Health, Science, Environment

99 Ranch’s seafood counter is enormous – and it needs to be: the store serves seafood eaters of many nationalities and income levels all over the Bay Area. The selection is huge: grouper from Peru, fish from Vietnam, China, Taiwan, and India.

Carlos Montelibano heads the fish department at the 99 Ranch in Mountain View where the prices are low.

(Don't see an audio player above? Try reloading this page in your browser.)

One thing you probably don’t think of when you think of hospitals is garbage. And yet, these huge institutions generate tons of garbage that goes straight into our landfills. According to this week’s East Bay Express cover story, on average it takes 33 pounds of garbage to treat each patient.  Reporter Kathleen Richards says the medical industry is one of the leading producers of waste, but has been slow to recycle.

The Sonoma Compost Company is just off Highway 101, northwest of Petaluma. All day, trucks haul in plant materials; others haul out soil. Sift through that soil, and you might find remnants of chicken feathers (apparently great for vegetable growers), rice hulls (nice for clay soils), and more.

On the next Your Call, we’ll have a conversation about single payer healthcare. Earlier this year, Senate Bill 810, which would have paved the way for universal health care coverage in California failed to pass. How would the plan work? Join us live at 10am PST or post your comments here.  Do you support healthcare for all? What will it take to get there? It’s Your Call, with me, Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:

Bill Skeen, executive director for Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) California