At the Food Policy Conference: Neighborhood to Nation in Portland

I'm in Portland, Oregon, attending the Neighborhood to Nation Food Policy Conference, sponsored by the Community Food Security Coalition. A few Alaskans are here: Bob Mikol (TA for Craig Gerlach's Comparative Farming and Sustainable Food Systems class, among other things), Danny Consenstein (Alaska Farm Service Agency), Alli Harvey (with the Alaska Center for the Environment's Local Food project), Diane Peck (Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Obesity Prevention and Chronic Disease Prevention), Rachel Garcia (intern with the Alaska Community Agriculture Association), Eleanor Wirts (UAF RAP grad student and musher), Johanna Herron (Alaska Farm to School), Mark Carper (UAA and the Alaska Food Policy Council), Kelsey Bearden (fellow student from Comparative Farming), Lisa Sadler-Hart (Sitka Local Foods Network), and myself (UAF School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences, Ester Republic reporter and publisher, librarian, gardener, AK Food Policy Council member, Ester Community Association member, et cetera). I'm down here in large measure because of Gerlach, SNRAS dean Carol Lewis, and Diane Peck. There were others from Alaska, too (Danielle Giles, Nikos Pastos, and Ryan Zinn, but I didn't meet them--Zinn was a presenter, from the Fair World Project).

And I'm having a blast. This is a great group of people, a good 640 strong, from 46 states and DC, plus Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec. I attended a short course (Food Policy Advocacy 101) this morning and the plenary gathering this afternoon. The plenary speakers were great, talking about poverty, food deserts, exploited food service and other food industry workers (did you know that the federal minimum wage is only $2.13 an hour? ridiculous!), community gardens, community organizing. Talk about inspiring people.

After the plenary session, we broke out into networking groups, and Eleanor and I went with the Canadians while the rest of the Alaskans networked with the Northwest region. THAT was interesting. We told them we were crashing their party, and they accepted us with good grace and not a few jokes ("I can see Alaska from my house!"). The stereotype of the polite Canadian was not actually blown, despite a not-very-serious attempt to dispel it ("Fuck off!" from one speaker and apparently frequent Facebook poster (not sure if this was a joke, actually) at an opportune and humorous moment of self-teasing about being all polite--I guess you had to be there, but the whole group laughed). There was much emphasis on relationships between people, talking about developing mutual trust and respect between food producers and others in the food system. I was struck by the quiet, polite, and respectful discourse, along with the deep level of political savvy and pronounced opinon concerning the recent majority government positioning of Steven Harper and his party in the Canadian federal government. Very different in approach and delivery than US types, but lots of zing and pow (quite politely phrased, though)!

I've met a lot of fascinating people with great projects and amazing accomplishments. One man, Raymond Figueroa, from New York City, is working with a community gardening project (Friends of Brook Park) taking on abandoned spaces and turning them into a way to give locals control over their food and a way to make a difference in their own lives, to bring dignity back.

Food systems, policy, and foodsheds

The second week of my Comparative Food Systems class has readings in Anna Lappé's book, Diet for a Hot Planet, going over Hamm's seven principles for a healthy food system, reading an article by Jack Kloppenburg and others on the foodshed, an article on rural Alaska food systems by my professor, Craig Gerlach, and researching definitions of "food system." In the meantime, I've been working on the Alaska Food Policy Council's introductory paper on food policy and the Alaska food system, so these two projects dovetail quite nicely. It adds up to a lot of reading—interesting, definitely, but a lot of pages.

So, to start: Lappé makes the argument that not only is small-scale, diversified organic farming that caters to a local market sustainable and good for communities, this type of agriculture is climate-friendly because it: produces fewer comparative greenhouse gas emissions than industrial farming; requires less energy inputs from fossil fuels; improves the soil; and actually sequesters carbon in the soil rather than releasing it. Her description of the energy-intensiveness of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is horrific—and never mind the inherent cruelty of them, she hasn't even gotten into that so far. She does talk about the unhealthiness of the modern diet in terms of the amount of processing food undergoes: highly processed foods, like Pringles or Pop-Tarts, use a huge amount of energy and resources—and they're just not that good for you.

Lappé describes seven principles of a climate-friendly diet:

1. Reach for real food (food that has fewer ingredients and isn't processed or transmogrified a lot is likelier to be less climate-destructive)
2. Put plants on your plate (eat less meat—most modern meat is grain-fed, which is energy-intensive; if you eat meat, eat meat that is raised humanely and sustainably, because these practices, like grass-fed beef, produce less greenhouse gas emissions—grain-fed cattle produce more methane than grass-fed cattle!)
3. Don't panic, go organic (industrial chemicals require large energy inputs; nitrogen fertilizer produced through the Haber-Bosch process, for example—and then there's all those petrochemicals used for pesticides)
4. Lean toward local (less shipping, for one)
5. Finish your peas…the ice caps are melting (food waste is a waste of energy resources; institutional composting makes use of food waste and reduces land-fill emissions)
6. Send packaging packing (the throwaway society wastes humongous amounts of resources; I think we should institute a law like that in Germany, where the producer or seller of packing must take it back from whoever they sell it to. For example, the customer buys a box of chocolate, but returns the box to the store—the store has to take the box, no charge. Then the store can return their collected boxes to the supplier of the chocolate—and the supplier can't charge them. The cost to the retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers has reduced extra packaging dramatically in Germany. Lappé has not mentioned this law so far in my reading.)
7. DIY food (grow and cook your own food: better for you and lots less processing—and therefore lots less energy intensive)

Hamm's article, assigned last week, was also interesting but a bit less easy reading than Lappé's book. (My editorial eye kept twitching—he'd have had red ink all over his paper had I gotten to it before publication.) His operating principles for a healthy food system are that it would:

1. insure community food security for all residents
2. be community based
3. be locally integrated
4. be reasonably seasonal in nature
5. present primarily opportunities rather than problems
6. connect health across the layers of the system
7. be diverse

This is, of course, not at all what our current food system looks like. Our current food system is highly energy-intensive, unseasonal, deters connectivity between the different layers of the food system, is almost completely disassociated with local communities, is rarely distributed or minimally distributed within a community, and is rife with pseudo-diversity and ultra-processed crud disguised as foodoid items.

You can tell where I'm coming from, can't you?

A concise definition of "food system" comes from the San Francisco Food Alliance's 2005 San Francisco Collaborative Food System Assessment (PDF), which says

A food system describes the cycle of growing, distributing, eating and recycling our food, and all the factors that affect it.

Short and sweet! It's "all the factors" that are the hairy part, however: natural resources and environmental systems, social and cultural systems, political systems, economic systems, technology, research, education, etc. That encompasses a lot of things: disease, hunger, political will, costs, food safety, commodities trading, water rights, the Green Revolution, agribusiness, organic certification, heirloom seeds, and so on. This in turn brings up ideas like food democracy and equity, food sovereignty, fair trade, self-reliance, guerilla gardening, etc.

Kloppenberg's article, "Coming in to the Foodshed," takes the metaphor of the watershed and applies it to food. How does food move through the landscape, the community? One quote from it struck me:

Provided with an apparent cornucopia of continuously available foods, few consumers have much knowledge of the biological, social, or technical parameters and implications of food production in the global village.

Of course, much of the power of agribusiness ultimately depends on farmers and consumers not knowing. If we do not know, we do not act. And even if we do know, the physical and social distancing characteristics of the global food system may constrain our willingness to act when the locus of the needed action is distant or when we have no real sense of connection to the land or those on whose behalf we ought to act. Ultimately, distancing disempowers. Control passes to those who can act and are accustomed to act at a distance: the Philip Morrises, Monsantos, and ConAgras of the world.

(My emphasis added.) In short, it pays the big guys for the public to be uniformed or misinformed.

The thing that I am discovering about an examination of food systems and sustainable farming: food is political, and food politics are radical—because the nexus of the issue is about self-determination, freedom.

Kloppenberg, Hendrickson, and Stevenson go on (and bear in mind that this article was published 15 years ago) to talk about "foodshed work." They describe it so (again, my emphasis):

• A foodshed will be embedded in a moral economy that envelopes [sic] and conditions market forces. The global food system now operates according to allegedly "natural" rules of efficiency, utility maximization, competitiveness, and calculated self-interest. The historical extension of market relations has deeply eroded the obligations of mutuality, reciprocity, and equity that ought to characterize all elements of human interaction. Food production today is organized largely with the objective of producing a profit rather than with the purpose of feeding people. But human society has been and should remain more than a marketplace.
• Community Supported Agriculture also serves as an illustration of our expectation that the moral economy of a foodshed will be shaped and expressed principally through communities.…We imagine foodsheds as commensal communities that encompass sustainable relationships both between people (those who eat together) and between people and the land (obtaining food without damage). …[B]uilding the commensal community means establishment or recovery of social linkages beyond atomistic market relationships through the production, exchange, processing, and consumption of food. …Finally, the standards of a commensal community require respect and affection for the land and for other species. It is through food that humanity's most intimate and essential connections to the earth and to other creatures are expressed and consummated.
• The dominant dynamics of the global food system actively erode both moral economy and community. We agree with those who believe that this destructiveness is an inherent property of the system, and that what is needed is fundamental transformation rather than simple reform.

All this makes having a garden at home look like a revolutionary act. And maybe it is.

More later on Gerlach's article, "Rural Alaskan Food Systems: Problems, Prospects, and Policy Considerations," written for the Alaska Food Policy Council in August 2010.

See my previous posts on this course:

• Food systems and shizen
• Sustainable food systems class

Cross posted at SNRAS Science & News.

Sustainable food systems class

Well, I'm going back to school, or at least, I'm taking a course for credit. Craig Gerlach is teaching a course at UAF, Comparative Farming and Sustainable Food Systems. This is a 400-level undergraduate class cross-listed in geography, natural resources management, and cross-cultural studies. As you may have surmised, I am very interested in food systems and agriculture and food issues these days, and when, in the course of my work for the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, Craig asked me to make a poster for the class, I decided that it sounded so interesting that I wanted to take it. Here's the description:

This exciting course explores the principles of food systems geography and food security, with cross-cultural examinations of dietary traditions, poverty, hunger, equity, and food access and distribution. What can be done about “real world” food, farming, and agricultural problems? Where is the contemporary agroecological system strong or weak with respect to restoration and renewability? How can we be better educated and more innovative in dealing with food production, distribution, access, and the promotion of ecosystem health? We will compare agricultural systems in the context of social, ecological, and economic sustainability. Alaska and other high-latitude food systems will be considered, including country food, wild game harvest, and rural to urban nutrition transition.

The booklist is pretty cool, too:

• Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture, by Miguel Altieri (1995)
• The World Is Not for Sale: Farmers Against Junk Food, by José Bové and François Dufour
• Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat, by Temra Costa (2010)
• The Fatal Harvest Reader, edited by Andrew Kimbrell (2002) [also, there's Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture]
• Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, by Anna Lappé (2010)
• Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov's Quest to End Famine, by Gary Nabhan (2009—this one was reviewed very favorably by Phil Loring in The Ester Republic)
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan (2008—I have this one already, but haven't yet read it)
• Sex, Seeds, and Civilization: How the Hidden Life of Plants Has Changed Our World, by Peter Thompson and Stephen Harris (2010)

There are several other interesting texts on the syllabus.

I am a little intimidated about the work and reading load that this course will require to do right, but the topic is of such interest and is so pertinent to my job at the U that I am plunging on with it. I've decided that I will blog about the course as it goes along, too—it will be a good way to organize my thoughts and work for the class, I think.

Golden Valley Ratepayers Alliance

Just got a message in my in-box from the Golden Valley Ratepayers' Alliance, which is having a meeting at the Northern Alaska Environmental Center at 5:30 on Wednesday the 14th of April. The GVRA is a watchdog group of Golden Valley Electric Association ratepayers/members. Here's a segment of the e-mail (links added):

There are a couple major issues coming to a head in the next month:

• The GVEA Board of Directors is proposing to completely remove GVEA’s debt ceiling, which sits at a hefty $460 million already. All attending members will vote on this at the annual all-member meeting on April 27th.

• Removing the debt ceiling will allow GVEA to take out enormous loans, and we’re the ones to shoulder the debt. This may allow GVEA to finance the restart of the Healy coal plant 2. That’s right, GVEA still has not come clean about the true costs of Healy 2 and is trying to fool us into refinancing the failed project.

We should not pour more of our money into this black hole. Healy 2 has not once heated our homes or shaved money off our energy bills and it never will! There are smarter ways to power Alaska. Even if this money is not fed into Healy 2, we should have a say what direction our board takes with our money.

The GVEA Member Advisory Committee meeting follows at 6:30 the same day at GVEA.

Also in GVEA news, the annual membership meeting is coming up on April 27, Tuesday, at 7 pm at the Carlson Center (registration beginning at 5:30).

cheesy question

I received this note on proposed milk regulation changes, forwarded by Lynn Mayo:

Dear Friends and Family;

I’m asking you for a favor, one that won’t take much time but could make a difference. A little history is in order about how I came to be asking for help. I have several clients that have home dairies (both goat and cow). They make terrific cheeses but they can’t sell those cheeses due to government regulations, which in Alaska are based on USDA guidelines. This sounds OK until you read the guidelines, which are actually the size of a mystery novel. Under current regulations, local cheese producers would have to have an eight-room facility including a laboratory to check for antibiotics in the milk. As one of my clients says, “ If I didn’t give them antibiotics who would have?” The point is, these rules are made for large dairies and pushed by the American Dairy Association to further their interests not ours.

Let me be very clear; we are talking about cheese made from pasteurized milk. This is cheese that these small producers are feeding to their own families and friends. Under these current rules, Alaska does not and will never have a cheese industry. This concerns me. One reason is from an economic development standpoint. My friend is asked weekly to sell cheese or milk (many children can't drink cow's milk). This would not be a huge industry, but it is still dollars that leave Alaska that could be reinvested here. Have you noticed lately what artisanal cheeses are selling for at the supermarket? The ability to sell cheese would provide a good supplementary income for these farm families. Secondly, we Alaskans don't produce much. If our supply chain were ever interrupted due to war, disease, natural disaster or economic meltdown, things here could become dire. We should encourage people in our community to raise dairy animals so that in the event of an emergency, there would be a source of milk for those most in need of it. Thirdly, I'm quite frankly sick of government sticking their collective noses into places where they don't belong. I don't mind being protected from things that are dangerous, but they have taken the definition of dangerous to absurd lengths. As it is, we have very little idea of the regulations that exist for the manufacture of cheese which we import from other countries. Wouldn't you prefer to buy from a farmer you know?

Jennifer Ansley, a local goat owner, (She makes and sells those terrific goat’s milk lotions and soaps you buy around town. Far Above Rubies is the name of her product.) and I have spent a lot of time on this. We’ve met with people from the university, the State Veterinarian, people from the DEC, senators and representatives, officials from the FNSB and others. Everyone is sympathetic but most have the ‘can’t get there from here attitude’. However, currently there is a proposed cheese regulation [PDF] out for comment. We have been led to believe that if they get enough response from the public, they might be willing to change the regulations.

So here is what I’m asking you to do.
1. Write a short comment stating you would be in favor of an exemption for home dairies from the proposed regulation 18AAC32 [PDF] and e-mail it to jay.fuller@alaska.gov. Or you could call him at 907-929-7335. Jay Fuller is with the State Veterinarian office. Note that this is only about cheese. Please don’t muddy the waters with any other issues.

2. Forward this to as many Alaskans as you can.

The deadline for comments is December 3rd at 5pm.

If this works, maybe we could change some other things too. Who knows, maybe we could make the democratic process work after all.

Thank you so much for your help. This is an issue that is important to me. If you find yourself in the same situation, let me know I would be glad to help. You can e-mail me or call me @ 474-4576 weekdays or 488-2666 evenings and weekends with questions or comments.

Paul [Robeson]

I don't know much about milk production in the state, but I do know a lot of people have a few goats. The School of Ag used to do testing of milk for small farmers, but I don't know that this issue would pertain to that.

Mike Musick meet and greet

Your intrepid blogger is here at the Golden Eagle, blogging live from the scene of a political fundraiser/gathering for Mike Musick, who is running for re-election to borough assembly. (The election is October 6.) Mike arrived a few minutes ago and is looking cheerful, chatting with Joe Thomas (that's state senator Joe) and Maggie Billington. I'm not close enough to eavesdrop, but I can step away from the computer and butt in on the conversation, I think. Northern River is tuning up for their next song--wait, they've started. Hoo! Great stuff. Beth is going to town on the fiddle.

Spoke briefly with Joe Thomas about the Ester library plans (new and improved).

So: who's here? Don DeWitt, Ray & Jill Cameron, JD Ragan, Nancy Burnham, Bob Grove, Charley Gray, Bob Siftar, Kate Billington, Jeff Stepp, Pete Bowers...Mike is out there mingling.

Aha. Mike Musick has just come over and I plan to query him on a few items (seeing as I didn't get to this for the Republic).

(Don DeWitt) Q. Have you heard about the plastic bag that dissolves in sunlight?

A. No. I'm not setting policy. I'm just working on setting up a recycling commission; I'm sure they'll they'll be happy to look into that.

(DeWitt and Musick discussed the relative merits of photodegradable plastic bags, on whether the degraded product--a powder after four months, according to DeWitt--is toxic or not)

This question related to the one I planned to ask him, as a Facebook user was curious about how he had voted on the plastic bag fee/tax ordinance and why.

Musick: I really wanted a grassroots, bottom-up recycling movement so I voted [against the ordinance] because I understand this community and that this would create a divisive situation...

[Musick said that he wanted to address the questioner directly about this (the bag ordinance and the fee). Mike has been instrumental in reviving the recycling commission (not yet officially voted on). I spoke with Layne St. John, a former assemblyman and chair of the Solid Waste Committee about this earlier--Hans and I ran into him and Janice at the Blue Loon earlier tonight where we had gone out to dinner. Layne described how the recycling commission/program idea has resurfaced over the years again and again but has never been able to stick. We talked about land fills, municipal composting, and methane gas reclamation from landfills, and the economics of recycling in such a small population base. I believe we need to get this thing in gear; shipping raw materials outside ends up being too expensive, but perhaps we can do the ol' value-added product thing.]

Okay, time to do a little mingling of my own. Will be back shortly.

A worthwhile proposal

Nadine Winters introduced this ordinance on the 20th of August. It would provide for a voluntary program by retailers (of large size) in the borough to charge a small amount for "disposable" plastic bags which would then be used to support borough recycling programs. Just in case you didn't know, those plastic shopping bags are the source of a serious and deadly type of pollution/litter. Plastic refuse of all types is a big big problem these days--ever hear of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Los Angeles has enacted a ban on the bags which will take effect in 2010. Cities around the world--entire provinces and countries, even--are banning or penalizing the use of disposable bags.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough should follow through with this mild ordinance. It's a step in the right direction, and, while voluntary, will raise money to reduce litter and borough landfill expenses. PUblic commentary (and I think the vote on it) is on September 10. Contact the borough assembly to support it!

ORDINANCE NO. 2009 - 40

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 8 OF THE FNSB CODE OF ORDINANCES TO ESTABLISH A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE USE OF PLASTIC BAGS, IMPOSE A FEE FOR CERTAIN PLASTIC BAGS PROVIDED TO CUSTOMERS BY LARGE RETAILERS AND ESTABLISH A LOCAL RECYCLING PROGRAM SPECIAL REVENUE FUND

WHEREAS, Fairbanks North Star Borough voters approved in 1993 a policy to encourage recycling, reuse and reduction of solid wastes generated in the Borough; and

WHEREAS, Americans use over 14 billion plastic bags a year; and

WHEREAS, Plastic bags do not biodegrade in landfills and reducing their use would provide available space at the landfill; and

WHEREAS; Collection and disposal have been estimated in some municipalities to cost up to 17 cents per plastic bag; and

WHEREAS, the Borough expends over $30,000 annually in litter pickup efforts, a third of which is estimated to be plastic bags; and

WHEREAS, regulation that discourages and decreases the use of disposable plastic bags in the Borough is in the best interests of the Borough; and

WHEREAS, the successful reduction of the number of disposable plastic bags entering the Borough’s solid waste stream, along with the integration of reusable bags and the increase in recycling of plastic bags, will help the Borough achieve the policy goal approved by voters.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE FAIRBANKS NORTH STAR BOROUGH ASSEMBLY;

Section 1. This ordinance is of a general and permanent nature and shall be codified.

Section 2. Chapter 8.12 of the FNSB Code of Ordinances is amended to add the following chapters:

8.12.037 Voluntary Program for Participating Retailers

A. Sellers using disposable plastic bags, that fall outside the definition of retail sellers, may on a voluntary basis, charge the disposable plastic bag fee imposed in this chapter. If the seller chooses to participate then the seller is subject to the requirements of this chapter.

B. Sellers of goods using disposable plastic bags who choose not to participate in charging the disposable plastic bag fee may also participate in the program by:

1. Making available recycling bins/canisters for plastic shopping bags.
2. Developing messages placed in highly visible areas that encourages and reminds shoppers to use reusable bags.
3. Making reusable bags available at a reasonable price.

8.12.038 Disposable plastic Bag Fee

A. Effective January 1, 2010, all retail sellers, as defined in this chapter, shall charge and collect a five cent ($0.05) fee for each disposable plastic bag provided to customers. The amount of the fee shall be stated separately on a sales receipt, invoice, or other record of sale. It shall be a violation of this section for any store subject to the requirements of this section to pay or otherwise reimburse a customer for any portion of this fee.

B. The retail store shall keep a record of the number of disposable plastic bags the retail seller has purchased, been provided with, or otherwise acquired, and a record of the amount paid for disposable bags subject to this section that are provided to, or sold to, retail consumers on a monthly basis.

C. The purpose of the fee established in this chapter is to regulate the generation of waste from disposable plastic bags by creating an economic incentive for customers to use reusable shopping bags.

D. On a monthly basis and as otherwise may be required by the Chief Financial Officer, all retail sellers required to collect the disposable plastic bag fee shall report and remit the total fees due to the Borough. Payments and receipts shall be reported on forms prescribed by the Borough’s Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer is authorized to adopt rules for the administration, payment, collection and enforcement of the fee imposed in this chapter.

E. If a report or payment of any amounts due under this section are not received by the Chief Financial Officer on or before the due date, the Chief Financial Officer shall add a penalty calculated in the same manner as the penalty imposed under FNSB 3.58.090 as it now exists or as it may be amended except that it shall be calculated on the amount of fees due. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to deem any fees required under this chapter to be a tax.

8.12.039 Local recycling program special revenue fund

The local recycling program special revenue fund is hereby established. All funds received from the payment of the plastic bag fee shall be deposited into the local recycling program special revenue fund. Money in this account may be appropriated only to support Borough recycling efforts. Authorized expenditures from this fund, which may be expended by the Borough Mayor without further appropriation, are amounts used to support the voluntary program to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags and funds to make available to the public, for a reduced fee or free-of-charge, reusable shopping bags to the extent the Mayor determines that such programs will significantly reduce the costs associated with the recycling and disposal of plastic bags.

Section 3. Section 8.12. 021 Definitions is amended to add the following definitions (which shall be added by the clerk in alphabetical order).

“Retail seller” means any person or entity engaged in the business of offering and/or selling goods directly to a customer and that has annual gross sales of one million dollars or more in the Fairbanks North Star Borough.

“Disposable plastic bag” means a bag made of plastic to carry customer purchases from a store. It does not include: a compostable plastic bag; a bag used only to contain ice; bags used by customers inside stores to package bulk items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, candy or small hardware items; bags used to contain or wrap frozen foods, meat or fish or flowers, or other items where dampness may be a problem; bags used to protect prepared foods or bakery goods; bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs; newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags.

“Chief Financial Officer” means the Finance Director or any officer, agent or employee of the Borough designated to act on the Chief Financial Officer’s behalf.

Section 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective at 5:00 p.m. of the first Borough business day following its adoption.

Slow Money

Just discovered this interesting site, Slow Money, another form of localism in economics and food. The principles of the concept (quoted from the website) are:

I. We must bring money back down to earth.

II. We must bring our money home. We must put money back into local economies and carbon back into the soil.

III. We must invest as if food, farms and fertility mattered.

IV. We must invest as if carrying capacity, diversity and non-violence mattered; as if aquifers mattered; as if childhood nutrition and food deserts and obesity side-by-side with hunger all mattered.

V. There is such a thing as money that is too fast, companies that are too big, finance that is too complex. Therefore, we must slow our money down -- not all of it, of course, but enough to matter.

VI. Organic seed companies, organic farmers, manufacturers of organic agricultural inputs, slow food restauranteurs, niche organic brands, local food processors, producer and consumer coops, neighborhood retailers, CSAs, farmers markets, urban gardens, edible schoolyards -- without them, there can be no durable economic health or quality of life, no durable food safety or food security.

VII. We must build the nurture capital industry.

VIII. We must give investors and philanthropists the tools they need to facilitate dramatic increases in support for small food enterprises -- Slow Munis, new philanthropic charters that steer foundation assets in support of mission, funds dedicated to CSAs and organic farmland, and collaborative structures for local investors.

IX. There is something beautiful about a diversified organic farm. There is something beautiful about a CSA. There is something beautiful about Terra Madre. There is nothing beautiful about bovine growth hormone or Red Dye #4 or high fructose corn syrup. We must invest as if beauty mattered.

X. We must dare to imagine that after the Age of Industrial Finance and Industrial Agriculture comes the Age of Earthworm Economics. Let us recognize the words of one of its first proponents, who said: "I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out." (Paul Newman)

XI. We must ask:

--What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?

--What if there were a new generation of companies that gave away 50% of their profits?

--What if there were 50% more organic matter in our soil 50 years from now?

XII. We need slow money. . .quickly.

These principles are quoted from the website, and are rather wordy and repetitive, but you get the idea.

Blogging from Anchorage

Okay, not a very inventive title. Hung out in the airport for a while, until Dimitra found me and took me to the Voyager Hotel, a nice hotel in downtown Anchortown. I figure that since I'm down here for a blogging panel, I might as well blog, hey what?

So: the commonality among the bloggers on this panel that I see is most are very political in their choice of topics. Me, too, I suppose, although this particular blog wanders all over the place in terms of subject. You'll rarely find recipes, but you will find personal tidbits, and lately, it being the season, a bit of springy gardening notes and agriculture-related stuff.

As in: I recently planted tomatoes (Mr. Stripey, red currant, Siletz, and something else, I forget what), OS Cross cabbages, sweet red peppers, and three varieties of artichoke (hah! good luck with that, Deirdre). Mostly I avoid hybrids and go for organic seeds from heirloom varieties. This year we plan to do a decent-sized garden, and I went through all the seeds and pulled out everything that was ten years old or more. I'd saved seeds from last year and the year before from my squash, and have some unidentified nightshade family seeds (eggplant? pepper? probably not tomato, since they aren't fuzzy). Some of the seeds I'm planting this year are around 15 years old.

My reading material for this trip dovetails nicely with all the recent reading and work I've been doing on CSAs. It's a book by Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce, which so far is spending a lot of time talking about how dire a situation we're in (this is in 1993) and how only a complete refiguring of business will save life on earth, that business, or the corporate institution, is the most successful and dominant institution on the planet, and that it's gotten us into a huge mess because it assumes (where have I heard this before?) no limits to growth, and the real costs of what it does aren't figured in. And it is backed by popular support for the economic model/thought paradigm it works in (democratic free-market capitalism). I haven't yet gotten to the chapters on solutions to this mess.

Of course, since this was published, there's been a grassroots shift developing in the economic workings of the world. It's pretty clear in the food end of things: the locally grown, organic or biodynamic, community-supported agriculture model has been developing for twenty years but has taken off in the last ten. We finally have presidential family planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn again (and it's seen as so significant that it is international news! how's that for telling?). Aha. Politics!

Food security gets even more political. The oft-cited figure that better than 95% of Alaska's food comes from out of state originates from University of Alaska research, I think, but I can't find when or where this figure comes from. Sometimes I see it as 90%, other times 98%. It's also expressed as "three days' worth of food on supermarket shelves" (or two days). But, as Phil Loring pointed out recently in his column Outpost Agriculture, Alaskans do a lot of subsistence hunting and gathering. Folks in the cities drive out to pick berries, go moose hunting, etc. Still, I'd bet the great majority of our food comes from Outside. Most of us are very very dependent on good transportation and artificially cheap prices for food. And that means, lessee, subsidies, federal grants and earmarks, lots of consumption of, er, oil...which gets VEDDY political.

And then there's food security in the sense of seed diversity, the control of gardeners and farmers over their own food and the biodiversity created by generations upon generations saving their seed. That's one of the really nasty side effects of multinational corporate agribusiness: monocropping. The use of just a few, often or even usually proprietary varieties is a killer to our food security. Never mind the genetic manipulation of, say, corn and soybeans--it's that lack of variation that's the real problem.

It all comes down to sustainability (o gack, the dreaded buzzword -- except it's not a cliche, it's a damn survival necessity). Which all gets back to my garden, and food miles. If the food I grow or harvest is within walking distance of my house (berry patches, mushroom spots, garden beds), and I save my seeds and compost our kitchen waste, then I have saved a ton of real cost. Storing that food for the winter adds a cost, however, as we heat our house and use electricity to keep our food frozen. Drying it or canning or creating a root cellar would cut some of the energy use, and doing all this stuff at home definitely cuts down on the stupid packaging that we end up throwing out (jars, shopping bags, annoying little labels on the fruit and vegetables, shrink wrap, boxes made of foam, etc.), which saves on those big plastic garbage bags, and saves on trips to the dumpster, etc.

There's an interesting side effect to this whole topic for me--it makes me very aware of the power of individuals to effect profound change. Simply growing a pot of basil rather than buying it in the store makes a big difference, because it ripples out down the source chain. Alaskans are vulnerable because we are so dependent on nonrenewable fuels, on goods shipped up from Outside. (Although I hear we are the highest per capita for year-round bicyclists and pedestrians, which is good for our health and fuel economy.) Getting involved in local projects also makes me aware of this strength of personal action, but somehow it's the food thing that seems more active. Buying local food or goods, or going to a local store rather than a chain, is significant to me too, but there's nothing like getting my hands dirty in the garden or eating tomatoes I grew myself to make me feel like I'm doing something positive for the world. It's an immediate sense of accomplishment.

CSA Roundtable

My personal life and my UAF office job seem to be converging in some ways. I've been working on arranging a CSA Roundtable that will be happening this Thursday on campus, where members of the School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences (SNRAS for short) will be meeting with CSA operators to discuss what the U can do to help farmers better succeed. You know, research, better curriculum, demonstration/training/instructional CSA garden on campus, that sort of thing.

It's interesting to have this crossover in the interests I hold. I'm finding myself more and more interested in local agriculture, small-scale economies, community supported anything. As Grace Lee Boggs says on Yes! magazine:

Every day it becomes clearer that we are approaching the end of the short-lived (less than 300 years) industrial/capitalist epoch.

So people in communities, rather than the workplace, have begun to create another America.

One obvious sign is the mushrooming urban agricultural and local foods movement.

Yet, speaking with a person working here at the school, he said to me this morning, "I'm a fan of the industrial model of agriculture." CSA agriculture doesn't allow for the kind of market expansion, he says, that the industrial version does. But then I think of the kind of non-local expansion/invasion of local markets here in Alaska that Full Circle Farm is guilty of, and I wonder. Any model can be abused.

But Boggs is right, in a limited way. It's not just the US that's changing, it's the world's attitudes. Today I walked in to the office and found a copy of the 2008 Slow Food Almanac on my chair. It's a book that I will read. The Slow Food movement started in, I think, Italy. It has spread throughout the world. The Slow Food Movement, like many other aspects of the green/turning/community movement, is about humane living, not just living by quantity.

Neil Davis on Sleep in Saturdays with Matt Want

Matt Want hosts a local talk show on 660-KFAR on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11 am, choosing a different topic each week. This Saturday's topic is the US health care system and Neil Davis has been invited to be on the show. You can call in with questions or ask for advice; the phone number is 907.458.8255 (458-TALK).

(Cross-posted on the Health Care Morass blog)

Apparently a lot of Want's regular callers are a fairly conservative lot, and not pleased with the idea of socialized medicine, so it should be a lively discussion.

More on oil in the Bush

I should add that the energy handout money that was distributed with the PFD last fall was disproportionately beneficial to those living in the cities, where costs are less, and with regard to supplies, not very helpful if you can't get things in and out very well. When you're not on the road system, and the rivers are frozen, you've got air and overland as your choices. Not cheap, not easy. And airlifts are dependent on the weather.

Emmonak: this is outrageous

The rural-urban divide in Alaska has never been more stark. Here's a village in the middle of economic/subsistence meltdown, so to speak, and there's hardly anything in the news about it. The villages are starting to have to choose between food and fuel oil. Back in the bad old days, people starved and died if there wasn't enough food. There was no alternative. However, we're supposedly living in modern times, in the richest state in the richest country in the world. This isn't supposed to happen in the safety net that civilization should provide.

How the hell can this occur?

Well, for one thing, our whole civilization, and in particular our state, is geared toward dependence on nonrenewable fuels and extraction and exploitation of natural resources--again, in particular the nonrenewable ones. We aren't geared toward sustainable practices and renewable resources. In some ways, the plight of this village could very well be the plight of Alaska in relation to the rest of the world: we're a colony, utterly dependent on Outside to keep us going. Emmonak's situation is a grim microcosmic example of what Alaska could find itself foundering in should we find our economic or transportation links to the Lower 48 cut or reduced.

Part of the issue here is that Palin doesn't seem to think it too urgent to keep the position of rural advisor filled. She left it unfilled for the first year of her administration, and it's been vacant again ever since Rhonda McBride resigned last October.

Another part is that it isn't like no one saw this coming. Emmonak's been jumping up and down about problems ever since the barges couldn't get through last fall. Remember that? But even before that, there's been rumbling of a building emergency. When even Hugo Chavez down in Venezuela was able to tell that heating fuel prices were having a serious effect on the villages of Alaska, why couldn't we do something about it? Chavez sent emergency supplies a year ago. Did Palin?

Well, as Kodiak Konfidential points out, Chavez is saving the villages' bacon once again. Oil state Alaska, getting foreign assistance from Venezuela:

Venezuelan government officials wasted no time in reinstating the program, which saved some 180,000 US households around $260 apiece in 2008. That covered about one month's heating bill.

Among the beneficiaries of the 100 gallons of heating oil per household were 65 Indian tribes, including those in Alaska, Montana, and South Dakota.

Alejandro Granado, the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Citgo Petroleum, the Venezuelan government's Houston-based oil subsidiary, said he discussed the plan to renew the program with Chávez on Wednesday morning.

The decision "is the result of a strong commitment and a big effort on the part of Citgo and our shareholders in light of the current global financial crisis and its impact on the oil industry in general," Mr. Granado said in a press statement.

Pretty humiliating, wouldn't you say, Sarah? Too bad so little was done about this after the first oil handout. Maybe if we'd had a rural advisor in office this might have been anticipated and SOMETHING DONE ABOUT IT.

Here's some posts about Emmonak:

Alaska Real quotes from the original letter to the editor, and gives a followup.

Progressive Alaska has also been spreading the word across the blogosphere.

Mudflats rightly asks if anyone is listening.

And Denis Zaki of Alaska Report is flying out to Emmonak to film.

If you want to help, you can contact any one of several organizations in Emmonak:

City of Emmonak, (907) 949-1227/1249
Emmonak Sacred Heart Catholic Church Pastoral Parish Council Chairman, (907) 949-1011.

To assist with offsetting heating fuel costs, call Emmonak Corporation, (907) 949-1129/1315/1411

For distribution of food, contact the tribal council:
Emmanok Tribal Council
P.O. Box 126
Emmanok, AK 99581
(907) 949-1720

You can also donate to Dennis Zaki to fly him there so he can cover the story; anything beyond the cost of the trip will go to the emergency relief.

Two of the Big Three are full of crap

and we shouldn't fund them. At all.

I heard an interview the other day on NPR with the current Ford scion, who told Melissa Block that the Ford company will be bringing its European models to the United States. FINALLY! Y'see, in Europe, to be a) legal and b) competitive, cars and trucks have to have decent gas mileage. This doesn't mean a measley 26 mpg, like our Honda Element gets, this means 50, 60, 70, 80 mpg. Miles per gallon, not just liters. But those models haven't been available for sale in the US, even though Ford makes them. How stupid is that? So it's about freaking time that they start making and selling them here.

Chrysler and General Motors, on the other hand, are still suing states to attempt to prevent them from requiring cleaner car emissions and more efficient models, and Chrysler is shutting down one of the two plants it makes hybrid vehicles in. Of course, those hybrids aren't doing so well, partly due to the credit crunch, but I imagine that all that effort Chrysler has been putting into resisting improving their automobiles has something to do with it.

At least Ford has been thinking a bit more sensibly, gearing down to produce smaller vehicles.

I'm with Peregrine Wood: we shouldn't be bailing out the companies that have been digging in their heels for decades on environmental and efficiency standards, making bad business decisions, and spending lots of money on lawyers and lawsuits so they can continue to artificially restrict states to going along with those bad decisions. And we've given them a bailout already this year (and there was that bailout of Chrysler back in the 80s, don't forget). It certainly doesn't seem to have helped them see the error of their ways. Are we sure we want to do this again?

Best speech ever

And here's the text as prepared beforehand. The man can write.

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama

(as prepared for delivery)

Election Night

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Chicago, Illinois

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Bailing 'em out again

So, on the radio this morning, they were interviewing the former CEO of General Electric, who said, oh don't worry about it, this has happened before: the Japanese recession of '95, the recession of '90, and the recession of '87. The government introduced liquidity and our bacon was saved.

So, asks Hans, you mean the taxpayers have bailed out these boondoggles before? When are people going to notice that the system doesn't work very well if you have to bail out the big guys every so often?

No wonder people are mad. The little guys get to pay for the big guys' mistakes over and over, and the government keeps allowing the same sorts of stupid behavior on the part of large corporations and networks within different industries.

A note for our legislature on renewable energy

I've been subscribing to Solar Nation's newsletter. Very interesting little tidbits come through that way, for example, updates on the solar tax credit (both Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens voted to block this).

Clean energy businesses are being attracted to [North Carolina] in part because of imaginative energy policy there, and numerous citizens’ groups have had a role in steering that policy in the right direction.

Some of the milestones in the state’s road to renewables include:

• 12.5% Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (2007/2008)
• 35% State renewable energy tax credits
• Improvements to State interconnection standards (2008)
• Solar access law (2007)
• State Green Business Fund

It’s this kind of legislative and regulatory climate that has helped make North Carolina attractive to clean energy businesses. Last month Sencera International Corporation of Charlotte announced it would construct a $36 million facility in Mecklenburg County for production of solar cells and assembly of PV modules. The State’s forward-looking energy policy, as well as a $62,000 One North Carolina Fund grant and other incentives, were instrumental in the company’s decision.

Now here's what I don't understand. The state of Alaska spends gobs of money on attracting what is, essentially, a dying industry, rather than where all the breakthroughs and excitement are: renewable energy. Yes, indeed, we have lots of oil. But it's only going to get more valuable as time goes on. Why spend money to burn it? Let's get our energy grid off of fossil fuel, and spend that cash on encouraging the new industries to come here.

But no, from our local utility on up, our incentives are pretty minimal. Organizations like REAP are working hard to change this, though, so maybe we'll get this turned around.

Park it at the market

The Ester farmer's market was pretty good. We had eleven vendors this time, two more than last month. Calypso Farm finally made it! I forgot my camera, so have no cool photos to show you. We were at the park and it was a good thing we did it there because we wouldn't have had enough room up at the village square for all the tents and tables. It was a beautiful blue day, but the clouds rolled in so we ended up packing up a little early, 7:30ish.

Ester market today

Yep, the third Third Thursday is upon us, and the August Ester Village Farmers and Craft Market. We've had two so far, one in June and one in July. They've been fun, and last time we had live music, too. Here's some photos from the previous ones.



In June, Tobias (ye olde Badde Whyte Dogge) became cover dog for The Ester Republic with this classic canine pose (photo taken by Amy Cameron).

The market was pretty small to start, but we did better than expected and it was a nice sunny day. We set up on the lawn off the village square. Kate Billington and I shared a tent; I sold books and papers and plant starts and library t-shirts, and she sold spices and plant starts and library t-shirts. We did pretty good.



In July, we had several new vendors (twice as many, in fact). This was Jessica and Sammi's table (photo taken by Monique Musick).

And of course, we had greenery, from Matt Springer and Rosie Creek Farm, and other food items (honey, spices, etc.). I spent too much...



This is Amy and her kids near the Rosie Creek Farm stand (photo by Monique).

Berries and other random thoughts

Lunchtime. I'm eating a salad, made with locally grown, Calypso farm lettuce and Deirdre Helfferich garden lettuce (also originally from Calypso, but that was when they were mere sprouts--they had to grow up in the rough-and-tumble weed-laden neighborhood of MY garden to get to edible size), also nasturtium flowers from my own garden; imported olives (green with pimentos), olive oil, basalmic vinegar, and okra (pickled, spicey). Pretty tasty.

This weekend I went berry picking with friends, getting blueberries, crowberries, and bearberries (a very few). Brought the Bad White Dog along the first two days for bear-scaring company (more about the BWD in the next post), and Monkey the Old Man Dog (who's actually rather young) the next day. He wasn't so good at the bear-scaring: bear scat all over, big bear paw print right nearby. We moved elsewhere to avoid any, um, distressing situations. It was really wonderful, however, to pick and hear the wind blow, voices from far away, birds croaking. No such thing as silence, really--but it was very soothing. Sunny sometimes, overcast others, but warm and pleasant.

Growing or gathering food is something that makes me happy. It satisfies something that just doesn't come any other way. Certainly not going to a supermarket, which is an almost painful experience. Too much crap. The pain is on an almost subliminal level, ignorable, mostly. Going to a fresh food stand, like picking up the share at Calypso's tent once a week, is much better, a social occasion out in the open, but still a bit hectic, still not as deeply pleasing as picking it myself.

I've been thinking about how to move into a greener mode. ('Spose I really should start bicycling.) Anarchy in the AK talks about the problem of greenwashing. This morning, listening to Democracy Now! there was a wonderful interview with Andrew Bacevich about his book The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, who nailed one of the basic problems with American living (and government policy) right on the head:

I think the great majority of us basically have allowed ourselves to become seduced by this culture of consumption, of not taking seriously the notion that someday the bills come due, that you can’t simply run up a line of credit that stretches from here to infinity. We don’t want to look ourselves in the mirror. We don’t want to recognize the need to make some changes in the way we live.

It's not just our credit card bills, or our mortgages, or our national debt: it's the use-it-up-now mentality that makes frugality unfashionable and spendthrift behavior the norm. Buy, buy, buy all that crap, all those shiny useless toys. Use up our nonrenewable resources NOW, because they're there, because we can. Forget about saving, anything.

And me, what do I do? Well, I'm not bicycling, that's for sure--and that's stupid. Because the bills really are coming due, now. On a grand scale. And on the local scale, soon enough.