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a clean and well-written arcticle nonetheless. Four days of DNC coverage and that's all we get?..."
Posted by sylvarwolf in DNC: Talk With Strangers
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Growing The Urban Vineyard
I've been reading a lot about urban farming and sustainable food systems lately. All over the country, local folks are finding ways to tie together goals of community-building, education, economic development, health, and self-reliance through models of sustainable agriculture. So I was really intrigued when I heard that some people are taking those models to another realm, with urban viticulture and enology -- that is, vine growing and wine making.
The concept of growing a vineyard in the middle of a city is particularly interesting because viticulture is a very precise science. Grapes are sensitive and temperamental creatures. Growing them for wine requires just the right conditions. Variations in climate, soil contents, pesticides, etc. can make all the difference in the world.
I found two bloggers who have started urban vineyards. Manhattan resident Nathaniel Martin calls himself the "Self Sufficient Urbanite." Here's the reason he gives for starting his project:
Being self sufficient and treading lightly on this planet means consuming only what you need and understanding the sources of those goods and the methods that created them. I've been an avid beer brewer and wine maker for years which has brought me a lot closer to understanding how good alcohol is made from raw ingredients. The transformation from barley and grapes into alcohol is a magical alchemic process. Sugar is converted into alcohol by yeast. The sugar comes from either fruits that have sugar naturally or grains that have starches that are converted to sugar through heat and enzymes. Growing these ingredients is another matter... I've never made (or more appropriately grown) those raw ingredients myself, so I was still missing out on part of the experience of how beer and wine is made into a finished product.
Martin says he started growing grape vines last year -- two Cabernet Sauvignon vines and one Shiraz. Both come from a local farm in Upstate New York. You can check out his photos documenting the beginnings of this project.
Another urban dweller, blogger Chris Pearson, is growing vines in Washington, D.C. For anyone interested in urban vineyards, Pearson's blog "The Urban Vineyard" has so far done an excellent job of documenting the step-by-step process of vine growing, with tips along the way. His photos are also a good resource.
Whether urban vineyards will follow the footsteps of urban farms remains to be seen. This could very well be a next step for local food advocates looking for ways to bring communities together.
Clean Up Chevron
Editor's note: This post originally appeared at Aid & Abet
(photo by Jeff Paterson)
Yesterday I attended a protest outside Chevron's World Headquaters in San Ramon, California during their annual shareholders meeting. I'm learning a lot about how corporations work, and this meeting (also called an AGM — Annual General Meeting) is the opportunity for shareholders to receive reports on the company's progress and for the shareholders to put forth resolutions about how they want the company to act. Shareholders can allow someone else to go in their place by issuing a "proxy." Anyway, some activists from the Bay Area, Ecuador, Burma, and Nigeria went into yesterday's meeting (using proxies) to try and get their voices heard.
The above photo is from when the delegation came out of the meeting and gave a report to supporters and media about what happened inside. The supporters had great visuals, wearing white hazmat suits and holding signs in the shape of brooms that said "Clean Up Chevron." A broad coalition of groups were involved in this, and you can get an official report through Amazon Watch.
Although I've been involved in protesting Chevron for a while (see past posts here and here) because of their link to the Iraq War, I didn't really know a lot about Chevron's activities around the world. Yesterday I learned some more details about two areas, Nigeria and Ecuador.
1. Nigeria. Here is the story as related to me by Antonia Juhasz, author of the upcoming book The Tyranny of Oil. Ten years ago, a group of protesters occupied an oil platform owned by Chevron. They were peaceful and their demands included that Chevron officials talk with local leaders. Not an unreasonable demand. Even though the group had already negotiated that they were going to leave the platform after their peaceful demonstration, Chevron used its helicopters to fly in Nigerian military who shot the protesters. Two were killed.
Later, the Nigerian military, again with Chevron's aid, sought retribution by decimating the villages of some of the protesters. Can it be any more clear that corporations will kill for oil? Not like, kill people over time with pollution like they are in Richmond, California, but outright kill people.
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Not Everyone's On Board With Urban Farming
People across the country are getting involved with the urban farming trend. Young people, old people, socially conscious people, gardening lovers, and people who just like to eat. In light of my piece this week, I thought this account of new urban agriculture endeavors in Seattle was pretty interesting.
What stood out to me was the backlash some new projects are getting from the city's transportation department.
Seattle residents interested in the local food movement are getting creative in finding green spaces in areas of unused, urban land. In these overlooked "nooks and crannies," reports SeattlePI, residents are starting to grow their own fresh produce. For example, they're transforming planting strips adjacent to city streets into sources for cheap and healthy food.
But Seattle's Dept. of Transportation say that these impromptu gardens are potential traffic hazards. It also says they could cause health risks. From the article:
[T]he Seattle Transportation Department, which technically requires homeowners to get a street-beautification permit before planting anything there, discourages people from growing food. Among the potential problems: crops tainted with automobile and stormwater pollution; bushy plants spilling into the street; creating a haven for rodents and pooping dogs; and potential complaints ranging from vegetable theft to unsightly dead cornstalks.
However, transportation officials also say that there is no law that specifically prohibits small-scale farming on planting strips.
Furthermore, the Dept. of Transportation hasn't actually done any studies or surveys to find out if their claims about health risks are valid.
Meawhile, many residents seek an alternative to shopping at grocery stores where prices continue to rise. Plus, in inner-city areas, it's difficult to find healthy food even at existing grocers. Residents believe they should be able to grow their own food instead of having to drive long distances to get access to fresh produce (with gas prices being what they are).
What city officials may not realize is that transforming unused bits of land into small-scale farms is the first step to creating a sustainable food system that will not only boost health (rather than presenting a risk to it), but will also boost local economy and the community.
Corn-fused
For the past few weeks news sources have talked about the dangerous influence alternative fuels have on our cost of food.
"The recent rise in corn prices -- almost 70 percent in the past six months --caused by the increased demand for ethanol biofuel has come much sooner than many agriculture economists had expected. . . And that increase, says Marshall Martin, an agriculture economist at Purdue University, "is the main driver behind the price increase for corn."
No disrespect to Marshall Martin, but the price of corn isn't quite a simple as blaming it all on biofuels.
I spoke with Jim Martin (no relation to Marshall) who is on the Federal Technical Advisory Committee for Biomass Research and Development, and he confirmed that blaming it all on ethanol neglects a number of other factors that don't always fit into a 30 second analysis.
According to Jim Martin, in 2007 the USDA reported that the US produced over 13 billion bushels of corn, the biggest corn crop ever.
"That was 2.5 billion bushels more than in 2006. In the same year, 2007, demand for corn to make ethanol went up by a billion bushels, increasing supply over and above ethanol demand, by about a billion and a half more bushels in the US than the year before. Normally that would create a surplus and prices would have fallen. They did fall for a while in late 2007, but have bounced right back up...
"Ethanol was not the only thing driving up demand. Corn exports soared in 2007 and remain very strong. Demand for corn for feeding animals is also increasing, creating more meat and dairy to feed people. Even production of high fructose corn syrup increased, the biggest direct food use of corn increased.
"What is happening to all that extra food? Americans are eating more of it, but it is also being exported at record rates. Growing economies like China and India are buying US-produced grain, meat and dairy products at record rates. That demand is pushing up prices in the US. But the funny thing is prices in many other parts of the world are not increasing as rapidly."(emphasis mine).
At the same time fuel prices are driving up costs because transportation of products is over $4 a gallon for truck diesel. Last year, for example, the cost of coffee, milk, and whipped cream all went up so much that major coffee shop chain Starbucks wasforced to raise its prices. And we don't even use coffee or whipped cream to fuel our cars.
This is causing trouble beyond coffee and popcorn, as Oklahoma Horizon reports, it influences things like pizza as well.
Jim Martin attributes these price spikes in large part to a weak dollar:
"As the value of the dollar falls against other currencies, US produced goods become cheaper and prices of imported goods increase. World prices for commodities increase in dollars but may not rise or at most increase less in stronger currencies. That is just what has happened in other agricultural commodities.
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In Burma, Politics Could Get In The Way Of Saving Lives
Relief organizations and the U.N. are becoming more and more frustrated with the Burma junta’s unwillingness to accept foreign aid for cyclone victims. Cyclone Nargis has killed nearly 30,000 people in Burma, according to Myanmar TV, although some are putting the death toll as high as 100,000. Around 1.5 million people have been displaced from their homes.
The Burmese military government began accepting some aid from the U.N. last week, but aid workers have struggled to gain access. The process has been slow, relief workers have experienced trouble getting visas and delivery of aid by the junta has been characterized by an “unacceptably slow response to this grave humanitarian crisis,” according to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The U.N. has tried to increase pressure on Burma this week to avoid making the crisis exponentially worse. Many cyclone victims currently require medical attention that they’re unable to receive. Another serious concern is that there could be an outbreak of infections diseases. Both of these factors could result in an even higher death toll.
Today, the U.N. and other agencies expressed additional concerns about the children affected by Nargis. Up to 40 percent of those killed in Nargis were children, they said, and many of the survivors are also children. Children who are now staying in crowded, makeshift shelters could be at an increased risk of human trafficking and sexual abuse, the agencies said. Children separated from their families are forced to live alongside adults “often in dark or unlit areas with little supervision” reports the AP.
“We are really concerned about the risk of exploitation and sexual abuse,” said UNICEF’s chief of child protection in Myanmar, Anne-Claire Dufay. She said that this is a common concern in post-emergency situations.
The lack of security in many areas of the country, among all populations, is another cause for concern with Burma’s reluctance to accept aid. Since U.N. orders don’t seem to be getting the country’s attention, many are trying to get another government to step in.
Human rights advocates have called upon China to use its significant influence in Burma to pressure the junta to immediately accept U.N. relief. Human Rights Watch says that China must do “the right thing” and pressure Burma to lift restrictions on foreign aid efforts. "The world is watching to see if China does the right thing for Burma's cyclone victims," said Brad Adams, the HRW Asia director.
Sein Win, an exiled leader of Burma’s opposition party, has made similar pleas. “The world is not telling China to do what they should do…to save people,” he said. “[T]he question is whether they are going to use [their leverage] or not.”
But China is busy worrying about political strategy. The country does not want to alienate Burma’s government, and it does not want the world to see it siding with Western aid interests. China itself doesn’t like Western agencies to independently operate within its borders, even in national disasters.
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Local Food Gets Globalized
A new documentary, simply titled Asparagus!, gives us big reasons to care about this one little green stalk. The film focuses a magnifying glass on Oceana County, Michigan, the asparagus capital of the world. Over the course of 53 minutes, we meet many of the residents, family farmers, and farm workers for whom asparagus defines life.
The film brings to life our country’s local asparagus industry, while pulling in issues from the local food movement to free trade to the U.S. war on drugs to the struggle of family farmers in an increasing globalized world. As many documentaries do, Asparagus! sets up a David/Goliath conflict: Oceana County’s asparagus community finds itself under serious threat from foreboding forces of the U.S. government’s war on drugs.
In the early 1990s, the government started using U.S. tax dollars to pay Peruvian farmers to grow asparagus instead of coca. Since then, hundreds of American farms have gone out of business. Not only is imported asparagus cheaper, but it’s available year-round – because Peru’s agricultural conditions allow for year-round growth.
For Oceana County, the impact has been particularly damaging. Many family farms have been forced to shut down. The ones still holding on for dear life struggle to compete with cheap imported asparagus.
Unsurprisingly, the so-called war on drugs initiative has done nothing to curb cocaine production or distribution. As one farmer in the film says, it’s not like coca farmers stopped their growing and switched over to asparagus. And why would they, when the cocaine industry is such a lucrative one, mainly due to high demand from the U.S.?
The film also takes on free trade, depicting small farmers whose lives and livelihoods are being greatly impacted by U.S. foreign trade policy.
But the real appeal of the film is that it’s got heart. As we get to know Oceana’s residents and farmers, hear their stories, and learn about their idiosyncratic love for asparagus, it’s hard not to fall in love with the town. Which also makes it hard not to get onboard with their cause.
Asparagus!, the award-winning “stalk-umentary,” is part of the Media That Matters film festival, and was released in its full length on DVD last week. Watch the trailer here.
Rethinking Drivers' Ed
In the United States, getting your drivers' license a rite of passage for many teens, marking your first taste of independence. We're a car-obsessed culture, and the fact that many teens spend hours and hours in drivers' education courses preparing to get behind the wheel reflects that. But what if instead of learning to drive a car, American students learned how to use the full-scope of transportation options? If mobility education advocate David Levinger has his way, that's exactly what teens would be learning rather than placing all the emphasis on automobiles.
"The drivers license has become the American coming of age ritual," says Levinger, a Seattle native and the director of the Mobility Education Foundation. "This is very important transition point. You're increasing the demand for and reliance upon driving at the same time you're teaching kids to drive."
Levinger founded the Mobility Education Foundation in May 2007 to promote the idea that high school students should be taught how to get around safely and efficiently using a variety of transportation options. Under the model he has proposed, students would learn about walking, biking, and using public transportation in these courses as well, and the financial and health benefits of alternative modes of transport.
"By being able to use the full transportation system, you can save a lot of money, and also extend your ability to travel and really increase your mobility," says Levinger.
Americans spend an average $8,000 a year to own and operate a car, a huge financial burden that many young people aren't prepared to take on. Reliance upon the automobile also sets young people up for a lifetime behind the wheel, an unhealthy habit. The average adult spends an hour and a half in the car each day , and according a study conducted by the University of British Columbia, every 30 minutes spent in a car per day is linked with a 3 percent increase in the risk of obesity. Biking or walking also makes you healthier, which means you'll spend less money on medical costs.
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King Coal: The Joke's on You
(photo: Clemson University students take action at their campus' coal plant in South Carolina)
We all know the facts, but it's worth a refresher: the world is on a crash course with climate chaos because of our addiction to cheap fossil fuels. The USA is home to the worst addicts — we represent only 4 percent of the world's population, but emit over 25 percent of the world's carbon dioxide — and many of the worst dealers, corporations like ExxonMobile, Duke Energy, General Motors, and others have been trying to keep us hooked on their products by spending millions of dollars on lobbyists, misleading advertisements, and campaign contributions to crooked politicians (check out the video at the end of this post).
On April 1, thousands of students in the U.S. and worldwide will be sending a message to the biggest climate culprits: we won't be fooled again.
Fossil Fools Day will shine a spotlight on the real fools, the corporations and politicians who want to keep us hooked on dirty energy. This year's celebration is shaping up to be one of the most international campaigns the youth climate movement has ever run, with over 100 actions planned around the world. In Canada, youth activists are planning national actions to stop oil companies and government officials working to expand tar sands exploration. Down under, in Newcastle, Australia, climate activists will visit a local multinational department store and attempt to swap bucket-loads of coal for imported consumer products. Students have even translated the Fossil Fools Day site into a number of languages, including German, Spanish and Arabic.
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Goin' Green on St. Patrick's Day
There was an interesting piece in the Fashion section of the NYTimes this Sunday that is a little weird but it gets into some pretty fun stuff.
The piece follows a kid from Brooklyn who is hell bent on becoming an organic farmer. Trucker hats, Carhartts, and Pabst were the fashion but now some are putting the heart behind the fashion and finding the funk in farming.
"The Billyburg scene has changed, said Annaliese Griffin, who contributes to a blog called Grocery Guy. “Having a cool cheese in your fridge has taken the place of knowing what the cool band is, or even of playing in that band,” she said. “Our rock stars are ricotta makers.”
The same is true for Sarah Love, an Oklahoma University political science graduate and sometimes young Clay Pope a former DC staffer turn conservation lobbyist who have formed an organization that helps farmers become more environmentally friendly and companies to offset their carbon emissions.
Pope says he doesn't know about New York farmers but in Oklahoma the coolness of farming just brings the same stream of folks. "But stuff like that usually starts on the coasts and works its way inward."
Kidding aside, they hope to increase the interest and financial availability to small farmers and new farmers by providing financial incentives to those who run environmentally friendly operations.
"There are a lot of ways that farms hurt the environment over time," Love tells me. "With someone providing incentives to be more eco-friendly more people are happy to do the right thing for the environment."
Their plan is three fold.
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Biofuels: Not All Are Great
Golden Agri-Resources Ltd. is Indonesia’s largest palm oil plantation and the second largest in the world. CEO Franky Oesman Widjaja has announced a record year for the company, which would move net-profit to the billion-dollar range.
That’s terrible news for the large indigenous population affected by the environmental degradation brought by palm oil.
60 to 90 million indigenous people are left without land due to plantations’ clearing of forests. That information was released last month in “Losing Ground,” a report by environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth and indigenous rights groups Sawit Watch and Life Mosaic.
The report found 513 conflicts over land between local villages and the palm oil industry. In some cases, seizure of land by the palm oil companies have lead to killings and kidnappings.
Public health problems are also arising because palm oil companies use pesticides and fertilizers found to pollute drinking water in some villages.
The problems don’t stop with the environment. Local economy is disrupted not only by land use issues, but also because palm oil is interfering in a once self-sufficient community.
These human rights issues are only likely to get worse as demand for biofuels increases. Palm oil is also apparently the most consumed edible oil in the world.