The Washington State Budget & Policy Center conducted a study and found that it's far more difficult for people living in rural areas to eat fresh fruits and vegies.  There are a series of hurdles that poor, rural people of which there are more than in the cities.  The hurdles include the lack of near-by grocery stores, the price of gas to make that longer trip to a better store, the time to drive an average of 15 miles each way vs. driving or walking a mile or so in an urban area to find a QFC or Safeway or a neighborhood farmers market.

"The broccoli is one item that goes fastest."  The Mount Vernon School District has been experimenting with adding more nutritional value to their school breakfasts and lunches for several years.  For the past two years, the joint lunch room for Mount Baker Middle School and Little Mountain Elementary School has had a vegetable and fruit bar for the students.  It has turned out to be quite a hit, allowing students to pick out the fresh produce they most want and try out new items on their own terms.

Washington's cherry farmers are expecting a great crop this year which is good news for cherry lovers everywhere since Washington State is the nation's biggest cherry producer.  It is estimated that the crop will be between 150-200,000 tons this year vs. 78,000 tons last year, according to an article in the Seattle Times. 

I picked some up yesterday at my local farmers market and expect to keep getting more for the next month or two.  This year some are going in the freezer for winter treats as well, given that we should get some good prices here soon.

Agriculture is one of the top industries in Washington State.  It ranks right up there with aerospace, software and biotech.  Unlike most states which have only one or two big crops, Washington has a huge number of what are called "specialty crops", i.e. apples, pears, raspberries, milk, pears, wheat, potatoes and so on. Of these, only wheat is one of the "big 5" US crops (the others being corn, soybeans, cotton and rice) that together receive 92% of US subsidies.

A High School in Richmond, California has been offering a unique Urban Agriculture class.  The Food Systems class is strong on experiential learning.  The students learn organic gardening techniques by getting their hands in the dirt - planting, harvesting, and boxing produce for local families to use.  Students also study public health, nutrition, local policy, food distribution and marketing, agriculture, and ecology, according to a post on the website of the sponsoring organization, Urban Tilth.

In his opinion piece in the NYT on Saturday, Nicholas Kristof talks about the link between our national health and our increasingly industrialized agriculture system and notes that we might want to be focusing at least as much on our food delivery system as our health delivery system.  He talks up the new documentary, "Food, Inc.", out this last weekend, a documentary that may do for food what "An Inconvenient Truth" did for climate change.  

"Agribusiness companies exercise huge political influence, and industry leaders often fill regulatory posts. The Food and Drug Administration consequently dozed, and the number of food safety inspections plunged.