Agriculture

Education

‘Kids are actually eating the food’: State expands lunch program that pairs schools with farms

Carolyn Jones

Through the Farm to School program, schools get grant money to obtain fresh, local food; send students on field trips to farms; and send cafeteria workers to culinary academies.
Environment

Arizona, California and Nevada would share cuts under federal proposal to manage the Colorado River

Wufei Yu, Dorany Pineda and Brittany Peterson

A proposal announced Friday spares Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming from facing mandatory cuts for now. But it’s a temporary fix as the states that rely on the river still fight over management of the dwindling resource that powers huge swaths of the Western U.S.
Racial Justice and Social Equity

They once taught about a hero. Now faculty rethink César Chávez lessons after allegations

Khadeejah Khan

Some faculty have dedicated their careers to researching César Chávez’s life, legacy and labor movement leadership. Following the New York Times’ investigation that revealed a long pattern of Chávez sexually abusing women and girls, college faculty across California are evaluating their research and curriculum about California’s farmworker movements.
Environment

As temperatures rise, is California doing enough to keep its farmworkers safe?

Sarit Laschinsky and Andrew Garcia
Quality of Life

How fear of Trump’s immigration blitz is changing life in California farm towns

Nigel Duara

Tax receipts are down almost 30% in one California farm town, where immigrants are afraid to go out and some longtime workers are weighing self-deportation.
Science & Technology

Study reveals source of rain is major factor behind drought risks for farmers

City News Service

Published in Nature Sustainability, the research traces atmospheric moisture back to its source. Moisture from the ocean can travel long distances through storms and other large weather events.
Environment

State expands citrus greening quarantine to Camp Pendleton, southern Orange County

City News Service

This was San Diego's first multi-jurisdictional quarantine, spanning from southern Orange County to northern San Diego County, in the San Onofre and Agra areas, including the northwest part of Camp Pendleton.
Environment

California’s last beet sugar plant is closing. Can Imperial County keep the industry alive?

Kori Suzuki

The closure of the Spreckels Sugar factory will shutter a $243 million industry and hundreds of jobs in a county with the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Education

High school students join Salk Institute labs for summer internships

Katie Anastas

High Tech High Mesa graduate Kelly Semtner spent the summer studying how plants and fungi exchange nutrients.
Economy

California wine industry torn on Trump tariffs

Levi Sumagaysay

American wine industry stakeholders have different opinions about the potential fallout from tariffs on European wine, with California likely feeling the biggest impact.