School lunches are free for many students, but filling up on empty calories has some long-term costs. That’s why Slow Food activists are pushing for more funds and better nutritional standards to upgrade what the next generation is eating.

The biggest of the six Sonoma County “Eat in” events will take place Monday, from 4-7 pm, at Santa Rosa’s Bayer Farm park and community garden, at 1550 West Avenue in Roseland. It's a joint undertaking with LandPaths. which manages the site. Susan Campbell of Slow Food Russian River, a co-cordinator the event, describes what they have planned there.

Beyond the “eat-in”events, Slow Food is working to mobilize widespread public support for changes in the 1946 School Lunch Act when it comes up for reauthorization later this year, says Jerusha Klemperer, the national coordinator for Slow Food USA’s “Time For Lunch” lobbying campaign.

Details on the local events can be found on this full list of Labor Day "Eat-In" events in California.

Residential greywater systems are now legal in California, and most modest residential installations don’t ever require a permit. But exactly how the changed rules are being implemented remains a little murky.

Sonoma County PRMD deputy director Duane Starnes explains why diverting laundry water outflow to a greywater reservoir also requires some additional changes to the household’s existing plumbing, such as the diversion valve shown at right.

Art Ludwig, a long-time advocate for legalizing greywater systems, says the state’s new rules allowing them carry an almost symbolic significance that extends well beyond mere plumbing.

Ludwig's Oasis Design website has detailed and illustrated instructions on how to install a "laundry to landscape" greywater system.

The Bay Area's Greywater Guerrillas are another online resource.

Local activists are urging customers to boycott Whole Foods to protest the company ownership’s opposition to health care reform and organized labor.

With four stores in Sonoma County, one in Napa and two in Marin, Whole Foods is the dominant purveyor of organic groceries in the North Bay. Georgia Kelly says that joining the boycott has meant disruptions in her personal patterns, but she feels living out her personal values is more important.

Ben Boyce (left), director of the Living Wage Coalition, contends that while John Mackey is certainly entitled to his own personal beliefs, others who do not share those beliefs have a responsibility not to provide the financial support to perpetuate them.

"Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments..." wrote Whole Food CEO John Mackey (right)  in his Wall Street Journal essay, "The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare."

"Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health." Read the full article  here.

Will Shonbrun's response, an Open Letter to Whole Foods Market, was first published in the Empire Report. You can view the main Facebook page supporting the boycott here.

Local health officials are bracing for an unusually intense flu season, with  the yearly “seasonal” flu compounded by the so-called swine flu, which is already present in the regional population.

This illustration shows the various symptoms associated with the swine flu or H1N1 200 virus. Dr. Mark Netherda, Sonoma County’s Deputy Public Health Officer, outlines the straightforward steps that anyone can take to minimize their exposure to it.

Is it a good idea to wear a surgical mask when out in public? Only if you’re already sick.

So why is this being called the swine flu? Dr. Netherda explains its based in the molecular history of the virus (shown at left), and has almost nothing to do with pigs.

More extensive information about the swine flu nationwide is available from the Centers for Disease Control, which maintains an online map showing the incidence of the disease on a state-by-state basis.

And, on a less serious note...