Snow, Localization, Wendell Berry in Spring

It did snow in the Midsouth Friday, which allowed us to wisely spend our Saturday holed up at the hacienda while our snow-clothes drip-dried in the mud-room.  I have it on good authority that the six-foot-tall snow-creature in our front yard was ('cause it's mostly gone now) sustainable, ethical, and most especially local.  I am doubtful if it was in any way organic.

We know we need to localize, but where do we start?  In a manifesto published last week, the Committee for a New Green Deal calls for radical change in governmental policy that focuses investment in rebuilding the interdependence of local communities and enabling "comprehensive long-lasting social, economic and natural resource policies."  As found at Stardust Localizing, the group details five specific areas where change would need to occur in order to "replace catastrophic activities that underlie climate change, economic inequities, water and food shortages, habitat destruction, and species extinction."  Thanks to Energy Bulletin for the re-direct.

How many acres do I need, and where do I sign up?  Eating Liberally points us to a new film in progress titled The Greenhorns that seeks to capture the story of a predominantly young, poignantly agricultural revolution that is happening even as I write these words.  Kat was able to meet some of the folks involved with the film:

We watched the trailer last night at a fundraiser for The Greenhorns held in a perfectly pastoral Brooklyn loft full of biodynamic young movers and shakers who shared with us their lovingly prepared local food. They are “onto something good, and real,” as Peter Hale, one of the film’s fundraisers and host of the party, said.

And essential, I'd add. Sadly, Matt and I had to leave before they broke out the s’mores made with homemade graham crackers, but we headed back to Manhattan heady with hope that Severine and her Greenhorns could lure a new generation back to the land to reclaim our food chain.

You can watch the teaser trailer here.

You CAN judge this book by its cover.  We've posted many times in the past on Wendell Berry's "The Unsettling of America" but are happy to find a new reason to mention it again.  Even as we find ourselves recently feeling that tell-tale Spring urge to read more of Berry's work, Jennifer uses his writing to illustrate just how overdue all this fervent-foodie-farmer's-market furor is at The Ethicurean. 

Berry’s prophetic words startled his early readers and offended agribusiness experts, but 30 years later, his words still ring true — perhaps even more so than before. And since his message serves as a strong counterpoint to the policies pushed by "experts" like Earl Butz, I knew it was time to re-read the book and learn from Berry once more. 

Go to her post to pick up a great summary of some of Berry's most cogent ideas.  Then get a copy yourself and take 2008 up a considerable notch.

Talk is great.  Action speaks louder.  Tom Philpott attended an event last week in North Carolina that caused him to write "Honestly, it was the most inspiring public event I've attended in years."  The food and sustainability writer was able to witness a public meeting held at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where a student-led organization referring to itself as FLO (fair, local, organic) challenged the school's dining services about why they were serving Smithfield Foods' products on campus.  It started out as a barbecue, writes Philpott at Grist, but didn't stay casual long:

. . . this was no local-food-rocks, let's-feel-good-about-ourselves event. After dinner, the gathering moved to a large classroom indoors, where the FLO-Fooders had managed to bring together players in Smithfield's global hog chain that the company would prefer remain invisible: workers from the Tar Heel plant, and people who live in Duplin County, a predominately African-American area where Smithfield and its suppliers raise nearly 2.2 million hogs each year.

Whether or not the event itself will revolutionize how UNC's cafeterias source their food remains to be seen.  That it had a profound effect on Philpott is clear.

Speaking of seed-saving.  I mentioned in a recent post that one of my goals for this growing season is to learn more about seed-saving, in an effort to make my backyard agricultural efforts more "closed-loop" for future seasons.  Not that we won't continue to salivate over the seed catalogs that punctuate the cold winter months, but rather that true sustainability means we have to depend upon the plants themselves more and more to feed us, year after year after year.  Once again anticipating my needs, Sharon Astyk shows up at Casaubon's Book with the first of what appears to be several posts on the subject of seed-saving, a valuable counterpart to her other recently begun series on food storage.  OK Sharon, that's all the free publicity you're gonna get in this post.

In case you missed it, Michael Pollan is interviewed at Alternet by Amy Goodman.  A press release is posted at Mulch that indicates there might yet be hope for a negotiated Farm Bill settlement prior to the March 15th deadline.  Finally, Mrs. Deliberately shared several links with me this week that may be of interest to you as well:  a story at MSNBC about how simple conditioning may be a significant part of our national obesity problem, a NY Times article I missed in which Mark Bittman speaks to drafting a "sustainable recipe," and an AP article at Salon that looks at sewage-based fertilizers.

photo courtesy of MGShelton at flickr and is shared under a creative commons license