Special Sections

Provided Photo of the newest wrapped truck, which picks up edible food rescued/recovered from local businesses, and delivers it to the Food Bank. This program will have long-reaching effects to help mitigate hunger and climate change in the Salinas Valley. From the Farm straight to the Food Bank Fighting Hunger & Climate Change The phrase "food inse- curity" has been widely used since the onset of the pandemic and sweeping loss of em- ployment and school food programs, but the reality is much more serious than the word "insecurity" implies. Today, at least one in four people throughout the Salinas Valley are experiencing real hun- ger and malnutrition. The chronic uncertain- ty of how to feed one's self and family creates immeasurable anxiety and stress. Parents desperate to feed their children often sacrifice their own nutrition. The pain from hunger impacts sleep, ability to focus, learn and work effectively. Meanwhile, shocking amounts of waste from edible food has been littering our landfills; according to the USDA, up to 40% of food produced in the nation is wasted . Considered "non-commercially via- ble," food that may not meet certain standards in size or appearance for the grocery store has been headed for the trash, and once in the landfill, decom- posing organic matter produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. California lawmakers passed SB 1383 , the Short Lived Climate Pollutants law aims to reduce the amount of organic material landfilled by 75% (mea- sured against levels recorded in 2014) by the year 2025. While the life-threatening and economic impacts of climate change are increasingly evident in extreme weath- er patterns that we experience here on the Central Coast, a crucial and more immediately felt feature of SB 1383 is the recovery and di- version of edible food. SB 1383 applies man- datory compliance and reporting requirements to motivate the food generators and suppli- ers to find a home for their products. Pro- grams and technology are emerging to help match suppliers to distributors (typically food banks), and in the Salinas Valley, a program facilitated through Salinas Valley Recycles is helping local farms, packagers and food retailers get edible food to the Monterey County Food Bank. Since the pandemic, food banks are more challenged than ever to keep stock and meet the demand for food. Farms and food packers are important suppliers to ensure edible food makes it to those who need it. With funding from the Department of Resource, Recycling, and Recovery (CalRecycle) Organics Grant Program, Salinas Valley Recycles has pro- vided two refrigerated trucks to rescue viable food and deliver it to the Monterey County Food Bank. They also provide free consulting services to help local businesses meet and report the requirements for compliance through the law. If your business needs help to meet the requirements of SB 1383, or to connect your resources to those in need, contact Salinas Valley Recycles at (831) 775-3000. Ag History Project efforts amidst pandemic The pandemic has been a challenge for the Agricultural History Project (AHP) causing the organiza- tion to think outside the box. School Field Trips had to be can- celed as did their 2nd Saturday events and all other adult tours the past eleven months. The Annual Harvest Dinner was modified as a drive-thru event. On the bright side, they were able to do more restoration and maintenance of equip- ment because of the downtime. Their team of volunteers, four during the week and nine on Tuesday morn- ings, have been doing projects that were only dreams prior to the pandemic. One project receiv- ing attention is the restoration of an 1877 Wheel Scraper donated by Ken Locke-Pad- don. After doing some research, they found that the scraper was invented by C.H. Smith in 1877 in Aurora, Illinois. He specialized in railroad grading. The first product he manufactured was a horse-drawn scraper on wheels. It was designed to haul one-half yard of material and was used to carry and dump material for an em- bankment and the like. Other models of wheel scrapers followed which had increased capacity. The company became known as the Western Wheeled Scraper Compa- ny. The company contin- ued until 1978 building construction equipment. The Austin – Western equipment was regarded as superior equipment and was used to build the Panama Canal. They finished restoring one scraper last month and it which is now on display in the Codiga Center and Museum. They are now restoring Provided photo of wheeled scraper an Allis Chalmers G High Crop Tractor, Studebaker Carriage, and a 1919 Fageol Tractor. Plans are being made to host private family tours starting in April following current COVID-19 guidelines. To arrange a tour please contact the AHP office at (831) 724- 5898. Family tours will include educational exhibits and hands- on learning activities. AHP is working hard to follow their Mission to preserve the History of Agriculture on the Cen- tral Coast of California. Their library is being used to do research on Agriculture, especially apples and they continue to work with youth in the community to help them learn and foster an appreciation for the history of agriculture on the Central Coast. Visit www.aghisto- ryproject.org for more information.

• Cover