education & Entertainment EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org EMERYVILLE CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS  Gala opening on October 6. Exhibition runs October 7–29. EmeryArts.org FLAX ART & DESIGN  After 80 years in SF, the flagship store is now at 1501 M.L.K. Jr Way, Oakland. flaxart.com/oakland-store KOSA ARTS …

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Holiday Leftover Tips

‘Tis the season for festive meals—and delicious leftovers The holidays are here, and for most of us that means spending time with family and friends. Whether you adore or dread those gatherings, there will likely be scrumptious food—and lots of it. After all, Thanksgiving dinner only comes around once a year, so we want to…

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Don’t Waste those Flavorful Fresh Herbs!

Learn how to keep both hardy and tender herbs on hand with these tips from StopWaste as they offer the third installment of our newsletter series about delicious ways to use foods and store them right to keep them fresh longer. You’ll also find food storage tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Fall issue. Many…

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Tomatoes and Basil: Keep them tasty!

This is the second in our newsletter series from StopWaste about delicious ways to use foods that might otherwise end up in the compost. You’ll also find food storage tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our Fall issue. Tomatoes and basil are a happy couple. Raw or cooked, basil uniquely complements the sweet-tangy flavor…

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Just Peachy: Making the Most of Summer's Last Stone Fruit

This is the first in our newsletter series from StopWaste about delicious ways to use foods that might otherwise end up in the compost. You’ll also find food storage tips and a recipe from StopWaste in our new Fall issue. What’s the taste of late summer? A sweet, juicy peach, eaten out of hand! Through…

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Food Storage Tips

Enjoy More, Toss Less: Smart Storage Goes a Long Way The Bay Area is blessed with a cornucopia of fresh produce, and the fall harvest brings a large assortment of delicious fruits and vegetables. The ugly downside of such abundance is that more than 40{94d79dd6af1e87a94e700e4c297236468333f22e27ed5757b44711974a9a4b91} of all food goes to waste on its journey from…

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Asian-Inspired Celery Salad

Recipe provided by StopFoodWaste.org from Food Storage Tips Serves 4 For the dressing: In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons sesame oil 2 teaspoons sugar 1¼ teaspoons grated ginger 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons fish sauce (or ½ teaspoon salt). Whisk together. For the salad: Cut 5 celery stalks across the…

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Source Guide Fall 2017

Arts, Education & Entertainment ARTSPOT RENO  Reno Mural Expo, October 13–15. Mural tours, workshops artist lectures, and a film screening. artspotreno.com/reno-mural-expo-2017 AUTUMN FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL  Lake Tahoe’s premier food and wine festival, September 8–10. TahoeFoodandWine.com EAST BAY WALDORF SCHOOL  Where Children Thrive. Located 20 minutes from Berkeley at 3800 Clark Rd, El Sobrante. eastbaywaldorf.org EMERYVILLE CELEBRATION…

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Cutting Food Waste in Corporate Cafeterias

Chefs and Managers Step Up to the Plate By Cassie Bartholomew, Program Manager at StopWaste You’ve probably heard that a staggering 40{94d79dd6af1e87a94e700e4c297236468333f22e27ed5757b44711974a9a4b91} of all food in the United States goes to waste before it ever reaches a plate, and the problem is just as prevalent in our homes as it is in restaurants, institutional kitchens,…

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Compost Gal Talks Healthy Soil

Join Lori Caldwell, the Compost Gal, for a talk on adding annual or perennial edibles to your garden. Learn about techniques for building healthy soil to increase yields, minimize pests and diseases, and use less water. Participants receive a handy reader for reference. Lori is a Master Composter, Stopwaste Educator, and owner of CompostGal: Consulting,…

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Sugar and Spice

We have an especially flavorful array of opportunities on this week’s menu. Scroll down to explore all the spices and sweets.   In this newsletter: ●  Oaktown Spice Shop thrives in its new home ●  Get the dirt on hops at Ploughshares Nursery – July 4 ●  Peek behind the scenes at Three Stone Hearth…

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Food Shift and LeanPath

WASTE WARRIORS Food Shift and LeanPath keep food out of the landfill BY RACHEL TRACHTEN The soup was passed to waiting hands, bowl after bowl of fragrant broth brimming with carrots, potatoes, and onions. Make that super-skinny carrots, not-so-pretty potatoes, and oversized onions—veggies that would otherwise have been plowed back into the soil because they didn’t…

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Newsletter Archive

Edible East Bay Appetizer Archives February 13, 2025  Lunar New Year | Valentine Surprise Guide February 6, 2025  Game Day and Other Excuses to Gather and Eat January 23. 2025  When Life Gives You Lemons…  January 6, 2024  Obsessed Bakers and Eaters Edition December 27, 2024  The World’s Greatest Comfort Food December 19, 2024   Local…

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Food Forays in Fremont

Like many who dwell in the northern reaches of Alameda County, I can go for months on end without giving much thought to the south-county city of Fremont. If I do call up a vision, it’s of the endless subdivisions and strip malls that replaced former farms and vineyards when the region became a bedroom…

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Plight of the Humble Bee

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARGO RIVERA-WEISS This article grew out of a conversation between Helen Krayenhoff, Edible East Bay’s garden editor and co-owner of Kassenhoff Growers, and Laura Ward, a volunteer research assistant for Professor Gordon Frankie at the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab (helpabee.org and The Urban Bee Lab on Facebook). Laura helps with the lab’s…

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SUPPLY UP! Resources for your spring garden

SUPPLY UP! Resources for your spring garden By Jillian Steinberger, M.A. Once upon a time in a land of milk and honey with a gentle Mediterranean climate, a wise garden elder said to his students (one of them was me), “Northern California is God’s country.” It’s easy to speak hyperbolically about the glories of gardening…

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The Road to Zero

From Farmers Markets to Supermarkets, Rethinking What We Throw Away by Rachel Trachten   Covered from head to toe in plastic bags, a hideous creature lumbers slowly through the farmers market in Jack London Square. The monster stops to chat with shoppers, complimenting them on their reusable bags or asking why they haven’t brought any.…

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Happy Forever Community Gardener Gets Educated

Story and Photos by Simona Carini Hello, I am Simona, founder and CEO of Slugs ’n’ Snails Xpress, Inc. Our company relocates personae non gratae (a.k.a. pests) from vegetable gardens to outworld destinations: hop on board this comfortable bag, sit down, relax, and enjoy your flight. That’s me, talking to a slug while getting rid…

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