A weekly roundup of news and events concerning food, farms, the environment, local communities- and anything else that may catch our eye. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal examined the decline of farmland in the San Francisco Bay Area, despite heavy demand for locally-grown food in the region. They cited our 2008 San Francisco Foodshed Study that examined whether the City of San Francisco feed itself with local food from farms and ranches within 100 miles of the Golden Gate. AgWeb ran a story about Ag Secretary Vilsack’s speech at the Commodity Classic in Anaheim outlining his strategy for rural America. The Western Farm Press highlighted an editorial by Los Angeles Times food editor Russ Parsons that called for a “more constructive give-and-take” between farmers and developers. Our own Dennis Nuxoll penned a response to Parson’ article last month in the Farmland Report- read it here. Last Saturday, Occupational Health and Safety’s website reported on an initiative by the USDA to engage farmers in helping to improve water quality in the Mississippi River Basin. An article published over the weekend at theadvertiser.com reported on the continued sign-up for the USDA’s Grassland Reserve Program, which “helps farmers and ranchers keep their grazing operation viable and prevents the conversion of grassland to other uses.” And Ag Weely reported on the “sustainability” themed 2010 Larry Branen Ag Summit in their piece entitled What does sustainable agriculture look like?