What this freakish weather means

It's February 6, 2011 and the fruit tree buds are breaking. A warm, mediterranean wind is blowing over the hills in the Bay Area and plants, animals and humans alike rejoice at the coming of an early spring. Almond, cherry, plum, apricot - all confused and coming out to show their pretty little petals. In all the farm fields of California, nature has been jump started by a good month into thinking it's really April and farmers are scurrying to get ahead of yet another hectic season of coaxing food from the soil. If a late freeze comes, which it probably will, the buds will freeze and no fruit will come. Some may choose to plant annual vegetables with less of a gestation period after the weather becomes more stable. Some will write it off as a bad year. Regardless, farming is at the whims of nature. As young farmer Zoe Bradbury (she's so quotable!) wrote in one of her posts in Diary to a Young Farmer, "When I signed up to be a farmer, I knew the small print: and ye shall accept without question, whining or self-pity the vagaries of the weather, over which you shall have no control whatsoever. Sigh. All I can do is keep an eye to the sky and try to work with it, around it, in it."

During this West Coast heat wave, New York, Chicago and other states to the East are slammed with snow storms so intense that many cities, such as Madison, Wisconsin, declare snow days. It's an ever-increasing trend that leads to celebration only when there's heat involved. But heat aside, it has become normal to have abnormal, more extreme weather. Despite some of the most brutal winters on record in some parts of the Midwest, heat is also being experienced and some growing zones have increased two notches in the last few years. Since the weather is related to climate change, all of us need to do our best to reduce our energy consumption. Here are some small steps towards tightening your global warming belt:

1) Unplug unused appliances, they are using electricity and electricity = coal/natural gas/etc., contributors to global warming.

2) Try biking to places within two miles from your home (where most car trips are used). Cars are huge contributors to global warming and declining air quality


3) Eat less meat. Especially red meat. Cattle are large contributors to global warming through the production of methane gas and are a major reason for deforestation in South America (the lungs of the world!). Vegetarianism is the best diet you can have for the planet, but if you can't eat veggies every day, choose organic white meats as much as possible and stay away from industrial meat.

4) Think about your water usage. Turning on water means using electricity as well as this precious natural resource that is on the decline.

5) Talk to your friends and family about what they can do. You may want to use Anna Lappe's Take a Bite website.

Women, Food and Ag Network: Women, Fixin' Food

What Farmer Jane continues to point out is that women have largely been behind (and in front of), the sustainable food and farming movement all along - something that the Women, Food and Agriculture Network has known since the organization's inception in the late '90s. Co-founded by a farmer in Iowa, Denise O'Brien, the network continues to thrive today with all the purpose in the world of connecting the growing movement of women that are coming forward to call themselves farmers. That's right. Even though women have been farming since the advent of modern day agriculture when people transitioned from hunting and gathering to staying in one place and cultivating the land, they haven't always considered themselves farmers. Nor has the USDA considered them as such. That's why women farmers are filing a class action suit against the USDA as we speak - because women were not given the same access to grants as men. Similar to the African Americans recently won battle, other classes of people are stepping forward to call out the injustice. The tricky part is that women farmers are having a challenging time getting "class" status to file.

Because women farmers have not been given the same access to information, resources, or networks as men have in the past, the Women Food and Agriculture Network is providing the great service of giving women a voice. And on January 29, the Network will convene for their annual gathering. In honor of this, I'm posting the contribution that Executive Director, Leigh Adcock, wrote for "Farmer Jane." This piece not only explains the significance of the Network, but also articulates in more detail why a Network for women and the movement of women in food and agriculture is as relevant as ever.

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D-Town Here I Come

If you've been following the enthusiasm for urban farming then you've read about what's going on in Detroit. With an estimated 110,000 vacant lots, 1/3 of the city's 138 square miles, and no grocery stores in the downtown area, Detroit organizations are working to solve their own food insecurity issues. Here are a few of the organizations working to make healthy food a reality that piggy tails on Grist's excellent coverage of the city gone rural.

“From Motown to Grotown”
No other city has contributed so much to American culture in the first half of the twentieth century as Detroit, and no other city has collapsed so entirely in the second half. Detroit embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the United States as the birthing place of the automobile industry, and was home to scientific and cultural leaders such as Thomas Edison. Musicians have always thrived in the city as well. Perhaps it was the cold winters or the mundane work at the auto plants that busted out so many talented musicians. At the height of the “Big Three” – Ford, Chrysler and General Motors – it is said that at the end of the day, people poured out into the streets or to the numerous music venues of the city to dance. In the late ‘50s Motown Records was started by auto-industry worker, Berry Gordy, who produced some of the biggest names in R&B and Soul/Funk such as The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and others. Pop, rap, techno and rock musicians have continued to come out of Michigan and the Detroit music scene and have included such influencing names as Madonna, Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, George Clinton, Kid Rock and Eminem.

“Right-Sizing” of Detroit
Alongside the musical and cultural revolutions that happened in Detroit in the ‘50s, the exodus of the city had also begun; a trend that only accelerated in the past five years since the bankruptcy of the automobile industry. The last Census Bureau analysis showed that Detroit’s population decreased from its peak at just below 2 million in the ‘50s, to 900,000 residents. City officials estimate that by the time the next census is completed that the number will have dropped to 800,000 as people who can leave, do. That’s why the present Mayor, Mayor Bing, is proposing to “right-size” the city.

Detroit is sprawled out over 138 square miles (88,320 acres), with an estimated 40 square miles (25,600 acres), 29 percent or roughly 1/3, that has been abandoned. This represents a huge challenge to the city as basic service to various neighborhoods becomes costly in such low population densities. In August 2010, Mayor Bing announced the creation of “The Detroit Strategic Framework Plan” that will work to centralize, or “right-size”, the city, the people, and the resources over the next ten years.

And tomorrow, I have the great fortune to travel to Detroit and to meet with some of the people making it happen, growing food old school style, to the funk of a different band.

The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) "is a coalition of organizations and individuals working together to build food security in Detroit’s Black community by: 1) influencing public policy; 2) promoting urban agriculture; 3) encouraging co-operative buying; 4) promoting healthy eating habits; 5) facilitating mutual support and collective action among members; and 6) encouraging young people to pursue careers in agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping and other food related fields.

Since our inception, we have focused our energies in three main areas: urban agriculture, policy development and co-operative buying. A brief history of our efforts in each of these areas follows."

Earthworks Urban Farm
"Earthworks is a program of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, a human service organization of caring people inspired by the spirit of St. Francis and sponsored by the Capuchins of the Province of St. Joseph and concerned benefactors. Earthworks seeks to promote sustainable agricultural practices, nutrition and care for the Earth. We strive for peace, respect and harmony between Neighbor and Nature."

The Greening of Detroit
"Each year The Garden Resource Program supports over 200 community, family and school gardens, all producing food for Detroit neighborhoods. Marketing opportunities are available for these community gardeners under the Grown in Detroit® brand at a GRP sponsored booth at Detroit's Eastern Market and mini-Farmer's Market's throughout the city. These gardens are currently producing around 100 tons of food each year, and the program is growing on an average of 20% annually."

The Eastern Market
"The mission of the Eastern Market Corporation is to mobilize leadership and resources to achieve stakeholders vision for the Eastern Market District and make the Eastern Market the undisputed center for fresh and nutritious food in southeast Michigan."

With Gratitude

Okay, okay. So I missed the biggest day of the year to give thanks. But really, 2010 has been one heck-of-a year for all things sustainable and food-like. Keep your eyes peeled for a "Best in Food, 2010" list that I'm working on (unless Grist beats me to it!), and know that in addition to all of the farmers, eaters, food businesses and media mavens out there that are making this local food system explode, I am profoundly full of gratitude to the grandest mother of them all, Mother Earth.

Also, if you feel like sharing some of your gratitude, please post! For example, I'm also thankful for the expert mushroom hunters that I was able to hike alongside last weekend that scored the oyster, chanterelle and porcini mushrooms that were so delicious. For the wine makers (Wild Hog Vineyard) that made the best damned 2004 Zin that I shared at another meal with freshly plucked mussels from the beach. Ah... 2011 is sure to full of more good food, food initiatives to concern ourselves with and more ways in which we will learn to reshape our communities into places of abundance and opportunity.

Cheers!

Fresno - The Belly of the Beast

Fresno, California: The number one producing agricultural county in the entire U.S. also happens to suffer from some of the highest percentages of obesity and type II diabetes. One out of every three children and 70% of adults in the valley are obese despite the fact that fruits and nuts, vegetables and livestock are the top three products (respectively), that the county grows. The place, the people, the history of food production and the current situation is as much a demonstration of how awry the American food system has become, as much as it has the greatest potential for change. (It ain't the fruit that's causing the weight gain. It's primarily corn syrup and processed foods.) If Fresno can meet more of it's food needs locally instead of exporting all of its' products, if residents can grow more fresh foods and start reversing the detriments of industrial food on human health and land, then other parts of the country stand a chance too. No pressure Fresno. We're all rooting for you!

Thanks to all the great organizations here in Fresno that have invited me to come down, Fresno Metro Ministry and the Fresno Community Garden Coalition. USDA and CCROPP are also sponsors of the first ever, contemporary community gardening conference in Fresno. 'Contemporary' because I reckon that people used to meet all the time to talk about food when gardening was second nature.

World Savvy Gala - Thursday, October 13, 2010

I'm really excited about this event coming up this Thursday night in San Francisco. It's the annual fundraiser for World Savvy, a brilliant and effective nonprofit organization that has the following mission:

"World Savvy prepares the next generation of leaders to learn, work and live as responsible global citizens in the 21st century. We support systemic change in K-12 education to provide every student in every classroom with the content knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to be leaders and changemakers in their diverse communities, locally and globally.

World Savvy was founded in San Francisco by Dana Mortenson and Madiha Murshed in response to a critical need for youth to acquire global knowledge and 21st century skills within the conspicuous absence of global education programs in K-12 education in the United States. Since that time, we have grown from serving 90 students and 20 teachers in our first year, to reaching more than 6,000 youth and 1,100 teachers annually from three offices nationally: San Francisco, Minneapolis-St.Paul and New York."

Check out their website as they're doing a beautiful job educating kids about international issues and the environment. This year, they are particularly focusing on sustainable food solutions.

The Women's Land Army

Women have always been involved in agricultural production and food processing, but during World War I women were especially leaned upon to produce food in the absence of men that had gone oversees. Women were solicited to apply to farm and grow the country food - it wasn't just Rosie the Riveter out there. Women were filling all sorts of positions, even before we had the right to vote. Imagine that.

How I wish I could have witnessed those days, when women were put into the workforce, taught various jobs and skills and asked if they would grow food for our country. Well, I just learned that there's an entire book about it, written by Elaine Weiss called "Fruits of Victory," that is turning into a full-blown, three-day event in Chicago this October 5 - 7. No doubt that this blog was written after receiving an email about event and the "The Women's Land Army" from one of the organizers. She writes of the event and author Elaine Weiss:

Weiss’ three day swing through Greater Chicagoland is designed not only to educate advocates of sustainable agriculture about landmark contributions by Progressive era women to insure food security in WWI, but also to hear about the future of American food production as laid out in the "Go to 2040 Plan" of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency (CMAP) and to learn what could be incorporated into the 2012 Federal Farm Bill if women demand changes in the way American food is produced.

If I were in the Midwest, I know where I would be October 5 - 7. Check it out! The website is great as is the info about the author. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.