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85 Comments
- c010rb1indusa, on 07/09/2009, -4/+32Gavin Newsom looks like he's a political phony, but he's the only mainstream or big city politician who is actually doing something to combat the ever increasing threat of global warming, and it starts with recycling and having locally grown produce. It's about time we got serious and put measures in place that actually pushes us toward environmental responsibility.
- Burbulous, on 07/10/2009, -1/+23Check for lead content in the city soil first.
- Lederhosed, on 07/10/2009, -3/+23I agree the Newsom does not have the hair of a farmer--hair gel and hoeing don't mix (at least not agricultural hoeing). But the beauty of his microgardening idea is that it's accessible to everyone, including suits like him. I think he's genuine about it. He has proposed a long line of pretty great eco-ideas.
- maliath, on 07/10/2009, -2/+17You were right to point out that dangerous chemicals in the soil could have adverse effects on the fruit that is produced and the humans that consume that fruit, however your message was lost by the mention of "messiah." Don't ruin your credibility like that.
Here, let me try again ... lead and other dangerous chemicals in the soil in and around old cities can cause fruits to be difficult to grow and/or be harmful to humans if consumed. - inactive, on 07/10/2009, -0/+14City of Rockville, MD, every Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday(am not sure if both days) but they hold home grown produce market in front of the Movie theater/Jury Parking Lot, so last Saturday I came across and got few things. I was surprised to see how different everything tasted compared to the market stuff. I had to go back for more. Its a shame that many of us have not tasted a real fruit or a vegetable in its natural form.
- PatsFan78, on 07/10/2009, -0/+13There is a lot of empty space on roof tops that is virtually unused. Roof tops have access to all sorts of sunlight which would be perfect for greenhouse gardens. Also, gardens on roof tops absorb water when it rains, which means less runoff into the waste water systems.
- HeavensNight, on 07/10/2009, -0/+11next step would be to transform parking lots into mini solar plants with charging stations for whatever we will be driving.
- inactive, on 07/10/2009, -1/+11This is a great idea.
***** pesticides. - jkraft12, on 07/10/2009, -0/+9You should start your own company and try to do this!
- GRANDPAMUNSTER, on 07/10/2009, -0/+9I think it's a great idea, they should do this in every town. I would volunteer my time to help plant a communtiy garden.
- Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -1/+9under the solar panels which will be shading you & your car from getting direct sun and baking the interior and possibly your pet.
- Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -1/+9doesn't take much soil, if any at all in some cases, to grow anything. water, very little needed and the rest runs off as normal, and plant material is extremely light so long as it's not trees.
really this is not a valid argument because of light weight materials (not all plastic) that can house the plants. I'd image the weight of a 2'x2' garden patch could weight about the same if not less than a satellite dish. - FreddyBoy1, on 07/10/2009, -1/+8Any increase in use of fresh local foods would help increase peoples health and (eventually) reduce health care costs as well. 'Edible landscaping' could be a big step in improving the urban envioronment...
- govsucks, on 07/10/2009, -0/+6Oh, I have a positive attitude, I just think common usage will give you a poor result in most cases. I grow my own garden every year. Its a bunch of work, especially if you try to do it without a bunch of chemicals. Simple pests can destroy a garden in days. But I live in georgia and I'm closer to wildlife than they are in the city. I hope he can pull it off, I certainly have no problem with fruit and veggies growing everywhere, but there is a lot to be considered.
Who decides who gets what? Can you be from another area and be visiting and take some fruit or veggies? How much can you take before you've taken too much? What if you put a bunch of volunteer hours in maintaining the plants? Can you be assured of a share? Does it give you some authority of who gets what? Do homeless people have a right to take more or before the other people living in the area? Who collects the fruit or veggies when its harvest time? Where do they go? If you have an over abundance what will be done about clean up and disposal? What will this do to small groceries and fruit stands?
I'm just sayin... - chuckDontSurf, on 07/10/2009, -0/+6"that's why the "back to the land" movement of the sixties collapsed"
It collapsed, really? Where do you think today's booming organic farming movement comes from? - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+5And you don't think attitude has a big part of success or failure?
With the attitude you're giving... failure before even trying, you won't make it past the front gate. Try putting a little positive into it and you just might see that it's not that difficult at all. Especially with multiple people putting a little positive into 1 small bit, it will seemingly take care of itself without much work at all. - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+5Plants do a very good job of filtering most toxins, especially air bourne. It's the soil contaminants you really have to worry about.
But you've decided it's a failed idea before you've even tried it. Means you don't want it to succeed. Try being a little positive for once and you'll soon realize life isn't that bad :) - askantik, on 07/10/2009, -0/+5Uh-- or you could just plant an array of crops and use natural insect repellents. It's not either choice A or choice B... One reason we have so much trouble with insects is because we like to have industrial farms grow like 100 acres of all the exact same crop. Certain crops benefit other crops or ward off insects... plus a variety of crops helps protect against disease.
- inactive, on 07/10/2009, -1/+6Can I haz chicken on my balcony yet?
- Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+51 farmer can take 1 day to teach 20 people the basics. those 20 people could then teach 20 people each (400 in all) the basics and boom, you have basic skilled farmers all taking 10min a day minimum to help keep it all going.
if you drop the weight of every negative possible on top of a positive idea, then it will destroy the idea. if you start with the idea and move with it step by step, working out the positive approach as you go, then all your arguments can be nullified and forgotten.
you're putting the cart before the horse, blocking the horse. try the other way for once please, not just for yourself, but everyone around you. you'd be surprised at the results i think, and in a positive way :) - jkraft12, on 07/10/2009, -1/+5Do you think all the stuff at your local grocery store is manufactured or something?
- cubicledrone, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4The Earth, she is poison! Run for your lives!
Seriously? We should ***** all community gardens because someone might dump out their coffee? - mogebier, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4I wouldn't trust food grown out on the street. There are way too many ***** in the world.
- drinking12many, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4While I think this idea is rather silly as you would always have some people who just show up take all the vegetables then turn around and try to sell them
jkraft your comment "Growing a garden can be a fun hobby but that is all it is. It actually costs you more to grow and eat your own food than it does to buy it from a farmer (with few exceptions)." is totally silly. I live in a city but I do have a yard. I grow my own radishes, peppers, tomatos, and cabbage. I probably spent a total of 50 dollars on all the plants, the cost of the water is negligible, the pesticide and fertilizer maybe 20 dollars and It usually last more than 1 year. SO for 70 dollars I get enough peppers tomatoes and other vegetables to make many many meals which buying at a store or at a restaurant would cost me much more. I get to make salsa, grilled peppers, tomatos for sandwiches, radishes for my salads etc and it takes maybe an hour or two a week of effort. Gardens are easy and a money saving measure that most cant understand. You dont need to be a farmer of any kind to grow 200lbs of tomatoes on your own land for almost no space as my garden is probably 15 x 10 ft - chuckDontSurf, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4Actually my question was for zoomaKabu. I'm skeptical that he actually has any evidence to support his claim.
- inactive, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4I'm also assuming the salary from tech job also scales accordingly. If it doesn't, then forget it - but how would people even get by if it were that bad?
But yeah, anything is better than Detroit! Winters are terrible, boring surroundings. I want out. - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4Ever hear of "Neighborhood Watch" programs? Same idea really.
If 10 people helped just 10min a day to 1 3"x3" plot, you'd be amazed what will grow. And grow well.
Little positive thinking and effort, and not much of each, can make things happen. Keep thinking all negative, then it all goes to *****. Just remember, negative = decay, positive = growth.
Just try to be a little more positive govsucks instead of your usual negative self, and you might just notice the sun is bright & warm :) - greenroom628, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4http://www.buildbabybuild.com/projects/solar-power ...
- inactive, on 07/10/2009, -1/+5how many homeless people does the whole city want killed? all of them
- drinking12many, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3Takes me alot longer than 10 minutes to go to walmart. I spend 10 just fighting the old ladies waiting on people to leave so they can have a front spot. Not counting the actual drive time, and cashier checkout lines, etc.
Gardening is cheap easy and safer than store bought veggies. I may not be as "efficient" as a mega corp running a farm. But When I want a safe homegrown tomato I go out the back door, grab one, come back in and wash and eat. I know what chemicals went on it, i know where its been, and I never had to leave my house. Best part is I saved some of the money from my job because I didnt have to buy a tomato for a dollar when I could grow 20+ lbs for 3. - inactive, on 07/10/2009, -2/+5good, as long as it's not with poisonous genetically modified seeds. good idea.
- inactive, on 07/10/2009, -1/+4More and more I'm considering moving to SF. Hmm..
- jkraft12, on 07/10/2009, -4/+7This has got to be the dumbest idea yet to come out of San Fransisco.
"He also floated the idea of planting fruit trees on street medians, and experimented with a strawberry patch atop a bus shelter--ideas that could catch on under his new food directive."
Considering California produces the vast majority of this nations fruits and vegetables, it is likely that there are a few bona fide farmers even around the bay area that could be consulted. They might be able to clue the mayor in on the costs of seeding / spraying / keeping alive / harvesting / distribution of produce. Who in the hell are they going to get to do all these things? Fruit trees in medians? Unless San Fran is a magical fairy land you can't just chuck an apple seed into the ground and expect to have a viable and producing fruit tree in a couple of years. There is a reason food isn't free - because it takes time and labor to produce. People have figured out the most efficient way to do this is in mass quantities through orchards, fields and diesel tractors. - Gemfinder, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3I went to school at the California Culinary Academy. During the Bread Baking section of the course, our chef used to tell us to take extra loaves of bread home.
When I drove out, there was this one homeless guy around Van Ness and Market who had lost a leg. I used to meet him there and hand off a loaf or two to him. He'd tell me how he and a couple of his homeless friends would sit and eat last night's bread and thanked me for how good it was. I was truly sorry when Bread ended because I couldn't give him the bread my fellow students and I baked that day anymore.
Not all SF homeless are corrupt alcoholic trash. - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3Nope, not a civil engineer, but I do think about things in a reasonable way to try to figure out how things can work positively on the whole.
Yes, sometimes negative is required to bring about a positive result, but not in this case :)
EDIT: another idea is to also figure out some heat transfer system under the asphalt itself to generate electricity on a sunny day... or has anyone not noticed how toasty your feet get walking on the pavement :) - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3Those who won't put the effort of being negative, into being positive, are not worth putting effort into.
jkraft12: you will always fail because that is the direction you put your effort, or energy, into. no one is saying "change your world", just suggesting you try redirecting your effort away from the negative and into positive, just a little bit. what harm can occur? it may fail, yes, but if it succeeds, then you benefit most because it was you that put the positive into it.
and you don't have to be a person who likes to garden. 10min out of your day is not much to ask for something you don't think you like. hell, most of us do 8-12hrs a day doing a job we don't necessarily like but we do it anyway. - darkism, on 07/10/2009, -1/+4The dumbest idea was fining people for not composting.
- chuckDontSurf, on 07/10/2009, -2/+5Just curious: how do you know? Are you a civil engineer?
- Gemfinder, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2@jkraft12: How long do you take to toddle into a store and buy something?
How far did that travel? How many gallons of diesel?
I just got done watering, harvesting and tending my balcony garden. I timed myself: it took 2 minutes. That's for 20 square feet of planting space.
Now how much effort would it be for you, a private citizen, to carry a bottle of water on your way to the store and scatter it in a city planting bed as you're passing by? Think about 50 people who walk/drive/bike the same route, in an hour. - PopcornDave, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2But it also means that you're going to have people trampling over a roof that wasn't necessarily designed to be walked on all the time. That's going to be an interesting expense once the roof starts leaking from all the added activity and needs to be fixed.
- Ghoztt, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2BRILLIANT!
- lydiasky, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2Awesome. I hope it spreads southbound to the rest of the Bay Area as well!
- mesoholy, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2Seems like someone's jealous of Newson's good looks. What's wrong with this proposal even if it's a political stunt? I am sure some good would come out of it. BTW, homeless people want booz, drugs, and pizza and they won't touch fruits and veggies. I've been turned down many time by them with my offers of fruits and real food.
- mogebier, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2You eat apples grown on a street corner where all the disgruntled crackheads hang out. I will trust in the safety of a well lit grocery store.
- Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2And you are just saying some valid points. There will always be people who want to benefit from the effort of others, in both the "elite" and "bum" camps... they're both the same in my mind, just ends of the scale. It's all in the personal attitudes of an individual.
The balance of it is knowing that this will occur regardless. Some you will be able to change their attitudes, some you won't. But it really is a smaller percentage than we think, and the benefit to the rest far outweighs their piddly amount.
Common help for common cause, that is one thing humanity does well, lets not forget that by burying it under negative "what if's". The ones that are too wrapped up in their own negative are obvious to common cause, and would soon be pushed away from the common since they are only about themselves.
EDIT: P.S. nice to have a good conversation with you, without bullcrap directed at either from both. - philodygmn, on 07/10/2009, -2/+4Um, air pollution? I'd never eat anything from a traffic median, given a choice. And good luck keeping them from becoming homeless magnets, having all the food stolen, and inappropriate waste from being disposed there (e.g. people dumping out their hormone and puss-milk laden GMO Starbucks or some *****).
- nosecohn, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2> Unless San Fran is a magical fairy land you can't just chuck
> an apple seed into the ground and expect to have a viable
> and producing fruit tree in a couple of years.
Though many would indeed claim that SF is a "magical fairy land," it should be noted that fruit grows well in California. I planted a couple plum trees in my back yard from 2 year-old seedlings and had a small crop of plums the first year. Within a few years, I was getting over 100 pieces per season. - Paranor01, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2especially since it's been shown that coffee grounds do help balance the soil acidity.
- SkittlesUSA, on 07/10/2009, -1/+3What could possibly go wrong?
- PopcornDave, on 07/10/2009, -1/+3Gavin Newson is a political phony. He's bringing up all these ideas since he wants to be governor. If he'd proposed this a few years back I'd have more respect for him but now he's just playing to the greens in order to beat Jerry Brown for the democratic nomination for the governor's race.
Not only that, growing food in medians? Is he kidding? How many homeless people does he want injured or killed as they're out in those medians "harvesting" the food for something to eat? -
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