yearofplenty

New U2 Song - "I wish you a brave new year; All anguish, pain, and sadness leave your heart. Let your road be clear."

Worth a listen. At about the 2 minute mark; "I wish you a brave new year; All anguish, pain, and sadness leave your heart. Let your road be clear."

Most Viewed Year of Plenty Posts for 2010

It's a little hard to discern which posts people are most interested in because the majority of visits to the site are to the general page, but I've looked into the Google Analytics Crazy 8 Ball and here are the posts that seems to have had the most interest in 2009:

2009 Spokane Farmers' Markets

All things food preservation

Living Bread - an artisan bread recipe for the home

Spokane's Family Farm Dairy open for business

All things chicken coop

High School students in Medford Mass. threaten to boycott unhealthy school lunches

Are Christians better at caring for the environment?

The horrifying truth of what goes into making a hamburger patty

Local food, poetry and the pursuit of holiness

Michael Pollan's visit to WSU on Jan. 13 not without controversy

On January 13 Michael Pollan, the John the Baptist of food and author of Omnivore's Dilemma, will speak at 7pm in Beasley Auditorium at Washington State University as part of their annual common reading program. Back in May I posted about some controversy around this visit:

After MIchael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma was chosen as a book for all incoming WSU freshman to read, the President and Provost pulled the plug, citing financial constraints. Only problem is, they've already purchased the 4,000 books. Critics of the decision not to distribute claim that it was political pressure rising from the book's critique of industrial ag that is the source of the decision. The Spokesman article says;

That political pressure apparently was brought to bear by a member of the board of regents, Harold Cochran, who disapproved of the author’s characterization of agribusiness. Cochran owns and operates a 5,500-acre farm near Walla Walla, is a founding stockholder in the Bank of the West in Walla Walla and is a member of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers.

They apparently worked through their concerns because they did proceed with the book for common reading and he will make the scheduled visit. But, as one of my farmer friend says, WSU is being a little "passive aggressive" by not promoting the visit widely and burying the details of the event on the web site. At least that is the impression they got. It could be that we'll be hearing a lot more about the visit after the first of the year. A big shout out to Mimi and Rob from Cascade Creek Farm for bringing the visit to my attention.

The 7 pm event is free and open to the public.

Why does the USDA encourage farmers to dispose of coal waste on their fields?

I came across this Businessweek article and thought it was worth sharing. As someone who until recently had not really paid much attention to agricultural practices, I find things like this fascinating. Excerpt:

The federal government is encouraging farmers to spread a chalky waste from coal-fired power plants on their fields to loosen and fertilize soil even as it considers regulating coal wastes for the first time.

The material is produced by power plant “scrubbers” that remove acid rain causing sulfur dioxide from plant emissions. A synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, it also contains mercury, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts that pose no threat to crops, surface water or humans. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health, for the government to suggest that farmers use it on their land.

“Basically this is a leap into the unknown,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “This stuff has materials in it that we’re trying to prevent entering the environment from coal-fired power plants and then to turn around and smear it across ag lands raises some real questions.”

…Since the EPA/USDA partnership began in 2001, farmers’ use of the material has more than tripled, from about 78,000 tons spread on fields in 2002 to nearly 279,000 tons last year, according to the American Coal Ash Association, a utility industry group…

Darrell Norton, a USDA soil scientist, said a predecessor of FGD gypsum produced about 25 years ago often had high levels of heavy metals because it had been mixed with coal fly ash. But FGD gypsum has no fly ash and is “environmentally clean,” he said.

It may be quite safe but I couldn’t help but think about a previous situation reported by David Montgomery in his excellent book, “Dirt” (page 214). In the early 1990’s the Land O’ Lakes Company figured out a way to ship its toxic waste to Quincy, WA and mix it with other chemicals and sell it it as “cheap, low-grade” fertilizer. This allowed them to avoid the high cost of legitimate disposal of the toxic material. Here’s a key passage that makes me suspicious of the above assurances from the scientists at USDA:

They “discovered that state officials allowed recycling waste rich in heavy metals into fertilizers without telling farmers…Approached about the practice of selling toxic waste as fertilizer, staff at the state department of agriculture admitted they thought it was a good idea, kind of like recycling.

Curiously enough, the toxic fertilizer began killing crops. Unless they are eroded away, heavy metals stick around in the soil for thousands of years. And if they build up enough in the soil, they are taken up by plants - like crops.

One farmer was curious about whether his land and crops had been impacted. He sent fertilizer provided by the company to a lab and they found “lots of arsenic, lead, titanium, and chromium…The lab also reported high lead and arsenic concentrations in peas, beans, and potatoes sent in from crops fertilized” by the toxic stew. Samples of potatoes sent in by another farmer were found to have 10 times the allowable concentration of lead.

There is a major industry in the US of converting toxic waste into fertilizer and it has been a standing practice for decades. The coal ash story is just one example of many instances.

Roundup Ready Alfalfa Under Consideration By USDA

Roundup Ready Alfalfa is next up on the genetically modified crops debate. The USDA has released it's draft Environmental Impact Statement and is open for comment.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released the draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roundup Ready Alfalfa last week. A 60-day public comment period opened on December 18. Comments received during this period will be used to modify the proposal before the final EIS is released.

Go here to read the draft and leave a comment.

Here are some links to articles questioning the wisdom of roundup ready crops:

1. They dramatically increases the use of herbicides and pesticides.

2. Disadvantages outweigh advantages.

3. They may not be so healthy:

For the first time in the world, we've proven that GMO are neither sufficiently healthy nor proper to be commercialized. [...] Each time, for all three GMOs, the kidneys and liver, which are the main organs that react to a chemical food poisoning, had problems," indicated Gilles-Eric Séralini, an expert member of the Commission for Biotechnology Reevaluation, created by the EU in 2008.

I'm no expert on any of this, and I do think genetic modification can potentially be our friend, but it seems to me like much more thorough scientific analysis is needed to assess the development of these crops. It's not the intended consequences I'm worried about. It's all the unintended consequences.

Wendell Berry: Christmas presents are no basis for relationship, love is a practice

 
Just in case you're wondering today if you need to buy one more present for the one's you love in your household, here's a good word from Wendell Berry from the book, "Conversations With Wendell Berry."

People who love each other need to have something they can do for each other, and it will need to be something necessary, not something frivolous. You can't carry out a relationship on the basis of Christmas and anniversary and birthday presents. It won't work.

You have to be doing something that you need help with, and your wife needs to be doing something that she needs help with. You do needful, useful things for each other, and that seems to me to be the way that a union is made...You're being made a partner by your partner's needs and the things that you're required to do to help...Love is not just a feeling; it's a practice, something you practice whether you feel like it or not. If you have a relationship with anybody - a friend, a family member, a spouse - you have to understand the terms of that relationship to do things for those people, and you do them whether you feel like it or not. If you don't it's useless...

This is what you learn as soon as you become a farmer, for instance. Once you get into a relationship with even so much as a vegetable garden, you realize that you have to do the work whether you want to or not. You may have got into it because of love, but there are going to be days when you are sick and you're going to have to do your work anyway. With animals, the work is even more inescapable. There's no way out if you have a milk cow, no reprieve...She makes the milk and you've got to go get it.

(I think I've been reading too much Wendell Berry lately. I had a dream about buying 50 acres of farm land last night.)

Come join us at Millwood Presbyterian for one of our Christmas Eve services (5:30 pm and 7:30 pm). We'll mostly Christmas carols and light candles, but I will expand on Berry's comments about love being a practice.

Merry Christmas.

Arbor Crest Tasting Room and Gift Shop Open Today Despite Riblet Mansion Fire

I was up at the Arbor Crest Riblet Mansion this morning as part of my role as Spokane Valley Fire Chaplain. This is a real tragedy for the family that owns and runs Arbor Crest and for the Valley where historic landmarks are few and far between. They have done a fantastic job of updating the mansion over the last 25 years so it’s heart wrenching to see all the damage the fire did.

I wanted to pass along the word that the Tasting Room and Gift Shop are unaffected by the fire and are open today for shopping. One way to support this great local business would be to go out of your way to make the trek up Fruit Hill Rd. and get a couple of bottles of wine. They also have a location near the food court at River Park Square.Let the folks are Arbor Crest know how much you appreciate their work of preserving this Inland Northwest Landmark.

Below is a picture of the mansion from this past summer. And below that from this time last year.

 

What is the real cost of food?

Check out this brief video that packs a punch.

Mindblowing statistic: In 1959 4% of American Children were overweight and in 2009 19% are overweight.

The punchline: Nutritious meals are the key to vibrant health and longevity.

Official Last Minute Christmas Gift Guide for Spokane Area Local Food Fanatics

Chefs on the Farm Cookbook from the folks at Quillisascut - available at your local bookstore. (If you want to shore up your local foodie bona-fides learn how to spell Quillisascut without googling it. I'm almost there) See the side panel for other good book ideas.

A Slow Food Spokane River membership which is actually a membership with Slow Food USA available here. Slow Food is on the front lines of the healthy school lunch movement.

A membership with Main Market Food Co-Op. They have reasonable general and low income memberships available. Your membership will help get this baby off the ground and will get Spokane off the list of the last fairly large cities in the world without a food co-op.

Get a couple of Ground Beef Chubs from Susie David Beef or Rocky Ridge Ranch as stocking stuffers. They'll be at the Millwood Indoor Market between 2-6pm Wednesday at the Crossing Youth Center. There will be other stuff at the market tomorrow also.

How about a Millwood Farmers' Market T-Shirt? Email me if you're interested and I'll hook you up with the person that sells them.

Bumble Bars make great stocking stuffers and are made right here in the Spokane Valley. Powers Candy is also a local Spokane company.

Shepherd's Grain flour is always a welcome sight under the Christmas tree.

Gift Certificates to restaurants are always a hit. I'd recommend One World Spokane or Latah Bistro for restaurants with a local food edge.

And for something totally different, buy 10 trees for $10 to re-forest Latin America instead of $10 for a Poinsettia that you'll toss out in the a couple of weeks. Go here for more information.

Grants and Scholarships Available for Developing Local Food Systems

I've received a couple of grant and scholarship opportunities for developing local food systems in the Spokane area so I thought I would pass them along:

First up, Washington's Department of Health is offering 10 grants for local food advocates to partner with WIC offices to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables as part of the WIC program. One of the challenges with WIC (Women, Infant, Children) vouchers is that many of the vouchers issued go unused. Here's a link to the doc explaining the opportunity: Download Letter to food advocates-final.

Quillisascut Farm in Rice, WA is offering an educational event this coming August  14-18 for those interested in starting a school garden:

A School Garden workshop for school teachers, administrators, parents, or volunteers who are wanting to start a school garden or evolve their present garden: We will explore how planting a garden can feed us healthy foods as well as save the Earth, how composting closes the loop in our farm to table cycle, and how we can learn from ‘Natures Operating System’ and the simple joy of putting ourselves back in the garden circle.

Application

Tuition $355  (Half of the tuition has been covered by a grant from the Community Building Foundation) tuition includes food and lodging (you will learn to prepare produce fresh from the garden!)

If you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift stop by your local bookstore and get Chef's on the Farm written by the folks at Quillisascut.

Finally the USDA is starting a project funding high tunnels (hoop houses) for farms in an effort to study the potential for increasing the supply of local food:

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide financial assistance for the project through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the EQIP Organic Initiative, and the Agricultural Management Assistance program. NRCS will fund one high tunnel per farm. High tunnels in the study can cover as much as 5 percent of 1 acre.