It’s getting harder and harder to know how to eat healthily, and it shouldn’t. We have so many scientists and doctors and nutrition experts prepared to give advice.
But if you take a good look at who is now giving the advice for the government, you’ll see an agency that has been taken over by big business, not people who care about keeping you healthy.
Thank heavens for our health writer Elizabeth Borelli who studies the issues and the science and gives us weekly advice. Thanks also for living in Santa Cruz, where we have so many healthy local markets, not giant, uncaring corporations whose main motivation is profit.
Tourists who hit some of those markets are shocked at the great variety of organics and healthful things we can buy, so many of them grown in close driving distance from our homes.
Elizabeth’s cover story is depressing in a way, by showing just how corporate interests have taken over our public health agencies and how they have changed the recommendations for eating for a long life to eating to line someone else’s pockets.
I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise when you have a president who serves McDonald’s to athletes and a public health leader who dumped a dead bear in New York’s Central Park and for 10 years tried to pass it off as having been hit by a bicyclist there.
Now, they are messing with the food pyramid that educated health officials have created and turned it into a more meat-and-potatoes diet, rather than the legumes, vegetables, and whole grains previously recommended.
Take a look at the story and draw your own conclusions about what should be on your plate tonight.
On the celebratory side, we are happy to see the reopening of Capitola’s El Bravo restaurant after a devastating fire. It’s been around since 1967. Welcome back and felicidades.
Also on the healthy eating front, the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust did a drive-through distribution of fresh-caught fish to needy families. That’s the kind of good news we need.
Musically, we are at the forefront of a baroque concert with newly found Bach pieces.
And two local shows this weekend have sold out which is great news for the performers and club owners, not so good for those of us who forgot to get tickets. The Todd Snider benefit at Kuumbwa sold out, as did the Jackie Greene two-night stand at Moe’s Alley. We are such a culturally rich community and I appreciate it every week.
No wonder I’ll never leave.
Thanks for reading!
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
LOVE POOCH My precious Hazel, our 13-year-old Pomchi, letting Nova our new 2-month-old Pomarinian puppy, greet her with full and loving puppy love, Such an adorable moment I captured. Photograph by Mireya Arteaga
GOOD IDEA
The City of Santa Cruz is offering a limited number of free self-defense classes to residents through the Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women (CPVAW) Self-Defense Class Voucher Program.
This program is designed to increase access to safety training by covering the cost of self-defense classes at approved partner organizations. Eligible Santa Cruz residents receive a voucher that can be used to attend a class at no cost.
Vouchers can be used with a registered partner organization, including Minorsan minorsan.com and JP Martial Arts jp***********@***oo.com.
Vouchers are available on a first-come, first-served basis and will be offered until program funds are exhausted. For info and vouchers:gl*****@*********ca.gov.
GOOD WORK
The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History invites the community to step back in time and celebrate local history, science, and stewardship at a special open house honoring the birthday of the Museum’s founder, Laura Hecox this Saturday. Continuing a tradition that began in 2016, this free, family-friendly event highlights Hecox’s legacy as a pioneering Santa Cruz naturalist and lighthouse keeper.
The celebration in Tyrrell Park features Victorian-era activities, interactive science stations and historians. It will also feature the presentation of the 2026 Laura Hecox Naturalist Award, which recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the understanding and protection of the natural world. This year’s award will be presented to local politician and nature conservationist, Donna Meyers, at 11am.
This is a lively open-house atmosphere that celebrates curiosity, creativity, and connection to place. For more info: santacruzmuseum.org
