Food Blog

California's $86 million date industry produces more than half of the nation's dates. Most of the fruit is grown in the arid Coachella Valley.

Californians growing food in cities now have help understanding the food safety laws that apply to them. A free publication containing California-specific information on rules and regulations for urban farmers was recently published by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The economic shocks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed California's farmers and ranchers to quickly embrace new business practices including creative new ways to sell directly to consumers.

Growing up, my parents told us stories of how as kids, they kept from starving during the Great Depression by not letting anything edible go to waste. To stay alive, they learned to eat beef tripe (stomach lining), chicken feet, cow tongue and other things not normally consumed.

UC Davis researchers have bred a new walnut variety designed to provide growers a way to harvest earlier and boost the harvest efficiency of California's $1.6 billion walnut industry.