Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Little CSA Primer For Ya

This is an email that my good friend Chris sent out a few weeks back. Chris is an amazing guy who truly works to make the world a better place and I really admire all he does (but have no idea how he does as much as he does). Of course it resonates a bit more specifically if you live near him in Minnesota but the concepts are universal.


Live Sustainably

Dave

Two thoughts on simple steps for saving the world this week:

If you are shareholder of a
community supported agriculture (CSA) farm, call them, see if they need help recruiting members, and throw a house party to build a member-base. (If you're not a member, find a good one and join!).

An audacious goal if there aren't CSAs or co-ops in your area: Start them. It can be done. Anna and I were charter members of one of our two food co-ops for some time before the actual ground-breaking.

Last night we threw a party for Mike Noreen, owner of
Burning River CSA. We are a neighborhood drop-site for his farm, and have helped him build support for two (perhaps three) other drop-sites in town (and close to one another to help him reduce his travel expenses).

For those attending from our immediate neighborhood, the other purpose was to build more local support for our
neighborhood food coop. Mike also has a drop-site there.

Anna cooked a variety of appetizers - all featuring greens (kale, chard, cabbage). So many of our friends indicated that they simply didn't know what to do with so many greens.

In any event, we're on the journey to support Mike as he builds up to 150 members (his goal for this year). We think we will definitely help him hit 15 members this year, possibly 20+ from these drop-sites. (Seven folks actually broke out their checkbooks and signed up during the party. We have commitments from several more, many of whom couldn't attend last night, some of whom came but sans checkbook.)

All this by way of saying we had a great time, built community, geared folks up to take more control over their food lives, helped drive support for sustainable local agriculture, and will help everyone save money, as Mike's farm shares yielded an immense amount of food for the cost through the course of last summer.

Two great ways to learn more about CSAs: Read the fabulous book, "
This Common Ground - Seasons on an Organic Farm," by Scott Chaskey. Watch the documentary, "The Real Dirt on Farmer John."

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Trash Talking

This is an interesting articles about the Seven (New) Garbage Wonders of the World. As you may recall, a bit back they voted to decide on the new seven wonders of the world, a sort of best of the best if you will. This article lists the 7 worst of the worst, from The North Pacific Gyre to the Electronic Waste Dumps in Guyiu China, they are testament to the problems of a disposable society and are somehitng that each of us needs to confront.

Live Sustainably

Dave

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Take Back The Filter Campaign

This is a really great campaign that Beth over at Fake Plastic Fish spearheaded. Clorox, who now owns Brita North America, does not accept filters back for recycling and re-use while their European counterparts have been doing this since 1992.  It makes no sense and in an environment where people should be heading towards filtered water and away from bottled, we need to keep the pressure on companies to be responsible for the waste involved in the filters.  For more info about the campaign check here and makes sure to sign the petition as well!


Live Sustainably

Dave


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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Waste Not

A great article from The Atlantic about the wasted energy in the business sector and how the technology to recapture it is not only old, but tried and true.

"A 2005 report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that U.S. industry could profitably recycle enough waste energy—including steam, furnace gases, heat, and pressure—to reduce the country’s fossil-fuel use (and greenhouse-gas emissions) by nearly a fifth. A 2007 study by the Mc Kinsey Global Institute sounded largely the same note; it concluded that domestic industry could use 19 percent less energy than it does today—and make more money as a result."

A lot of people I talk to are always on the "technology will save us" train. Like this article illustrates, technology may already be there, but if we don't recognize and adopt it, it won't do much to change things.

Live Sustainably

Dave













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Monday, May 12, 2008

Tired of mowing....plant Wheat!

Here's a pretty cool little story that my friend Marc sent me. It was on NPR's Day to Day a month or so back and really speaks to what i think makes this country great.  A bakery in Northampton Ma, tired of volatile wheat prices and the problems that lawns create (think water shortage and fossil fuel use, not to mention pollution) asked some of the local townsfolk to tear up a ten by ten patch of lawn and plant wheat.


Their hope is that over time they will figure out which crop grows best, and than can convince local farmers to start growing wheat, something which hasn't happened in the area since WWII.

The thing I like about this is that it is a story about local folks who are banding together and saying "Enough, we can change things by ourselves and don't have to wait for big business or the government to lead the way...we'll lead and they can follow."  As the story suggests, it's reminiscent of Victory gardens that were popular during WWII, small home gardens that were planted to help feed folks during war times when fresh veggies were scarce. Believe it or not, and it's tough to in this jaded day and age, this was their way of helping the war effort and a large portion of the allied populations got involved.

Perhaps we should be revisiting these old ideas and making them new again?

Live Sustainably

Dave


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