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| <back | home SHORTS Economic Reasons for Buying Within Your Local Food System Liana Forest A very informative session at the recent Eco-Farm Conference was "Building Local Wealth by Building Local Food Systems," given by Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, MN. Meter pointed out that over 60% of the cost of our food is energy cost. That includes both the production and distribution costs for fossil fuel oil, gasoline, pesticides, energy use in wholesale and retail organizations, and transportation. The total economic loss in agriculture in the areas he studied (one SE Minnesota and two NE Iowa counties) has been $800 million per year, or 92% of the value of all food varieties of the region. If consumers would buy only 15% of their food locally, $45 million of new farm income would be earned each year. In the MN area, a network of processors and 50 farmers was formed, and achieved their goal of $250,000 in local sales in 2004. In addition, a system of equity investment, where locals invest in a farm and take a share in the business, was begun. This is different from loans, as no interest is charged. Wes Jackson has pointed out that farm subsidies are "laundering money for the lenders," as most farmers have to use them to pay off their loans. Where farmers have larger subsidies, they tend to get loans from large vendors, which means more money goes outside the community. Whereas lenders tended to be local from the 1930s to 1973, the higher grain prices in the 1970s led to bigger loans from outside lenders, leading eventually to a recession. In the past 20 years, farmers have been working harder but getting deeper in debt. In the MN region, the average loss is $95,000 per farm per year. The picture is similar in Hawaii, where there has been $171 million lost over the past 9 years, with farm income dropping. In U.S. farms, in general, $42 billion has been lost over the last five years. From 1969 to 2001, farm productivity has doubled, yet farm income in 1969 was five times higher than it is today. But instead of turning to local markets, the U.S. will become a net food importer by next December. Ken Meter opened our session for group discussion of how this situation could be turned around as "consumers" considered themselves, instead, as co-creators of their local food system. The U.S. currently has an extractive economy. To rebuild our local economies, we need to isolate ourselves to some extent from that system and build channels for local wealth retention. Measures that would help would be to reduce advertisements and tax breaks that encourage farm business to get bigger. Efficiency of scale can be provided within a region by building trust, social connections, and regional capital. People can be encouraged to buy food and invest locally as they increase awareness of the costs of importing food. A local survey by high school students found that simply asking people whether they bought local food resulted soon afterwards in a 37% increase in local buying. In addition, since medical costs of food-related diseases are 25% of what we pay for food, if you pay $1.25 for an organic food that would otherwise cost $1.00, you are ahead of the game in health. Finally, with middleman and distribution costs removed, local food is actually less expensive in most cases. And buying food shares in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms helps small and family farms to survive. To learn more about Meter’s studies and the Resource Center, call (612) 869-8664 or email kmeter@crcworks.org. Liana Forest Green Architect and public space pioneer Karl Linn passes on Karl Linn, the famous architect and public space pioneer, who dedicated the later part of the of his life to building community gardens in the most troubled urban environments, died in his Berkeley home at the age of 81 on Feb. 3. According to his wife, Nicole Milner, Linn died of acute myelogenous leukemia after a fight with bone marrow cancer. He was born in Germany and grew up on his family’s orchard until they were forced to flee Nazi Germany for Palestine. In Palestine, Linn lived on a kibbutz as tension grew between the Jews and Arabs, tension that eventually led to the Israeli-Arab War. Before the war, Linn left for Switzerland and later immigrated to New York. In New York he worked as a landscape architect and a child psychotherapist. In his landscape work he became frustrated by the fact that much of the landscaping at the time was simply the rich creating isolated gardens for their own pleasure. He began teaching landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and recruited his students to build what he referred to as "neighborhood commons." These commons were Linn’s attempt to bring to residents of urban areas the connection with nature that humans have enjoyed throughout their evolution. His opposition to the traditional landscaping institution, what he referred to as "landscapes of affluence," motivated him to establish the Neighborhood Renewal Corps in 1962, based in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia Linn met a 21-year-old African American high school drop- out named Carl Anthony. The two combined their mutual interests in landscape architecture and human rights and began working to improve urban Philadelphia. Their friendship would last long past those original projects; in 1989 they co-founded the Urban Habitat program at Earth Island Institute in San Francisco. After teaching and working in Philadelphia, Linn went on to teach in Washington, D.C., followed by New Jersey and New York, at last retiring to Berkeley, Calif. in 1987. In 1992 the city named a rundown garden at the corner of Peralta and Hopkins Streets in Linn’s name, and he quickly went to work revitalizing it. He went on to create two other gardens on BART land, to help establish the Berkeley Ecohouse, and to create an art education walkway along the Ohlone Greenway. His gardens always included wide ramps and raised beds so the handicapped could help plant, art for everyone to view, and a common area in which people could talk. Linn dedicated his life to community space, bringing neighbors together to create something beautiful and living, surrounded by cities that were often just the opposite, and, in the process, touching more people’s lives than he could ever know. Linn is survived by his wife Nicole, his son Mark, and his stepchildren Joel, Naomi and Dan. From NYTimes article Sunday, Feb 13, 2005. Summarized from various newspaper reports by Justin Popov, intern at HopeDance. Healthy Communities, Right from the Start Healthy communities, that’s what we all want. This publication devotes a lot of space to articles about our culture, and our communities, and how we can make life better. San Luis Obispo County has a fairly large population of creative people who are well organized and work hard at finding solutions to the disintegration of community and culture. We have everything from two cohousing communities to Mothers for Peace, and so much more [not to mention the plethora of social change orgs in the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties]. We are blessed with many dedicated individuals and organizations trying to change the paradigm, trying to make life on the Central Coast, and elsewhere, safer, more fulfilling and authentic. We all know how much we need this dedication to contribute to the building and sustaining of healthy communities. But when considering all the tasks at hand, it can be overwhelming — we have a lot of work to do! Where does an individual begin? And more importantly, how can we move from mopping up, after the fact, to starting off with healthy individuals and families that will, in turn, be part of healthy communities in the first place? I would like to invite readers to consider a couple of things when thinking about community, the first being children. When we look at our children, what are we seeing? An epidemic in drugs prescribed for children from preschool on, a skyrocketing suicide rate, more developmental disorders and emotional disorders than ever before. How and why have we lost our fundamental sense of who we are and how we "fit" into our communities? If we don’t have a healthy self-image and a feeling of connection with others, then we really don’t have a chance of growing healthy communities in the first place. I believe that to find some of the answers to these fundamental questions, we need to go all the way back to how we were born, to how babies are brought into the world now, and pose the question, what do BABIES really need in order to grow into healthy, functioning, connected individuals? At this point in time there is so much new evidence and remembered wisdom concerning infants, children and even preborns and what they need in getting off to a good start, that we need to add this to our consciousness when considering community. Right here on the Central Coast there is an organization that is dedicated to the well-being of families, especially pregnant women, their partners and their infants. The Birth and Baby Resource Network (BBRN) is celebrating ten years of service to new families. This non-profit, volunteer organization has brought the annual Birth and Baby Fair to San Luis, and sponsors educational events as well as printing and distributing the Birth and Baby Resource guide (free of charge) throughout the Central Coast. To find out more about the importance of our birth culture and how it affects each of us, the BBRN invites you to a viewing of "What Babies Want, An Exploration of the Consciousness of Infants," a documentary film directed by Debby Takikawa and narrated by Noah Wyle, on Saturday, May 7th at the Palm Theatre (more information in the next issue of Hope Dance). The Birth and Baby Resource Network also invites you to attend the 9thAnnual Birth and Baby Fair, Saturday, May 21, in Mission Plaza, SLO, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit their booth to find out more about birth and babies, and how we might, from the start, have healthier communities. Carrie Foster Evans is a childbirth educator and member of the Birth and Baby Resource Network. She can be reached at birthingafamily@gmail.com, www.birthingafamily.com or 481-2244. THE CAL POLY ORGANIC FARM REACHES OUT TO LOCAL GROWERS Healthy food and a healthy local economy begin with community. The movement to support local agriculture and local business, and build community is growing throughout the United States. The Cal Poly Organic Farm (CPOF) is participating in this movement through their Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA). This year CPOF is expanding their cooperative model of food production to supply their CSA. Collaborating with several growers in the county allows for more diversity of produce and economic support of local agriculture. Many local growers may not have the resources to create their own CSA but support the concept and value another avenue to sell their produce locally. This model is beneficial both to the consumer and the farmer and we hope serves to support and stimulate local food production and distribution in our area. Our County and climate allow food to grow year-round, and at CPOF we want to share that bounty with our local community through a CSA. CSA is a worldwide movement connecting community members to local farms. The CSA model helps support local farms by giving them the capital up front to cover costs of farming and, in return, members receive shares in the farm’s bounty. Worldwide, CSA programs have proven effective in helping farms remain economically viable while encouraging the practices of sustainable and alternative farming techniques. With the growing concern of food safety and food quality, CSA members see where their food is grown, how it’s grown and who is growing it. Fresh produce grown without the use of any pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or chemicals is healthier for you, your family and the environment, and you can taste the difference!! The Cal Poly Organic Farm is beginning its 6th year of the Community Supported Agriculture Program, a market-oriented agricultural project jointly managed by students and the farm staff. CSA members directly support the education of students in alternative and sustainable farming practices while also supporting farmers and the local economy. In return, CSA members get the best and freshest produce available. Members become a part of the farm, join in the decision-making process and are welcome to volunteer and participate in any farm events and workshops. In the past, the CPOF has hosted many interesting projects such as a permaculture design course, composting workshops, strawbale construction demonstrations, and classes on biodynamic farming, native plant landscaping and more. This year the CPOF-CSA season will begin April 18th and last for 26 weeks. Produce is harvested the day CSA members pick up their harvest share, and each week members will receive a box full of veggies and some fruit, newsletters containing recipes, and farm updates. The CSA program lends itself to people who eat plenty of fresh vegetables, want to support local agricultural production and reconnect to the land. "The CSA concept depends on and fosters a strong sense of community and cooperation, rather than rugged individualism." - Katherine Adam, National Sustainable Agricultural Information Services, 2002. For more information on the Cal Poly Organic Farm or its CSA program please call Sandra at 756-6139 or ssarrouf@calpoly.edu. Sandra Sarrouf is the CSA Manager at the Cal Poly Organic Farm. Terra Madre: Slow Foods International Extravaganza in Turin, Italy by Liana Forest One of the most inspiring experiences I had at the recent Eco-Farm conference was seeing scenes and hearing from attendees at this ambitious three-and-half-day event for 5000 food producers and enjoyers from 130 countries. The world meeting of delegates from 1000 food communities was intended to bring together farmers, fishermen, livestock, and honey producers, and food "artisans" (chefs, makers of value-added food products). Delegates from poor countries who could not afford to pay for their trip were given scholarships for transportation, food, and accommodation. There were 560 delegates from the US, some of whom paid their way, others of whom were sent by funds raised in local Slow Food "convivia" groups. Those who know Alan Savory’s work will be delighted to hear he brought over 70 ranchers. SLO County had several delegates, three of whom were funded by our local convivium. Erica Lesser, of Slow Food NY, told us the movement began in 1986 when founder Carlo Petrini decided to contest the placement, in Rome — right in front of the famous Spanish Steps — of the first McDonald’s in Europe. With the help of his mother and her bevy of female relatives, the group protested McD’s opening by chanting "We don’t want fast food, we want slow food," offering plates of free pasta to anyone who refused to enter under the golden arches. Since then, Slow Food has grown to an international organization promoting biodiversity, sustainability, and pleasure in the table. Our panel of attendees emphasized not only the wonderful food and speeches (translated into many languages) by such luminaries as Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva, Alice Waters, and His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales, but the opportunity to connect with farmers, growers, and artisans from many small countries. U.S. delegates felt they were presenting a different side of America to third world delegates, as well as learning from them, an exchange of cultural information rather than simply goods. As one delegate wrote in Edible Ojai magazine, "when the natural dignity of ordinary people is honored by other ordinary people, the result can be extraordinary." Also impressive was the fact that the Italian government footed most of the bills, and the delegates were addressed by the Mayor of Turin, the President of the Regional Authority (like our governor) who promised his region will be GMO-free as long as he is in office, and the Minister of Agriculture and Forestries, who spoke against trade policies that pitted farmers against one another and for policies that recognize that the production of food must reflect local differences and enhance small farming operations. A First Nations group from North America, represented by Winona LaDuke, featured harvesting wild foods. Smaller workshop sessions focused on specific topics such as beekeeping, fishing, etc. The next Terra Madre event will take place in 2006. Those who want to learn more about Terra Madre can read a good article by Jim Churchill and Lisa Brenneis, tangerine growers, in Edible Ojai’s Winter 2005 issue, No. 12 (www.edibleojai.com) and watch for a Frontline report on PBS in March. Or talk to some of our local delegates and join the SLO Slow Food Convivium (contact: Catherine Faris (805) 227-0951 or catherine_faris@hotmail.com), which began last July and already has 50 paid members and an email list of 130. "A Sustainable World" A new radio show, airs on KCSB, 91.9 FM, alternate Fridays at 9:00 a.m. Suzanne Cloutier, Kevin Childerley, and Jill Cloutier have created an hour-long program focused on sustainability, permaculture, and creative solutions to environmental and social problems. Topics include: organic farming and gardening, alternative energy and transportation, healthy communities, backyard food forests, seed saving, composting, personal health, nontoxic alternatives to household products, and natural building. Each show features interviews with experts, live in-studio or ‘in the field’; a news segment, "As The Sustainable World Turns"; and a calendar of events. Press releases, news, and calendar listings of events and meetings are welcome. Please send emails to: asustainableworld@earthlink.net or sustainableworldradio@earthlink.net. The show can also be heard on the KCSB website(www.kcsb.org); or soon, from the Santa Barbara Permaculture web site (www.sbpermaculture.org). Help protect a Chumash sacred site in Santa Barbara—San Marcos Foothills by Roberta Cordero The San Marcos Foothills is home to one of the tiny remnants of native California grasslands, riparian and other wetlands, and several sensitive species. It is the last and largest of the best habitats for many of those species, as well as lichens and other sensitive plant species locally and, in some cases, also regionally and beyond. See www.sanmarcosfoothills.org. It is home to Coyote and Great-horned Owl. And it is the site of an extensive Chumash village occupied over a period of six millennia or more; permanently occupied over at least some of that time, according to archaeologists. The EIR for ‘The Preserve at San Marcos’, which proposes several luxury homes, was not certified at a December Planning Commission meeting, largely due to public outcry at the inadequacies of the environmental, geologic, hydrologic, and archaeological studies. On January 5th, the Commission required further studies. In the case of the archaeological study, only an extended Phase I study was ordered and only in an extremely limited area, leaving the extent of archaeological deposits incompletely mapped. Specifically, we Chumash requested that the County adhere more closely to its own policies to avoid development on archaeological sites in perpetuity. Without adequate information, disturbance of artifacts and, more importantly, ancestral remains is all but inevitable. Whatever the results of the recent Phase I study, it cannot be adequate because it involved such a limited area. The legislative intent of a new State law protecting "Traditional Tribal Cultural Places" is to "recognize that California Native American prehistoric, archaeological, cultural, spiritual and ceremonial places are essential elements in tribal cultural traditions, heritages, and identities." Please help us get our voices heard in protecting this special, sacred place. We need your support! Please join the Chumash community in a prayer vigil, Thursday, March 3rd, 9:00 a.m., Anacapa & Anapamu Planning Commission Meeting. Help protect a Chumash sacred site in Santa Barbara—San Marcos Foothills! Contacts: Marcus Lopez, shalawa@sbceo.org, Roberta Cordero, roberta.cordero@gmail.com Ellwood Mesa will be preserved Ellwood Mesa has become public property of the City of Goleta to preserve its natural resources and public access and to be enjoyed as a passive-use park. The monarchs are cheering! Two celebrations are planned: A dedication and press conference onsite by TPL on Friday March 4 and a community party sponsored by FOTEC scheduled for Saturday March 12 at Ellwood School. Watch for the announcements at the FOTEC website: www.fotec.org. For more information, contact Chris Lange, canddlange@earthlink.net Permaculture Tsunami Effort The permaculture group in Indonesia, IDEP, has been in the forefront of tsunami relief in North Sumatra. IDEP was formed in Bali in 1999 and has been doing amazing work throughout Indonesia and supporting permaculture efforts in East Timor. IDEP was quick to respond after the Bali bombing, and this experience with disaster relief has proven to be invaluable for a fast, professional response to the tsunami. Check out their website and support their efforts in any way you can. Permaculture International Ltd is accepting donations into the PermaFund to support IDEP’s incredible effort in Aceh. For more about IDEP, the tsunami effort and direct donations visit: www.idepfoundation.org. Ayurveda and Oriental Medicine at Santa Barbara’s Prana Center The Prana Center, a Santa Barbara gem [see ad in the print issue], is the exclusive place for authentic Ayurvedic therapies, such as the Pancha Karma detox program. It was founded by two unique partners in healing, Corinna Schmidt and Claudia Brachtl. Corinna Schmidt is a Pancha Karma specialist and, for more than 18 years, has been an Ayurvedic practitioner and teacher. Claudia Brachtl is a clinical Ayurvedic specialist and a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, who also specializes in nutrition and chronic pain management. Offered are: Ayurvedic detoxification cleanses; Ayurvedic and nutritional consultations, including the analysis of blood chemistry panels; hormone, parasite and adrenal function tests; acupuncture; cupping; synchronized warm oil massages; shirodara (warm oil poured over the forehead for about 30 minutes); marma therapy; and cranio-sacral work. A popular treatment is ‘Bliss Therapy’. The Pancha Karma detoxification cleanses are recommended at the change of each season. For information please contact: Corinna Schmidt, P.K.S., at 805-452-2526 or Claudia Brachtl, L.Ac., at 805-560-9727 or visit: www.maharani.us Spiritual Perspectives on Permaculture by Alanna Moore Alanna Moore is a professional dowser /geomancer, as well as a freelance journalist, lecturer and author. She has taught dowsing and geomancy for the last 20 years all over Australasia. This May and June she will be giving presentations in Arizona, Seattle, Vermont and across Canada. Alanna applies dowsing to landscape design and sustainable agriculture and has built hundreds of ‘Towers of Power’ all over Australasia for enhanced plant growth. She finds that people are keen to experience a sense of the spiritual in Earth care, and this can be a bridge to connect us to indigenous perspectives of our sacred Earth. Her latest book is ‘Divining Earth Spirit’, second edition. The book showcases the work of a number of geomancers, including Aboriginal and Maori perspectives, as well as Alanna’s own discovery of dowsing for the presence of nature spirits. (Acres USA will be selling them by mail order.) She is also the author of ‘Stone Age Farming – Eco-Agriculture for the 21st Century’, which outlines the application of dowsing and geomancy to farming and gardening, and the popular book, ‘Backyard Poultry - Naturally’. Both are published by Acres USA. As a filmmaker, she has produced an eight-part series, ‘Earth Care, Earth Repair’, featuring unusual approaches and grassroots solutions to environmental problems, including permculture design. Alanna’s web site (www. geomantica.com) includes a free quarterly magazine – Geomantica, of which she is the editor. She can be contacted at alannamoore@gcom.net.au for dates and times of her presentations in US and Canada The worldwide Freecycle™ Network A grassroots movement of people who are exchanging free stuff in their own towns, each group is run by a local volunteer moderator. Membership is free. To sign up, go to the web site, find your community and click on the region on the right. An automatic e-mail will be generated which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you a response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the web site for your local group by clicking on your community’s link on the left. Can’t find a group near you? Consider starting one (click on "Start a Group" for instructions). When you want to donate something — a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door — simply send an e-mail offering it to members of your group. To acquire something, respond to a member’s offer; you might get it. The giver decides who receives the gift and sets a pickup time. One main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages. It is open to all communities and individuals who want to participate. It is grassroots at its best! (http://www.freecycle.org) Wilderness Youth Project’s Cuyama Learning Center begins with anonymous $80,000 challenge grant Wilderness Youth Project announces the acquisition of a large parcel of Santa Barbara back-country land for the long-awaited Cuyama Learning Center. A camp and permaculture-designed working farm are planned for youth and families to learn by experiencing hands-on lessons in growing food, tending animals, construction, rites of passage, and wilderness activities. For five years, Wilderness Youth Project has been operating life-skills and mentoring programs in the Santa Barbara area, serving thousands of youth and families, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition to enhancing its own programs, it will also serve other organizations and groups. The Cuyama Learning Center draws from experts in the fields of alternative energy, natural building, permaculture design and application, greywater use, systems development, composting, and natural ‘vitality’ farming to develop its sustainable vision. We are reviving the barn-raising approach to build this community resource for many generations to come. Many have already come out on weekends to get their hands and hearts in the land. Youth and adults learn to be cooperatively interdependent as they build together and discover their own gifts expressed in service. The land has been secured, thanks to the anonymous donation of an $80,000 challenge grant by a local family foundation. Wilderness Youth Project is launching a capital campaign to raise over $850,000 for the development of the farm and facilities. Please join us in creating the Cuyama Learning Center by contributing to meet this challenge and staying involved through our email updates. Contact Warren Brush at (805)886-7239 or by e-mail at clc@wyp.org. SATURDAY, MARCH 19: GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST OF THE IRAQ WAR Santa Barbara Veterans for Peace are coordinating a massive turnout March 19 against this illegal, immoral war on its second anniversary. Thousands will gather to emphatically express continued opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq and to advocate support for our troops by bringing them home NOW! Attend planning meetings at the Veterans Memorial Hall, Cabrillo Boulevard, Mondays after 5:00 p.m.; or stop by the Arlington West display at the beach west of the pier on Sundays and speak to Lane Anderson about planning. Bring your friends to Santa Barbara on March 19th to join our protest and grow our numbers beyond those of February 15, 2003, when over 5000 marched for peace. The best way to support our troops is to bring them home and out of harm’s way. Our troops are not ‘supported’ when they are not issued state-of-the-art protective gear; their trucks are still unshielded; and they are sent home severely wounded — often amputees — and then are charged for their meals at Walter Reed Veteran’s Hospital. Exercise your right to dissent, to protest; make your signs and banners and bring your noisemakers, or come as you are on Saturday, March 19th. Let’s show our friends, neighbors, colleagues, coworkers and George the III that we are STILL against this war. In solidarity and the spirit of a true democracy, Sharon Where There’s a Willow There’s a Way: Artist Patrick Dougherty at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Internationally acclaimed artist Patrick Dougherty (www.stickwork.net) is in residence in February 2005 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. On February 8, Mr. Dougherty began constructing an original environmental sculpture from willows on the Botanic Garden’s Meadow Lawn. Visitors may watch the artist at work during a three-week period. Grand opening for the exhibit will be March 5 and 6, and it will be on display at the Garden for approximately two years. This installation will be his first on California’s Central Coast. Known as the "Stick Man," Mr. Dougherty uses sticks and tree saplings to twist and weave his materials into immense works of art that stand as statements of his artistic interplay with the natural world. Elegant, sinuous, often whimsical, Mr. Dougherty’s work evolved from his childhood wanderings in the woods of his North Carolina home and evokes memories of treehouses, basic needs for nesting and sheltering, and the urge to explore, hide, and play. Mr. Dougherty has created over 150 site-specific sculptures throughout the world. Mr. Dougherty says, "My affinity for trees as a material seems to come from a childhood spent wandering the forest...a place with thick underbrush and many intersecting lines evident in the bare winter branches of trees. When I turned to sculpture as an adult, I was drawn to sticks as a plentiful and renewable resource. I watched animals work and realized that saplings have an inherent method of joining — that is, sticks entangle easily. This snagging property is the key to working this material into a variety of large forms." For more information on Patrick Dougherty’s Botanic Garden installation, please call 805-682-4726 or visit www.sbbg.org. Earth Skills For seventeen years, Earth Skills has taught tracking, wilderness survival, plant uses, and nature awareness to thousands of lovers of the outdoors. Join us and find small, friendly, but very focused classes providing much field experience and interaction with the instructors. We take pride in the quality of our teaching and the versatility of our approach, which allows us to teach beginning outdoorspeople, young science students or professional biologists with equal commitment to their learning needs. Skills are taught at many levels and we continually bring new ideas into the curriculum. The connection to Nature through hands-on skills is our culture’s life line to what is true and meaningful. We hope to see you in a class. EARTH SKILLS, 1113 Cougar Court, Frazier Park, CA 93225 661-245-0318 or e-mail: jlowery@frazmtn.com, www.earthskills.org Sustainable Harvest International First, the bad news. Oxnard’s Seminis, the world’s largest supplier of fruit and vegetable seeds, is being purchased by Monsanto, the St. Louis-based biotech company, for $1.4 billion (more than double what the sellers paid 16 months ago), both companies announced January 24. The sale will be completed sometime in the spring of 2005. According to Monsanto spokeswoman Lori Fisher, genetically engineered seeds are not currently planned for the Oxnard site, but may be kept as "an option for the future." Given Monsanto’s history of actions detrimental to the planet, the firm’s presence locally represents a number of potential threats—environmental, economic and political. Should the company exercise their "option for the future," Ventura County’s agriculture and general environment could be harmed. In response to a letter of concern to Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, his assistant stated that the county has no authority to prevent the purchase and no current contracts with either firm. The response leaves much unsaid. Monsanto is unlikely to give ample warning of their intent to exercise their "option" to contaminate the environment. Ventura could use help and current information from folks in SLO, who unfortunately lost the initiative in the last election, and Santa Barbara, who presumably are still going for an anti-GE measure. Contact: mrgrtmorris@sbcglobal.net. Now, the good news. Sarah Kennedy, Outreach Director of Sustainable Harvest, spoke to congregants and community members at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura, February 6, about her organization’s work in Central America (www.sustainableharvest.org). They train Central American farmers in techniques to replace the traditional slash-and-burn formula so harmful to the tropical rainforest. According to Sarah, the centuries-old practice involved burning native forest to clear an area and leave a nitrogen residue from the ash, which then fertilized their crops for awhile. When the soil was exhausted, people moved on and did not return to the spot for fifty to a hundred years, at which point the forest had reclaimed the land. As population increased, moving on became unworkable. Soon only grass grew on the depleted soil, so the farmers brought in cattle, which further debased the land by causing gullies with their sharp hooves and heavy bodies. The result was increasing desertization with a malnourished and impoverished population, many leaving to find work in crowded cities. Sustainable Harvest hires local farmers to train their neighbors in organic farming methods, including diversifying crops to reduce the number of pests, improve local diet and as a hedge against market fluctuations. They also do much reforesting to protect waterways and aquifers and to provide for shade loving crops, such as coffee and cocoa. In partnership with another organization, Trickle Up, they assist farmers in obtaining small loans for minor capital investment in seeds and other farm necessities. Among the first steps in the process is planting a diverse vegetable crop near the house tended by women and children. Heretofore, greens have been regarded as luxuries only for the well-to-do. "You see the effects first in the children," Sarah stated. "At first there are signs of malnutrition — absent teeth, yellowed hair, and distended bellies, but after a change in diet, they begin to look healthy." Per Sarah, the results of the organization’s work have been enormous growth in family income, improvement in health, a sense of local empowerment, and a much healthier environment for humans and other creatures. In all, 1,250,000 trees have been planted, and tens of thousand acres have been brought back from ruin. Wildlife is returning, and the rainforest bird population has recovered to 85% of their original numbers in cultivated areas. The program has a huge waiting list. One remarkable factor is the nearly exclusive use of materials within the reach and control of the farmers themselves. Seldom is anything more than training and know-how offered, which reduces the potential for dependency and allows people to work with materials with which they already have skill and familiarity. Also, local farmers are hired to train other local farmers, so the change agents operate with a built-in sensitivity to local customs and mores. Thus the risk of unintended consequences is reduced. Regaining a healthy, sustainable farming environment by organic methods for an entire village can be financed with $2,500. The Ventura UU Social Action Committee hopes to have Sarah back in April in conjunction with two nearby churches for a fundraiser. Further information will be posted on the NewsReal web site (www.new-real.org) when available. Any group wanting to schedule a demonstration talk can make contact through Sustainable Harvest’s web site or (207) 664-0987. Margaret Morris The Great American Meatout, with the film: "The Emotional World of Farm Animals" Do it for your health, your children, the hungry, our environment, and the animals! Go vegetarian for a day, on March 20th, The Great American Meatout (www.meatout.org). North County Humane Society of Atascadero (www.slonchs.org) and Kind Planet of SLO County (www.kindplanet.org) will host an event for The Great American Meatout on Sunday, March 20, 5pm, at the San Luis Obispo Public Library Community Room. Kicking the meat habit will significantly reduce your risk for the top killers: heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Kicking the meat habit will give you and your children better health, as well as help preserve topsoil, water, and other food production resources vital to the survival of your children and their children. Kicking the meat habit will free up tremendous amounts of grains and soybeans fed to livestock, which instead could be fed to the world’s hungry people. Kicking the meat habit will help preserve our forests, grasslands, and other wildlife habitats and reduce the pollution of our air and waterways by soil particles, debris, manure, and pesticides. Kicking the meat habit will save thousands of innocent, feeling cows, pigs and chickens from cruel caging, crowding, deprivation, drugging, mutilation, and brutal slaughter. Join us on March 20 and be treated to vegetarian snacks, recipes to take home, and an entertaining, informative video, "The Emotional World of Farm Animals". This film is a delightful documentary about the thinking and feeling side of animals. Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love, leads viewers into the rich ancestry of these curious and intelligent animals and interviews top experts in animal behavior who offer scientific perspectives on these amazing creatures. Following the video will be a discussion. For further information, contact Peggy Koteen, NCHS Board Member, animalemancipate@aol.com or 544-1580 Fruit Tree Tour update We reported on the Fruit Tree Tour in the last ssue. See the updated schedule at: http://www.commonvision.org and check back often. [ This may be outdated... check the calendar on the Common Vision website. ] March 6-12 - Ventura, Ojai, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Schools and participating organizations: Kids’ Arts/Westside Cultural Center School, Full Circle Farm, Indian Nations University (www.inuniversity.org), Oak Manor School, Monte Vista Middle School, HopeDance, EcoSLO March 14-20 - Santa Cruz Schools and participating organizations: Salinas Middle School, Watsonville Community Continuation High School, 5-A-Day Network, Inner Light Ministries, Apple Orchard Intentional Community Birdshot on the Bay by Mandy Davis Laughter is generally not the response I get when people first learn of the fact that bird hunting is allowed 7 days a week for three months out of the year on the Morro Bay Estuary ……..But, dead silence, then a burst of laughter (ya know, the kind of laughter that happens when you’ve heard something you just can’t believe) was Bob’s initial response when he first heard of this "sport" that has been sanctioned by the California Fish and Game for generations. Laughter, belying his shock at the outrageousness of killing protected birds on a National Estuary of vital importance to hundreds of migratory and indigenous species: Shock, at the inconsistency of hunters who call themselves conservationists, conserving only to further their "appreciation of nature" by blasting game birds off the water and out of the skies: Shock, at the absurdity of hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts and birdwatchers visiting our home only to watch these beautiful creatures be harried to the point of exhaustion by a handfull of good-ol-boys excersizing their God given right(?!) to hunt. Yes, America’s sacred cow and favorite pastime, hunting, is still taking place on one of the last remaining estuaries in the southern half of the state. An estuary, according to the National Estuary program, that is the only viable estuary of its kind on the central coast. In years past, concerned citizens have attempted to ban hunting on Morro Bay. The initiative elicited an extreme Knee-jerk reaction from local, state and national hunting organizations and was shot down before it could even take flight. The effort, unfortunately, was doomed to failure for lack of political support and an over abundance of influence by hunting and gun groups on the Fish and Game personnel and their policy making commission. Nine years later a new attempt to change hunting regulations on Morro Bay is being made, with some substantial differences. First, given the knowledge that an initiative asking for a complete ban on hunting probably has a snowman’s chance in hell of surviving, a compromise solution has been drafted. This draft, in petition form, will be presented to the Fish and Game Commission in the summer of 2005. Our coalition, C.A.R.E.H.N.E. (pronounce it serene) is asking for a reduction of hunting days from 7 to 3 days a week. Additionally, we are asking for a reduction of the legal hunting territory by elimination of the rich inter-estuary habitat called the "grassy islands". This revised policy would allow the wildlife to rest, feed and de-stress and would reduce crossover usage, diminishing the potential for safety hazards and confrontations considerably. Second, we are attempting to garner a broad base of political support. We are asking local agencies, organizations and municipalities to contact Fish and Game with their concerns and hopefully support for this policy changing solution. As a long time activist, I hold no illusions. We have taken on a difficult task with a considerable amount of opposition from groups that represent a small minority with a hell-of-a-lot of clout. It is my hope and intention to implement change toward a more balanced hunting policy, one that takes into consideration the entire community’s needs, by August of this year. We need your help with letters, signed petitions, and public appearances at city council and municipal meetings. If you can lend support, contact Mandy Davis at 805 788-4733 or e-mail at wildheartcomm@hotmail.com. You are invited to join our group at carehne@yahoogroups.com Mandy Davis – Citizens Allied for Reform of Established Hunting on our National Estuary <back | top^ |