OCA Guide to Bodycare Products

When it comes to organics, what you put ON your body is just as important as what you put IN your body. (Remember, your body's largest organ is your skin!) Unfortunately, deciphering labels on body care products is much more difficult than reading food labels, and with all the strange chemical names it's difficult to keep straight what's safe and what's not. The Environmental Working Group has an excellent website that lists hundreds of brand-name products and rates them for safety, but when you're out shopping you can't exactly access that information. So, I was pleased to discover that the Organic Consumers' Association (OCA) has a one-page fact sheet to help customers figure out what to steer clear from. Next time I go shopping, I'll be sure to print this out and bring it with me. It's not just about your health, it's also about the environmental impact of chemical intensive farming to produce the "herbal extracts" that go into supposedly natural body care products.

Environmental Working Group website: www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

OCA's fact sheet on body care: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/CCad05.pdf

Conferences, Conferences, Conferences!

You can almost see me in this photo -- I'm waaaaay over on the left, with the short short hair (I cut it recently -- you can see the new "do" better in my Cuba photos). To my right is my lovely travel companion (we've been to TWO conferences together already!), Miss Caroline. This photo was taken at the Urban Agriculture Conference in Milwaukee last weekend. I've been soooo busy with work and everything else that I'm just now getting a chance to sort through my experiences and tell you all about them.

I think the Milwaukee conference will be the last in my series of farming conferences this year. We kicked things off in January with the "Garden Goddess Greenhouse" conference in Milan, MN (for those of you non-natives, that's pronounced MY-lan, not to be confused with the fashion capitol of the world in Italy). For those of you who haven't heard about what they're doing with passive solar technology, you should definitely check them out. Chuck Weibel and Carol Ford have put together this amazing winter CSA using a lean-to style greenhouse that operates all winter long with virtually no heat added from fossil-fuel sources -- it's all sun! They grow micro-greens and cool weather crops like kale, broccoli, cabbage, etc., and CSA members also get stored squashes, carrots, etc. Incredibly innovative! Check out their Yahoo Group and look at their photos: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gardengoddessnetwork/

The next big conference was the MOSES Organic Farming Conference two weekends ago in La Crosse, WI. It used to be called the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference, but since they realized they're the biggest deal in the country, they're just calling it the "Organic Farming Conference" from now on! It was huge indeed! 2400 people attended the conference this year! It was exciting and totally overwhelming for me to have all those organic farmers and organic supporters all in one place! I'm used to having to defend my preference for local, organic, sustainable foods and fibers, but for once I was not in the minority on that account. I think anyone who aspires to farm nowadays generally feels like an oddball, but at MOSES I definitely found "my people."

And then, I found them all again next weekend in Milwaukee! Ok, not all 2400 of them, this conference was much smaller, which was a bit easier to digest for me. I felt like I got more out of the workshops, too, since the smaller size gave more folks a chance to get their questions answered. The highlight of that conference for me (aside from the amazing food!), was the SPIN farming workshop. SPIN stands for Small Plot INtensive, and was developed by a couple cannuks in Saskatchewan. They've figured out how to make $50,000 on a half acre of land by growing and strategically marketing vegetables! If you don't believe me, check out their website at www.spinfarming.com. I've been so jazzed up about farming since that workshop that I'm ready to run out and buy a farm! But, no... I'm restraining myself for now (my monthly visits from Sallie Mae are a helpful reminder that I'm in no position to invest in land). Also, I discovered that Milwaukee is a really fun place to hang out. The first time I visited there when I was in high school I pretty much just went to see a band play, and spent most of the time at an outlying KOA. Also, I wasn't yet of age to enjoy Milwaukee's greatest tourist attraction -- the beer! So much irresistible microbrews! We went to the Milwaukee Ale House, and then at the conference we were served Capital Brewery beer and liquor from Death's Door (both made from wheat and juniper grown on Washington Island in Door County). Finally, to round out my blue collar experience of Milwaukee, I went to see the Drive By Truckers at the Pabst Theater! The concert was great, and the beer flowed like... ok, there was just a lot of beer drinking going on! Also, thanks to Caroline's friend Christy for putting us up (and putting up with us!) the whole time!

So, that's my little update. More servings of tasty local food stories from around the web coming up soon!

Action Alert: Farm Bill Deadline March 15

Debate on the 2007 Farm Bill is STILL underway, which means we need to keep pressing for a fair farm bill that supports small, family, organic, and sustainable farmers!

If your senator or representative serves on the agriculture committee, please contact him/her before the March 15th deadline. Please ask your representative to fully fund these critical priorities:
$2 billion in additional mandatory funding over the next five years for the Conservation Security Program (CSP)
$15 million in annual mandatory funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and $5 million in annual mandatory funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account Program
$40 million in annual mandatory funding for the Value-Added Producer Grant
$16 million in annual mandatory funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative

Not sure if your senator or representative serves on an ag committee? Here's the list for the Midwest region:
SENATE
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Kent Conrad (R-ND)
Charles Grassley (R-IA)

HOUSE
Collin Peterson (MN-7th)
Leonard Boswell (IA-3rd)
Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (SD)
Earl Pomeroy (ND)

CALL TODAY: Capitol Switchboard 202.224.3121
Ask for your senator or representative.

Kitchen Gardeners International

This is a cool non-profit I came across today that promotes backyard veg gardens. Kitchen Gardeners International also has their own holiday: International Kitchen Garden Day! Also, check out their "10 Steps to Planning Your Organic Garden."

Kitchen Gardeners International