Chico, Sustainable

A big thanks to the ER's Chris Gullick for continuing to report on the challenges of bringing healthy food into local school cafeterias. As one who has eaten his fair share of crappy school and summer camp cafeteria food (I can recall nuclear green jello cubes that sat next to the warming lamps by the hamburgers. . .and didn't melt), this morning's article hits especially close to home.

The highlights of the article are pretty straightforward. It turns out that ever since healthier foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, have begun being served in the Orland and Paradise school cafeterias, students have been eating more of it. Apparently the kids like the food better than the offerings of previous years.

But surprise, better quality food costs more money.

Also preparing the food from scratch, rather than removing them from plastic wrappers and placing them in a food warmer, is more time intensive, which increases labor costs.

Yep.

But the big thing is, despite these challenges, the schools are indeed doing their best to make changes that benefit our childrens' health.

If you wanted to make a list of the most important issues in Chico (or nationally, for that matter), I would place this one towards the top.

While these changes do indeed cost more money, it should be pointed out the costs of NOT making these changes:

--Unhealthy or unappetizing food in school cafeterias leads to an unhealthy diet which in turn leads to malnutrition (if the child decides that not eating is a better option) or obesity, if the foods are especially fatty (think shiny, greasy slices of pepperoni pizza on a pale white crust). On an open campus, students might be more inclined to go elsewhere for lunch (McDonalds, etc.). The end result, which we are already seeing, is a population afflicted with obesity and early-onset diabetes in children, the costs of which must be absorbed by society.

--High sugar/fat diets in young children are one of the biggest contributers to behavior problems in school. Schools who have switched to having healthier food in their cafeterias report fewer discipline problems. Believe it or not, dealing with discipline issues costs time and money.

--Students who have a poor diet preform worse in school as compared to those who have healthy diets. They have trouble focusing, concentrating, working as team, etc. As a classroom teacher, I have seen this first hand. I will also tell you that in junior high schools across the country, November 1 is a video day--imagine trying to teach a new lesson to students when your entire class is on a Halloween candy sugar high. The sad part is that nowadays a substantial portion of students partake of the Halloween diet every day of the year.

The bottom line is that we rely on our schools to provide lunch (and often breakfast) to our children. Healthy food programs need our support now and in the future. If the schools say they need more money to do this, we should listen. And we should act.

And for those of you diligent parents that pack healthy lunches for your children at home, I say, great! But remember that your son or daughter shares a classroom, school, and community with other kids who aren't so fortunate. And if one of those kids is bouncing off the walls because they are on a greasy pizza high, it is everybody's problem.

Posted by jmiller at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The holiday season approaches, and I am done with wrapping paper. I think it is tradition that needs to be put to rest, an idea that should be abandoned like an itinerant holiday fruitcake.

I don't think I need to spend any more money purchasing a roll of overpriced paper, which is then cut into pieces and put on display for a couple of weeks before throwing it into the trash.

Of course, when I was young my brother and I had fun burning the paper in the fireplace where we huddled close and watched it become engulfed by funky chemically-colored green and blue flames. I have probably reduced my lifespan by a couple of weeks as a result.

But can't wrapping paper be recycled? Well, sometimes--but there is often so much other stuff in the paper to make it glossy, shiny, etc. that recycling it is not always an option. The only city recycling website that I could find to specifically address the matter was out of Beaverton, Oregon, which mentioned that if the paper has any foil in it, then it can't be recycled. Okay, so how do I tell the difference between shiny, silver-colored paper and paper that has foil in it?

Other folks suggest saving and reusing wrapping paper. This thought is well-intentioned, but I mean, how many of us want to wrap a present in pre-folded, slightly-ripped paper that still has last year's scotch tape on it? Even so, I do try to save and reuse what I can, though the social challenge for me is that I want to be able to tell the folks to whom I am giving such gifts that is has been lovingly wrapped in second-chance paper. Sadly, not everyone truly appreciates this fact.

It is also rare that wrapping paper can be used a third time.

The ideal solution might be to give gifts that don't need to be wrapped in the first place, for example, last year I gave my cousins tickets to a musical in San Francisco, which fit nicely into a decorated envelope.

But for those of us who still like the idea of hiding the identity of our presents, I am liking the holiday gift bag idea, which are much more durable than wrapping paper in that they can be reused year after year. I think every family should have a holiday stash of these bags, which can be stored with ornaments, lights, and other seasonal decorations.

Another creative solution involves using colorful paper that would be recycled anyway, such as old calendars or out-of-date road maps. And of course, there is always the Sunday Comics.

Posted by jmiller at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I was reading that late fall is the time to start thinking about prepping one's garden for spring planting. So on a sunny 70 degree November day I went out to my compost bin with my shovel, rake, hoe, and wheelbarrow to begin work on my permaculture garden. Not that I have every planted a permaculture garden before, but I didn't let that discourage me. I can pronounce the word, and that's a start.

The first thing that I did was take stock of my compost bin, and noted that its contents didn't much look like the dark, rich brown matter you can purchase from most nurseries. The grass clippings, leaves, yard trimmings and food scraps (a half-gallon a week of apple cores, egg shells, potato peelings, etc.) that I had been piling up since May still looked like a jumble of grass clippings, leaves, yard trimmings and food scraps. But never fear: according to the experts, I had "mulch." "Mulch becomes compost." Perfect.

Next I raked up the 1/2 inch or so of wood chips that had been set down by the previous owner of my house. This exposed the bare soil. I would reuse the chips later. I seemed to recall something about laying down cardboard and/or newsprint as a next step. I used what I had, covering an area about 6' X 15' with old boxes and a couple of issues of the News and Review. My recollection was that this was to smother the weeds. The wood chips had done a fair job of suppressing the weeds anyway, but I didn't let that stop me.

I then shoveled seven wheelbarrow loads of "mulch" onto the cardboard, including beetles, centipedes, larval things, bits of eggshell, small chunks of wood, and who knows what else. Though my mixture was not warm from decomposition, I knew something had happened in the months that it had been sitting, for with the exception of some avocado peels and a few corn cobs, most the of the food scraps weren't really visible, and nothing smelled bad. I ended up with a sheet of mulch about 5" deep. It look a little dry, so I let the sprinkler water it for 45 minutes. The I topped it off by raking the wood chips back on top, as well as sprinkling a layer of straw that I had left over from an aborted art project (long story that I won't go into here).

Next step--wait until spring.

That evening, I compared my efforts with the recommended soil prep methods described in Gaia's Garden, A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. It turns out that I didn't do half bad. For many, soil preparation is a fine art. So for the record, here is are some of the things that I could have or should have done but didn't. However, I am happy to let this serve as an experiment that I will document for the benefit of humanity.

--The soil was damp when I set down my cardboard, but I could have wet it down a bit more.
--I didn't add any soil amendments (lime, sulfur, gypsum, phosphorus etc.), however the soil in my neighborhood is considered pretty healthy to start with.
--It was recommended that I add a 1" layer of grass clippings. There were some grass clippings mixed into my mulch, but certainly not an inch worth.
--My 3-sheet layer of newspaper could have been 1/4 - 1/2" (to at least match the thickness of the cardboard)
--Mulch is recommended to be 8-12" thick, but I didn't have that much. This should be followed by 1-2" of compost and a couple inches of hay. I did my best.
--My partially decomposed mulch likely has a lot of viable weed-seeds in it, and it is likely that I did my garden a disservice by giving them a lift to a new part of the yard. We'll see.

Posted by jmiller at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Thanks to Nani and Jonas for allowing me to share this photo of their back fence in the Avenues, which is constructed entirely of recycled/salvaged materials. A more detailed description of her fence and other great local home-improvement efforts ideas, and resources can be found on the new website Chicoeco.org. Here is a fence of another resourceful Chico resident:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by jmiller at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The cost of gas at a Chevron station in Chico was at $3.40 per gallon yesterday. For those traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, here's the amount of fuel you will need to go 300 miles and how much it will cost at this price, depending on your fuel efficiency:

12 mpg. . .25 gal. . . .$85.00
15 mpg. . .20 gal. . . . $68.00
18 mpg. . .16.7 gal. . .$56.67
21 mpg. . .14.3 gal. . .$48.57
24 mpg. . .12.5 gal. . .$42.50
27 mpg. . .11.1 gal. . .$37.38
30 mpg. . .10 gal. . . . $34.00
33 mpg. . .9.1 gal. . . .$30.90
36 mpg. . .8.3 gal. . . .$28.33
39 mpg. . .7.7 gal. . . .$26.15
42 mpg. . .7.1 gal. . . .$24.29
45 mpg. . .6.7 gal. . . .$22.67
48 mpg. . .6.3 gal. . . .$21.25
51 mpg. . .5.9 gal. . . .$20.00
54 mpg. . .5.6 gal. . . .$18.89
57 mpg. . .5.3 gal. . . .$17.89
60 mpg. . .5.0 gal. . . .$17.00

The good news is,that you CAN improve the your fuel efficiency by lowering your speed 5 mph on the highway and by accelerating gradually from stops. Note that even a 3 mpg improvement from say, 24 mpg to 27 mpg can save you $5 over 300 miles. Consider this portrait of Abe Lincoln as my holiday gift to you.

And just for the sake of reference, 300 miles is equal to:

10 round trips from Chico to Paradise
7.7 round trips from Chico to Orland
3.2 round trips from Chico to Yuba City
2.1 round trips from Chico to Redding
1.7 round trips from Chico to Sacramento

Round trip distance from Chico to San Francisco: 346 miles

Posted by jmiller at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw the first Christmas decorations emerge on October 14, at FedEx Kinkos: a little silvery plastic tree with glitter and miniature red and green presents. This must be a record. I hadn’t even bought my Halloween pumpkin yet. So I am not too embarrassed about posting about Christmas Trees over a month before December 25.

I thought it would be easy to suggest that people refrain from harvesting purchasing or harvesting a Christmas tree this year, for all of the usual reasons, the most notable of which being: Why perpetuate a tradition of cutting down trees?

But before choosing to attack such a Dickensonian and Rockwellian icon of Western culture (not to mention one of the chief symbols of the most celebrated holiday of the largest religion in the nation), I felt it prudent to do some background research.

I can tell you from first hand experience that there are no Douglas firs or spruce trees growing wild in the Holy Land. The origins of the indoor Christmas tree date back not to Bethlehem but to Germany in the 1500’s, though the idea didn't catch on in the U.S. until after 1850. By 1900, one in five American families had a Christmas tree. The first Christmas tree farm was established in New Jersey in 1901 and 20 years later nearly every Christian American had a tree. Today 98% of all Christmas trees are grown on tree farms.

Plenty of theories, myths, and stories are out there about how evergreens found there way into the home in the first place. In a nutshell, conifers have been admired for centuries for their ability to retain foliage during the winter months while other trees are dormant (the ancient Egyptians celebrated palms for the same reason). As such, clippings of various evergreens such as holly, mistletoe, laurel, and fir were brought indoors to bring cheer during winter solstice celebrations, as they were seen as symbols of life during the darkest, shortest days of the year. Such traditions were absorbed into Christian culture; for example, the triangular silhouette of the fir tree has been likened to a symbol of the Holy Trinity.

So I ask again, should we really be celebrating these symbols by cutting them down? Is it time for this part of the tradition to change?

Of course, folks could always buy artificial trees to keep year-after-year, but even with after spraying the tree with “evergreen scent” potpourri it would still lack the ambiance. Also, though folks have no problem stored lights and ornaments in a box in the corner of the garage, plastic or aluminum trees aren’t as conveniently shelved.

Purchasing a tree made out of petroleum products is also not something that I would quickly endorse.

I did read that Christmas tree farms are often located where the soils are marginal and wouldn’t do well to support other crops. The same article mentioned that for every tree that is cut, two are planted in its place. Not that I don’t think these facts could be true, but I would want to see it to believe it. On the flip side, I have also read that the average Christmas tree receives roughly half an ounce of pesticide over the course of its life.

There are creative solutions. I have read of live trees available for purchase that can be planted once the holidays are over. (If you know a location in Chico where you can purchase live trees, please share--I have not lived here long enough to know for myself). Or, you can designate an evergreen in your front yard—it doesn’t have to be a conifer—to decorate with waterproof ornaments and lights.

For many this might lead to a dilemma about where to put the presents, but I am sure we can come up with a new tradition that accounts for this conundrum.

Posted by jmiller at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Salmon, oil, fungus, barber, Chico--I read an article in the SF Chronicle today that made me realize that these things are all connected, some for better and some for worse. Let me explain.

Background: On November 7, a cargo ship managed to nick one of the footings of the Bay Bridge, cutting a gash in the side of the boat and spilling almost 58,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay. Cleanup efforts continue even as you read this.

Oil-Salmon-Chico: I once came across a book called Living Downstream. One might think this is more apt to describe the 1991 train derailment near Dunsmuir that dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic chemicals into the Sacramento River. But if you were to ask a migrating salmon, it will tell you that the connection goes upstream as well, as our spring run (meager though it may be) must find their way through the Bay long before they begin their journey up to Sycamore pool and beyond. I do not know how salmon react to oil spills, but I don't think that the interaction is a good thing. There are also fears that the Bay Area fishery will be impacted, casting doubts over whether we will be able to enjoy dungeness crab or Tomales Bay oysters in the near future.

Barber-Fungus-Oil: Meanwhile, anyone who has gotten their hair cut at Bay Area hair salon in the recent past may be be indirectly involved in the clean-up effort. A San Francisco-based non-profit called Matter of Trust collects local human hair and turns it into doormat-sized hair mats, which are ideal for soaking up oil. The saturated mats are then layered with straw and then innoculated with the spores of the common oyster mushroom (depicted above), which for some reason love this oily mess (cultivated oyster mushrooms can be found in the Safeway produce aisle, their wild cousins can be seen growing in Upper Bidwell Park). In 12 weeks time, the fungus will break down the hair-oil-straw sandwich into soil which, though not recommended for vegetables, is perfectly fine for roadside landscaping. You can read the Chronicle story here.

Posted by jmiller at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My wife and I are one of seven charter households signed up for the GRUB program’s weekly box of produce, which is delivered to my house via bicycle every Sunday evening. Over the last month our box has included some combination of chard, kale, collards, walnuts, garlic, green beans, peppers, cherry tomatoes, persimmons, basil, romaine lettuce, broccoli, butternut squash, arugula, organic rice from Massa Organics. The food is grown in seven different "GRUB Gardens" around Chico by volunteers using organic methods. The garden sites themselves sit on private properties; the various landowners have graciously donated its use, and their water, for this purpose.

The produce, by the way, is all delicious.

Even though GRUB does not yet have non-profit status, it is only a matter of time, and this is not keeping them from doing good things in the community. The CSA-style produce boxes is the first step towards creating a larger infrastructure with the goal of making healthy, sustainably-grown food available to the citizens of Chico, regardless of their economic background.

For more information, or to get on the waiting list to receive a box of produce of your own, contact GRUB at 680-4543 or email them at grubchico@yahoo.com.

Posted by jmiller at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When I first moved to Chico, I took the time to tour the neighborhood surrounding my rental on Sycamore Street, meeting local residents and their pets, noting pecan trees, and grabbing an occasional mocha from Has Beans on Humboldt.

One day my dog took me for a walk (it is never the reverse), and we found ourselves on 9th Street. Sadly, the speed of the vehicles zipping by, combined with an occasional lack of sidewalks, greatly reduces the ambiance of what I am sure were once charming front yards a few decades ago.

Even so, on this day the brave pooch and I braved the traffic, crossed 9th, and found ourselves in front of one house where the residents had clearly not given up. A colorful Mediterranean-style garden faces the street, highlighted by fuzzy leaves of lamb’s ears and a 10 foot tall California buckeye. Rather than gravel, bare dirt, and the occasional discarded junk food wrapper, every square inch of ground is covered with carefully-placed greenery. Bees and fresh air seem to thrive in this mini oasis adjacent to the asphalt.

The occasion came when I saw the owners one day, and I made a point to go over and compliment and thank them for their efforts. The buckeye, they said, had been planted from seed.

Sustainability is not just doing good things. It is taking the time to recognize when someone else takes action that benefits others, like maintaining attractive, purposeful landscaping along Highway 32.

Posted by jmiller at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have successful ended my mailbox's unsolicited relationship with "Mailbox Merchants," whose advertisements consistently highlight all of the products that I don't purchase.

If this is true for you as well, here is the information to be removed from their mailing list (you can either write a letter or make a phone call):

Client Services
Mailbox Merchants
15040 NE Mason St.
Portland, OR 97230
1-800-579-1497
(530) 256-5956
(530) 256-3450 fax

Next on my hit list: Market Value Place

Posted by jmiller at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Recently I lamented the lack of hands-on science education in Chico, specifically the underutilization of three greenways that lie within walking distance of all three of Chico's junior high schools. An except from this post was featured in the ER's Blog Log.

Then I got a call to substitute in a 5th grade class at the Blue Oak Charter School.

The afternoon lesson plan included 45 minutes of math, and a walk to Bidwell Park. And get this--the students go there once a week.

But it gets better. They don't bring clipboards, pencils, magnifying glasses, or field guides. The directions to the students while there: "Explore and play." Which is just what they did--they climbed on logs, hung from grape vines, and stood beneath a confetti of yellow leaves. And then we walked back.

The principal, who joined us for the walk, remarked that this style of science education has not had an adverse effect on the state's standardized science tests.

Kids outside in a natural setting=science is being learned. Hmmm, now there's a concept.

On a slightly different note, the school takes pride in having a culture of sustainability. For example, each student is given their own set of colored pencils when they enroll. A good set--not the type you pick up in the school supply section of Rite Aid (brittle Crayolas and Faber Castells). These are thicker and more durable--made of solid wood, with hardy leads and are stored in a smart leather or cloth pouch.

Why the extra expense? Quality counts. Combined with early lessons on responsibility, a set can last a student for years.

And this saves the school money. Remember those communal classroom crayon bins filled with cracked, unidentifiable or unappreciated colors and a confetti of waxy paper peelings at the bottom? You know, the ones that were just as likely to end up on the floor of the classroom as they were back in the container (the green and yellow cardboard boxes got trashed soon after purchase), and thus had to be replenished every year? Or those felt tip-pens that all seemed to dry out by Christmas? You won't find either of these things on the Blue Oak budget.

And after being in the fifth grade classroom for a day and a half, no one seems to miss them.

Posted by jmiller at 06:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was the conference's busiest day, and my best day overall, in terms of sessions attended and inspiring conversations.

What We Need to Sustain: I attended a morning session lead by Shirley Innecken, a wetlands biologist and amateur photographer. She presented a powerpoint slide show of images highlighting the natural world of Butte County with a focus on our blue oak, valley oak, and vernal pool ecosystems. I was reminded yet again of the numerous pieces of the sustainability puzzle--and that knowing and understanding the intricacies of our local wildlands is just as integral to holistic living as bringing your own mug to a coffee shop.

More Puzzle Pieces: The other workshop I attended had presenters from 5 of Chico's local non-profits giving overviews of their organizations, including the Sierra Club Yahi Group, Chico Avenues Neighborhood Association, Friends of Bidwell Park, and the Sierra Forest Legacy Group. The more I reflect on the overlap of these groups' missions, as well as the missions of so many other positive entities in Chico (which are too numerous to name here), the more I wonder if a greater element of collaboration and coordination might be in order. There are many folks who are members of multiple groups only to realize that the these entities have overlapping, and in some cases redundant missions/activities. I am aware that each group may feel that it has its particular niche, but still. . .

Maps: From Thursday though Saturday, Chuck Nelson of the CSU Chico GIS Lab had generously posted in the BMU auditorium two huge, computer generated images of the state of California. The more coloful of the two was an Agricultural Map, with every major crop categorized and color-coded on the map, such that the viewer could easily identify where grapes are produced (purple), citrus (orange), and nuts (tan) are produced, to name a few. The Central Valley was a rainbow of color. It was fascinating and telling--the source of much of our food, and a good part of the nation's food as well, depicted on a single sheet of paper. The other map was less colorful, but no less informative, with extra emphasis given to shaded relief to show the locations of hills and mountain ranges, and a bold blue network of lakes and rivers. The detail was such that I was able to pick out the routes of individual hikes I had done in remote Sierra wildernesses. Side by side, two maps linked the natural world with the human, as all of the Sierra's streams and rivers fed into the fertile valley. Both maps served to inspire amazement and conversation, especially considering that 37 million people also live within our state's boundaries.

Posted by jmiller at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a mixed day for me the conference, the result of a combination of not enough sleep and, well, not enough sleep. But that didn't keep others from giving rave reviews of the sessions that they attend. Here are a couple of highlights for me.

Butte College: Kelly Munson and her colleagues gave an overview of some of the sustainability efforts of CSU Chico's younger cousin to the south. I was especially impressed with the explosion of sustainability courses that we will be seeing there over the next two years. Classes will be coming from a variety of departments, leading to an AA degree in Sustainability. Appropriate, I believe, for a campus that also doubles as a nature preserve.

The Cause: Just over a year old, the students from The Cause were recognized and presented with a $6000 grant, honoring both their commitment to selflessness and modeling of sustainable living. They held their own on the same stage that also acknowledged the Butte Environmental Council, Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewery, Lundberg Family Farms, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jeff Price. Debashis (sp.) ripped out the best lines of the evening, as he thanked the 500+ folks assembled in the BMU auditorium (I paraphrase here): "We are college students, and we do't have much money, so this is how we do things [referring to how being sustainable often goes hand-in-hand with being thrifty]. But just because you have money doens't mean you can't do these things too."

Posted by jmiller at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CSU Chico's third annual celebration of sustainability started today. I jotted down notes, but they are still disorganized. But here are some of my initial reflections:

Sierra Cascade Blueberry Farm: To pollinate the blueberries, don't kill the gophers. Problem with beetles? Change the irrigation system. Rabbits chewing your plants to the ground? That's okay, those plants were a weaker variety, and probably shouldn't have been planted anyway. Oh, and by the way, this is how you run a successful organic blueberry operation for 20 years. John Carlon (who is also the president of River Partners) demonstrated that the next generation of farmers will need to be ecologists, working with the land to find solutions, rather than working against it. And the gophers? Their numerous holes are the perfect habitat for bumblebees, which are the key pollinators for his crop. This benefit offsets the damages incurred by the gophers' appetite.

Massa Organic Rice Farm: We are blessed in Chico to have not one, but two organic rice farmers in this area. Greg Massa is the little guy (Lundberg is the big guy). While Lundberg can stock Whole Foods, I let Greg stock my kitchen. I buy directly from him at the Farmers' Market--as far as he knows, he is the only organic rice producer in the U.S. who sells in this manner--and his rice is really good. I was raised on basic white Safeway rice, and never even knew that rice had a taste before I sampled rice grown at his farm. The San Francisco Examiner goes as far as to call his rice "sexy." But most important, his rice is our rice--the home team's rice--it is yummy, healthy and sustainably grown just 20 minutes from town. That picture on the the bag of rice is his house (I've seen it). I've seen the oak tree too. And the egret. And his house, his kids, and his family live yards from his crops. That tells you something about the health of his land.

Keynote Speaker--Ann Cooper: Chef Anne Cooper has transformed the school lunch program at all 16 of Berkeley's public schools. In her presentation she shared the scary facts about school lunches in this country, and then described Berkeley's program, which integrates School Gardening, nutrition education, and the school lunch program featuring fresh, locally grown, organic food. I imagined myself standing up and playing the devil's advocate, by stating: "Excuse me, you live in Berkeley, perhaps one of the most liberal cities in the U.S., where one out of every three new cars purchased is a Prius. How can Chico's budget-challenged schools ever imagine getting to where you are?" Of course, I want it all, yesterday--school gardens, Pyramid Farm organic broccoli and Massa rice stir-fry in the lunch menu, everything. Local nutritionist Gina Sims had to remind my that positive change must come with small steps, but just because those steps are small doesn't diminish the fact that they are improvements. But I counter--will we make enough small steps over the next few years to keep 1 of every 3 U.S. kids born after the year 2000 from getting diabetes, as predicted by the CDC?

Keynote Speaker--David Orr: He did not mince words--he is the camp that says in order to deal with the issue of Climate Change, we need to take action, now. I liked him. Despite getting into Oakland at 12:30 p.m. and arriving in time to speak at 4, he came across as well-spoken and as passionate as his writings (I have a college text that he wrote). I have heard quite a few speakers talk about climate change now, either directly or indirectly--Orr, Paul Hawken, Tom Wessels, Al Gore (or rather, his film) and David Suzuki among them. I have found you need to find a careful balance of telling people the bad news about climate change, but then also empowering folks, regardless of who they are, of what they can do about it. The report of U.N. intergovernmental panel will be able to give information that is useful to heads of state, but what part of that report is useful to me? With this in mind, I have found the best climate change presenter to be CSU Chico's own Jim Pushnik, who gave a talk at CARD last year.

Off to bed. More tomorrow.

Posted by jmiller at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago I made a pitch for folks to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which inspires the reader to give more thought to food we eat.

A compliment to this work is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I just finished. This is a book for people, such as myself, who wish to understand the details of how food gets from the farm to our dinner plate.

Considering we are talking about items that we place into our body, I think this is a reasonable bit of information to know.

What I learned is not for the weak-of-stomach. For those that don't know what it takes to produce a Chicken McNugget, let me tell you, ignorance is bliss.

This same ignorance, however, is at the root of most of our country's health problems (which the general public ends up paying for in higher insurance premiums)

Pollan takes the reader on a guided journey to determine the origins of meals procured from four sources: McDonald's, Whole Foods, a "beyond organic" farm, and wild-harvested. He doesn't pull punches, however, and his chapters describing the history of Cascadia Farms and the "sustainably-farmed 'Rocky, the Range Chicken'" (available for purchase at S & S) and are just as eye-opening as what he reveals about genetically-modified corn and CAFO's (concentrated animal feeding operations), if not more so.

While Kingsolver's book inspires the reader to be more aware of the food we eat, Pollan has convinced me that the closer I can get to the source of my food, and the more distance that I can put between my stomach and America's supermarket culture, the better off I will be.

After reading these two books, not only do I feel justified in not allowing myself to be wooed by the discount prices of FoodMax and Winco, but I now feel convinced that supporting local, sustainable food producers such as those at the Farmers' Market is one of the best things that I can do for myself and my community.

Posted by jmiller at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)