In northwestern Europe, hunter-gatherers may have acquired domestic pigs from neighboring agricultural communities, according to a study published (August 27) in the journal Nature Communications. The pigs’ coats might have looked similar to that of this modern-day Bentheimer pig.(Ben Krause-Kyora / Christian-Albrechts University /August 27, 2013)

By Melissa Pandika

How did ancient Europeans make the switch from hunting and gathering their food to raising it on farms? They learned it from their neighbors, German archaeologists say — and they’ve got the pigs to prove it.

Archaeologists have argued for decades over whether the hunter-gatherers who lived along the western Baltic coast 14,000 years ago had much interaction with agricultural communities in northwestern Europe. Members of the so-called Ertebølle culture had been hunting seals and wild boar when farmers migrated from the Middle East and settled nearby, bringing domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and pigs with them.

The two communities seem to have maintained distinct cultures, although recent evidence suggests that they occasionally traded stone tools and pottery. But whether hunter-gatherers adopted farming practices from their neighbors has remained “hotly debated,” archaeologists from Christian-Albrechts University in Germany and other institutions wrote Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

To settle the debate, the researchers sequenced DNA from the bones and teeth of 26 pigs excavated from three Ertebølle sites to determine whether they came from the same herds that agricultural communities were raising further south.

The researchers first analyzed a short segment of DNA that’s known to be correlated with geographic origin. The sequence shows that wild boars have European ancestry while domesticated pigs are from the Middle East. They were first raised in the Fertile Crescent, an area that includes present-day Syria, Turkey and Iraq.

The DNA from the three pigs recovered in Ertebølle settlements had Middle Eastern lineage. This was a clear sign that the hunter-gatherers acquired the pigs from their agricultural neighbors, the archaeologists wrote.

The researchers then looked at a gene called MC1R, which influences coat color in pigs. Wild boars have dark gray fur that helps them blend in with their surroundings and avoid predators. In contrast, domesticated pigs typically have spotted, multicolored fur. Among the three pigs with Middle Eastern ancestry, one had light fur with dark spots. That pig must have come from Ertebølle’s farmer neighbors, the researchers wrote.

Finally, they compared the molars of ancient pigs to those of modern pigs. Two of the ancient pigs had molars large enough to be considered wild. But the shapes of their molars were characteristic of domestic pigs.

Interpreting the morphology, or appearance, of remains like teeth is tricky, said study leader Ben Krause-Kyora, an archaeologist at Christian-Albrechts. That’s why his group also looked at DNA.

“We have these three lines of evidence which we can compare to conclude that these animals are domestic,” Krause-Kyora said.

Using radiocarbon methods, he and his colleagues determined that the pigs lived around 4900 to 4400 BC. Those dates suggest that domestic animals were living in northern Europe roughly 500 years earlier than archaeologists had previously estimated.

The new findings shed light on how ancient humans shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. Trading livestock might have represented “an initial step for domestication” in hunter-gatherer societies, Krause-Kyora said.

Why Ertebølle hunter-gatherers would want domestic pigs remains a mystery, although they may have been drawn to their spotted coats, which looked “strange and exotic” compared with the gray fur of wild boars, the researchers wrote.

But some archaeologists are skeptical. It’s possible that the pigs the researchers labeled as domestic were actually the offspring of domestic pigs that had escaped and bred with wild boars, said Peter Rowley-Conwy, an archaeologist at Durham University in England who wasn’t involved in the study. Their DNA would have still showed domestic ancestry.

“Those aren’t domestic pigs,” he said. “Those are wild boars with feral ancestors.”

Still, the study highlights how advances in DNA sequencing technology are revealing a more complex picture of how human societies developed, Rowley-Conwy said.

“We’re in for about 20 years of confusion — really exciting confusion — until we get enough of this analysis,” he said.

The latest segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is “From Service to Harvest,” a story of veterans turning to farming after their service is complete.

There has been a changing of the guard this summer among the California Dog Teams – comprised of specially trained dogs that sniff parcels and are part of the state’s first line of defense against invasive species. Three veteran dogs retired after many years of service, each having reached the mandatory retirement age of nine. Using the concept of “dog years,” that would make them between 56 and 61 years old in human terms. A fourth dog retired when its handler was promoted – that’s necessary because the program requires a replacement handler to train with a new dog to forge the strongest possible bond.  All of the retired animals were placed in loving homes to live out their lives.

The first dog, Bart, worked alongside handler Mariah de Nijs in Contra Costa County. The second dog, Bella, also sniffed parcels in Contra Costa County, teaming up with handler Ceciile Siegel . The third dog, Friday, put its nose to the test with handler Jeremy Partch in San Diego County. And the fourth dog, Ebony, worked in Los Angeles County. Fortunately for California, each of these dogs has been replaced by new, able-nosed young canines. The rookies are named Venus, Conan, Cairo and Sedona, and some of them are already hard at work at parcel facilities – part of a crew of 13 dog-handler teams around the state.

The California Dog Teams enhance the inspection and surveillance activities of plant products entering the state via parcel delivery facilities and airfreight terminals. Once fully trained, dogs are able to alert their handlers to marked and unmarked parcels that contain agricultural products, allowing biologists to inspect for unwanted pests that pose a threat to California’s food supply and natural environment. Every canine that enters this program has been rescued from animal shelters, breed rescue groups, and other pet rescue organizations.

Between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 the California Dog Teams alerted inspectors to 41,002 marked and unmarked parcels that contained agricultural products. A total of 124 actionable pests were intercepted during this period (An actionable pest may be a pest of economic or environmental concern and is either not known to be established in California or it is present in a limited distribution that allows for the possibility of eradication or successful containment). Additionally, 1,948 package rejections were issued during that time period for violations of state and federal plant quarantine laws and regulations.

The California Dog Teams serve as a vital and indispensable part of protecting California’s agricultural and natural environments from invasive species.

The Sacramento Visitors and Convention Bureau has produced a video outlining why the Sacramento-area can stake a claim as America’s farm-to-fork capital. CDFA Secretary Karen Ross appears at the 10:30 and 12:55 marks.

http://beta.cerescourier.com/section/11/article/1166/

Despite being the breadbasket of America, many residents in the Central Valley remain hungry in what is a very ironic and unfortunate truth.

An estimated 67,000 of the area’s residents in the Valley go hungry every day.

Last week, members of the California Department Food and Agriculture convened to discuss the issue of the hunger and food insecurity in the Valley.

Craig McNamara, president of the CDFA, led the meeting and stated the current situation for many residents of California’s agricultural mecca is baffling.

“It’s shocking that the most productive agricultural region in the United States also has one of the highest levels of food insecurity, said McNamara.

Last week’s meeting comes in light of a UCLA study performed last year that found that 3.8 million individuals were food-insecure within California. This report also identified the Valley as having one of the highest rates of food insecurity within the state.
Rebeca Knodt, executive director of the Emergency Food Bank in Stockton, stated that the food bank she is responsible for serves about 200 to 300 people a day, and that a majority of these people are simply using the food bank because they don’t make enough money.

“A lot of these people are families that are going through times,” said Knodt. “A majority of these people are not actually homeless, they just don’t make enough.”

Knodt also stated the Emergency Food Bank is trying to incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables in their food boxes, in light of growing epidemics of childhood diabetes and obesity.

She said that when good food isn’t available to eat, families resort to inexpensive and often poor quality food. Cheap food Knodt, says, “doesn’t translate into healthy food.”

“Families are torn to make a choice — pay the bill or feed the kids.”

The growing trend for the need of food is also apparent in Ceres. Barbara Bawanan, executive director of United Samaritans stated their own food trucks, a service that provides thousands of meals for residents of Ceres, has seen an increase in the amount of people looking for a meal.

According to a July survey done by the United Samaritans, 84 percent of those who took food from the trucks lived in homes. However, despite those living in homes, 90 percent of them were from extremely low-income homes.

“For some of these people, it’s the only meal they will get,” said Bawanan.

Bawanan also stated she has seen an increase in the number of seniors looking for food, many of whom are living with a monthly income that falls short of $800 a month.

The problems however, don’t just stop there.

With dwindling federal grants from food banks, and a proposed farm bill that would cut food stamp programs, food bank officials are concerned that food banks won’t be able to support those looking to fill their empty stomachs.

“The fact that we’re third in the world in food production and we cannot feed our own people is just sad,” said Knodt. “We need to do something about this or it’s going to be catastrophic.”

In light of these growing concerns, the state is looking at some possible solutions.

According to McNamara, state agencies are looking to double farm contributions to food banks by the year 2015, a number that estimates around 200 million pounds annually for food insecure families. He cited the Ag Against Hunger and Hidden Harvest programs as possible methods of overcoming such a massive problem.

“These programs are just the beginning and they do not count the individual efforts of farmers,” said McNamara. “The great role of faith-based communities, and the work that local farm bureaus, farm organizations and communities are doing to address the issue.”

 

 

Cover Crops and Conservation is one of a series of videos on conservation from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The series is called, “There’s a Plan for That.”

http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20130817/BUSINESS/308170022/Tons-ag-plastic-get-new-life?nclick_check=1

An agricultural plastics recycling center that will easily dwarf the Salinas Wal-Mart in size is slated to begin operations this fall in the Firestone Business Park, eventually employing up to 500 workers.

The deal, brokered by Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate Services in Salinas, will bring to Monterey County the newly formed Encore Recycling, a subsidiary spun out of Vernon-based Command Packaging. Command is a privately owned maker of plastic and reusable shopping and restaurant bags. Its customers range from The Cheesecake Factory to Cost Plus World Markets.

Agriculture is a plastic-intensive industry, creating 100 million pounds of plastic waste every year — that’s like burying the weight of the USS Missouri in California landfills every 12 months.

Pete Grande, the chief executive officer of Command Packaging and Encore Recycling, explained his concept of a “closed loop” company. As a maker of plastic bags, Command is also a major recycler of plastic.

“We’ve tried to be a solutions company for two decades,” Grande said Friday from his Vernon offices. “We recognize there is a problem. And implementing a sustainable recycling model that works for the consumer, the grocery store, and the environment, is a win-win for all.”

The Encore plastic will be recycled into reusable plastic bags called Smarterbags that will be manufactured by Command, Grande said.

The recycling process will focus on four primary types of agriculture plastic waste: fumigation film, mulch film, drip irrigation tape and the “hoop” plastic that covers greenhouses. Other plastics, such as the liners in wooden harvest crates, will also be recycled, Grande said. The plastic will be gathered from farms in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties.

Regional economic development officials say the Encore project is exactly what Monterey County is hoping to attract — the marriage of agriculture with green technology. David Spaur, director of the Monterey County Economic Development Department, said the success of the deal was owed in a large part to inter-agency cooperation, as well as working with Command to meet its needs.

“The company was very flexible and helpful, and the county staff was very flexible and helpful,” Spaur said.

For example, if an industrial site has what is called a general development plan, then a company can cruise in and go through the permitting process in roughly a month. The Firestone Business Park does not, so that would normally extend the process to six months and add another $6,000 in costs to the business. Spaur said that working with Greg Findley, partner with Cassidy Turley who headed up the brokerage side, and Marti Noel, in charge of special projects for the county Planning Department, they were able to run some of the permitting processes concurrently to speed up the timeline for Command.

The agricultural community appears to be on board with the project. Dole, Driscoll, Pacific Gold Farms, Ramco, Red Blossom Strawberries, and a number of independent growers, are listed as partners with Encore to ensure that their plastic is collected and recycled.

“It offers us the unique opportunity to avoid sending approximately 135 tons of agricultural plastic to the landfill,” said Thomas Flewell, a spokesperson for Dole Berry Co. said. “We anticipate that participating in the program will result in significant cost savings.”

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-student-researchers-find-247882.aspx

A group of graduate students in urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs has created the first comprehensive picture of urban agriculture in Los Angeles County.

While farming has long been the domain of rural landscapes, increasing interest in the local-food movement, healthy eating and sustainable cities has sparked the growth of farming in urban environments. The new report, “Cultivate L.A.: An Assessment of Urban Agriculture in L.A. County,” is intended to aid city planners as they learn how to accommodate these new land uses in the nation’s most populous county.

Project managers also expect the data to be a useful tool for urban agriculture practitioners and start-up entrepreneurs seeking information about current and future business models and siting opportunities for urban agriculture enterprises. Advocates, such as the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, will use the research to inform efforts to create a more seamless infrastructure and support system for urban agriculture in Los Angeles County’s food ecosystem.

Drawing on public records, personal interviews and sophisticated surveying and validation methods, the researchers produced an interactive map — hosted at cultivatelosangeles.org — detailing the location of every formal urban agriculture site across the county, excluding residential backyard gardens. The map is supplemented by a report, downloadable from the same website, with in-depth analysis, case studies and other resources.

The report includes an appendix that catalogs laws and regulations governing urban agriculture in each of L.A. County’s 88 municipalities. A handy chart that summarizes permitted and prohibited urban agriculture in each city is also available for download from the Cultivate Los Angeles website.

Urban agriculture, as defined in the report, is any undertaking that produces, processes, distributes or sells fruits, vegetables, livestock, floral goods or other materials in urban settings or their immediate surroundings.

“Much of the existing discussion and promotion of urban agriculture has focused on the qualitative benefits and ambitions of the movement,” said Carol Goldstein, a lecturer in urban planning. “We’re thrilled to be able to add some quantitative data to the discussion.”

Goldstein and Stephanie Pincetl, professor and director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, were co-faculty advisors for the project.

In conducting its research, the group contacted more than 3,000 community organizations, schools, businesses and individuals to establish a baseline understanding of:

Among the group’s findings:

“The work accomplished by the graduate students is intended as a baseline, one that can be compared with new data in the future,” Pincetl said. “We hope to provide the region with a better understanding of the urban agriculture activities taking place and show how the landscape changes over time.”

The report was part of the graduate students’ capstone project, which matches teams of UCLA Luskin students with client agencies across Los Angeles to tackle community policy issues.

For this project, the students worked with Rachel Surls, sustainable food systems advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension-Los Angeles County. UCCE, part of the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, works with home gardeners and commercial agriculture but has only recently begun a coordinated effort to address the needs of urban farmers. Results of the UCLA study will help guide UCCE’s efforts to develop education programs for urban farmers in Los Angeles and around the state.

The interactive map, full report and additional documents are available atcultivatelosangeles.org.