From the UC Blogosphere...

UCCE contributes to LA agricultural 'oral history'

The public television station in Los Angeles, KCET, has produced a multi-media package on its website that delves into the unique circumstances of Richland Farms, an agricultural district in the heart of urban Los Angeles County.

The series, called Departures, is an oral history project that thoroughly explores neighborhoods through the people that live there. Director of UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County Rachel Surls provided commentary in four online videos. She noted that LA County was the United States' top ag county until the 1950s

"It sort of dates back to the founding of Los Angeles when people first came and looked at Los Angeles as a potential site for a mission," Surls said. "They saw that it had great soil, they saw that things grew well here and they thought, 'ah ha, perfect place for farming.' So that's how it started."

Other industries have since become more important than farming in LA, but agriculture hasn't been erased. According to the website, when the city of Compton was formed in 1898 on land donated by Griffith D. Compton, he stipulated that certain acreage be zoned for agricultural purposes only. Large lots in what came to be known as Richland Farms enabled residents to grow food and tend livestock.

"It's like being out in the country, but you're right in the middle of this huge urban area," Surls said on the second video.

Today, interest in urban agriculture is growing. Surls said a survey found a 19 percent increase in home vegetable gardening between 2008 and 2009 and she attributes it to two things: the economy and a new way of thinking about the environment and nutrition.

"Even though we haven't been a huge agricultural producer since the 1950s, I'd like people to remember that food matters in Los Angeles."

Surls said she hopes UC Cooperative Extension can help reintegrate the practice of urban agriculture in communities such as Richland Farms and provide working "pilot" models for other communities across the county and throughout the state. The Departures website suggests visitors take a look at Surls' curation of links in her Twitter stream to see why.

Here are links to view Surl's four videos on Departures:

1. An overview of agriculture in SoCal
2. Information about Richland Farms
3. Agribusiness in Los Angeles
4. Farming during the Depression and beyond

Rachel Surls appears on four "oral history" videos on the Departures website.

A Honey of a Day

It's Valentine's Day and it's a honey of a day.Valentine cards proclaim "Bee Mine" and "Bee My Valentine."Invariably,...

Honey Bee

HONEY BEE on a comb of honey at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Susan Cobey

BEE BREEDER-GENETICIST Susan Cobey with a frame at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

UCCE's Maxwell Norton loves agriculture

The Merced Sun-Star today ran a front-page feature about UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Maxwell Norton and his passion for the agricultural industry in Merced County.

The article is part of a weekly Sun-Star series, Merced Matters, which features "ordinary people doing extraordinary things, extraordinary people doing ordinary things, and a lot in between."

Perhaps because Norton's profile appears on Valentine's Day, writer Carol Reiter made the article something of a love story. It says that Norton:

• Loves agriculture
• Loves science
• Loves growers who farm the land in Merced
• Wants others to love the Valley as much as he does

And one of the experts asked to comment on the farm advisor said, "I love working with him."

In addition to traditional farm advisor duties, Norton has taken on a number of tasks designed to support and promote the agricultural industry in Merced County.

He was the founding director of Central Valley Farmland Trust, which as of June 2010 completed 15 agricultural conservation easements and protected 2,745 acres of working farm and ranch land in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

Norton planned a Merced County "blossom trail," which allows residents to tour country roads and enjoy the orchards when they are in bloom.

In 2010 he joined with a group of local agriculturalists to prepare a series of recordings that visitors can listen to in their cars while driving the historic roadway that connects the valley floor to Yosemite National Park. MP3 files can be downloaded from the Country Ventures website.

The recordings including information on points of historical interest, types of agricultural crops being grown, signs of early Native American residents, wildlife and geological features.

Maxwell Norton.

Oh, Hap-Bee Day!

It happened. Remember when Chicken Little ran around yelling "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" For almond growers,...

Almond Blossoms

ALMOND BLOSSUMS at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis, burst into bloom today. Honey bees came in twos and threes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sip of Nectar

HONEY BEE forages in the almond blossoms at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Circus Antics

MOVING like a circus performer, this honey bee scoots up and down an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Upsy Daisy

UPSY DAISY--A honey bee savors an almond blossom. Bottoms up! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Consumers like rancid olive oil

A study conducted by UC Davis sensory scientists Claudia Delgado and Jean-Xavier Guinard found that consumers prefer rancid olive oil to the bitter and pungent olive oil favored by experts, said an article in Olive Oil Times. The findings suggest a need for consumer education to keep California olive oil in position for growth.

For the study, 110 consumers rated 22 commercial olive oils. Key findings:

• 74 percent said they disliked the oils identified as high-quality by expert tasters
• Consumers preferred oils with fruity attributes identified as nutty, ripe fruit, green tea, butter, green fruit and grassy
• 44 percent of the consumers liked sensory defects like rancidity, fustiness, mustiness and winey flavor

The story offered a few possible explanations. A large amount of defective olive oil labeled as extra virgin is available to consumers, and the bitter and pungent flavors typical of high-quality oils are an acquired taste.

Director of the UC Davis Olive Center Dan Flynn told reporter Lori Zanteson that California consumers have much to learn about olive oil flavor profiles

"A bitter profile is not necessarily bad," Flynn was quoted. “All these discussions and the availability of quality oils are contributing to this slowly growing knowledge that the consumer has.”

The research report, “How do consumer hedonic ratings for extra virgin olive oil relate to the quality ratings by experts and descriptive analysis ratings?” appears in the March 2011 issue of Food Quality and Preference journal.

In their article, Delgado and Guinard predict the California olive industry will be poised for exponential growth "as consumers learn about the many nutritional benefits and sensory qualities of extra-virgin olive oil."

Good olive oil is an acquired taste.

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