San Francisco Art and Politics

I picked up a free paper called San Francisco Art and Politics at a coffeeshop and found two thought provoking articles in it. One was a short article about a San Francisco newsletter from the 70's called Turnover: The Newsletter of the People's Food System. Five front covers were reproduced as well as an article about food politics by Pam Pierce (author of our food growing bible, The Golden Gate Gardener). The writer mentions that issues can be seen at the History Room of the San Francisco Public Library as well as the Prelinger Library. I can't wait to peruse them.
The other was entitled Stone Soup. In it Ellen Roggermann exposes her thoughts on the loss of communal food sharing and subsequently the social glue that used to provide. The most interesting point she makes is that some place are beginning to revive communal ovens that apparently were fixtures in many European villages and likely still are in other parts of the world.
It begs the question: How much further can we push the idea of community gardens? How about community orchards? Sheep herds? Cheese dairies? Fish farm? Not that this is that novel an idea.
Check out the community chicken coop in How-to Homestead videos website.
And pick up a copy of San Francisco Art and Politics at your local independent bookstore (better yet, get it at Green Arcade, a great newish bookstore specializing in environment/landscape/local history, near the corner of Gough and Market St.)

Turnover cover image from Found SF, Chris Carlson's wikisite of San Francisco history.