Over at Hit&Run, Reason.com editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie blogs about this San Diego Union-Tribune story about how the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, has ordered the “gardenification” of his town.

All city departments have six months to conduct an audit of unused land – including empty lots, rooftops, windowsills and median strips – that could be turned into community gardens or farms that could benefit residents, either by working at them or purchasing the fresh produce. Food vendors that contract with the city must offer healthy and sustainable food. All vending machines on city property must also offer healthy options, and farmers’ markets must begin accepting food stamps, although some already do.
The mayor will send an ordinance to the Board of Supervisors within two months mandating that all food served in city jails, hospitals, homeless shelters and community centers be healthy.
And effective immediately, no more runs to the doughnut shop before meetings and conferences held by city workers. Instead, city employees must use guidelines created by the Health Department when ordering food for meetings.
Examples include cutting bagels into halves or quarters so people can take smaller portions and serving vegetables instead of potato chips.

Fast Company Magazine had a story about Newsom in its July/August issue pointing out that the mayor was eying the governor’s mansion these days. I suspect the story was supposed to be a positive one, but he seemed totally awful to me.