Indian Style Tacos at Fire Arts Festival in Oakland -- Photo by Wendy Goodfriend

Street Eats
Forum takes to the streets to find out what mobile food vendors are dishing up in the Bay Area. From creme brulee carts and escargot on a stick to taco stands and tamales, street food is becoming more and more popular. Forum previews upcoming street food festivals in San Francisco and Oakland, and welcome listeners' "pavement cuisine" picks.

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:

• Anya Fernald, founder of the Eat Real Festival @eatrealfest
• John Birdsall, online food editor for SF Weekly @SFoodie
• Eric Hill, founder of Shuga Hill Catering, a Bay Area soul food on wheels catering business
• Kristin Hoppe, certified nutrition consultant and natural chef for Food Therapy and the @SexySoupCart
• Laurent Katgely, chef and owner of Chez Spencer and Spencer on the Go, a French 'taco truck' @chezspencergo
• Shelly Garza, general manager of Rising Sun Entrepreneurs which works to help street vendors and caterers set up their businesses

Dosa Ecstacy vendor in Dolores Park at 2009 SF Dyke March -- Photo by Wendy Goodfriend

Street Food Resources:
San Francisco Street Food Aggregator: Centralizes mobile food tweets and vendors in one place for San Francisco. @sfstreetfood

La Cocina: Cultivates food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. The organization focuses primarily on women from culturally diverse and immigrant communities.

SFWeekly's Food blog, SFoodie's posts on Pavement Cuisine

7x7's The No-Fail Guide to San Francisco Street Food

10 Things you may not know about San Francisco street food (scroll up page for info)

VendrTV video podcasts curbside cuisine. Hosted by Daniel Delaney, the show consists of 7-10 minutes episodes each individually highlighting a vendor, their food, and locale.

Bay Area Bites twitter feed keeps you up-to-date on the latest street food scene and vendors in San Francisco as well as tweeting about media coverage of pavement cuisine in the Bay Area and Beyond @bayareabites

Street Food Events:

San Francisco Street Food Festival
Aug 22, 2009 11am-7pm
Folsom Street between 25th & 26th
In front of La Cocina / Free Admission
Buy Passport to event $20-$150 (but you can use cash)
Silent Auction, Scavenger Hunt, Street Food Photo Contest
The event is a benefit for La Cocina.

Keeping It Real Dinners: Restaurants pair with Eat Real non-profits partners for fundraiser dinners. Proceeds from each dinner benefit a specific food accessibility and/ or economic development organization.

Eat Real Festival
Aug 28-30, 2009 Fri 4p-9pm, Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 10am-5pm
Jack London Square, Oakland
Free Admission
Proceeds from the event benefit People's Grocery, La Cocina and Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Spinach, alfalfa sprouts, peanut butter, beef...almost weekly, FDA and USDA alerts fill my inbox with notices about food recalls due to Salmonella or E. Coli. How does our food supply get contaminated? And what safeguards exist to ensure that the foods we eat are produced in safe and sanitary conditions? In response to concerns about the food supply, President Obama called for tougher food safety measures, and in May of this year launched a Food Safety Working Group to update the system of food safety in America.

Workers harvesting romaine hearts in a field at Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, CA, in the Salinas Valley. Because of concerns over hygiene, workers now wear hair nets and plastics gloves. Photo by Sarah Varney

Tonight at 8pm on KQED Public Radio, Health Dialogues, takes an in-depth look at the safety of the food we eat. Host Scott Shafer begins by interviewing two voices familiar with food safety at the federal level: Michael Taylor, the newly appointed Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. David Acheson, who, until the end of July, worked as Associate Commissioner for Foods at the Food and Drug Administration. Later in the program, award-winning health care reporter Sarah Varney looks at how proposed food safety legislation in Washington could affect California's food industry. We also pay a visit to the kitchen of UC Davis food safety expert Christine Bruhn, to hear about tips on consumer food safety in the home.

Research shows eating fish contaminated with mercury may cause brain damage or learning disabilities. The FDA regulates commercial fish, but what about sport fishing? Health Dialogues looks into the safety of fishing in the golden state.

Sport fishing may not always be safe, but growing your own food must be safe, right? Not necessarily. Gardeners, especially urban gardeners, should always test the soil for lead and other toxins before planting. You'll hear a piece about a group that helps to plant gardens, and test the soil, in Alameda County.

Health Dialogues also visits two grocery stores in San Francisco's Outer Mission with food inspector Sheldon Lew to see what the food inspection process looks like. Lew talks about what red flags he looks for during food inspections. Experience an audio slideshow of the food inspection tour.

Also, check out an audio slideshow of foods imported into the United States with FDA inspectors at the Los Angeles Port of San Pedro.

Listen to Making Fruits and Vegetables Safer on The California Report
When Congress returns to Washington after the August recess, the Senate will take up sweeping legislation to reform the nation's food safety system. California's produce industry could be affected.
Reporter: Sarah Varney

Listen to the entire program on Food Safety:

More Information:

• Food Safety Information Center
• Food Safety Working Group on Twitter
• Food Safety Information Center on Twitter
• USDA Recalls on Twitter
• President Obama's Food Safety Working Group
• USDA Food Safety Channel on Youtube

Post by Shuka Kalantari

Listen Live to Novella Carpenter on KQED 88.5FM Fri, Aug 7, 2009 -- 10:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Novella Carpenter on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 8/07 late eve)

Farm City
Novella Carpenter took over an empty lot next to her apartment in Oakland's gritty Ghost Town neighborhood, and over the years turned it into a lush garden and farm complete with bees, chickens, rabbits and even pigs. Urban farms are popping up in even the most cramped corners of densely populated cities, fueled by a desire for good food and a closer relationship with what we eat. Carpenter joins Forum to talk about her new book, "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer."

Host: Dave Iverson

Guest: Novella Carpenter, journalist, urban farmer and author of "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer"

Explore and buy the book "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer" at Amazon.com

Farm City News: Novella Carpenter's blog

Listen to story and view a slideshow of Oakland's Ghost Town Farm on The California Report: Urban Farming in Oakland

Listen Live to Mark Kurlansky on KQED 88.5FM Mon, May 23, 2009 -- 9:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Mark Kurlansky on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 5/25 late eve)

Mark Kurlansky
In a pre-recorded but never-before-aired program, Mark Kurlansky joins us to discuss his new book, "The Food of a Younger Land." It examines the diversity and variety of pre-war American cuisine. Using abandoned documents from the Federal Writers Project, Kurlansky looks at a forgotten America where food varied greatly from city-to-city and state-to-state.

Host: Michael Krasny

Explore and buy The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food--Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal

Mark Kurlansky's books on Amazon.com

Weekend of May 22-24, 2009

Urban Food Foraging
Are you ready for the next food trend? First it was organic, then local. Now, a new food movement is sprouting in California: urban foraging. We scoured the local landscape around San Francisco to harvest this story.
Reporter:
• Kelly Wilkinson

Listen to the program and see a photo slideshow of Iso Rabins on the hunt for some of his wild edibles.

Listen Live to Ruth Reichl on KQED 88.5FM Mon, May 11, 2009 -- 10:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Ruth Reichl on KQED's Forum.

Ruth Reichl
Ruth Reichl is best known for her work as editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine, but she's also a best selling author who tackles subjects outside the world of food. Her new book, "Not Becoming My Mother: And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way" examines her mother's life as a woman in the early 20th century.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guest: Ruth Reichl, author, editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine, former restaurant critic for the New York Times and four-time James Beard Award winner

Explore and buy Ruth Reichl's books on amazon.com
Follow Ruth Reichl on Twitter @ruthreichl
Follow Gourmet on Twitter @gourmet
Gourmet.com website

Listen Live to Michael Pollan on KQED 88.5FM Wed, Apr 29, 2009 -- 10:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Michael Pollan on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 4/29 late eve)

Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan joins KQED Forum to talk food politics. Find out how he views President Obama's first 100 days in office, and how the food industry is reacting to calls for simpler ingredients. Plus, Pollan wants to know, what food rules do you live by? Michael Pollan's most recent book is "In Defense of Food: an Eater's Manifesto."

Host: Michael Krasny

Guest: Michael Pollan, journalism professor at UC Berkeley and author of books including "In Defense of Food" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

Explore and buy Michael Pollan's books on amazon.com
Follow Michael Pollan on Twitter @michaelpollan
Michael Pollan's website: www.michaelpollan.com
Michael Pollan's Salon article Obama's 100-day report card

Listen Live to Food Safety on KQED 88.5FM Fri, Apr 10, 2009 -- 9:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Food Safety on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 4/10 late eve)


Food Safety
Last month, the Obama administration vowed to upgrade food safety laws for the 21st century. Just last week, traces of salmonella in a central California pistachio processing plant sparked a nationwide recall of the nut. What does the future hold for food safety?

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of "Food Politics," "Safe Food," "What to Eat" and "Pet Food Politics."

David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods with the FDA.

Elisa Odabashian, director of the West Coast Office and State Campaign for Consumers' Union, a nonprofit organization working for an equitable and safe marketplace and publisher of Consumer Reports.

Serena Vinter, senior research associate with Trust For America's Health, a non-profit, non partisan organization dedicated to advancing public health issues in the U.S.

Tweets on Twitter @bayareabites:

HR 875 Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

Consumers Union Food Safety

Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Full Belly Farm

USDA website FDA website

Marion Nestle's books on Food Safety and Food Politics

Marion Nestle's Food Matters column on SFGate

Marion Nestle posts at The Atlantic Food section. On Pistachio Recalls, FDA Tries New Approach

Trust for America's Health: Keeping America's Food Safe: A Blueprint for Fixing the Food Safety System

FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals and Safety Alerts Sign up for email alerts.

CDC's FoodNet: The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network

NYTimes: U.S. Food Safety No Longer Improving

Listen Live to Eating Out in the Bay Area on KQED 88.5FM Thu, Apr 9, 2009 -- 10:00 AM.

Listen to the audio archive of Eating Out in the Bay Area on KQED's Forum. (archive posts 4/9 late eve)


Eating Out in the Bay Area
The San Francisco Chronicle just released its annual list of the Bay Area's 100 Top Restaurants. We'll talk about the new list with restaurant critic Michael Bauer. We'll also talk with food writer Marcia Gagliardi and Zagat editor Meesha Halm about some of the area's better budget deals, and look at the relevancy of restaurant criticism in the era of blogs and Yelp.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:
Marcia Gagliardi, freelance food writer and author of the e-column "The Tablehopper."

Michael Bauer, executive food and wine editor and restaurant critic for The San Francisco Chronicle. Bauer writes SFGate's food blog: Between Meals.

Meesha Halm, local editor of the Zagat Bay Area Restaurant Guide

Listen to Daphne Miller and "The Jungle Effect" on KQED's Forum.
Aired on KQED 88.5FM Mon, Jan 22, 2009 --10:00 AM

Daphne Miller and "The Jungle Effect"
San Francisco-based foodie and family practitioner Dr. Daphne Miller has traveled the world in search of healthy indigenous diets. In her latest book, "The Jungle Effect," Miller imparts what she says are the health-bolstering secrets of authentic cuisines through travel anecdotes and recipes.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:
Dr. Daphne Miller, family practitioner and author of "The Jungle Effect: A Doctor Discovers the Healthiest Diets from Around the World -- Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home"