Sacramento County Agriculture, Food & Gardening Digest

Residents living near farms can now sign up to be alerted when pesticides will be applied by the a new system recently launched by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

A report on the blooming movement to support small urban farms in the Sacramento Region.

From higher costs to export worries, California’s agricultural and wine industries face many possible tariff effects. But some hope for opportunity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Wednesday, saying the tariffs hurt “states, consumers and businesses.”

Food aid is one of numerous competing priorities California lawmakers will have to juggle in the face of steep potential federal cuts.

Across California, only one in five eligible college students receive CalFresh due to complicated requirements and an arduous application process. With two-thirds of students experiencing food insecurity, many campuses have started helping them apply for CalFresh.

Read on to learn more about the vote by the Elk Grove City Council to exempt outdoor dining areas from development fees in a bid to attract more restaurants, breweries and wineries.

The Sacrament Midtown Farmers Market is expanding to sic blocks and 300 vendors. That's a lot of farm to fork! Read on for details.

The governor vowed to clear the way for more groundwater recharge. Has it worked? “We’re still tinkering around with small numbers,” one expert says.

Falling enrollment is putting the fate of the three-year Luther Burbank High School’s Urban Agriculture Academy track in question. Read on to learn more about this innovative program.

Responding to concerns over health and safety, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved new regulations for street food vendors in their January 28 meeting. Read on for more information about the new rules.

Trump apparently wants to override new Biden-Newsom rules that have widespread support among Southern California cities and some Central Valley farmers.

“If this is the new normal, this is absolute economic devastation,” says one local economist.

Those in California who’d like a latte with a side of weed have gotten their wish now that a new law goes into effect that permits licensed cannabis dispensaries to add sit-in cafes to their sites.  

New operating rules for massive Delta systems will increase water deliveries to Southern California cities and some growers. Salmon numbers could drop, especially in dry years.

Learn more about the massive Harvest Water Project which is under construction to process and deliver billions of gallons of reclaimed sewage for agricultural use and to recharge southern Sacramento County groundwater.

Keith Poulsen's jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.

Gov. Newsom launched an ambitious program that uses Medi-Cal to help Californians access housing, healthy food and more. Now, its fate is in the hands of President-Elect Trump.

Are food recalls on the rise? Yes. Read on to learn more.

Learn more about the expanding recall of raw milk products following detection of bird flu in tested samples.

The annual turkey distribution held by Elk Grove Food Bank Services on November 23 was a success. Learn more about this group and gain insight into the increase in the number of local food-insecure people in Elk Grove.

Read this Sacramento Bee list of ways you can volunteer or donate to help local groups helping the needy this holiday season.

Voters in California’s farm belt, stretching more than 400 miles from Kern County on the south to Tehama County on the north, delivered solid majorities for Donald Trump in this month’s presidential election.

Learn more about the services provided by the Elk Grove Food Bank and how you can help them in feeding the hungry and food insecure.

A plan to develop an empty lot in Citrus Heights into a food truck plaza has been approved by the planning commission.

THE SALINAS VALLEY is the setting for fecund soil, labor rights movements and John Steinbeck novels.Squeezed into one 90-mile-long wedge between the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountains, the valley’s residents constitute less than 1% of Californians but have shaped the identity of the whole state.

A report on the September 24 Street Vendor Bootcamp presented by the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Many California farmworkers have long lacked safe and affordable places to sleep — an issue thrown into sharp relief after last year’s mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, which left seven agricultural workers dead.

The Sacramento Observer shines a light on the hundreds of thousands of bats who make their home in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, and how they benefit local sustainable agriculture (and eat a lot of insects.)

A look at what it takes to successfully manage a community garden.

A look at the training program for beginner farmers offered by the Center for Land-Based Learning in Woodland.

A look at the community garden in west Del Paso Heights purchased by the Sacramento Community Land Trust in June 2024.