State Buildings to Become Affordable Housing | Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies | Tahoe Institute of Natural Science

California plans to transform three of its office buildings surrounding the State Capitol into affordable housing units. A Sacramento dietician-nutritionist discusses her new book “It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies.” The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science shares its conservation and education efforts in the Tahoe basin.   

Affordable housing

To address California’s affordable housing crisis, Governor Gavin Newsom directed two agencies to find state-owned properties and aggressively find ways to transform them into affordable housing. According to his office, the order has so far resulted in at least 16 plans involving the state, housing developers, and communities to develop more than 5,000 new rental properties throughout the state. The most recently announced plan is to transform three state office buildings in downtown Sacramento into what’s promised to be hundreds of new, affordable housing units.  The Department of General Services, one of the agencies tasked with this transformation hopes this project will “breathe new life into state office buildings” and downtown Sacramento.  Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela whose district includes these buildings, Jason Kenney, Deputy Director of the Department of General Services, and  Sasha Kergan, Deputy Secretary of Housing at the Department of Housing and Community Development joined Insight. 

Rewriting the story of Black Women's bodies

A new book is asking us to rethink how we view “good” and “healthy” bodies. It's a view of diet culture that has long embraced “thinness”, literally restricting women with the size of their bodies—controlling what they can, and cannot, eat. A dynamic the book's author says is centuries in the making and since the beginning has disproportionately harmed women of color who are often left out of the conversation and an idyllic version of wellness.  That author is Jessica Wilson, a Sacramento-based registered dietitian-nutritionist.  Wilson joined Insight  to discuss her new book “It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies.” 

Tahoe Institute of Natural Science

The Tahoe Basin is one of the most beautiful places in California to explore. For many, being in Tahoe’s abundant nature is important not just for leisure, but also critical for research. Combining both is what the Tahoe Institute of Natural Science is doing.  The nonprofit organization has a long-term goal of bringing a world-class informative nature center and educational facility to the Lake Tahoe area. TINS (for short) works diligently to advance knowledge of the Tahoe Basin’s natural history, conservation, and ecosystem/ and aims to awaken the public’s curiosity and promote responsible environmental citizenship. Will Richardson, co-founder and executive director of The Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, spoke with Insight host Vicki Gonzalez to discuss the organization and its important research.