Two Great Resources: Blue Thumb and Natural Step

I heard about these two resources from folks at the Buy Fresh Buy Local St. Croix Valley Steering Committee meeting, and I thought I would pass them on.

Natural Step is an international organization as well as an approach to problem solving for organizations, governments, and businesses. The "steps" are really a framework for transforming the way we do everything so as to make what we do more sustainable. I also think the steps themselves form a good definition of sustainability. The organization has resources to assist with the implementation of these steps. Many companies, including Smith and Hawken, Nike, and Ikea (to name just a few) are working with Natural Step. For now they seem to be only on the west coast in the U.S., but hopefully they'll make their way inland soon.





Blue Thumb is a project of the Rice Creek Watershed District, and it's a program to encourage people to garden with the preservation of our water resources in mind. They have great information about how to plant rain gardens to filter water that eventually cycles back into our homes, as well as how to garden with native plant varieties and to protect shorelines. This site is for every backyard gardener!

Livestock: The New Oil?

Caroline sent me this great article from the NY Times, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me as I am just about to finish Ruth L. Ozeki's My Year of Meats. Ozeki's novel tells the story of two women struggling to find their voice in the face of male domination and violence which is a story that becomes mirrored in their relationship to meat and meat production. It's really brilliant -- it reminds me of The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol Adams which very accurately documents the relationship between the sexualization and commodification of women's bodies and the bodies of animals.

Anyhoo. The article in the Times points out all the myriad reasons why the average American's consumption of meat is wholly unsustainable and ultimately barbaric in a world where so many are dying of hunger and malnutrition and the Earth's resources are running on empty. So, you should read it.

Two Buck Chuck: Grapes of Wrath

As I sit at my computer, enjoying a lovely glass of shiraz, I couldn't help but wonder, where did this come from? And, how could it possibly cost a mere $2.99? Generally, if I think something is too good to be true, I'm usually right. And, it looks like I'm right again.

Wine produced under the Charles Shaw label from Trader Joe's, more commonly known as "Two Buck Chuck" is less the divine miracle that it appears to be. It is produced cheaply through the exploitation of illegal immigrant farm laborers and neighboring farms that overproduced wine in the '90s -- a sort of wine "bubble" not unlike the "tech bubble" and our more recent "housing bubble." So, the bubble burst, the value of wine and land in the San Joaquin Valley dropped, and Fred Franzia (that's right, of Franzia boxed wine fame -- actually, that was his father, but same family) swooped in and bought it all up. The reason the wine is so cheap is through the miracle of vertical integration -- he owns everything, even the porta-johns. At "Domaine Franzia" it is literally all about money -- the quality of wine is a mere afterthought. They grow what consumers will drink, and that is all. (The articles I found don't give much of an impression of what the San Joaquin Valley now resembles, but for those who are readers of John Steinbeck, I think you can use your imagination.)

To read more about Fred Franzia and his pithy witticisms (like, "terroir don't mean shit"), go here.

To read about vineyard workers in Napa and the San Joaquin Valleys, go here.

To fall in love with the San Joaquin Valley, and then lament what it has recently become, read "East of Eden."

St. Paul may be the capitol of Minnesota, but Minneapolis is the capitol of...

Ever since "locavore" was declared the word of the year by the writers of the Oxford English Dictionary, the word seems to be turning up everywhere! I was so excited when my dad (thanks Dad!) forwarded me an email from MPR announcing a new project called "Locavore Nation." Here's how it works: 15 people have sworn to eat at least 80% of their diet from all local sources (within 150 miles of their home). The people are from all across the U.S. The participants all write blog entries, and every week Lynne Rossetto Kasper checks in with some of them on her radio program, The Splendid Table. That's right, Minneapolis, MN is the capitol of Locavore Nation! (I would expect no less!)

Check out their website, and maybe offer them a few supportive comments!

Film: "What a Way to Go"

In case you're not already scared enough about the future of our planet, here's a new film for you!

Wilderness Connections is hosting a screening:
Saturday, February 2nd, 10:30 - 1:00 p.m. Merriam Park Library (room
in lower level), Corner Fairview and Marshall Aves., St. Paul, MN

Think you can get 50-60 mpg in your Honda Accord? This guy can!

The average hybrid car driver gets around 40 miles per gallon, but Wayne Gerdes gets more than that in a regular ol' sedan! It's all in a technique called "hypermiling." Here's the article.

Also, the article talks about a guy called, simply "Hobbit." I'm pretty sure that's this guy. I could be wrong, but then again, how many men are there in the world that are obsessed with green technology and are named "hobbit?" (Nevermind -- I don't want to know!)

Go, Go Nancy Pelosi!

I know it may come as a shock to you all, but a recent article in the New York Times (thanks, Caroline, I finally read this one!) indicates that Republicans are not only opposed to supporting small family farmers, they are also ardent supporters of trans fats, stuffing chickens in teeny tiny cages, and never ever eating vegetables that haven't spent time in a deep fat fryer. The good news -- something tells me us progressives are going to outlive their ilk!

Thank you, Nancy Pelosi, for making our representatives (even the Republicans) eat their brussel sprouts!

Here's the article.

Deconstructing Dinner Podcast

Deconstructing Dinner is one of my new favorite podcasts. It's a product of Canada (eh?). Clearly our neighbors to the north are more enlightened than we (is it too late to redraw the borders a little to the south?). Check out their website!

On the last podcast I listened to, there was this great folk song that is really worth a listen. You can stream it, or download it for free. (I, silly girl that I am, paid 99 cents for it from iTunes, but you all are smarter than I!)

Hooray for progressive media!

“ In 25 years of working with farmers, these are the happiest, most optimistic, and best-paid farmers I have ever met.”

For those of you interested in sustainable and urban agriculture, check out this article about Cuba's success in transitioning away from conventional agriculture:

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OrganicCubawithoutFossilFuels.php

Here are just some highlights:

"By 1994, more than 8 000 city farms were created in Havana alone. Front lawns of municipal buildings were dug up to grow vegetables. Offices and schools cultivated their own food. "

"New biological products and organic gardening techniques were developed and produced by Cuba’s agricultural research sector, which had already begun exploring organic alternatives to chemical controls, enabling Cuba’s urban farms to become completely organic. In fact, a new law prohibited the use of any pesticides for agricultural purposes anywhere within city limits."

'According to Cuba’s Minsitry of Agriculture, some 150 000 acres of land is being cultivated in urban and suburban settings, in thousands of community farms, ranging from modest courtyards to production sites that fill entire city blocks. Organoponicos, as they are called, show how a combination of grassroots effort and official support can result in sweeping change, and how neighbours can come together and feed themselves. When the food crisis hit, the organoponicos were an ad hoc response by local communities to increase the amount of available food. But as the power of the community farming movement became obvious, the Cuban government stepped in to provide key infrastructure support and to assist with information dissemination and skills sharing."

Who REALLY wears the pants in this family?

Obeythepurebreed.com knows the answer to this question if you're a pet owner. I [heart] the t-shirts and bumperstickers in a big way (darn, 11 months til xmas!).

Oddly, they don't offer any merch for pets themselves -- I guess the website mainly caters to the bourgeois, I mean, humans.

My new dream job: Foodscaping!

Check out this article by Barbara Damrosch published in the Washington Post (of all places!!!):

"You Want Local?  Try Your Backyard!"

FYI: Barbara Damrosch writes books and a website with Elliot Coleman (lucky her!)

Free and Fair Elections Amendment

This video is a little long, but as another presidential election season approaches it's no waste of time to think about how to secure our votes. Also, if you're planning on going to caucus on Feb. 5 (in MN), then this information is definitely for you! (I'd go, but I'll be out of the country. What's your excuse?!)

Sustainable Farming Event in Fairmont, MN

For those of you from my mom's hometown...

Rural Advantage 2008 3rd Crop Producer Meetings

February 11th & 25th, March 10th & 24th

Knights of Columbus Hall, Fairmont MN



Rural Advantage is hosting its annual series of 3rd Crop Producer Meetings in February and March. These informative meetings will cover a range of issues and opportunities emerging in the farm industry. This year’s topics include: 3rd crops, biomass markets, cover crops/carbon, and expanding markets for producers through ecological commodity payments. Meeting dates, topics, and times are below.



· Monday, February 11th - 3rd Crops 10 a.m. – 3:15

· Monday, February 25th – Biomass Markets 10 a.m. – 3:00

· Monday, March 10th – Cover Crops/Carbon 10 a.m. – 3:00

· Monday, March 24th – Getting Paid: Ecological Commodity Payments 10 a.m. – 3:15



3rd crops can provide multiple benefits in addition to the traditional food, fuel, and fiber. The very nature of growing some 3rd crops makes them valuable assets to the farming system. Please join us on Monday February 11th to learn more about a range of topics on 3rd crops; presentations include:

Miscanthus as a bioenergy crop
Woody agriculture
Placing perennial crops on the landscape
Establishing native grasses
Hybrid Hazelnuts
Small grains


The exploding bioeconomy is driving new markets for biomass beyond the traditional corn to ethanol and soybeans to biodiesel industries. New markets are being developed for products made from biomass. These include a host of renewable fuels, bio-products, composites & materials, chemicals, and more. Presentations on biomass markets include:

Pelleting opportunities with ag residues
Distributed energy with pyrolysis and gasification
Biomass to methanol
Alfalfa for fuel and feed


Managing healthy soils has long been a key management strategy to maintain yields in a world where pressure is being put on the agricultural system to provide ever increasing amounts of food, fiber, and fuel. This drive to produce more per acres has led to some interesting proposals for removing ag residues as a potential feedstock for renewable energy. Is this a sustainable option for maintaining healthy soils? If removing ag residues, could the use of cover crops mitigate some of the negatives? These questions as well as many more will be answered at this meeting on March 10th. Presentations that day include:

Aerial seeding rye as a cover crop
Integrating cover crops into Midwest farming systems
Cover crops and EQIP
Strategies for managing cover crops
Carbon cycling; biomass removal and bio-char
Soil conservation and biomass energy




3rd crops are known to provide multiple benefits to the farming system, yet their adoption by producers has been slow and challenging. An often repeated reason from farmers is that they do not compete economically with the traditional corn/soybean rotation. The answer is for farmers to get paid for the multiple benefits that growing 3rd crops provide to society as a whole. So in addition to getting paid for the crop grown, producers are also being compensated for things like carbon sequestered, nutrients reduced, water recharged back to the aquifer, as well as many more. This March 24th meeting will provide participants with some understanding knowledge on implementing ecological commodity payments through the following presentations:

Implementing ecological commodity payments
Water quality trading
Wildlife habitat payments
Carbon credit payments
MN Terrestrial Carbon Project
Innovations in Biorefining


All meetings are being offered free of charge by Rural Advantage and are held at the Knights of Columbus Hall located at 920 E 10th St. in Fairmont MN. Registration and coffee begin at 9:30 with presentations starting at 10:00. For a full agenda with all the meeting dates, speakers, topics, times, and locations please contact Jeff Jensen @ Rural Advantage for a brochure. 507-238-5449 or jeff@ruraladvantage.org





Jeff Jensen

Rural Advantage

1243 Lake Ave. Suite 222

Fairmont, MN 56031

507-238-5449 Fax: 507-238-4002

www.ruraladvantage.org

E-Mail: jeff@ruraladvantage.org

The Story of Stuff - Ch.1: Introduction

Ever feel like your stuff is taking over your life? Well, you're probably right! This is and excellent overview of the mechanics of our consumer society. See this video in its entirety on www.storyofstuff.com. Free Range Studios also has lots of other great videos, by the way.