I am so excited, I just had to share... 
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From September to June one year (starting in 2008 or 2009, I don't recall ATM), I attended a lecture series titled "Sustainable Planet: Food" once a month. A different topic each time, moderated by a local news guy who has gardening and health at heart, was presented by one or more knowledgeable people from other areas of the country. It was $5 per lecture and each lecture was two hours and had local vendors/non-profits in the lobby before and after for information, advocacy, sampling, etc. I wasn't completely new to the topic, but not real savvy on these particular concerns. Our county was/is really behind on many aspects of health. The one thing we've had going for us all along is plenty of outdoor activities and a lot of walker-friendly and bicycle-friendly paths.
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While I was participating in those 9-10 lectures, many of us got the impression all these great things being discussed were so far off from our reality due to such daunting obstacles (one example is community gardens are technically illegal in our city!). It was so exciting and I took what I could from the series and applied it to our family life and my volunteer activities at DD's school and circle of friends (I was the nominated spokesperson due to scheduling conflicts). It was worth the time and money a hundred-fold just with those. However, the bigger picture nagged at me...
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DH works for a very small firm as a programmer and project manager. His company's main client is the county of San Diego and DH is the head of that project: the immunization registry. I have to laugh because I'm not a big fan of immunizations and our livelihood depends on people who do immunize their children. Life is interesting, eh? Anyway, a lot of Federal money is floating around for health grants and DH's company is involved in a small part of something really big going on in our county and it is really cool to see some real progress being made within a government institution. It gives me hope!
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Here is a link to read about the program in our county.
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In the first year (March to December 2010), the program has accomplished some nice baby steps. There is a pdf file in the above link detailing them.
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I find this one kind of sad:
• Featured local produce (Valencia oranges) for the first time for San Diego Unified School District's Harvest of the Month program.
in that it was the first time, but excited because it really is happening! Our own CSA farm provided organic spring mix for the entire school district for the Harvest of the Month program one time (January or February this year).
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This is REALLY exciting to me:
• Launched farm to school lunch program, creating partnership between San Diego Unified School District and local farmers, resulting in system-wide change in the way food is procured for 72,000 lunches daily.
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In our county, most of the agriculture is flowers/trees (nonedibles) because they pay better. In starting the farm-to-school lunch program, one of the biggest challenges is no one farm in our county can supply enough of any one food to feed all the kids in just ONE school district for one lunch! Granted, it is the largest district in the county and one of the largest in the country. The program director came up with a great solution, IMO. She is making her way through every single local farmer in the county, procuring one food item each month from however many farms it takes to make 72,000 lunches each day once a week. This means there will be higher demand for locally grown food!!! Which means opportunity is knocking for local farmers... 
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I wanted to share this because so often we, as mothers striving to do what is best for our kids, get discouraged by all the great things we read and hear about going on elsewhere and we keep plodding ahead in our little world hoping for the best. Well, it can happen! Even in a mammoth size school district filled with all kinds of limiting rules and regulations and challenges.
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Keep HOPE alive!!!
