Farm to School: Willmar, MN Makes the News

Props to the news team at KSAX for airing a story on the Farm to School program in Willmar, MN!

Watch the clip here.

Eveything I Want to Do is Illegal, Too

This is an excellent op-ed piece that come out in the NY Times a few days ago, written by a farmer from Rushford, MN. His is an excellent example of why the farm bill in its current incarnation is so darn screwy.

"My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)" by Jack Hedin

Farm Bill: Where are YOUR tax dollars going?

This fantastic website was recently brought to my attention (thanks Mom!) that allows you to browse through the entire database of farm subsidies without slogging through reams of fine print. You can search by state, county, region and congressional district and you can view the top recipients of farm subsidy monies (yep, their names are right there!). So, snoop on your neighbors and notice who's getting the big bucks. Is it ma and pa farmer down the road? Nope. More like big corn and big beef. You can also see total funds received from various programs for the region, and they also supply some other interesting demographic data like how many children in that region are living below the poverty line.

Check it out!

UCC v. IRS

Though I'm no longer a regular church go-er I still keep in touch with my faith community at Falcon Heights United Church of Christ. This is a community that has a long history of supporting justice and equality for all people, so I believe they are deserving of our support at this time.

The United Church of Christ needs your help by taking a stand for freedom of speech.

As you no doubt have heard through media reports, the Internal Revenue Service has launched an investigation of the United Church of Christ, based on our invitation to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama - a longtime member of the UCC - to speak at our 50th Anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut this past June.

The UCC took great care to ensure that Senator Obama's appearance met appropriate legal and moral standards. We are confident that, in the end, the IRS investigation will confirm that no laws were violated.

However, in order to adequately defend ourselves as well as protect the broader principle of the freedom of religious communities to entertain questions of faith and public life, we will need to secure expert legal counsel, and the cost of this defense, we are told, could approach or exceed six figures. This is troubling news. That's why we are turning to you - our members and supporters - to ask for your financial support to help offset these unforeseen legal expenses.

Each year, generous UCC members contribute faithfully to "Our Church's Wider Mission," our shared fund for mission and ministry in our conferences, nationally, and globally. We seek your contributions to ensure that money given for mission will not be needed to pay legal bills, instead of ministry needs. Thus the reason we've created a new UCC Legal Fund to help keep to a minimum the impact of this investigation on OCWM funds.

Read more about the allegations from the IRS on the UCC website.

Contribute to the UCC legal defense fund online.

Great Lakes Study Suppressed

This study was recently brought to my attention via prwatch.org:

"For more than seven months, the nation's top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states, reportedly because it contains such potentially 'alarming information' as evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates," reports Sheila Kaplan. The 400-page study, undertaken by a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in cooperation with the government of Canada, "warns that more than nine million people who live in the more than two dozen 'areas of concern' -- including such major metropolitan areas as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee -- may face elevated health risks from being exposed to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants." Canadian biologist Michael Gilbertson, who was involved in reviewing the study, said it has been suppressed because it suggests that vulnerable populations have been harmed by industrial pollutants. "It's not good because it's inconvenient," Gilbertson said. "The whole problem with all this kind of work is wrapped up in that word 'injury.' If you have injury, that implies liability. Liability, of course, implies damages, legal processes, and costs of remedial action. The governments, frankly, in both countries are so heavily aligned with, particularly, the chemical industry, that the word amongst the bureaucracies is that they really do not want any evidence of effect or injury to be allowed out there."

Learn more about the study at the Center for Public Integrity.

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!

Is there a dentist in the house?

Watch this 5 minute video on the negative health effects of water fluoridation.

True Majority: Watch this and join the movement!

"Gerontocracy" -- Something else we share with Cuba

The Lede: Gerontocracy Alerts Issued for U.S. and Cuba
By Mike Nizza
Published: February 26, 2008
The two countries choose their leaders very differently, but from the same demographic.

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.

Tell Joe Soucheray to "Cluck" Off!

This article was in Saturday's paper:

Joe Soucheray: Dumb clucks coming to Midway
JOE SOUCHERAY
Article Last Updated: 02/23/2008 08:21:05 PM CST

Jinny Kolar lives in the 1200 block of Seminary Avenue in the Midway, next
door to a woman named Faith Krogstad, who intends to raise chickens in her
back yard and hopes that her neighbors will raise chickens, too.

In fact, her group is called Midway Chickens, which sounds like the name of
a band that should be playing at the Turf Club.

Phyllis Kahn raises chickens on what she believes to be her private
Nicollet
Island, but even there, despite the presence of a significant high school,
Phyllis, who is daffy anyway, has a bit of room to raise chickens, and the
prospect of Phyllis chasing them is almost charming.

And in other neighborhoods in Minneapolis, I guess people raise chickens in
their back yards. It is probably happening all over the country, as the
closer you get to the country's tallest buildings, the more likely you are
to find the kinds of people who want to play farm, among their other
delusions.

I tried to reach Faith, but she is out of town. Faith is a coordinator at
something called Eco Education, a nonprofit environmental education
organization in St. Paul. Kathy Kinzig, who answered the phone at Eco
Education, said raising chickens is something Faith is doing on her own and
urban chicken farming is not necessarily under the purview of Eco
Education.


I have that sinking feeling that we are somehow paying for Eco Education,
just as we pay for the Hamline Midway Coalition District 11 Council, one of
17 district councils in St. Paul, which is neither here nor there except
that the Midway, the once mighty Midway, is virtually a petri dish of New
Urbanism, trains, co-ops, councils, community gardening and now chickens.

Chickens. Chickens on 40-foot lots.

Faith Krogstad believes, according to an e-mail that she sent to
prospective
chicken farmers, that raising chickens is somehow environmentally
responsible and good for the soil and that it teaches children where their
food comes from, even though from many back yards in the Midway you can see
a big Cub store or the new SuperTarget.

Because raising chickens to benefit the environment is not even plausible,
there really is only one reason to raise chickens in your back yard: to
assign to yourself a kind of progressiveness, or enlightenment. Nevermind
that raising chickens in your urban yard is going backward, not forward; it
is the illusion of self-sufficiency that confers the virtue.

No, I haven't forgotten Jinny Kolar, 65, who has lived in her Midway
neighborhood for 40 years. She does not intend to raise chickens. Kolar
understands that Krogstad acquired enough names on a petition to get
excused
from zoning regulations and that the Health Department, which you would
think might have a position here, apparently will intervene only if a
problem is reported. Those who oppose the idea, like Kolar, appear to be
out
of luck.

Also, Kolar understands that the chicken farmers will share the chickens
and
that the chickens will wander around on their own chicken bleep, that part
being good for the soil, I guess.

But Kolar, who is apparently sane, is worried that most of her neighbors,
who do not meet at coffeeshops to seek the pretend burdens of Third World
status, are not going to be prepared for what is coming: the smell, the
noise, the filth.

"One of the so-called chicken farms is next door to the playground at
Central Lutheran Elementary School,'' Kolar said. "Will that affect the
kids
on the playground? I don't know. In the absence of a chicken coop I guess
people have been advised to just cut holes in their garages. This could
affect our property values. I've been here a long time and I like the
prettiness and stability. But that will all change once the chicken farming
idea takes hold. And I feel that we, as a community, should think long and
hard before we let that happen.''

It sounds to me like Kolar and her like-minded neighbors better hurry up
and
find their own coffeeshop. Kolar is the true progressive here, not the
Midway Chickens.

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com or
651-228-5474.
Soucheray is heard from 2 to 5:30 p.m. weekdays on KSTP-AM 1500.

Jesus Loves Porn? Really?

I read about this website (xxxchurch.com) in Katherine Kersten's column in the Star Tribune this weekend, and I just checked it out briefly. From what I understand, the website represents an attempt by a group of Christians to challenge the prevalence of pornography in American culture, and they're fighting fire with fire, using the "sexiness" of porn to sell their message. They've got t-shirts and posters with hipster-ish graphics and catchy messages like "Jesus Loves Porn" and "Porn is Bipartisan." They also have programs to rehabilitate "porn stars" and porn users, and they sponsor debates on porn at college campuses, and other programs. At the heart of their message is definitely a bit of the old evangelical "have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior" stuff, but they're clearly not afraid to shake things up. If they're really all the appear to be, this might be the first serious challenge to the porn epidemic in this country and an opportunity to reveal the insidiousness of its misogynistic influence.

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

Local Food Hero Radio Show: Saturdays 1-2pm (Central)

Minnesota-based non-profit Renewing the Countryside is now hosting their own radio show on Air America Minnesota AM 950. The show is called "Local Food Hero" and airs from 1-2pm every Saturday afternoon. For those out of radio broadcast range you can listen online by going to www.airamericaminnesota.com. I haven't listened yet, so I can't vouch for the quality, but the folks at Renewing the Countryside are top notch!

Total Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow (and you don't even have to stay up late!)

Around 9pm tomorrow night (central time) a full-lunar eclipse will commence! The partial eclipse will begin around 7:43pm. Everybody keep your fingers crossed for clear skies! For more info or to see what time to check the skies in your area, go here

The Fidel Castro Whom I Know -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This article, written by world-renowned author Gabriel Garcia Marquez was brought to my attention via a very contentious debate raging on the Facebook discussion page. Not everyone will appreciate Marquez's viewpoint (Marquez and Castro are friends), but I think it's refreshing to at least hear the other side of things once in a while.

Farewell, Commandante!

It seems like a special privilege to have been one of perhaps only a small group of Americans who got to see Cuba in its final day's of Castro's presidency. According to Castro's letter in the Granma, he has decided not to be considered as a candidate for president when Cuba's newly elected parliament chooses the president in the coming weeks. Of course, Castro will still be a powerful force in Cuban politics and he is planning to continue writing his column for the paper. Probably, his younger brother, Raul Castro, will be chosen as president in his stead. Raul has demonstrated that he is interested in negotiating with the U.S. as well as liberalizing Cuba's economy, and with the American regime change imminent as well, there could be big changes on the horizon. It would be exciting to see an amelioration of the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, but personally I hope that Cuba doesn't give up any of its revolutionary principles!

We'll see what the Cuban reaction will be -- most Cubans don't have access to the internet, so many of them haven't heard the news yet!

Largest Beef Recall in History

A mind-boggling 143 million pounds of beef has just been recalled by the USDA. Evidently the slaughter house was slaughtering downer cows, which is illegal, and rightly so (although, one would think it should be illegal to PRODUCE a downer cow, not simply to try to feed that cow to a human being). (Downer cows are animals that can no longer stand on their own because they have been too abused and/or malnourished to do so.) Guess where most of this meat went? That's right, straight into the mouths of America's children thanks to our government's policy of feeding school children the lowest grade beef available. How many children have already eaten this contaminated beef? There's no way of knowing. For more details, check out the article in the New York Times. The Times leaves out one calculation, which is how many cattle are we talking about when we're talking about 143 million pounds of beef. Here's my estimate: around 286,000 head (assuming each steer yields around 500 lbs of beef). A veritable city of cattle.

Victor's 1959 Cafe

Mom and I were already missing Cuba so much that we decided to check out this Cuban restaurant in South Minneapolis! We had their delicious fried yuca with mojo, salmon with a mango glaze, and truly authentic tostones (twice-fried plantains). It felt just like being in Cuba -- until we stepped foot outside! Chilly chicas!

They're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, if you're living in the T.C., I'm taking you with me!

Hasta siempre, Cuba!

My trip to Cuba was an unbelievable experience! I am so grateful for all that I learned and experienced and the wonderful people that I met! Here are the photos I took from that trip, and I will continue to update you all on more of the details of my experience as my ideas continue to coalesce. Ciao!