Tube For Tuesday: Edible Schoolyards in Action (Part 1)

I thought we'd start a new feature: Tube For Tuesdays. Each Tuesday, we'll highlight a YouTube video that helps showcase some of the great sustainability work going on out there.

Our inaugural clip is all about the creation of an Edible Schoolyard program in New Orleans. It's a little long for my taste (over eight minutes), but the story is inspiring. Next week, we'll showcase Part 2. See my previous post (immediately below) for some background and link to the original Edible Schoolyard in California.

If any teachers are stopping by, I'd love to know what you think of this concept. I recently drove by the new Ranger school and noticed a big plot of land between that school and the High School. How cool would it be to create some sort of program that both ends of the educational spectrum could be a part of?

Protected Farmland + ? = Secure Local Food System

Let me get something off my chest: My suppressed desire is to be a farmer. I’m not sure where it came from, but it's why I talk about food and farming so much here at Sustainable Sakonnet. But as my wife likes to say, "I didn’t marry a farmer." So for now, I get by with a small garden and big dreams.

To me, there's nothing nobler, more respectable than rising each day and growing that which nurtures and sustains your neighbors. Getting your hands dirty, smelling like rich, fertile soil all the way to your bones; learning how to be a better farmer with each passing season.

I was reminded of this when I received the Tiverton Land Trust's fall newsletter. The cover story, “Will buildings be our last crop?” was all about the need for preserving farmland and averting development, especially in Tiverton. Content is taken from an apparent interview with Mr. Tom Sandham, District Manager of the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District. The most surprising stat: "Less than five percent of RI’s consumption of edible products is produced in RI." How amazing it would be if we could put in place a plan to grow that.

But saving farmland is only half of the solution. The other: Getting more people to embrace farming as a career and USE that saved farmland. I know that is much easier said then done. But people are doing it. Look at Andrew Orr in Westport.

There are two other ways that we could help chip away at the back half of that equation. While ideally they could work as a one-two punch, we could operate with one or the other (to begin with, of course).

The first is introducing some sort of agricultural education component into our schools. As the TLT highlights, we have that long history of farming here in town. So why not put in place a program that actually teaches that? A couple examples come to mind here:

• Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard project in Berkeley, CA, showcases the soup-to-nuts possibilities of getting kids growing their own food AND eating it.

• The Food Project lies right outside of Boston in Dorchester and is connecting kids with the land to drive social change.

• And if we ever had a formal agricultural educational component in our schools, we could start up a Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. By what I've seen and read, this development program is creating our farming leadership of tomorrow. There are already six local FFA chapters in RI. We should be the seventh.

The second way of fostering the development of future farmers is to create some sort of farm incubator program. These are basically training grounds, where new farmers can hone their skills, and develop and market their products in a more secure environment. Why not take one of these pieces of protected farmland and build that kind of foundational component? Again, some good examples:

• The Intervale Center in Burlington, VT, is a huge, multi-faceted program – and a great success story.

• The Farm School in Athol, MA, literally teaches kids and adults how to become farmers through intensive hands-on programs.

What I'd like to know is if anyone out there has been a part of or knows of people who have been a part of these types of ventures. Or, does anyone know if these conversations have happened at all in town? If so, I'd be interested in talking to you more.

Bottom line: We do have a rich agricultural heritage in Sakonnet. Saving the land is a great first step. But to truly be stewards of the land, we need to develop that skill and talent to work and cultivate it for future generations.

Help Set the Environmental Agenda at the State House

I received a surprise email today. State Representative John J. Loughlin II reached out to the readers of Sustainable Sakonnet to ask for ideas and input to help craft the upcoming legislative agenda. As he puts it, "I am always seeking new and innovative ideas that we can put in practice to sustain and protect our environment. Your input would be most welcome."

Personally, I think this is great and I appreciate the outreach. We may sit on opposite sides of the aisle with our party affiliations, but if someone asks you for your opinion, you best well give it to them.

Now is our collective opportunity. If you are at all inclined to share your voice, now is the time. I told Rep. Loughlin that I’d circle back with the results of this outreach.

Please, please, please post your thoughts and ideas. Nothing is too small or too big. Pass this on, talk to your neighbors and friends. Let’s connect and try to champion something for Sakonnet.

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11th Hour

So it looks like 11th Hour is the next rock-em, sock-em, wake-up-and-smell-your-unsustainably-farmed-coffee movie to try and move the populous to action when it comes to the environment. Sure to be as popular as An Inconvenient Truth, Leonardo DiCaprio's installment appears to be much more of an in-your-face kind of documentary.

I have not seen it -- the closest showing is up in Harvard Square (a lovely drive, don't get me wrong) -- but a tour of the supporting website, 11thhouraction.com does a good job selling the persona power behind the film. It's a who's-who of the modern environmental movement plus some other well-known faces thrown in for good measure.

Check out the trailer:



Now, I don't know what Leonardo does day-to-day to lessen his environmental footprint, but I do have to give a tip of the hat for trying to leverage his star power for something good. We all know that the more people who are informed and inspired to take action, the better our chances of turning this ship around.

Hopefully, a more local theater will pick this film up so that more of us in the Sakonnet area can check it out. If you've seen it, let us know how it was.

Until then, here's to turning back the clock.

Back Talk

OK, I need your help. Sakonnet needs your help. If you ever wanted to get that idea out there, your two cents that by-golly you just haven't had the soapbox to shout from, here's your opportunity.

Where is Sakonnet going when it comes to sustainability? How green is our community? Where should our elected leaders be focusing their efforts? How can you and I help transform our neighborhoods (and neighbors) into more conscious, more action-oriented places of sustainability? What is the most important environmental issue for you?

We need a community agenda. We need to rally our community behind it. We need to see our collective vision into reality.

If you are one of those people who so graciously stop by from time to time to check this blog out, do us all a favor and chime in. Say your peace. Throw something out there for our readers to react to.

You know what's on my mind. What's on yours?

Mindfulness

The need to act today for the benefit of tomorrow is not a hard concept to grasp. Still, the imperative continues to elude a great number of us.

Many, many people write about it; argue the potential consequences; implore us to act. Why isn’t the message hitting home? Perhaps the approach is missing the mark. Maybe we’re looking at the problem the wrong way.

I recently came upon this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, scholar, promoter of inter-faith dialogue, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, while at tricycle.com. I've read several of Thay's books and have a great respect for him.

With All Our Heart
By Thich Nhat Hanh, "Our Appointment with Life"

When we throw a banana peel into the garbage, if we are mindful, we know that the peel will become compost and be reborn as a tomato or a lettuce salad in just a few months. But when we throw a plastic bag into the garbage, thanks to our awareness, we know that a plastic bag will not become a tomato or a salad very quickly. Some kinds of garbage need four or five hundred years to decompose. Nuclear waste needs a quarter of a million years before it stops being harmful and returns to the soil. Living in the present moment in an awakened way, looking after the present moment with all our heart, we will not do things which destroy the future. That is the most concrete way to do what is constructive for the future. 


Being truly mindful of the present moment. Clarity. Deep understanding. How many of us are there? How many of us are truly awake?

Book Review: "Deep Economy"

I’m back from a week traveling through the vast and varied landscapes of Utah. Simply put: It is amazing, at times humbling, and all in all, a visit that everyone should put on their list of places to see.

The trip was an apropos setting for reading through Bill McKibben’s latest effort, "Deep Economy". Admittedly, while I’ve heard much of McKibben and his efforts, I had not read much beyond the occasional article or editorial. His style is simple, straight-forward, with an engaging prose that doesn’t overload you with facts and figures.

The premise is simple: Society – and in particular the U.S. – has lost it’s sense of community in its quest for what he terms "More" instead of the "Better" (caps intended). The economics of a global society, in which individualistic gain supercedes all else, has eroded that which made the communities of generations before us great (and sustainable). Gone is the inter-connectedness, the ability to be self-sufficient and self-reliant; gone is the importance of getting to know your neighbors instead of pursuing the rat race of keeping up with the Jones; gone is the communal thread that wove the fabric of local nature. The result: A society where most people are less happy and satisfied than even just the generation before them; communities that continue to drift apart with each successive housing or retail development; an environment that just can no longer support this ever-increasing consumption of natural resources in the pursuit of More.

Throughout the book, McKibben uses startling facts the drive home the message. Data from a variety of sources – economic, social sciences, government -- when coupled with real-life examples of both good community in action and the results of bad community breakdown, makes for a compelling story.

The solution? A radical shift in society that will restructure our approach to day-to-day life, not only at the personal level but at the community level as well. McKibben focuses on three critical areas in which this shift needs to occur: food production and consumption, energy, and cultural norms. Admittedly, this shift will take time, even generations, but at our present course, we don’t have many options.

The example I love the most is that of the community radio station. Low watts, limited reach, but oh so organic... It's like community glue in the form of radio waves.

Bottom line: This is a thought-provoking read. One that I recommend to anyone who has the slightest inclination of better understanding the ultimate need to re-invest in our local communities, re-connect our neighbors, and start re-focusing in on those things that truly matter in our world – a world that is quickly succumbing to the self-destructive mantra of more, more, more. If you think Wal-Mart is the best thing since sliced bread, you need to read this even more.

(Note: Tiverton’s library doesn’t carry this book, but you can order it through the online Ocean State Libraries system.)

Have you read this book? Are you a fan or critic of McKibben? Please take a moment to share your thoughts.