Cover Artist Dean Moniz
Inside Land Park/Grid January 2021
Dean Moniz, a former gallery owner and artist, lives and works in South Land Park. His award-winning art has been exhibited throughout California.
The Art Of Public Speaking
Though Derek Yuan is only 17 years old, you wouldn’t know it talking to him on the phone. The Mira Loma High School senior credits his impressive verbal poise to six years of speech and debate training. And he’s determined to give other kids the chance to develop their own public speaking skills through Leaders Speak, a free online training program he co-founded with fellow Mira Loma senior Hemang Dhaulakhandi.
“I was very shy growing up,” Yuan admits. “I was really lucky I made the speech and debate team in middle school or I wouldn’t have gotten started on this path. Once I got to high school, I realized that I’d gained all these skills by participating in speech and debate competitions—but not everyone has the same access to those opportunities. We decided to spread our experience and knowledge to as many people as possible.”
Fiber Optimum
If 2020 seemed like a daily flat tire, begin the New Year with a nutritious edible garden and exercise. Gardening is Mother Nature’s Peloton. Who needs Jenny Craig when homegrown fresh produce is stuffed with healthy low-calorie options?
Growing the right foods may even save or extend your life. Fred Hoffman, Sacramento’s highest-profile gardener, confronted a life-threatening health crisis in 2012. He discovered he had Type 2 diabetes while preparing for quadruple-bypass heart surgery.
It was an abrupt life-or-death wakeup call for the producer/host of the “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred” podcast and radio programs, “The KFBK Garden Show” and “Get Growing with Farmer Fred” on Talk 650 KSTE.
Is It Time?
I’m lucky that my wife, Becky, still laughs at the preposterous proposal I made to another woman 42 years ago.
I begin by explaining how, early in our marriage, we routinely substituted Brand X for the real name of any previous relationship. The nickname came from commercials that promised a certain laundry soap was new and improved and would produce sparkly clean results—far superior to Brand X.
Feeding Families
Food and nutrition insecurity are ongoing struggles for millions in California, including those living in Sacramento. In the highest agriculture-producing state, some local groups and government agencies have created ways to distribute freshly farmed food to families in need.
The Food Literacy Center is a Sacramento nonprofit whose mission is to inspire kids to eat their vegetables. Through its distribution of Veggie STEM Boxes, the center provides families facing food insecurity with meals that are accessible and healthy, while teaching kids about science and math through cooking.
