THE
Paper NEED HELP OUT? Abandoned shopping carts along Santa Rosa Avenue underscore the need for closer grocery stores.
Express Lane Santa Rosa aims to speed approval of grocery stores in ‘food desert’ BY JAY SCHERF
M
ark Moose walks quickly. He’s got to; since his truck was stolen a while back, his legs and rides from friends have been his only transportation, including to and from work as a tree trimmer. But Santa Rosa Avenue is long, and Moose lives far from the strip malls to the north.
For Moose, then, getting groceries means walking to Santa Rosa Liquor and Deli and seeing what’s in stock. “There’s not much variety, that’s for sure,” Moose says, hinting at understatement. And Moose is by no means alone. The USDA calculates that inside the area roughly formed by Petaluma Hill Road, Highway 101, Highway 12 and Mountain View Avenue, 2,600 people have poor access to affordable, healthy
food; 400 of those are low-income, according to the census. The USDA defines the area as a “food desert,” the poorest of three such designations in the North Bay, meaning many besides Moose rely on gas stations and liquor stores for provisions. Brittany Thompson of Santa Rosa Liquor and Deli sees customers buying their daily necessities all the time, adding, “Pretty much everyone who ) 10 shops here is a regular.”
Be My Neighbor
Gabe Meline
NORTH BAY BOHEMIAN | JULY 25–31, 2012 | BOHEMIAN.COM
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After years of sitting behind curtained windows, cloistered by the televisionaddled nuclear family, it seems that people are starting to actually care about honest-to-goodness neighborhoods again. For those who wish that the obnoxious family living next door would take a long walk off a short pier, this might be bad news. But for those who love bike parades, block parties, neighborhood-watch enthusiasm and the open opportunity to borrow sugar and eggs, the renewed popularity of good, oldfashioned ’hoods is welcome. To celebrate this renewed spirit, the Neighborhoods Summit Partnership hosts the Festival of Neighborhoods this weekend. Booths, games and chances to meet your neighbors abound at the Festival of Neighborhoods on Sunday, July 29, in Courthouse Square. Fourth Street and Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa. Noon–4pm. Free. 707.483.5730.
Charred & Feathered Biochar is a relatively simple and inexpensive technology that might just have hugely positive effects. Basically a soil enhancer, biochar is the end result when agricultural waste is processed into a fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soil retain nutrients and water, according to the International Biochar Initiative. This month, the 2012 U.S. Biochar Conference, featuring speakers on food security, climate change and environmental degradation, takes place on the SSU Campus. The conference runs from July 29 to Aug. 1 at Sonoma State University. 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park. Ticket prices range from $95 to $225; a movie, Symphony of the Soil, screens for free on Monday, July 30. See www.biochar.us.com. —Leilani Clark
The Bohemian started as The Paper in 1978.