tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61949547676852219842024-03-14T00:20:58.716-07:00From Where I SitMusings on Local Foods, Winter Growing, and meeting the predicaments our civilization facesChuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-37295175236965398462013-10-15T07:03:00.001-07:002013-10-15T07:03:50.557-07:00Invitation to a celebration of Chuck
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">An
Invitation
to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Friends
and
Colleagues of Chuck Waibel<br />
<br />
From:<br />
Carol Ford, Garden Goddess Enterprises</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br />
</span><big><big><big><big><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></big></big></big></big><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Warm
greetings
to all. Most of the people on this list are aware that Chuck
Waibel passed
away on August 16, just a month after discovering he had stage 4
colon cancer. Thank
you for your support in so many ways during that very difficult
time and the
weeks that have followed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">You
may
also know that Chuck was awarded a Bush Leadership Fellowship
for 2013-2014.
He was very much looking forward to pursuing his plan to create
a model for a
resilient, sustainable, community-based food system. It was
difficult to accept
that he would not be able to see his project through to
completion, but also
quite remarkable to witness how many people stepped forward and
said they
wanted to help make sure his vision would be carried forward. In
the end, he
did realize that his torch was being passed on to capable hands.
This meant a
great deal to him and to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s
been
hard sometimes to stay in touch after Chuck’s death. Grieving,
yes, that.
But also, I did not have access to Chuck’s passwords for his
computer files.
With the patient help of our friend Ben Winchester, there’s now
a consolidated
folder of email addresses and working files, which we are using
to share this
information about Chuck’s upcoming memorial celebration and
related events.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
memorial
will be on<u><b> Saturday, October 26, at noon, in the Milan, MN
Community
Center</b></u> (formerly the elementary school). There will
be a potluck following the
memorial, along with an opportunity for those who wish to hear
about Chuck’s
vision related to the Bush Fellowship project’s reformation.
We’d like to use
this time when we gather together to connect, discuss, and make
a few plans for
the coming year. If you would like to help continue his vision,
but are unable to attend, please fill out this form:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://goo.gl/meFcKb">http://goo.gl/meFcKb</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Visitors
are
also encouraged to spend some time checking out the highlights
of our small
but lively village including the Arv Hus Museum, Milan Village
Art School,
Billy Mapletree Giftshop and the Karen Jensen Art Gallery. You
can also get a
tour of the Garden Goddess passive solar winter greenhouse
before digging in at
the potluck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Chuck
actually
took some time while in hospice at home to let me know what he
wanted
his memorial to include. I always had my notebook close by in
those days and
wrote down what he said. I thought you might like to know how
much he respected
and valued all of you and the influence you had in his life and
the lives of
others now and in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
what
he said,</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>“I
would
like to see all the people I’ve worked with on local foods
to come together
to say good-bye to me but also hello to each other. I can
imagine them meeting
and greeting, finding common cause and pondering new
collaborations. So invite
them in and, you know, let them be sad for a while, but then
bring them
together to share food and conversation and just watch what
happens! It’s
always been about building community. All of it has. Putting
all those
dedicated minds together—it’s bound to make great things
grow. Let them know
this isn’t for my sake. It’s for theirs.”</b></span></i></div>
<i>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Please
join
us on the 26<sup>th</sup> in sorrow and in celebration of this
guy with a
vision that was founded on the belief that together, we can
built the tomorrow
that will nurture us and the communities yet to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
you
need directions or have questions, please feel free to contact
me at <a href="mailto:fordcj@morris.umn.edu">fordcj@morris.umn.edu</a>
or
320-734-4669.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can also
give you
information on area B&Bs and hotels.</span></div>
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Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-53195811965833316042013-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:002013-07-21T10:58:14.613-07:00These are the Voyages…
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeZlhuMf41hcWsFCoxea5vWdAjsn_elI-DvgHmM2S-YY9MvFXAEah1UCXw8eeKuN0TK9G7TfjKLWlrNax7e8I6c3NjIHNYWXMqhipXn4C_xG9eTzqdOi2H_3K6wODaj-tsyJ-FPgOC1kc/s1600/Apollo11Plaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeZlhuMf41hcWsFCoxea5vWdAjsn_elI-DvgHmM2S-YY9MvFXAEah1UCXw8eeKuN0TK9G7TfjKLWlrNax7e8I6c3NjIHNYWXMqhipXn4C_xG9eTzqdOi2H_3K6wODaj-tsyJ-FPgOC1kc/s320/Apollo11Plaque.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Happy belated Apollo Day! Yesterday was the 44<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I’m one of many who believe that
July 20<sup>th</sup> should be a national holiday. For us, the space program,
civil rights struggle, and the anti-war and environmental movements were of a
piece. Humanity appeared to be growing up. We were cleaning up our act, seeing
others with more compassion, and were willing to sacrifice for the hard jobs.
With our sights on Justice, and the glorious adventure that the Universe
presented, there was nothing that we couldn’t do together. The Treyvon Martin
debacle is just one example of what we’ve lost since those days.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">This song still makes me cry- </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-1VtFKiBzo"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-1VtFKiBzo</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BFIkGzm9JECB0EGsV8ZvHGjcMyCQySrqbPAG4XlGPdPbgLnHiBrnfeN5FK97PLs-CphDLLGmwuc8JNzJQJvDVKLJrQJMzfA992YKkDkZH6K2dEnuK_RhUP0qroB6iSbS8BhTMD_7qOVh/s1600/Ready+to+Go+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BFIkGzm9JECB0EGsV8ZvHGjcMyCQySrqbPAG4XlGPdPbgLnHiBrnfeN5FK97PLs-CphDLLGmwuc8JNzJQJvDVKLJrQJMzfA992YKkDkZH6K2dEnuK_RhUP0qroB6iSbS8BhTMD_7qOVh/s320/Ready+to+Go+2.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></o:p> </div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve had two personal voyages centering here as well. One
began a year ago today. I’ve been saying for years that no matter how bad
things get, there will be people alive in a century- after all, if that isn’t
true, what’s the use of trying? BUT, those people will only have the tools and
stories that we send down to them to work with. So, I went on a long drive
through several states and provinces to see what some of us are preparing to
pass down. I took hundreds of pictures, got hours of interviews, and saw sights
both hopeful and depressing. I slept in cheap motels, in cabins in the woods, and
on couches in both remote farmhouses and inner-city apartments. I compiled a
pretty decent little memoir/travelogue, but it’s lacking the “zing” to make it
really work. I’d been wrestling with it for months before it dawned on me to
cast it as a letter to those future people. That’s the massive rewrite that I’m
working on now.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It occurs to me that those descendants may have trouble
believing many of the things I write: “Do you seriously mean that you took off
on a journey of thousands of miles, counting on having food, fuel, and places
to sleep? Do you mean that you weren’t afraid of being waylaid by bandits, or
picked up by some sheriff who needed another body on his chain gang? You must
be kidding!” All of those things have been rare in history, and they can be
lost again. If you’d told me that in 1969 I’d have laughed in your face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000;">Then there’s my current personal journey. Yes, I have colon
cancer. I feel that I’m standing in the lobby of a big building marked “CANCER.”
Tomorrow I go in for surgery, which will mean getting on the elevator over
which I have no control. I may get off again on Level One, which will mean that
the whole deal is over and done with this week. It could be Two, Three or even
Four, which would mean all-out medical war and saying my goodbyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000;">In practical terms, I’m in the second day of a two-day prep
regime. That means that I’ve had no solid food since Friday afternoon, and must
drink several glasses of a salty laxative solution every two hours. It wouldn’t
be too bad, except that my guts feel like a nest of snakes half of the time.
The “cuttlefish” responds to this by sending out little icy spiky pain balls
every few minutes. My chemistry is way off, leading to grotesque mood swings.
Anything remotely sentimental gets me crying.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #660000;">I’m not much afraid of dying. I’ve done that before. What I’m
afraid of is not finishing my work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-52915510862868776332013-07-16T20:25:00.000-07:002013-07-16T20:25:21.959-07:00It Just Got Personal- My life has become a metaphor
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As some of you know, I’ve been having health issues- weeks
of abdominal pain, failing energy, chills, and a raft of other draining not-quite-right
things. After months of bugging my doctor to figure something out, he concluded
that I had a bleeding peptic ulcer, based largely on my having become severely
anemic. What followed was weeks of medication, including an iron supplement
that caused severe and agonizing constipation. This was certainly going to cure
me if I just toughed it out. My questions and complaints were put off as
impatience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mszWg4zEp_FA8-UP2BmPiW5Elc1wSVU32DCY2fB4Ls3qhpnfuHt9i8oZxnKHaFuv45s3Gk3PP4EN3PlsbCOTPMkSTvR7gs6eTwWu4yovAP1vnlcrvazEc_UnCkHgn2lGUJPjnT6w9hxh/s1600/The+Beast+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mszWg4zEp_FA8-UP2BmPiW5Elc1wSVU32DCY2fB4Ls3qhpnfuHt9i8oZxnKHaFuv45s3Gk3PP4EN3PlsbCOTPMkSTvR7gs6eTwWu4yovAP1vnlcrvazEc_UnCkHgn2lGUJPjnT6w9hxh/s1600/The+Beast+Portrait.jpg" height="320" width="271" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mszWg4zEp_FA8-UP2BmPiW5Elc1wSVU32DCY2fB4Ls3qhpnfuHt9i8oZxnKHaFuv45s3Gk3PP4EN3PlsbCOTPMkSTvR7gs6eTwWu4yovAP1vnlcrvazEc_UnCkHgn2lGUJPjnT6w9hxh/s1600/The+Beast+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was eventually able to get in for a colonoscopy and gastroscopy
on Monday. The verdict- he was dead wrong. Oh, I did have internal bleeding,
but not from a peptic ulcer. My stomach is fine. I have a growth that looks
like a mutant cuttlefish in my colon, bleeding merrily away. These things grow
slowly, so it should have been plainly visible during the routine colonoscopy I
had just three years ago. The chances are 50/50 that it’s malignant, which
means that my prognosis as of June 16<sup>th</sup> lies somewhere between “painful
interlude” and “So Long, it’s Been Good ta Know Ya.” I’m scheduled for surgery
to remove the ugly beast next week, by which time we’ll know how bad it really
is, how much of my intestines will have to go with it, and whether I’ll be
going on Chemo. Oh, joy and rapture unforeseen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, under orders from my surgeon, I spent most of today,
Tuesday, getting a massive transfusion. This was the <u>first</u> thing that my
<u>former</u> doctor should have ordered. To add insult to injury, when I got
home there was a phone message from that doctor’s nurse, that I need to calm
down and try a different formula of iron supplement. I guess that they didn’t
get the memo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lot of people haven’t gotten the memo in recent decades.
Our one and only Earth, like my one and only gut, has been showing symptoms of
serious illness for a long time, close to half a century. Aside from a few
well-paid loonies and shills, the science is settled- we are screwing up our
planet’s climate. It’s our fault. It’s too late to stop it. The people running
the planet don’t want to take any real steps, but are tweaking the “iron
supplements” of policy in ways which just further centralize things and make
them less adaptable. Maybe we’ll muddle through with a painful interlude of
economic collapse, die-offs, and the totalitarian government which will inevitably
follow. Maybe the consequences will be so severe that all that matters is how
much style and grace we show as we bow out. No one can say for certain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My greenhouse and local foods work over the past decade has
never really been about greenhouses or food. It’s been about giving people
tools, and experience in a way of thinking, a way that will help them to adapt
and thrive in the messy world to come. As long as I have the strength and
breath that’s what I’ll keep doing. As a local businessman told me, “Chuck, you
may end up saving millions of lives.” That would be nice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there’s that matter of style and grace. I may be about
to be handed a rare and precious opportunity. A person’s true character shows
best in adversity. I may be about to experience soul-searing adversity. It surely
hurts a lot so far. Will I dry up into the whiney husk of a man, or be
remembered as one of those noble souls whose fiery trial burned away all the
illusions and ego, leaving an inspiration for others? Time will tell. I freely
admit that it scares the shit out of me, but know that courage isn’t lack of
fear, but being terrified and doing what you had to anyway. Maybe it will be a
false alarm, but I refuse to engage in the Bargaining and Denial that climate change
deniers do. I only pray that if I must I can be the kind of example that we’re
all going to need in the days to come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-FdS3Omibocg%2FUeYM0D-WAlI%2FAAAAAAAAAMU%2FMUIqWceoPNc%2Fs1600%2FThe%2BBeast%2BPortrait.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mszWg4zEp_FA8-UP2BmPiW5Elc1wSVU32DCY2fB4Ls3qhpnfuHt9i8oZxnKHaFuv45s3Gk3PP4EN3PlsbCOTPMkSTvR7gs6eTwWu4yovAP1vnlcrvazEc_UnCkHgn2lGUJPjnT6w9hxh/s1600/The+Beast+Portrait.jpg" -->Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-73187854059479817732013-06-04T10:56:00.000-07:002013-06-04T10:56:44.067-07:00Heading into the Bush<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I’m sorry that I’ve been away, but things are happening. It’s
a new game now.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">In just under a month my tenure as a 2013 Bush Fellow
begins. (see </span><a href="http://www.bushfoundation.org/leadership/bush_fellowship"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">http://www.bushfoundation.org/leadership/bush_fellowship</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">).
This will give me resources to learn what I need to be the leader who can pull
off things like the Deep Winter Producers’ Association. I’ll be taking classes,
travelling, studying, and discussing things with advisors and mentors.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Those advisors have warned me that in early July, about two
weeks after the official Fellowship period begins, I will be inundated with
requests from people who want me to work on projects with them. They will mean
well, most of them, but they will drag me off in unfruitful directions. As one
advisor said, “Don’t go off chasing rabbits. Remember your goals.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I had a good example yesterday. A man that I met at a recent
meeting called. He was gushingly enthusiastic about a project involving lots of
farmers with big greenhouses and centralized storage facilities. I interrupted,
and something like this ensued:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“I’m not interested in building a ‘shadow version’ of the Industrial
Food System.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“Why not? It’s going to be with us for a long time.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“No, it’s going to collapse in fifteen to twenty years,
maybe sooner. It’s based on too many contradictions and false assumptions.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><Several seconds of silence><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“I hope that we’re not all stuck eating rice and beans.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">“We might be, but that would actually be a good-case
scenario. My mission is to equip people for what’s coming.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">We concluded with the usual “good lucks” and “you’ll hear from
mes.” I probably won’t hear from him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">I told Ken Meter (</span><a href="http://www.crcworks.org/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">http://www.crcworks.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">
) about this. He liked my “disarming tactic.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Not only do <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>I</u></i></b> not have time to chase
rabbits, <u><strong><em>none of us do</em></strong></u>. We can’t afford to waste our time and resources
on the interminable gabfests that mostly just fill up reams of newsprint with
notes and drawings, or posters with little colored dots. All of us concerned
with local foods have experienced these. It can feel a bit like this scene from
Monty Python’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life of Brian</i>- </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YawagQ6lLrA"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YawagQ6lLrA</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Methods for building our resilience exist. I invented some
of them, and want to learn about others. Many people have rolled up their sleeves to do good work. We have
plenty of reason for Hope- not hope of preserving The System, but of building something
new to succeed it. <u>We can do this</u>. BUT, it’s time for action, not discussions that
should have been had fifteen years ago. Wish me well, and come along for the
ride- we’re actually going someplace.</span></div>
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0Milan, MN 56262, USA45.1110494 -95.91229279999998945.0886379 -95.952633299999988 45.133460899999996 -95.87195229999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-13076642382379247372013-02-03T11:15:00.000-08:002013-02-03T11:15:48.673-08:00Better to Work than Whine- What We're Up To
<h1 class="western">
Report from first DWPA Meeting- 020213</h1>
<h1 class="western">
(Deep Winter Producers' Association)</h1>
<span style="font-size: large;">Our first meeting was invigorating, except for the people who
couldn't make it. It was informal, with just enough structure to be
coherent. The dozen folks were excited to meet others who shared
their new passion. It had that perfect feel, a neighborly gathering
of people who share a wholesome, inviting idea with high potential
for good.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">We met at the new Elk's Bluff greenhouse, just outside of
Montevideo. Tim Elkington had thought ahead to creating a producers
network- he built a meeting room in his barn as part of the
greenhouse's processing area. It was fine to be sitting around,
talking and drawing ideas on a white board, while just through the
windows was the greenhouse packed with fresh growing things, on a
windy February day. Tim's wife, Shelly, made a tasty salad from
Chinese cabbage that they'd raised, and Lorri Maus brought home-made
scones.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Of the dozen people, six already have Garden Goddess-type
greenhouses. One mother and grown son came for advice- they'd had to
adapt the design in extreme ways, and wanted help with how to correct
some problems. Two other groups wanted to talk about their
greenhouses-in-planning. Everyone knew others that were thinking of
building.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">One idea with great potential came from a farmer from near Albany,
Minnesota. He wants to build a large greenhouse on the south face of
his barn, and turn the old silo pit into a fish tank! I was
especially happy to hear about his ideas. Aquaponics, the joining of
fish farming with greenhouse growing, can produce extremely high
densities of good food. He is also an expert on heating and related
ducting, with ideas for the rest of us to tighten up our systems.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Every greenhouse is a bit different. We shared design tricks, and
ideas about what crops grow better under what conditions. With our
diverse, grass roots attitude, everyone's approach brought something
that the others hadn't thought of.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We talked about the concepts of the DWPA. Local chapters will
concentrate on an area of roughly an hour's drive, with some overlap
of territories, and much cooperation between chapters. From the
emails and phone calls that I've received, there are already about
ten chapters sketched out in Minnesota and the Dakotas. The focus
will be on raising and selling food within the chapter's territory.
There will of course be some “exports,” but the stress is on
Local-ness.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A big discussion point was markets. Everyone who runs CSAs from
these greenhouses, across the continent, has waiting lists far longer
than they can possibly handle. All of us get requests from chefs and
grocers for our product. We can name our prices. Back-of-the-envelope
calculations tell us that we could have a dozen or more units like
ours in our area and still not fill the demand.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We gathered contact information from everyone, and will be
planning more meetings soon. Our focus for now will be:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Helping everyone to get the best production they can from
their units</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Helping others who want to build to get started</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Setting up communication for sharing ideas and insights</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Planting other active chapters in other areas.</span><br />
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">If you're interested in being a part of this new movement, send me
a message. I'm here to help.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Build a greenhouse! Start a Chapter! Change the world, at least a
little</span>!<br />
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0Milan, MN 56262, USA45.1110494 -95.91229279999998945.0886379 -95.952633299999988 45.133460899999996 -95.87195229999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-10849951389900017892012-10-16T10:51:00.000-07:002012-10-16T10:51:44.353-07:00What the Monster Actually Is
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
<span style="font-size: large;">I heard my ancestors from the Trail of Tears at my elbow
yesterday. I was sitting in a meeting of the Planning Commission in
Ortonville, Minnesota. Briefly, the Township had repulsed the efforts
of a company that wanted to do aggregate mining. They didn't want the
environmentally damaging project next to a State Park and wildlife
area. So, the City of Ortonville decided to annex the land and let
the project go forward.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My ancestors reminded me that that's been the attitude of this
society for centuries. “We don't like how you use your land, so
we'll kick you off and give it to someone who can make money with
it.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There are many other instances of the same thing going on, from
the spectacularly newsworthy XL pipeline to “local” issues like
frac sand mining or nuclear waste disposal. That word, “local,”
is the problem. Yes, each instance affects the environment and people
in a particular place, but until we realize that they're all of a
piece we won't be able to fight them effectively. Our aggregate fight
is your pipeline fight is their plutonium fight- are the voter
suppression and women's rights fights.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We need to remember that Capitalism isn't the normal economic
state of humankind, but an experiment only a few centuries old. It
involved, for the first time in history, creating economic
organizations which are considered as legal persons. These life forms
have only one ethical imperative- to grow and make profits. Such
luminaries as Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Teddy Roosevelt
warned us that they are monsters that need to be kept in cages.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For most of US history there were enough easy resources to be had
that The Monster “just” displaced Native Americans. It “just”
enslaved black people, then children. The fights that brought us the
40-hour week, safe working conditions, an end to child labor, even
the Weekend, are barely a century old. We're in the process of losing
them again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">By all means, we need to fight those local battles. We also need
to be aware of how they all link together, and back each other up.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But what we most need to do is build an alternative System, as
“off the grid” of corporate control as we can. Even growing our
own food is becoming illegal in some places- imagine growing a garden
as being the civil disobedience equivalent to Rosa Parks keeping her
seat on the bus, or to a bunch of guys sitting at a segregated lunch
counter. Pushing <u>real</u> Local Foods could get us into that kind
of trouble.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another bit of history. There is a saying from the Holocaust,
attributed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller">Martin
Niemöller</a>:</span><br />
<blockquote style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">First they came for
the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist">communists</a>,<br />and
I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then they came for the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist">socialists</a>,<br />and
I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then they came for the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_unionist">trade
unionists</a>,<br />and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade
unionist.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="border: medium none; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then they came for
me,<br />and there was no one left to speak for me.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;">They're coming for Homosexuals.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They're coming for Liberals.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They're coming for Teachers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They're coming for Organic Farmers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When
will they be coming for you?</span><br />
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-49851954435214715912012-09-16T16:54:00.000-07:002012-09-16T16:54:06.513-07:0009/15/12- Elk's Bluff Open House
<span style="font-size: large;">05:23:11 PM</span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, a break. I got here at about 12:30 to help with setup. I
prepared with my computer, business cards, and books in the
Processing Room, where I could explain the whys and hows of the
greenhouse itself.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiTYQTLdnuFXhbdsfmsndKL8kAJen0qcGH1UEUsfMv9liYZYSC8ivC39UUyV3wxzlYEcGT3ReHNfSl1TPWzor5KRmsKRbzriXVjjz7F10l8zKL3wvd23AlR4uPtJKEKTomRweRpYnttZm/s1600/091512-+09.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpiTYQTLdnuFXhbdsfmsndKL8kAJen0qcGH1UEUsfMv9liYZYSC8ivC39UUyV3wxzlYEcGT3ReHNfSl1TPWzor5KRmsKRbzriXVjjz7F10l8zKL3wvd23AlR4uPtJKEKTomRweRpYnttZm/s320/091512-+09.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming up the Driveway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The overall setup is impressive. Coming down the long driveway a
visitor sees a big white pavilion tent with tables and chairs. A low
bandstand is ready along one wall with a white canvas backdrop.
Around the garage are a couple of smaller tents, for serving food and
taking entries for door prizes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The center of it all is the barn-under-transformation. The
construction is a bit behind schedule, as we've had several dry,
dusty, windy days when little work could be done. They're still
planning to be in operation by late October.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAdX1PGFS9IW0ivtPz5zyhGC6lp0qlDw8lXU5iRVb80VozlMYxan4JvXsc0fRoQWCKjlrBBiHWCRHX6L44ByuqT92FUu6nCs7252W8PQwADVlOKtVs_oUtxMD4LoNvXhgbeYuXL2L-VM5/s1600/091512-+03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAdX1PGFS9IW0ivtPz5zyhGC6lp0qlDw8lXU5iRVb80VozlMYxan4JvXsc0fRoQWCKjlrBBiHWCRHX6L44ByuqT92FUu6nCs7252W8PQwADVlOKtVs_oUtxMD4LoNvXhgbeYuXL2L-VM5/s320/091512-+03.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entryway</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the barn's entry and front room is the guest book, with a display of
crafts and antiques for sale. Much of the barn has been converted to
a funky antique and crafts shop.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPm75xt9oXVJb9N7lZj6_T7ErLJm6yipPDW7j6utQcEXWdmWKxeOQ4nMwfuzmQ7OhXXG1CKJwpwrMkr_utcwBAvuipLXL3DyoQC3PlyUy9UyIEL9zn9CUxaAmdsWbagrvL1nSLm5kQdnF/s1600/090812-+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPm75xt9oXVJb9N7lZj6_T7ErLJm6yipPDW7j6utQcEXWdmWKxeOQ4nMwfuzmQ7OhXXG1CKJwpwrMkr_utcwBAvuipLXL3DyoQC3PlyUy9UyIEL9zn9CUxaAmdsWbagrvL1nSLm5kQdnF/s320/090812-+9.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost finished greenhouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Toward the rear is the Processing Room. This fifteen by thirty
space has two windows and a door that look out into the greenhouse.
About one third will be where produce from the greenhouse is packed
for delivery. The rest is set aside as a meeting area for organizing
the greenhouse network that we envision, and for other community
meetings such as Transition.</span><br />
<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ2SJ3o-XBsf8v1v77zp4ntl8E5EprntxdRbkACj_c3NqVJsr77QGGJx0kqOK6rmGjfwqriiIRxIinTXXsVi3f_v6Fv2CeayfsptdBEuX9om8Srvxat3xlvKniWoQ7524MjXGPuXWTV_X/s1600/091512-+29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ2SJ3o-XBsf8v1v77zp4ntl8E5EprntxdRbkACj_c3NqVJsr77QGGJx0kqOK6rmGjfwqriiIRxIinTXXsVi3f_v6Fv2CeayfsptdBEuX9om8Srvxat3xlvKniWoQ7524MjXGPuXWTV_X/s320/091512-+29.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just before 2:00, the scheduled start time, we wondered whether
anyone would come. Ha! Right at 2:00 a line of five cars turned in-
not related, just with the same idea. It hasn't let up since. Carol
and I have traded off manning the room, explaining and elaborating.
I've occasionally wandered about, taking pictures. I haven't looked
at the guest book, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that over a
hundred people have come through.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've personally talked with people from several states- Iowa,
Wisconsin, California, and Minnesota, and one from France. Many are
thinking about building their own, but some have come representing
groups such as food co-ops.</span><br />
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-picasa-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMAU6vYMtNI-O7deLQFaeotYz550huYtVeE2uuFYDLIt5WBMuVccrfwvHDwDjg5_L2BKnGUmCDlzvhqAd0oABdOZ1bMs-PkXmOcvJP-W26jJ5BKHbgG6gXou7xw7dIVdUCRnChFEQWdtO9/s1600/091512-+24.MOV"><param name="movie" value="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http://redirector.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D4c5b8afc7942e5c0%26itag%3D5%26source%3Dpicasa%26cmo%3Dsensitive_content%253Dyes%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1350431230%26sparams%3Did,itag,source,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D81622196DDB386CE9F33480DE3095D6711768ABB.15B98A63B12CDF8391F123015B3EE5D3C4A6CFC4%26key%3Dlh1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http://redirector.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D4c5b8afc7942e5c0%26itag%3D5%26source%3Dpicasa%26cmo%3Dsensitive_content%253Dyes%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1350431230%26sparams%3Did,itag,source,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3D81622196DDB386CE9F33480DE3095D6711768ABB.15B98A63B12CDF8391F123015B3EE5D3C4A6CFC4%26key%3Dlh1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The festivities went on until about 8 pm. The band played, other
musicians jammed, people kept coming through... (The short clip is of my wife, Carol Ford, and our friend Richard Handeen.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the kind of community building that makes genuine Local
Foods work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-41188090324657818322012-09-09T10:09:00.000-07:002012-09-09T10:09:22.257-07:00Community- and questions<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Community</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FRBeO97DsVlyR0FXVHGThjK9OGU-Ru5UJ2kPlF2itE0OiLHuLsIzmHidX80XtcGyTxnIgPWe3h1URd2kladmitfdbjQfdZ9PA8PPU9dEzKlzIXOBjcN8qoYL7SKNos9XqV_Gq2wOnxIZ/s1600/100_5869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FRBeO97DsVlyR0FXVHGThjK9OGU-Ru5UJ2kPlF2itE0OiLHuLsIzmHidX80XtcGyTxnIgPWe3h1URd2kladmitfdbjQfdZ9PA8PPU9dEzKlzIXOBjcN8qoYL7SKNos9XqV_Gq2wOnxIZ/s320/100_5869.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnClnPDIDTTHe2whxTPp33SHU6AVsZj6TSV6a4-SmizUhmJR6_9BXnM7zdNIKvUw39I5C4dq0TBQI0nk2g3gMfJA40imzkpAmFtKvCrNN1hLM-z-8awn5vmoWk23wtVszGG4DpEn4qeXNP/s1600/100_5866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;">We had a fine party last night at <a href="http://javarivercafe.com/" target="_blank">Java River Coffeehous</a><a href="http://javarivercafe.com/" target="_blank">e</a> in Montevideo, Minnesota. It was a fine party, but for a sad reason. It was to bid a fond farewell to the Wright family, who are leaving our area to move back to the Twin Cities.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnClnPDIDTTHe2whxTPp33SHU6AVsZj6TSV6a4-SmizUhmJR6_9BXnM7zdNIKvUw39I5C4dq0TBQI0nk2g3gMfJA40imzkpAmFtKvCrNN1hLM-z-8awn5vmoWk23wtVszGG4DpEn4qeXNP/s1600/100_5866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnClnPDIDTTHe2whxTPp33SHU6AVsZj6TSV6a4-SmizUhmJR6_9BXnM7zdNIKvUw39I5C4dq0TBQI0nk2g3gMfJA40imzkpAmFtKvCrNN1hLM-z-8awn5vmoWk23wtVszGG4DpEn4qeXNP/s320/100_5866.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">That there was good food goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Aside from sloppy Joes it was mostly light stuff- crockpot beans, cupcakes, pico de gallo, slaw, chips. The loyal staff was on hand to make fancier drinks than the free coffee.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4IZ7h92QLv5Y_CLrNgGaEEdf9u4eJ2Qq43DZSJ01wuuFUO-kUQM96GPZHooo48tjdzRx8mU_Nj5pg9m1I8Zvot78I78v3azrovPMR8FB89xIc6nbu9gIFMmJrXpweRkWD0I1Gjzd72lK/s1600/100_5874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4IZ7h92QLv5Y_CLrNgGaEEdf9u4eJ2Qq43DZSJ01wuuFUO-kUQM96GPZHooo48tjdzRx8mU_Nj5pg9m1I8Zvot78I78v3azrovPMR8FB89xIc6nbu9gIFMmJrXpweRkWD0I1Gjzd72lK/s320/100_5874.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Many <span style="font-size: large;">luminaries from the local arts and music scene, along with many Sustainable Ag folks, were on hand. Java River has two rooms, which worked well- those who wanted to could sit in the louder, more crowded music room, while the bar room was the place for more involved, philosophic discussions. Several people wandered about</span>, alternating doses of crowd and chat.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Some of the folks were writers and scholars of note, so of course talk turned to my book- which brings me to the questions: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Questions</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I really need some feedback from my loyal readers on this.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Writing my next book was spurred by people saying that perhaps the Local Foods and Sustainability movements had taken a wrong turn somewhere, so I went to see what was what. Conversations on my road trip, and especially since then, have shifted in their focus. They've become more dire. More and more people are seeing that we've lost the battle to stop Climate Change, that this civilization is going to run right off the Peak Oil cliff at full speed, and that politics has gone utterly insane.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3Ccrbzl3DEyoozFFeQyTRZkiNmt-nrFDEnBChdkvpVjWOLOqvgyxtMN-sA6qC82j9yDcDJTyyxHKzzW6xbrqMPTeehOpcya5BTVcDVOxEBmrcJz8l3pKA6X9OhfEwYEvwJW7Gy0YHf4m/s1600/100_4492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3Ccrbzl3DEyoozFFeQyTRZkiNmt-nrFDEnBChdkvpVjWOLOqvgyxtMN-sA6qC82j9yDcDJTyyxHKzzW6xbrqMPTeehOpcya5BTVcDVOxEBmrcJz8l3pKA6X9OhfEwYEvwJW7Gy0YHf4m/s320/100_4492.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">They are losing hope- but the question is "hope in what?" I agree that we're not going to stop the calamities bearing down on us, but that doesn't mean that the situation is hopeless. Hope of avoiding trouble is a false hope, but hope to build something that comes through the tumultuous times to nurture our descendants is very real and sustaining. Pretending that this isn't a stormy sunset does no good, but neglecting that there will be a sunrise is downright blasphemous.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So my question is: Do people need me to take a somewhat darker tone in my writing, but saying that there will be a calm after the storm? We won't be there to see it, but who will be and what they will have to work with are our responsibility. Do I remind that Hope always includes Responsibility?</span><br />
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<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-87954915187456903842012-08-30T09:58:00.002-07:002012-08-30T15:36:31.477-07:0008/28/12- Step by Step<b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Can You Dig It?</span></i></b>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5GMwOTI9AHuPBaCJEStFidPUIk5CybBLM11wE8Bghx5f_Apz8gpDnGafwfDaE7_m2s_izsEtZmgbXknCA7sFMHgBo9-Q2ExLo7rtHJMZogLyhzRoTUAvQStW71QLpVuFslXQc8QZhoqU/s1600/082912-+14.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5GMwOTI9AHuPBaCJEStFidPUIk5CybBLM11wE8Bghx5f_Apz8gpDnGafwfDaE7_m2s_izsEtZmgbXknCA7sFMHgBo9-Q2ExLo7rtHJMZogLyhzRoTUAvQStW71QLpVuFslXQc8QZhoqU/s320/082912-+14.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We're plugging away at the Elk's Bluff Greenhouse. The trickier
subground work is now done. The above ground work will go very fast,
especially as a bunch of friends will be coming over to work on it. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGQnSJW6up6uaBdDET44UXOyypelxF5zF7ezt7-EtEFxBMLLcuUgrzO6eIIRVBalXb8CE2bwyKo3462iHbgpDQsK8RWzGK5mknPMnxX1eawg1_UcYz-s_P146pX4UNJlVzuII-paV6lUE/s1600/080112-+Chippewa+Valley+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGQnSJW6up6uaBdDET44UXOyypelxF5zF7ezt7-EtEFxBMLLcuUgrzO6eIIRVBalXb8CE2bwyKo3462iHbgpDQsK8RWzGK5mknPMnxX1eawg1_UcYz-s_P146pX4UNJlVzuII-paV6lUE/s320/080112-+Chippewa+Valley+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Even if all the details aren't finished, they'll be ready for the
Open House and party on Saturday, September 15<sup>th</sup>. See the
Facebook announcement at
</span><span style="color: navy; font-size: large;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/">https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/</a></u></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">.
Come one, come all! There will be food, crafts, our books for sale,
and music on Saturday, September 15<sup>th</sup>, 2012, from 2 until 8
pm. Look for the greenhouse on the east side of Highways 7 and 59,
just north of Montevideo, Minnesota!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwGQnSJW6up6uaBdDET44UXOyypelxF5zF7ezt7-EtEFxBMLLcuUgrzO6eIIRVBalXb8CE2bwyKo3462iHbgpDQsK8RWzGK5mknPMnxX1eawg1_UcYz-s_P146pX4UNJlVzuII-paV6lUE/s1600/080112-+Chippewa+Valley+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcSeqxQ8fisKNl2txHuHN1QoQb07Sc78aJJsJJQ9TLr7IW0-NHLYK9caNx1T2dbnCx2zgE0oyJC-N-CyJHKb8IktwiJcJ-M-XaEIXnqhDLMyYMdFFb470M69iVxIA1bmTBrVgIT7iOn8C/s1600/100_5132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcSeqxQ8fisKNl2txHuHN1QoQb07Sc78aJJsJJQ9TLr7IW0-NHLYK9caNx1T2dbnCx2zgE0oyJC-N-CyJHKb8IktwiJcJ-M-XaEIXnqhDLMyYMdFFb470M69iVxIA1bmTBrVgIT7iOn8C/s200/100_5132.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBnTiKJ8KvuaidhJTt1pSb7AtjNYMlTS2BO5UijOA3TPUeli7zRYsaEqY_MNTjpTZMYJMpd90tgKj6t_NvBHSpl-py_TfabjBauqrNPSyNI64ZigjZm3MbVHs_bTx6lXRWs0IJxKhuYyj/s1600/100_5317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBnTiKJ8KvuaidhJTt1pSb7AtjNYMlTS2BO5UijOA3TPUeli7zRYsaEqY_MNTjpTZMYJMpd90tgKj6t_NvBHSpl-py_TfabjBauqrNPSyNI64ZigjZm3MbVHs_bTx6lXRWs0IJxKhuYyj/s200/100_5317.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Busy, busy, busy</span></i></b></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My next book is also coming along nicely. It brings me joy to remember
my voyage of discovery, and to talk over what I found with others.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-68550058431384519582012-08-28T11:55:00.000-07:002012-08-30T15:37:12.654-07:0008/28/12- Good News and Bad News<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Good News!</b></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxjkrI0erGYsx6VffBJ1wTrySO2YsCIxCf45p-TlhgXfjNjbXgK_M9AkiggIrtuqlWPi1xq748_SwtLJ8qjW_YvA4i4NRAb3eQG2ys44eZWw8bS4PCGatsdvRcghtgr8qMaurPQiE1gy13/s1600/082712-Assembling+Pipes+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxjkrI0erGYsx6VffBJ1wTrySO2YsCIxCf45p-TlhgXfjNjbXgK_M9AkiggIrtuqlWPi1xq748_SwtLJ8qjW_YvA4i4NRAb3eQG2ys44eZWw8bS4PCGatsdvRcghtgr8qMaurPQiE1gy13/s320/082712-Assembling+Pipes+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Progress on the greenhouse at Elk's Bluff continues. Yesterday I
put in a few hours helping with ventilation pipe for the heat storage
system. We should have the entire sub-ground section done by
Thursday.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IMBP0J3q92xN1GNYVHxODvu215s78hkDrnmqnJZcrlTDuxrMDFiWiB6rglcSAOJ0SaXrloJRsINC-H-cDYG9P6oMt8xdhmZKV9X_VXcjkBS6H1V0PUCzIv69qvQAMazxbLktJVriTo_X/s1600/082712-Pipes+in+Pit+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IMBP0J3q92xN1GNYVHxODvu215s78hkDrnmqnJZcrlTDuxrMDFiWiB6rglcSAOJ0SaXrloJRsINC-H-cDYG9P6oMt8xdhmZKV9X_VXcjkBS6H1V0PUCzIv69qvQAMazxbLktJVriTo_X/s320/082712-Pipes+in+Pit+4.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Their plan is still to have a big Open House and party on
Saturday, September 15<sup>th</sup>. See the Facebook announcement at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/</a>.
Come one, come all! There will be food, crafts, our books for sale,
and music on Saturday, September 15<sup>th</sup>, 2012, from 2 until 8
pm. Look for the greenhouse on the east side of Highways 7 and 59,
just north of Montevideo, Minnesota!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2 class="western">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28bCAD3zkBZ9O3kztCDJOBv4TXJmzp19HQWYDi_EB6qzXAMVEFluzvrjcAX5pj7kh0hc7Z2Eha6gPGp_s5DCpJB0YrPYpfXZFP96IljshbUKAtkIuMULRAu2Zd3TvL3daYzqUuzLGjSOw/s1600/100_5566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg28bCAD3zkBZ9O3kztCDJOBv4TXJmzp19HQWYDi_EB6qzXAMVEFluzvrjcAX5pj7kh0hc7Z2Eha6gPGp_s5DCpJB0YrPYpfXZFP96IljshbUKAtkIuMULRAu2Zd3TvL3daYzqUuzLGjSOw/s320/100_5566.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;">Bad News</span></h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCaA2h7AI4FSMWhHB65WCVb8eB_JaH0BCYIBnfwjAGZBTy8g0Q0q-kc8sGDPn2ukNgOFz6qP0ZCrYf2t2iZl16t-jmLw0kxWaYqzL782XnMY6-2C_TGimjL7NbQwcA3_vq4jPjQSCLY1v/s1600/100_5615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCaA2h7AI4FSMWhHB65WCVb8eB_JaH0BCYIBnfwjAGZBTy8g0Q0q-kc8sGDPn2ukNgOFz6qP0ZCrYf2t2iZl16t-jmLw0kxWaYqzL782XnMY6-2C_TGimjL7NbQwcA3_vq4jPjQSCLY1v/s320/100_5615.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I got a phone call today from a contact in the Twin Cities. She
wanted to talk about the Great Garlic Disaster, which most of us only heard about at the annual Garlic Festival. Few people realize
that most of the garlic in southern Minnesota was wiped out by a
freakish invasion of leaf hoppers! These critters, blown in on
strange winds from Texas, carried a virus that mostly effects garlic.
We're lucky, as a slightly different version effects carrots, cone
flowers (eccinacia), and dozens of other plants. She's been having
some trouble getting solid information on just what happened, and on
whether it's safe to plant her surviving garlic as seed for next
year.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuL4vU1QRC36PgbxqACIIHeru4EqgUInv_LYDVZPIva994MrScpf76MSwGpGyt5JhNPmVmMG7zoVzUrW76tyCtD_VNMfIsuBgZYj3eR4RtNp6hXeLAgFT0s_WjBkMwWo1pEDl5_7DuZsp8/s1600/100_5606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuL4vU1QRC36PgbxqACIIHeru4EqgUInv_LYDVZPIva994MrScpf76MSwGpGyt5JhNPmVmMG7zoVzUrW76tyCtD_VNMfIsuBgZYj3eR4RtNp6hXeLAgFT0s_WjBkMwWo1pEDl5_7DuZsp8/s320/100_5606.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I told her that this illustrates something that I've seen in my
travels- pretty much everywhere is having plagues of invasive
species, or locals gone all out of kilter. I've seen mites, Japanese
beetles, leaf hoppers, flea beetles, and various borers. In some
places they're worried about grasshoppers going berserk just before
harvest.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The problem that concerned her is that nobody seems to be talking
about this. As gardeners/farmers we're all effected by such events.
Knowing what's going on, and what did or didn't help, is vital. I
remind folks that we have a site for discussing issues-
<a href="http://gardengoddessnetwork.ning.com/">http://gardengoddessnetwork.ning.com/</a>.
It's not much, but it's a way to get the word out. Join us, and post
what you've been seeing.</span><br />
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<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-49770070204906697172012-08-23T13:33:00.000-07:002012-08-23T13:33:57.233-07:00Taking It to a New Level
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeAl_W1gexwpWz8qWgRiEAmFgLoaTctTlxtZoLCn7vI9B6Q0pgWymBrUloAdNDS760ldib59LGpmq0SSms9i9GwsL2PaIv876G8qwxbewo0Y16Mo3FdsYtupHuSvFbrQsY0EOlTX18gge/s1600/100B4890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeAl_W1gexwpWz8qWgRiEAmFgLoaTctTlxtZoLCn7vI9B6Q0pgWymBrUloAdNDS760ldib59LGpmq0SSms9i9GwsL2PaIv876G8qwxbewo0Y16Mo3FdsYtupHuSvFbrQsY0EOlTX18gge/s320/100B4890.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3R0bGd9-opg7F69Bt6LRkRZ7CTqDwADX5Rs9xWmWXjm-ZEJnRaDYfuaQ7I3SrgoXbCpy1dVCDCehxXqw6kWErDCncMol8cJpr5u-SPttmoif8jLrk8JEDM8Ir9aSasXRjbVTC6-9E3oh/s1600/100B5010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3R0bGd9-opg7F69Bt6LRkRZ7CTqDwADX5Rs9xWmWXjm-ZEJnRaDYfuaQ7I3SrgoXbCpy1dVCDCehxXqw6kWErDCncMol8cJpr5u-SPttmoif8jLrk8JEDM8Ir9aSasXRjbVTC6-9E3oh/s320/100B5010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm carving out time as best I can to work on the travel book. My
contacts around the loop gave me a lot of good material.<br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijH3GukYhUMrPPYOLri7feBrltlExpGpuz9RVuGg98xiL1Z4nE5CKm8XFPeftBlV6khGDp-ZNUdTMP1N6K1cJxr9CC8bbYJ78-ss64AHSIyrrF1zrob8hyyZl4p2x-U6z2gOnV1-23ZQM8/s1600/080912-+Pit+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijH3GukYhUMrPPYOLri7feBrltlExpGpuz9RVuGg98xiL1Z4nE5CKm8XFPeftBlV6khGDp-ZNUdTMP1N6K1cJxr9CC8bbYJ78-ss64AHSIyrrF1zrob8hyyZl4p2x-U6z2gOnV1-23ZQM8/s320/080912-+Pit+5.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I'm also helping some people here get their greenhouse up and
going, as the project has expanded on them. It started with a retired
engineer wanting to put a small greenhouse off of his barn. Friends
and relations got involved. The greenhouse is now going to be twice
as big, and the barn converted into a shop for selling crafts and
local foods. The guy is also planting more fruit trees, expanding his
spring sugar tapping, and building a chicken coop. This is what the
New World looks like.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt6YD8zk3_qzAbGNgZhLuTlRCm2HGRltVWmwTFRJ3ZeKJ89WhCAdlNSlDWhsRHVapsUefSPqGf0Ob31W_IKKQX5c0Q0HtDSOaJbIzwCYWZvn5XF2Qf7jkYFoXY3KBtQFI8ZlKzUu2QbDf/s1600/081612-+Foundation+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt6YD8zk3_qzAbGNgZhLuTlRCm2HGRltVWmwTFRJ3ZeKJ89WhCAdlNSlDWhsRHVapsUefSPqGf0Ob31W_IKKQX5c0Q0HtDSOaJbIzwCYWZvn5XF2Qf7jkYFoXY3KBtQFI8ZlKzUu2QbDf/s320/081612-+Foundation+3.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK7VWozPltQDabxbA-_kq79dYRwEdccxAT3tvhTmD0ZC7OaCZCIOY2IwuzdKALLU7HRMeo3lIfTZL_zN3m5bANEK33oll0KuoaSuRJDmv9FVYSzlTnDM2sfFDv3Ofy9EIXr3rzyHbtaf2/s1600/081612-+Shop+Zone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK7VWozPltQDabxbA-_kq79dYRwEdccxAT3tvhTmD0ZC7OaCZCIOY2IwuzdKALLU7HRMeo3lIfTZL_zN3m5bANEK33oll0KuoaSuRJDmv9FVYSzlTnDM2sfFDv3Ofy9EIXr3rzyHbtaf2/s320/081612-+Shop+Zone.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">They're having an open house/grand opening on September 15th, just northwest of Montevideo, MN. (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/events/213681278761712/</a>).
There will be food, a couple of local bands, and media coverage. We
want to start this operation off with a bang. It would be wonderful
if some of you could come, to meet our sustainability community, and
to share your own adventures. Building community is the whole point,
and if our community can help inspire yours, or vice-versa, great.</span><br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-68875147544109892972012-08-20T12:25:00.000-07:002012-08-20T12:25:23.393-07:00Road work can be good for you
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_DnBIR81hhhPB00O75Vdods_OAswJZRmQmQXtxZ3nF__MRTgq0FTOyLX9kw3rej3PMFvGa9g7TUyDUIneDOyNRIP6WOlsx1I7TCcQCIvX2WZifI-OQWksSR4C8pIYrM6D-Eu0K7zb9sV/s1600/100_5649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_DnBIR81hhhPB00O75Vdods_OAswJZRmQmQXtxZ3nF__MRTgq0FTOyLX9kw3rej3PMFvGa9g7TUyDUIneDOyNRIP6WOlsx1I7TCcQCIvX2WZifI-OQWksSR4C8pIYrM6D-Eu0K7zb9sV/s320/100_5649.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">This morning I awoke to find that it's our neighborhood's turn for
the water and sewer upgrade work that's disrupted things around Milan
this summer. I got home late from the theatre, so of course they
started bright and early, with machinery that sounded like a whole
battalion of tanks was invading. The critters were all upset. One cat
kept running from window to window, trying to figure out what the
heck was going on. I hid in the back bedroom and managed to get
enough sleep- I hope.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When I awoke it was to find a workman at the door, asking that I
move my car. I hadn't realized that they'd be tearing up BOTH streets
on our corner. I guess that we'll be parking in the alley and coming
in through the garden for a while.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not really complaining. The work needs to be done. Change,
especially positive change, tends to be disruptive. This had been put
off for a while, so it was being a bit more disruptive than it might
have needed to be. Things need fixing when they need it- the longer
you wait, the harder it gets.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Being thoroughly awake, I put on some music and tackled housework.
Today I chose a '50s pop mix: I like the old crooners, the McGuire
Sisters, Percy Faith, and Les Paul. While doing dishes I was hit by
an epiphany, one of those moments when several ideas crystallize into
something new.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The first insight is very obvious, that change requires tearing
out the old structures, and is disruptive and scary.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The second was in considering the sentimentality of the music. You
can't really blame those who regret the passing of that age. I know,
it wasn't great for everyone, far from it, but it was for a lot of
folks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The third element was the conversations that I've had with people
about the idea that Western Civilization hit its peak around the
late-middle Twentieth Century.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then it struck me. By the 1950s we'd hit on the general framework
for a just and prosperous society. The Civil Rights protests that
were starting then were a sort of “road work,” fixing things that
weren't quite right. It was work that desperately needed doing, but
could be accomplished. The work got more intense in the '60s. We
tackled racial equality, women's rights, pollution, and poverty.
These things needed fixing, and could be in that general social
framework.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then it went wrong. Some people didn't like the “road work.”
They wanted the peacefulness of the '50s without the disruption. They
thought that things had been fine before all those troublemakers got
uppity. They stood up to put a stop to the whole thing. Nixon got
elected. Fundamentalist religions exploded.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We spent the '70s vacillating, then Reagan was elected, and our
fate was sealed. The “road work” was left half done. It became
mainstream to say that there'd been no need to “tear up the
streets” at all.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Consider that Nixon, a scary conservative, would
be a Lefty today. That's how much things have changed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, here we are, with far worse disruptions on the horizon. We
could have avoided many of them if we'd finished what we'd started
decades ago, but too many people found it inconvenient.</span><br />
<br />
Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-37341741413772934922012-07-30T09:07:00.000-07:002012-07-30T09:07:17.924-07:00Home again, home again, jiggity jig<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzt0wciwY6BfYcNcos9Hwx-_g8s6uIpg0ldV5KGrVTMDJOFYW3zqFQV_lEmSVN9jy7AaO9N3W_wzjYKsyCUn9PXPGneHXWV5f2bBfhFOlW7TlzM0QgzXgBo55BWhZp_IyQdnio1wWelBA/s1600/Ready+to+Go+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzt0wciwY6BfYcNcos9Hwx-_g8s6uIpg0ldV5KGrVTMDJOFYW3zqFQV_lEmSVN9jy7AaO9N3W_wzjYKsyCUn9PXPGneHXWV5f2bBfhFOlW7TlzM0QgzXgBo55BWhZp_IyQdnio1wWelBA/s320/Ready+to+Go+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That's that phase completed. In a week I covered about 1650 miles.
I brought back hours of recorded interviews, pages of notes, hundreds
of photos, and a head full of memories. I found what I went looking
for. It's surprisingly simple, yet fraught with implications. I was
enraptured at scenery, inspired by what people were doing, intrigued
at oddities, annoyed at foolishness, and saddened by looking ahead. I
discovered the magical effect on a room of saying "I'm a writer
doing research..."</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkA_AzkpJPtUU9kmqAX8knJZCZhg3zLn3TC55gyWCgvHiXp6HKJCGxfigb6rA4jYmR5daXnU-lh_-KUAeaJBWnDiuE68hLqtfr5hhGh6HGMJGfPnytA0nY5urV1sUWGZ8MUElLQqe1lbHf/s1600/Kim+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkA_AzkpJPtUU9kmqAX8knJZCZhg3zLn3TC55gyWCgvHiXp6HKJCGxfigb6rA4jYmR5daXnU-lh_-KUAeaJBWnDiuE68hLqtfr5hhGh6HGMJGfPnytA0nY5urV1sUWGZ8MUElLQqe1lbHf/s320/Kim+1.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I slept in a cottage in the woods, at two tourist hotels, on a
couch on a hippie farm in the bush, in a nice suburban bedroom, and
on a hide-a-bed in an apartment in St. Paul. I
talked with people sitting around kitchen tables, standing around gas stations and tourist traps, on back porches, in a Chinese buffet,
in college offices and classrooms, in lakeside parks, and in a
semi-clandestine activist gathering. I rescued a disabled veteran
hitchhiker, and jumped an oil worker's car.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkC5w9aaU9lXAxGyRpMsmuJciwhGhTd2lhyphenhyphenNZVVUKtbweJsZO3GUEB43A0vNErnLb-C45wOJwDsjPSyTZ3fydRbZyI0lZQbQ4FwmUyAfNkaD0O54Hzcoi_E5UThaSGwCuWAonESOAO74R/s1600/Biker+Dudes+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkC5w9aaU9lXAxGyRpMsmuJciwhGhTd2lhyphenhyphenNZVVUKtbweJsZO3GUEB43A0vNErnLb-C45wOJwDsjPSyTZ3fydRbZyI0lZQbQ4FwmUyAfNkaD0O54Hzcoi_E5UThaSGwCuWAonESOAO74R/s320/Biker+Dudes+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I talked to store clerks, journalists, construction workers, civil
servants, professors, teachers, and farmers. They were from several
countries, and ranged from pregnant young women with strapping young
husbands, to middle-aged hippies, to retired folks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What I found, in barest bones, is that people are scared. They see
things falling apart, that nothing is dependable any more. They see
different Major Threats, but it all adds up to trouble. Most are just
rolling with it. Some are getting pissed-off and protesting. Others
are thinking long-term, patiently building.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbFOBT5b7lYJo1ie2LByE88IkUASZkgNiwX2XxDjx8pZEZ3KzYF5Ds5lYQgzw9TrsbwDpUnp1EaCVi0Qb-xJFaA82tT_6Dsp9RJtrVY56t0IJWhVKu0qwdZZfGYXytygQAWPHEOlmDUf6/s1600/Prairie+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbFOBT5b7lYJo1ie2LByE88IkUASZkgNiwX2XxDjx8pZEZ3KzYF5Ds5lYQgzw9TrsbwDpUnp1EaCVi0Qb-xJFaA82tT_6Dsp9RJtrVY56t0IJWhVKu0qwdZZfGYXytygQAWPHEOlmDUf6/s320/Prairie+2.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">The New World lies in Community, Trust, Compassion, Cleverness,
and Foresight. Those words kept coming up, with spins according to
situations and experiences.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As I review what happened I'm amazed at all that I did, and what
people came my way. My greatest danger was in taking three hours to
make a one-hour drive, with all the pictures and people along the
way. I could have taken a month on this trip and filled it. I feel
bolstered by the words of Steinbeck and Heat-Moon- I'm an apprentice
in their Guild. I can write this book. Books?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgci5qKDM2Obx6RX0DAJ_cb3BNQIj01TW3ao2mGsd9NZukM4oIF1odcwy3yJnJuLu_xMcyBFjaDeUtf_lTv0pLqbDZcHu1l9NoxEqCuFxSYjlEBdCMju-6jJYRULA9g-VvGr7BFNqrOPFe/s1600/Toonie+in+GF.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-42439099249609774272012-07-24T18:45:00.000-07:002012-07-24T18:45:15.491-07:00Farther North than North<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkSxcAx4IJFCoAV2Y1VK17S6eLZr7Lq6ArH-Nj7CvBrk6qToZOa7hjjtufV5_I1blE0A9D_4HvRCfRkGkK9oTpWL7f1xkLaFDy5vEeMsQziUpgWixgv5Zhyphenhyphenx362t_F4OJt7H5JfAJU36s/s1600/100_5234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZkSxcAx4IJFCoAV2Y1VK17S6eLZr7Lq6ArH-Nj7CvBrk6qToZOa7hjjtufV5_I1blE0A9D_4HvRCfRkGkK9oTpWL7f1xkLaFDy5vEeMsQziUpgWixgv5Zhyphenhyphenx362t_F4OJt7H5JfAJU36s/s320/100_5234.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #660000;">Looking south from farther north than North</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Growing up in Minnesota, I came to think of the Lake of the Woods as waaay up there, the sticks, the boonies, a place where dog sleds and voyageurs still roamed. Imagine my surreal feeling at eating fish and chips tonight at a window overlooking that Utter North from yet further north. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EckdwjP9KO6ciu3Yfgh5Gw5m-KLai10W92GibFS5W_A2_20i4x_quXytmE4vyi6uK6Nl74eW4OkGLxdc1aJaapDiGDwOkZfUzUraq5AZaRK9PN0jPbH3wqrdOeQd3_bHKyQVUfN7001m/s1600/100_5056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8EckdwjP9KO6ciu3Yfgh5Gw5m-KLai10W92GibFS5W_A2_20i4x_quXytmE4vyi6uK6Nl74eW4OkGLxdc1aJaapDiGDwOkZfUzUraq5AZaRK9PN0jPbH3wqrdOeQd3_bHKyQVUfN7001m/s320/100_5056.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="color: #990000; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My bed in a straw bale house at Room to Grow</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsjDuWYrIAIh7lXItQ-VZUVa9n1iPAHoxt3TPIZlmoxYyp1ZgUuoJh5C0eP5otTsnfIX8IuFcUXWC3RfEe3tomOWwaCAT6Pn2K_FzrO_2_AMfTuDMIws-R5umTKkDTelDb9rUotmG5XPzc/s1600/100_5196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Where I am- the Super 8 in Kenora, Ontario. In two days I've gone
from sleeping in a hotel in a boom town, across miles of prairie, visiting the site of my earliest memories, crossing an international border, sleeping in the equivalent of an Irish thatched cottage, driving through miles and miles of canola (It smells like warm
cauliflower), finding a friend of Minnesota friends on a back road of the Canadian
prairie, driving through more miles and miles of canola, finding a
place in the bush after three turns on unmarked gravel roads, crashing
on a hippie couch, driving through glacial hills, across ordinary
prairie, across flat-as-a-pancake prairie, through classic northern
woods, past a huge meteor crater lake, into the oldest rock outcroppings
on the planet among lakes and trees, to a place reminiscent of Grand
Marais, but about five times as big.</span>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-25540389673866956072012-07-22T05:47:00.000-07:002012-07-22T05:47:15.800-07:00Committed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPdLdfhFFPRVRgnCckFjrfNmdqV4zV5yS7KOx6BB6F2NtdHrKh2q-GXz8EI6BfFUTXd2YuZzI7l1uWt7OaUEFaLjWrSSVaX-von6wODwO4JhLNLadq1FSRztrkSsXSjKmhv-QzvcG-IHp/s1600/Toonie+in+GF.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPdLdfhFFPRVRgnCckFjrfNmdqV4zV5yS7KOx6BB6F2NtdHrKh2q-GXz8EI6BfFUTXd2YuZzI7l1uWt7OaUEFaLjWrSSVaX-von6wODwO4JhLNLadq1FSRztrkSsXSjKmhv-QzvcG-IHp/s320/Toonie+in+GF.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Good morning, world! Hello trees! Hello birds! Hello juniper bush! (If you get that, pass it on)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I was too bleary-eyed last night to file, although I did write several pages of notes that only I will need to decipher.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For a day when I really had nothing planned but travelling, a lot happened. In short:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I saw the Prairie in all its glory</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I met a bunch of interesting bikers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I picked up a hitchhiker with stories to tell</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I saw the camper-driving, Albertan, equivalent of the "Little Old Lady from Pasadena"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">I had an OK Chinese buffet supper with lots of people to watch</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And all this while just heading toward the object of my quest. I feel a bit like Bilbo Baggins. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This morning I got an email about changes to the rest of the trip. My contacts, bless 'em, are hooking my up with excellent sources. I'll have to restrain and pace myself, but I'm embracing the itinerary changes. Oh, the places I'll see!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, it's off to put the feedbag on Sleipnir, dig into my own life sustaining supplies, and head to Bottineau. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-33521813758121933462012-07-20T19:08:00.000-07:002012-07-20T19:08:06.291-07:0007/20/12- Onward<br />
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv3lAREQLb15OrWyAgg6YZ5_sf3IngzxLrkRQ4qzodDE4iMuTT4dSzWsAeS3S24FXG3v7eGKfJiQIHvbHVUU0YcJn5Lk6YmbhagnnZIhs5ycmk3SDCBe0A0qzXe1_07Bt8sPqxwnWV84h/s1600/simon-garfunkel-color1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv3lAREQLb15OrWyAgg6YZ5_sf3IngzxLrkRQ4qzodDE4iMuTT4dSzWsAeS3S24FXG3v7eGKfJiQIHvbHVUU0YcJn5Lk6YmbhagnnZIhs5ycmk3SDCBe0A0qzXe1_07Bt8sPqxwnWV84h/s320/simon-garfunkel-color1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They got old on us!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“They've all gone to look for
America</span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> Simon and
Garfunkle, <i>America</i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've been in the Local Foods Movement for about a decade. I've
seen great successes in that time, including our own greenhouse, and
our <i>Northlands Winter Greenhouse Manual.</i> Community Gardens,
CSAs, Community Kitchens, and Food Co-ops are springing up all over.
The “counter-food” culture has grown and changed enormously in
that decade, even making the cover of <i>Time</i> magazine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But some of my colleagues are expressing doubts. Have our
successes been the “right successes?” Are we really building
something sustainable, a sense of food-based cooperative community,
or just a tie-dyed, free range parody of the Industrial Food System?
What do we do now that our grass-roots movement has been overtaken by
big players with huge resources, their own agendas, and little desire
to coordinate efforts? Is that a good thing that we just need to
adapt to, or something to shun?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then there's the sense of urgency- or the lack of it. Fires,
floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures are happening on
unprecedented scales. Arctic lakes have begun literally <i>fizzing</i>,
giving up their millenia-worth of stored CO<sup>2</sup>.
The “recovery” from the Great Recession has stalled out but for
isolated industries and places. Writers like Richard Heinberg and
John Michael Greer point out that the “Era of Growth” is over.
Yet, projects like the Transition Movement are making headway only
spottily, and the Local Foods Movement seems to have little
consciousness of its own vital importance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I see enormous needs to prepare for, and have some grasp of how to
proceed. Why do others seemingly not see or feel this, or don't know
what to do? This isn't necessarily the End of the World, but it's
certainly the end of centuries of exploitative “business as usual.”
A big change is coming- We can do this easy, or we can do this hard.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's also a spiritual question. Who we are is inescapably linked
with the natural world around us, a fact that too many have
forgotten. The Changes, which have already started, will force us to
face that reality again. We'll need to devise new answers to the
Great Questions: Who are we? What is our place? Is there a reason for
our existence? What kinds of answers does a people who have lost
everything devise? We've seen the wreckage when cultures are overrun
and obliterated- What about when it's all human peoples, everywhere?
I believe that those answers are growing, even now.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What's happening out there? Like Ulysses, I've fought my own
“Trojan War,” and now undertake a voyage of discovery on my way
home. What monsters are others battling? What narcotic lotus blossoms
have lulled some to sleep? What seductive suitors are trying to steal
away my kith and kin?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I need to go see. I may or may not like what I find. The voyage
may even be perilous, but I doubt that it will be boring.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoYbfRe55XV7ZiFlClrj1I5zKscSAHFXMFVr3jOTbF_v8fDhYK1j9_YwAX5Gp5vim-0bfm9hE0pL-vZmvBqpsmPG86EP3WPlSZcs133KBLxwEzsJ9XXLvU4jF5yWB4AuJv5l2aDUGjPBl/s1600/100_4716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEoYbfRe55XV7ZiFlClrj1I5zKscSAHFXMFVr3jOTbF_v8fDhYK1j9_YwAX5Gp5vim-0bfm9hE0pL-vZmvBqpsmPG86EP3WPlSZcs133KBLxwEzsJ9XXLvU4jF5yWB4AuJv5l2aDUGjPBl/s320/100_4716.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleipnir in Milan</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I'll try to blog along the way, but may have limited Internet
access in some places. The blog posts will also find their way into
the book I'm writing, <i>Travels with Chuck in Search of the New
World, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">with an appreciative nod
to John Steinbeck for blazing the road</span>-story path. I plan that
each chapter of the book will include interviews, photos, and the
impressions and ideas that they bring forth.</span><br />
<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-21802262545197333502012-07-20T11:18:00.000-07:002012-07-20T11:18:04.219-07:00Almost There<br />
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEWXh8Q6yPoHQ1FDTJxRBe7g6muGaA-QPuUac94CpHQuYD0cV_lNTEDG-16iWdIo3JPnyVXqXWaVZTrJFNohN8cKZ3-azYqJmegygWaaSr-QgDYcG-OzowOEREM8tj8cER1ppNTSHmw7e/s1600/Von+Moeltke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEWXh8Q6yPoHQ1FDTJxRBe7g6muGaA-QPuUac94CpHQuYD0cV_lNTEDG-16iWdIo3JPnyVXqXWaVZTrJFNohN8cKZ3-azYqJmegygWaaSr-QgDYcG-OzowOEREM8tj8cER1ppNTSHmw7e/s1600/Von+Moeltke.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">“<span style="font-style: normal;">No Battle Plan Survives
Contact With the Enemy”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke </span></span>
<br />
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I've seen that the same can be said of
trips. Just before, or just after, you start something will come up.
This morning it did- nothing major, but resulting in a change of
route and timing.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I wouldn't mention it at all, except
that it relates directly to the book. Several of the folks I'll be
visiting are involved in research to make Sustainable Ag more-
sustainable. This often involves writing grants, which is a headache
in itself. What's worse is how the grant agencies tend to write the
requirements for their “Innovation Grants” in such a way as to
exclude anything really innovative. They tend to want to fund
projects to make fundamentally unsustainable Industrial Ag projects
look “greener,” gobbling up funds that new ideas need to come to
fruition. None of us has escaped this madness in our efforts.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One of my contacts emailed me today,
that they need the time we'd planned on to recover from a surprise of
this sort- disappearing funding and changes of plans. We'll still get
together, just not when, where and for as long as we'd planned.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6I5nE3dJ2vUjDvNGjVR1YhbyFJHpZ05PVpxCRvukuwMK1Q5LF1e-Tu2-aOfn4phGdCTuJTqsflhAhyT87dDlC7PifV0dwO_vmbvPxJBZaZC9fforUJccwWhYMB84U4KH5gf9FeyXoEQ6/s1600/100B4720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6I5nE3dJ2vUjDvNGjVR1YhbyFJHpZ05PVpxCRvukuwMK1Q5LF1e-Tu2-aOfn4phGdCTuJTqsflhAhyT87dDlC7PifV0dwO_vmbvPxJBZaZC9fforUJccwWhYMB84U4KH5gf9FeyXoEQ6/s320/100B4720.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">John Steinbeck got into trouble trying
to take his dog, Charlie, across the US/Canada border. I'm planning
to cross that border more than once, but Carol insisted that I need a
“Charlie” along. I've also thought that this trip calls for a
special cap. Problems solved!</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday was Crazy Day in Montevideo.
The dance studio on the main drag was having a garage sale, at which
I found an authentic, new, well fitting Greek fisherman's cap, and an
ideal traveling companion, a plush koala bear. I plan to name her/him
“Travelin' Toonie, the koala copilot.” Toonie cost two dollars.
In Canada they have a $2 coin called a “toonie.” Hence- Travelin'
Toonie. (S)he will appear in photos along the way.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
</div>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-82972370994987835882012-07-19T10:37:00.000-07:002012-07-19T10:37:12.284-07:0007/19/12- Preparations<br />
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4P9DRu4qztxrqZ6HE7mES-g42JLFpONDFn82cozdMhs54y3O1oizwe-mbiWbgsv-N__wnumVQJhe_lLJBZJ1QHQCFOg7LklYO4gXq27nJ9neXuEhLqmb04W8FCKqTIuc27BuR8rtwFMb/s1600/blues-brothers-the-blues-brothers-171234_550_567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4P9DRu4qztxrqZ6HE7mES-g42JLFpONDFn82cozdMhs54y3O1oizwe-mbiWbgsv-N__wnumVQJhe_lLJBZJ1QHQCFOg7LklYO4gXq27nJ9neXuEhLqmb04W8FCKqTIuc27BuR8rtwFMb/s320/blues-brothers-the-blues-brothers-171234_550_567.jpg" width="310" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">“We are on a mission from God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> <i>The Blues Brothers</i> (The original,
not that crappy sequel)</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I finished Steinbeck's <i>Travels with
Charlie</i>, again, and have started on William Least Heat-Moon's
<i>Blue Highways</i> and Carolyn Baker's <i>Sacred Demise</i>. These
books feel like conversations with good friends- sometimes sad
friends, but simapitcos.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Christianity has a saying, “All
things work together for good for those who love God and are called
according to his purpose.” Most Faiths have something similar, but
that's the best known version. For me, it's that smoothness when I'm
“in the groove.” When I'm not, it's like I'm constantly bashing
my head against obstacles and clashing with dunderheads.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As Joseph Campbell put it, “Follow your
bliss.”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was that way with Garden Goddess. We
built the greenhouse, and things easily fell into place. People we
needed to know just showed up. Chances to spread the word competed
for our time. Not that it wasn't hard work, but it was work that
flowed.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">That changed. Yes, our greenhouse
manual was selling. Yes, people were building greenhouses. Yes, we
had speaking engagements. But, we ran into more obstacles. People
started to get weird on us- Ones who should have been partners
ignored us or got in our way. Connections and plans that should have
worked out, didn't. We could feel that the context had shifted. I
started saying to myself, “My work here is done.” We needed to
rethink things.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">With this trip and writing work, I'm
back in the groove. Improbable but significant people have just shown
up to be a part of it. I was prepared to camp, but folks all along
the way have offered beds.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Carol's story is Carol's story to tell,
but I'll just say that she's having similar synchronicities and
bliss.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoacNt-SYq9-CxZ_Qbm98hUIviQX_am6fsPafGFHo-zj8QzARyQvd3FXpb4uUjs1C6gVt8dBQCmne6zM_ellCKec1avx0K5EWsLu_cG6XbOpYNryc-KjlFOa7QP1oliIwoQY4OxDcPbNd/s1600/Yukon+Cornelius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoacNt-SYq9-CxZ_Qbm98hUIviQX_am6fsPafGFHo-zj8QzARyQvd3FXpb4uUjs1C6gVt8dBQCmne6zM_ellCKec1avx0K5EWsLu_cG6XbOpYNryc-KjlFOa7QP1oliIwoQY4OxDcPbNd/s320/Yukon+Cornelius.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">“I'm off to get my life-sustaining
supplies- corn meal and gunpowder and ham hocks and guitar strings</span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"> Yukon
Cornelius, <i>Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer</i></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My, that preface got out of hand! What
I was originally going to write about was going for trip supplies.
Yesterday I went to the Big City out here, Willmar, population about
20,000. Don't laugh. That would have been considered a city anywhere
on Earth clear up until about a century ago- context matters.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As I sat having lunch in my favorite
Chinese buffet, finishing <i>Travels with Charlie,</i> and people
watching, I got the feeling of being in Rome a few years before the
barbarians invaded, or Pompeii before Vesuvius blew. No, not quite
Rome- they knew what a threat the barbarians were. There was an
episode of <i>Doctor Who</i> a while back that made the point- The
Pompeiians didn't really know what a volcano WAS. They had no concept
of the danger they were in.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe both apply. Some people
understand what kind of trouble we're in, but most don't. The insight
that developed from last weekend's incident at the theatre, see my
<i>Lessons on Human Nature</i>, is that they literally CAN'T. Getting
angry and arguing with them is useless. It would be like arguing with
that pleasant Down's Syndrome fellow the other night.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We must each ask, “What am I doing?”
not “Who am I arguing with?” or “What fruitless protest am I
involved with?”</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<br /><br />
</div>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-41565270870853448702012-07-16T10:07:00.000-07:002012-07-16T13:40:25.625-07:0007/16/12- Lessons on Human Nature<br />
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's about half a week until I hit the road. My gear is mustered,
and most of my supplies are laid in. I'm exchanging final emails with
contacts about details. I'm hitting that angsty stage just before a
trip- as Steinbeck wrote about in <i>Travels with Charlie</i>, there
grows a conviction that it will never happen, that home is infinitely
preferable to the discomforts of the road, that you're crazy to even
think about going.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Where am I going? The “map answer” is: From West Central
Minnesota up the Dakotas, across some of Manitoba and Ontario, back
down to the Twin Cities via the North Shore of Lake Superior, then
across Minnesota to Home. The “people answer” is: I'll be
visiting folks who have accomplished things involving Sustainable
Agriculture and Local Foods. The “philosophical answer,” the true
core of my quest, is that I'm looking for signs of the new world that
will emerge from our current predicament-ridden era.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Not to belabor the point, at the least we now face the end of
about two centuries of energy-intensive, exploitative, “business as
usual,” Industrial Civilization. Some respectable sources say that
we may be facing much worse. I hope not.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7aKWn7s3uWgSpi6DZGokld4USYA4KLLEhwypalmuQoRC1BClOOf83yKHYgXiFmUSxH7ez3BJuZQX6nkqB__cVcvTd6vSSot5G7tJ9UXdN0TzHSl_t1pGbcfCAKUvOUxUUPI3jvj36CDu/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ7aKWn7s3uWgSpi6DZGokld4USYA4KLLEhwypalmuQoRC1BClOOf83yKHYgXiFmUSxH7ez3BJuZQX6nkqB__cVcvTd6vSSot5G7tJ9UXdN0TzHSl_t1pGbcfCAKUvOUxUUPI3jvj36CDu/s320/IMG_0013.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three of my efficient, courteous staffers</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I experienced an incident the other night which has lessons for
the situation. I'm Assistant Manager at a small-town, three-screen
movie theatre. This means that I open and close, run projectors, sell
tickets, supervise the cleanup and concessions staff, count money,
and generally keep an eye on things. It's a great job for a writer- I
can study and write during films and before we open.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Like any Mom and Pop scale business we have regulars. Among them
are residents of local group homes for “challenged adults-”
that's folks with handicaps, especially mental ones. A couple of
nights each week they arrive in groups of five or six, with a
caregiver/minder. That night I'd sold tickets to such a group. After
the obligatory high fives and “have funs,” they went in to see
<i>The Amazing Spiderman</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">About half way through the movie another regular came running out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">“Quick! Call 911! There's a guy in there having a heart attack!”
he shouted.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I made the call, and ran upstairs to stop the projector and bring
up the lights. The Good Samaritan said that he'd keep an eye on the
cash drawer and all while I was gone. Three more guys came running
out, saying, “Whatever we can do to help, just tell us!” They
went out to wave down the emergency vehicles and make sure that the
double exit doors were unlatched and wide open.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">By the time I got back downstairs the EMTs and First Responders
were there, working on the guy. None of the twenty or thirty folks in
the movie freaked out. Many asked whether they could help.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In a very few minutes the ambulance arrived, and they wheeled the
unconscious victim out on a gurney. Shit! It was one of the group
home guys! As the Caregiver shepherded his flock out after their
friend, one turned to reassure me with a big grin and two thumbs up.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">“Thas' OK Shuck! We'll be back ta da movie next time!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He had no idea what had just happened. I could have cried.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The first lesson I see in this is that most people, when they see
trouble, want to help. It's pretty much an Article of Faith for me:
<i>Most people mean well. </i>The other is that when bad things that
are beyond their experience happen, they either put a good face on
it, denying the severity, or they get mean, attacking the messenger:
<i>All people have limits on the bad news they can absorb.</i> Both
are normal. Humans are just like that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The trouble today is, that while most people mean well, few can
wrap their heads around the scope or time scale of the trouble we're
in. Warning, warning, warning them isn't doing much good, as they
freak out or stick their fingers in their ears and shout “la la la
la la.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We need to be able to say, “Yup, things are bad, but they'll get
better after they get worse. Here's what we're gonna do...”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That's what I want to find out- what are those who see, doing?
What comes in the next chapter of Humanity's saga?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-2358132277748072892012-07-10T20:39:00.000-07:002012-07-10T20:39:47.816-07:00Useless Meetings<br />
<h1 class="western">
</h1>
“Singing songs and carrying signs<br />
Mostly say, hooray for our side”<br />
<i>For What it's Worth</i>, Buffalo Springfield<br />
<br />
<br />
In sadness and frustration, I walked out of another meeting today.
We Progressives have seen more of them than we can count- meetings
that accomplish little more than making the organizers feel that they
“did something,” and maybe passed along some warm fuzzies, or
more likely a vague dissatisfaction. They never seem to realize that
people's time and money are precious, and that the huge tasks we have
to handle are too big and too urgent for farting around. I've seen
many well-intentioned projects stall out and accomplish nothing
because of this basic lack or organization. You know exactly what I
mean, if you're willing to admit it.<br />
<br />
I've seen what works, and I've seen what doesn't. Off the top of
my head-<br />
<h2 class="western">
</h2>
<h2 class="western">
Meetings in general must provide:</h2>
<ol>
<li>A challenge to the attendees to change something in their
lives or to tackle a task- to ACT.<br />
</li>
<li>Some new and interesting idea, not just a minor detail on
something everyone already knew.<br />
</li>
<li>An Action Plan- What do we do next? What do I do next?<br />
</li>
<li>Some deeper insight than,”Yup, we're the good guys and
they're the bad guys.”<br />
</li>
<li>Definite solace to people who've been hurt- with a plan of
how to help, even if it's just active sympathy and meals for a week.<br />
</li>
<li>Clear affirmation that a good, or bad, situation is what it
appears to be, and that we're there for each other in it.<br />
</li>
<li>A progress report of a quality and clarity that you could
publish.<br />
</li>
</ol>
<b>Any meeting without at least two of these is questionable. Any
with NONE was a waste of time.</b><br />
<h2 class="western">
</h2>
<h2 class="western">
Business meetings must have a clear, logical flow,
including:-</h2>
<ol>
<li>A clear agenda, either passed out or posted in big letters-
and followed loudly and clearly.<br />
</li>
<li>Time to clearly discuss/debate any item to be voted on.<br />
</li>
<li>Candidates for offices speaking before the whole group before
a vote is taken.<br />
</li>
</ol>
<b>Failure to follow these will lead to confusion and resentment. If
your group is incorporated, skipping them is likely illegal.</b><br />
<h2 class="western">
</h2>
<h2 class="western">
If it's an outdoor meeting-</h2>
<ol>
<li>Provide LOTS of big, clearly legible signage saying-<br />
<ol>
<li>Who is welcome.<br />
</li>
<li>Where the meeting is.<br />
</li>
<li>Where to park.<br />
</li>
<li>When and where any formal meeting will convene.<br />
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>If it's anything but a “blowing off steam” party, don't
play music- it will limit conversation to trivialities. You will
also annoy other people around you.<br />
</li>
<li>If you have outdoor cooked food, make sure that it is ready
to go, and has adequate staff. For two people to serve 100 people
could easily take two hours- two hours of hot sun, hungry, crabby
folks, and mosquitoes.<br />
</li>
<li>Don't forget the drinks, the cooler, the napkins...<br />
</li>
</ol>
<h2 class="western">
</h2>
<h2 class="western">
If it's a recruiting booth at an event-</h2>
<ol>
<li>Have big, clear signage announcing who you are- mounted above
and behind your people.<br />
</li>
<li>Have “tagline” signage to pique people's interest.<br />
</li>
<li>Have well-informed, briefed, people manning the booth.<br />
</li>
<li>Have plenty of colorful, obviously informative literature.
You have about 1/2 second to get your main idea across.<br />
</li>
<li>Don't assume that anyone passing by has any idea of who you
are or what you stand for.<br />
</li>
<li>Saturate appropriate media ahead of time with the fact that
you'll be there and why. Pay if you have to- then become so
interesting that you won't have to the next time.<br />
</li>
</ol>
<u>These are just for starters. There are more such rules, but you
get the idea.</u><br />
<br />
It may surprise you to know that there's a Right Wing,
Conservative, Tea Party version of the Local Foods Movement. True,
they do tend to be white, straight, Christians who are more concerned
with keeping Commies out of government, the US out of the UN, and
fluoride out of their water, than with social justice or
sustainability. But, they know and use these rules. So do Corporate
shills- which is why they're kicking the butts of arguably saner,
more reality-based folks lately.<br /><br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-73247225098507107602012-04-09T12:56:00.000-07:002012-04-09T12:56:53.876-07:00Willmar League of Women Voters Speech- 04/09/12<h1 class="western">Willmar League of Women Voters Speech- 04/09/12</h1><h2 class="western">Open</h2><span style="color: green;"><b>Rural America is colluding with those who would destroy it.</b></span><br />
That's the bad news. I'll get to the good news.<br />
I first became aware of this trend while researching a class I taught at the University of Minnesota, Morris- <i>Social and Ethical Implications of Technology.</i><br />
This shouldn't have been a surprise. It's part of an overall trend in our society. Look at the election ads and corporate propaganda- human beings are not valued as persons, but as units of production and consumption to be used and manipulated.<br />
This is called “Colonization.” It's what the European powers did to Africa, Asia and America in centuries past. They <span style="color: green;">turned living places into resource bases</span>, <span style="color: green;">homelands into commodity dumps</span>- not to serve the people there, but to serve powerful people somewhere else.<span style="color: blue;"> I'm pleased to see East African and Hispanic folks here- You know exactly what I'm talking about.</span> It's being done to us, right here and right now- if in a sneakier way.<br />
<h2 class="western">Problem</h2>In their 2009 book, <i>Hollowing out the Middle</i>, Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas talked about the Rural Brain Drain, that how we educate our kids, how we train them to view rural life, ensures that the best and brightest grow up, excel in school, graduate- and leave. If they come back with “foreign ideas,” even wonderful ideas, it's an uphill battle to get anyone to listen to them.<br />
But it isn't just education. We are doing the same thing with food- sending it away, and buying it back in inferior forms. We have some of the best soil on the planet, but many of our towns and counties are USDA-designated as <span style="color: green;">food deserts</span>.<br />
Most farmers today aren't growing food, but producing industrial feedstocks. Old MacDonald's farm is a thing of the past. Look beside the highway-Those aren't farms in the sense we all used to know, but factories: They use highly mechanized and energy-wasteful methods to extract commodities which are useless without intensive processing. <span style="color: green;">It isn't the farmers' fault- they know that the system is rigged against them, but what can they do?</span><br />
According to a report by the Rural Economics Researcher Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center, once you compile all the numbers:<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.49in;"> <span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Garamond,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nearly two-thirds of food consumed in Minnesota is produced out of state</span></span></span></div><div align="CENTER" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.49in;"> <span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Garamond,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and</span></span></span></div><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.49in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Garamond,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Farmers (in Western Minnesota) lose $150 million each year producing food commodities, and also spend $ 600 million buying outside inputs, while consumers spend $ 250 million buying food from outside. This is a total loss of $1 billion of potential wealth </span></span></span><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Garamond,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>each year</i></span></span></span><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Garamond,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">. This loss amounts to 70 % of the value of all food commodities raised in the region.</span></span></span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: green;">So. We export our children through education. We export our soil, our water, and our true wealth through agriculture. This is not a good plan for long-term sustainability.</span><br />
There is an oft-quoted Cree prophecy:<br />
<span style="color: green;">"When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money."</span><br />
<h2 class="western">Relief</h2>I should tell you who are at Garden Goddess. We're a good example of what's possible. We have seen huge changes in these last ten years:<br />
<h3 class="western">Greenhouse/CSA Story:</h3><span style="color: black;">In the Fall of 2002 we were getting our vegetables from the Easy Bean, a large CSA farm east of Milan, MN. When we opened that last box of the season, when we realized that we'd be dependent on grocery stores for “fresh” vegetables, Carol said, “Ya know, somebody ought to do something about this.”</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">“Somebody” soon became US. We spent three years in research, reading books, combing websites, visiting other installations, playing with and arguing over designs, before we came up with the Garden Goddess Greenhouse. We went back to first principles, as “standard” greenhouses are little changed from the first one built in 1843 in London. They are inefficient energy hogs. Our design uses something like 3% of the energy that a conventional greenhouse would. Others have built greenhouses based on our design, and their figures show the same savings.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">In 2009 we published the <i>Northlands Winter Greenhouse Manual</i>. It's sold well, and is in its second printing. The book has led to requests for design help from all over North America, as well as Ireland, Bolivia, the Isle of Man, even Iran. Dozen or so greenhouses operating because of the book, and constantly hear second- and third-hand reports of others.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">We've traveled tens of thousands of miles, presenting at conferences, conducting workshops, and helping others rethink their food options. We've spoken in big cities and teeny prairie villages. We've been before crowds of middle-aged hippies, and of tea-party enthusiasts. We've spoken with non-profits, farmers, and government officials. People have actually cried after some of our messages, since we brought them hope.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">A concept that we've developed is “Building the Fifty Dollar Table.” When trying to recreate the food system into something more just and environmentally sound, you can't take on the big players in the current system, like Cargill and Monsanto, head-on. There is an old saying: “If someone asks you to sit down at the poker table, but they have $5000 and you have $50, DON'T SIT DOWN!” We are building that “other table” rather than playing an unwinnable game.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: green;">The most powerful force keeping things the way they are is ignorance.</span> We believe that feeding ourselves is hard, maybe even illegal. We don't think that we can do much- but <span style="color: green;">WE CAN DO MORE THAN WE THINK WE CAN</span>. In our travels we've seen this time and again.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">We've seen Community Gardens reduce crime and build community- what's more fundamental than food? </span> <br />
<span style="color: black;">Neighborhood Gardens have created community among neighbors.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Locally prodeced foods have given small grocery stores a new lease on life.</span><br />
<span style="color: green;">West Central Minnesota is a hotbed of these activities, with dozens of local-food-dedicated producers, organizations providing training and support for them, and active projects to increase our ability to feed ourselves.</span><br />
<h2 class="western"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are several worthy efforts in the Willmar area already:</span></span></h2><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Willmar High School runs a large greenhouse that we helped renovate from a semi-derilect unit on the MinnWest Technology Campus.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The East Side Farmers mMarket has been oiperating for decades, and is still going strong.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The Becker Avenue Farmers Market, right downtown, is a great operation, with a big year-opening event coming up next month.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The Community Owned Grocery, COG, is in its planning and fund-raising stage. It will be a full-range food store, with other services and products, centered on locally-produced goods, local ownership, and the local community.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<h3 class="western">So far, these are rather “traditional” ideas. But moving on from there:</h3>According to the AURI (Agricultural Utilization Reasearch Institute) report-<span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href=""><span style="font-size: small;"> “Minnesota Food Production Sector: Growing Green Jobs,</span></a></u></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">” some of the growing opportunities are in:</span><br />
<ul><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Producing Local Foods: People increasingly want to know where their food comes from.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Distributing Food: Is this “commuter food,” or truly fresh?</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Locally-Sourced Food Service: Chefs and other food-service people know that freshness and quality are paramount.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Organics: How food is raised, and what extra is in it, is a growing concern.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Health and Food Safety: The more steps that food goes through, the greater the chances of contamination.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Livestock Production: Locally raised, free-range meats are a growing market</span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;">Urban Agriculture: People growing their own foods, in their own communities, share many benefits, including food security.</span></div></li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<br />
We're working on next steps, to implement these ideas. Two promising areas are-<br />
<h3 class="western">C-squared</h3>This is what we're calling a sort of “cooperative of cooperatives,” as local foods groups from around the region have been discussing how to organize a decentralized food distribution network.<br />
<h3 class="western">Food Hubs</h3>These a growing and highly profitable business for communities. To quote a new USDA study, Food Hubs provide:<br />
<ul><li><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Expanded market opportunities for agricultural producers.</span></span></span></div></li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Job creation in rural and urban areas.</span></span></span></div></li>
<li><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Increased access of fresh healthy foods for consumers, with strong potentials to reach underserved areas and food deserts</span></span></span></span><span style="color: green;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (that's us)</span></span></span></span><br />
</li>
</ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><b>A typical food hub:</b></span></div><ul><li><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Is a socially driven business enterprise </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">with a strong emphasis on “good prices” for producers and “good food” for consumers.</span></span></span></span><br />
</li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Employs 6 full-time or part-time staff and uses volunteers regularly.</span></span></span></div></li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Works with 40 regular food suppliers, many of whom are small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers.</span></span></span></div></li>
<li><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Offers a wide range of food products</span></span><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, with fresh produce being its major product category, and sells through multiple market channels, with restaurants being an important entry market.</span></span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Is a</span></span><span style="color: #5e11a6;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">ctively involved in their community, offering a wide range of services to both producers and consumers.</span></span><br />
</li>
</ul><h2 class="western"><span style="color: black;">Payoff</span></h2>Whenever I consult on such a project, I warn my clients that <span style="color: green;">there are three main kinds of problems in a foods project- horticultural problems, engineering problems, and people problems, with people problems being the hardest.</span> Building structures and raising crops are almost trivial compared to dealing with:<br />
<ul><li>well-meaning but ignorant nay-sayers- people who say, “If I don't already know it, it isn't worth knowing;”<br />
</li>
<li>power-hungry manipulators- people who want nothing to happen unless they're in charge and get credit;<br />
</li>
<li>petty bureaucrats enforcing inappropriate rules- people who don't understand that rules can become obsolete, or that sensible rules for Big Business are fatal to Mom and Pop operations;<br />
</li>
<li>vested interests fearing a loss of power- those same Big Businesses that will claim “fairness” and “safety,” when neither is accurate, actually to shut down competition;<br />
</li>
<li>dog-in-the-manger folks who will stop things just because they can.<br />
</li>
</ul>I've seen projects sunk, delayed, or tripled in cost by all of these.<br />
R. T. Rybak and <span style="color: black;">Megan O'Hara</span> came by our place last winter to discuss greenhouses, and they agreed. Witness the crazy wrangling over the City of Minneapolis' recently passed food policy, in the face of people raising tons of food in back yards and community gardens.<br />
<span style="color: green;">The League of Women Voters is dedicated to the American way of Politics- working with the craziest, most vital kind of people problems. You know that it all boils down to </span><span style="color: green;"><b>serving the community</b></span><span style="color: green;">. You, here, are the people who can tackle the people problems that stand in the way of our thriving. Look up the people who raised their hands earlier- they can tell you where to start.</span><br />
<h2 class="western">Sources-</h2><ul><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource Center, Minneapolis, 2008- </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href=""><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Western Minnesota Local Farm & Food Economy</b></span></span></a></u></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> (summary) </b></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.crcworks.org/lea/wcmnsum06.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>http://www.crcworks.org/lea/wcmnsum06.pdf</b></span></span></a></u></span></span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ken Meter: </span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href=""><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Who Produces Minnesota's Food?</b></span></span></a></u></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span></u></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.crcworks.org/mnfoodimp81.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>http://www.crcworks.org/mnfoodimp81.pdf</b></i></span></span></a></u></span></span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Hollowing out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means For America</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">. Carr, Patrick J. and Kefalas, Maria J. ISBN-978-0807006146 </span></span> </div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href=""><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Regional Food Hubs: </span></span></u></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Understanding the scope and scale of food hub operations</span></span></span></u></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2012. Jim Barham. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Regional Food Hub Subcommittee Team Lead </span></span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5088011"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5088011</span></span></span></a></u></span></span></div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href=""><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">AURI report “Minnesota Food Production Sector: Growing Green Jobs,</span></span></a></u></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">”</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.auri.org/wp-content/assets/legacy/research/MN%20Food%20Production%20Sector%20Growing%20Green%20Jobs.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.auri.org/wp-content/assets/legacy/research/MN%20Food%20Production%20Sector%20Growing%20Green%20Jobs.pdf</span></span></span></a></u></span></span></div></li>
</ul>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-36776633784578196552011-10-16T20:45:00.000-07:002011-10-16T20:45:55.226-07:00PreOccupiedLike everyone else, I find the Occupy Movement inspiring- sort of. Who doesn't thrill to the idea of the 99% rising up to protest the System that's turned them into wage slaves? How can you not admire people fighting back against those who are erasing all the gains we shed blood to make in the Twentieth Century? What's more historically amazing than people all over the world taking to the streets, mostly non-violently? It makes a '60s kid like me feel right at home.<br />
<br />
<br />
Almost.<br />
<br />
I have two main problems when comparing Occupy with the mid-century's movements. First off, it isn't really clear who or what these folks are fighting, or whether “They” can even be reached. The Civil Rights struggle was pretty straightforward- end Jim Crow and other such discrimination. Ditto the Women's Movement. The early Environmental Movement had equally clear goals: stop dumping crap in our air and water; stop poisoning the land and People. Stopping the Viet Nam war was also a pretty clear goal. Who was responsible for each of these was obvious. The problems could be remedied by cultural change, laws and regulations. We could vote out the “bad guys” and replace them with more enlightened souls. None of this involved a major overhaul of The System. It was all a logical progression of the earlier gains in the Twentieth Century.<br />
<br />
Today the “enemy” is a nebulous agglomeration of corporations. They hold our credit cards, our bank accounts, our pensions, and the bonds and Certificates of Deposit of our local governments. They manage our currency. They dictate trade and monetary policy. They aren't even human persons, but legal persons, with the sole ethic of power and profit. They own politicians and shamelessly biased media outlets. They fund fake grass roots operations like the Tea Party. Aside from some obvious names like the Koch Brothers, this oppressor wears no human face. They are not answerable to us- socially, morally or politically. They don't care what we think, because they make the rules, unchallenged. As long as we participate in their financial and mercantile system all our daily living only strengthens them, like a horde of possessing demons in a B-grade horror flick.<br />
<br />
The second problem is that it really doesn't matter. In a very real sense, we're like kids squabbling over sand castles on the beach while a tsunami is coming. We've already felt the earthquakes that have launched it toward our beach. I've talked with long-time Civil Rights, Farm, Women's and other activists; Many are fighting despair because they see that what’s coming will erase every gain that they fought for over decades. Anyone who tells you that Climate Change and Peak Petroleum aren't about to radically change our entire civilization is: A) Lying to protect their own power, which is indescribably despicable; B) In ignorant, fearful Denial, which is pathetic and self-defeating.<br />
<br />
What I'm saying is that Occupy, however noble and exciting, is a possibly fatal misdirection of energies. It's trying to fix a system that doesn't want to be fixed, which will be swept away in the next few decades no matter what we do. It's like standing outside in a storm, yelling at the wind and rain to stop, instead of going inside.<br />
<br />
So, what IS “going inside?” It's going into our communities. It's becoming locally resilient and self-sufficient: not cut off and isolated, but acting out the truth that the days of resource-guzzling economic giantism has come and gone. It means getting involved, as we have, with Local Foods, the Transition Movement, Slow Money and the like. It means disconnecting from “Their” system, stopping feeding the monster which is devouring us. If Occupy leads to that kind of long-term action, it will be worthwhile; If not, it will just be a flailing about that feels good but signifies nothing.Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-31010393216855241662011-03-27T11:40:00.000-07:002011-03-27T11:40:01.878-07:00Building the Fifty Dollar TableThere's an old saying: <div style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“If a man invites you to join his poker table, but you only have $50 while he and his buddies each have $5000, <b>Don't Sit Down.</b>”</div><br />
Our food system is that $5000 table.<br />
<br />
If you're a farmer, someone who just wants to live in the country, grow some food, maybe have a cow and some chickens, you soon find that you're in a game of high-stakes poker. It isn't Farmville. Outfits like Cargill, ADM, Monsanto, and the bank will tell you what to grow, when to plant it, where and when to sell it, and how much you'll get when you sell it. You'll work long hours and have a big cash flow, but actually make very little money. You buy more and bigger equipment to try to get ahead. No cow. No chickens. No real choices. They'll tell you that other choices like organic farming are too inefficient and don't bring in enough cash flow, that “You can't feed the world on Organics- they're just an elitist thing.” It's a lie. They don't want you to know that theirs isn't the only, or even the best, game in town.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoUJ4SprXJjw4G90L45XCiNUOmN48tRHVX_KrTUzeLVbosOe9NZAbmo2KBBlDPQpG9LLkikYovpHNdhoJbOKymd6O6SBtQbqW1MKyF6FwgLHQU-QFFTm1VksXI4T1vjI77LymO9jV9IZv/s1600/DSC00154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoUJ4SprXJjw4G90L45XCiNUOmN48tRHVX_KrTUzeLVbosOe9NZAbmo2KBBlDPQpG9LLkikYovpHNdhoJbOKymd6O6SBtQbqW1MKyF6FwgLHQU-QFFTm1VksXI4T1vjI77LymO9jV9IZv/s320/DSC00154.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdV1ZhVV4Y1JIoGVOj3NmnyB211h98dGa4tJMbtjSkN_C3kVp60zbB-L5wBobOyFA_aIH10NEK5Xgn9WTwiE7X5HZ44yXrnLk4dL52WWkMrSKWHTmKHyvz9lxRSmwmi1ynoB3i-A4AVzM8/s1600/DSC00147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdV1ZhVV4Y1JIoGVOj3NmnyB211h98dGa4tJMbtjSkN_C3kVp60zbB-L5wBobOyFA_aIH10NEK5Xgn9WTwiE7X5HZ44yXrnLk4dL52WWkMrSKWHTmKHyvz9lxRSmwmi1ynoB3i-A4AVzM8/s320/DSC00147.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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If you're someone who eats, and just wants good food at a fair price, you're at the table, too. Most likely you have no neighborhood grocery store, but have to travel ten miles or so to a megastore. Aside from paying a few locals near-starvation wages, the megastore sends all the money you give it far away, making your community that much poorer. The food you buy there is full of toxic chemicals and allergy-inducing engineered proteins. This is why many countries around the world will not accept US food for import. Healthy kids? Forget it. Social and Economic Justice? Ditto.<br />
<br />
(While I was writing this I came upon an appropriate TED video:<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1229428377"> </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1229428377">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA&feature=player_embedded</a><a href="http://./">.</a> It's a bit long, but worth it. If you aren't outraged by what the “$5000 Guys” have done to our food, you aren't paying attention.)<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #274e13;">I really don't blame people who don't want to see these facts. As Gandhi said, when a people are deeply oppressed, when hope is banished, they cease to be able to even see that they are being wronged, and accept their situation as inevitable.</div><br />
But the situation IS NOT hopeless. Many people are working to “Build the Fifty Dollar Table.” Carol and I have proven at least part of what can be done. Just yesterday we had a couple from Southern Minnesota come by to talk about building their own greenhouse like ours, so they and their families can eat real food in the winter.<br />
<br />
Here are steps you can take, some easier, some harder: <br />
<ul><li>Get our book from the library, or buy it online (<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Northlands-Winter-Greenhouse-Manual/Carol-Ford/e/9780615297248/?itm=1">http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Northlands-Winter-Greenhouse-Manual/Carol-Ford/e/9780615297248/?itm=1</a>). Build a community greenhouse using it;</li>
<li>Plant a garden, better yet a community garden;<br />
</li>
<li>Get to know your Farmers Market, and your farmers;<br />
</li>
<li>Demand local, sustainably raised real food from your store, not over-processed “food-like products;”<br />
</li>
<li>Start a food co-op or buying club.</li>
</ul>Don't let the $5000 Guys make you sit at their toxic table! Help us all together to Build the Fifty Dollar Table. This will take work, as worthwhile things always do: Saving our lives, health and local economies is about as worthwhile as anything I can think of.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">You Can Do More Than You Think You Can. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF6r1b1m2hv_Z6YiuCCZHW9y-ppKEqsRoJaVmCAF5Z6Qdy1mOu-wbG9TfiZOBgqYT-1s1mmoueTAoqKMzRmgGcoRo8Lc47TbtTdbP9IdRBrzk4a25jS1B6-5K6-naM7foph2CGVug4u-k/s1600/Garden+Goddess_321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVF6r1b1m2hv_Z6YiuCCZHW9y-ppKEqsRoJaVmCAF5Z6Qdy1mOu-wbG9TfiZOBgqYT-1s1mmoueTAoqKMzRmgGcoRo8Lc47TbtTdbP9IdRBrzk4a25jS1B6-5K6-naM7foph2CGVug4u-k/s320/Garden+Goddess_321.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-20353878657089787532011-03-14T13:22:00.000-07:002011-03-14T13:22:45.451-07:00A Food System Like the Internet<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The way food is produced and distributed in the US is the very model of inefficiency and insecurity.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some will claim that it's very efficient. They use tricky accounting, taxpayer subsidies to ag corporations, profligate use of unsustainable cheap oil, and lax environmental “book keeping” to hide costs or pass them on to future generations.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They'll point to the abundance of cheap food in our stores, not mentioning that perhaps 2/3 of that food's real cost is hidden from the consumer. We end up paying those costs in taxes, health problems and a degraded environment. Nor will they mention that much of what's in those stores is “Food-Like Products;” over-processed things that are full of chemicals, extra sugar and extra salt that are bad for us- things that our grandparents wouldn't have eaten on a dare.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And don't even pretend that the system is secure. It's over-centralized structure and long supply lines make it anything but. Think of the <i>e coli</i> or <i>salmonella</i> scares; those are usually caused by mistakes at <b>only one</b> processing or storage facility, but end up affecting millions of people. And when that food is shipped thousands of miles it's vulnerable to increasing fuel prices, weather catastrophes, epidemics and terrorist attacks all along the route.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ideal that the Industrial Food System is striving for looks like this:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Farms=></b></span><i><b>shipping</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>=>Processor=></b></span><i><b>shipping</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>=></b></span></span></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Wholesaler=></b></span><i><b>shipping</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>=></b></span></span></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Retailer=></b></span><i><b>shipping</b></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>=>Consumer</b></span></span></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The more of these steps can be owned by the same company, the better. Forget all images of Old McDonald's Farm: The ideal modern farmer is an industrial employee, growing what The Company says, how The Company says, and ships it to The Company on Company trucks. There is no illusion that the farm belongs to the farmer: both belong to The Company.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Increasingly, every step in the chain belongs to The Company- even the Consumer. Billions are spent on advertising and lobbying every year, training consumers to buy whatever The Company wants to sell, and training lawmakers to stay out of The Company's way. Even the word “consumer” was invented in the mid-Twentieth by Corporate hacks. We're people, not “units of consumption.”</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This unsustainable system developed over decades of shortsighted greediness and will eventually, perhaps soon, fall apart from its own contradictions and weaknesses. Cracks are evident and spreading. When it does go, many people will be hungry unless we can build its replacement before that happens.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We, and many others, are working on that new system. It resembles how the Internet is organized. It's no coincidence that that's also how living systems are often organized, something like this:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2_EL9VejJT-pSaCI-34tjNzjqY_rIN7HxOnnFaJOHKc0KcCoNKx5vgBK12H5hPoFkNnmaGlaC16xzBFfQYdC-OqDD0aC7XGOF579xFr9HSUnQy4UYlw3nDxjyUGY9y7aDmlsz8BOS5lE/s1600/Food+System+Like+Internet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2_EL9VejJT-pSaCI-34tjNzjqY_rIN7HxOnnFaJOHKc0KcCoNKx5vgBK12H5hPoFkNnmaGlaC16xzBFfQYdC-OqDD0aC7XGOF579xFr9HSUnQy4UYlw3nDxjyUGY9y7aDmlsz8BOS5lE/s320/Food+System+Like+Internet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a very simplified version, but makes the point. This ideal is that a town or neighborhood mostly feeds itself. Local organic wastes go back into the food system as fertilizer. Surplus and luxury items can be traded along from others. What's that? Your town is too big? Pre-Industrial Ag kept some pretty big places in operation with a similar system- we can do at least as well. <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">You can do more than you think you can.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Such a system is:</span></div><ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Efficient-</b> Nothing travels farther than it has to. No unneeded middlemen get their cuts. Money isn't spent to make people WANT more than they NEED.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Secure-</b> Fewer steps means fewer places for things to go wrong, and if they do they effect far fewer people. It's also like Neighborhood Watch- Farmers who are feeding their neighbors are more careful and accountable.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sustainable-</b> Resources in an area are recycled with a minimum of fuss. Inherent efficiencies and natural rhythms form a system that can last.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Resilient-</b> Shortages and problems can be worked around and fixed using neighboring resources;</span><br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Community Centered-</b> The point is people feeding people, not people feeding those synthetic organisms- corporations.</span><br />
</li>
</ul><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While taking the needed practical steps, we must remember that the root of the problem is spiritual. It's about who and what we think we are. In the last few hundred years, with the Industrial Revolution, we learned to do many wonderful and clever things with our technology, but we forgot that we are beings firmly embedded in Nature, and in our societies. We've come to see ourselves as units of consumption, tools, counters on a game board, and mere resources. Such an attitude can't help but lead to disaster.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /></span>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194954767685221984.post-16198116051060113052011-03-03T19:50:00.000-08:002011-03-03T19:50:31.122-08:00A Tahrir Square Moment- From Evolution to RevolutionRevolutions are boiling across Africa and the Middle East, not to mention Wisconsin and Ohio. People are opening their eyes to the failures of top-down, bigger is better, oligarchical government and economics. We all know that The Big Guys will fail us, or worse, so the return to community and human needs is becoming a wildfire all across the globe.<br />
<br />
That fire was burning last Tuesday in Milan. We showed how much the Local Foods Movement has changed in only a few years- good food is not just the property of Yuppies any more. About one hundred people; farmers, dietitians, school lunch folks, buyers from big stores, and agency representatives, gathered to discuss how to move from the long-distance, petroleum-based food system to one about “food with a face.” (See the <a href="http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/79057/publisher_ID/22/">West Central Tribune's article</a>.)<br />
<br />
Such a gathering, in a town of 300, with a highly diverse group, could not have happened a few years ago. Many of the speakers talked about plugging along, promoting healthy foods and wise farm policy, for decades. They're amazed at what's happening now. They say “tipping point” a lot. They've toiled for “evolutionary change” in the Food System for a long time- now that's become Revolutionary Change.<br />
<br />
There's a repeated saying in the recent remake of <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i>: “At the precipice, we change.” That's what's happening around us now. Right now. 2011 is becoming the Year of Revolutions. Only self-absorbed fools can't see that we're in a worldwide predicament. The People sense it. Old ways that have ceased to work are being rapidly replaced. Short-sighted doubters want to clamp down, thinking that a return to some imagined past, or more discipline against dissenters, will see us through. So, following the path to a wiser future, toward dealing with things as they actually are, becomes as much about dealing with violent dunderheads as with solving actual problems.<br />
<div style="color: blue;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #274e13; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Local Foods is one of the ways we can adapt and thrive in the new, chancier, decentralized world.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7dL2zAF6XhBb570Mulh7bIqGLxvdSgj2yFM2kXE_VMUQ6Wx9AiFEgWFshF9c2fBKbL-97xICAQEtmO8JoHYJ2wVsyfKLTX7H-qi65uYWQN-oT9uMz65dgmqumRqF6kyeyePFnkRbcqun/s1600/Garden+Goddess_320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7dL2zAF6XhBb570Mulh7bIqGLxvdSgj2yFM2kXE_VMUQ6Wx9AiFEgWFshF9c2fBKbL-97xICAQEtmO8JoHYJ2wVsyfKLTX7H-qi65uYWQN-oT9uMz65dgmqumRqF6kyeyePFnkRbcqun/s320/Garden+Goddess_320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white;" /><br />
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<div align="CENTER" style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">>>>>>Garden Goddess News<<<<<</span></div><br />
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<br />
As you know, <a href="http://www.farrms.org/index.shtml">FARRMS</a> is financing another printing of our book. We've firmed up the book launch event:<br />
We'll be on hand for both April 2 and 3 in Fargo, at the <a href="http://www.greenlivinghealthexpo.com/Fargo--ND--April-2---3.html">Green Living Health Expo</a>, signing books, talking, and singing a few songs. The <span style="color: #134f5c;">BIG EVENT</span> for us will be at Noon on Saturday- a press conference with us and representatives from other Local Foods-related groups.<br />
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Come on out, especially if you're a farmer or part of a foodie or sustainability group. Admission to the expo is FREE with a donation for the Great Plains Food Bank. Come show your solidarity with Local Foods folks from around the region! Meet people who you don't know, but are fellow “toilers in the fields.”<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NpU_xX9HHH3IAHU20JqKWcqeK-ySi3QzLilaAnEZ83l4uHauLEyH_tDuFZ-BJhH9QVVz-6csCY0w3MtKwlJMSkcbznwbrwa_Jkd_fnNomuprdSsUwb0lZfNlQttm-EPqVnLJPLzVW6g1/s1600/Grill+Greetings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NpU_xX9HHH3IAHU20JqKWcqeK-ySi3QzLilaAnEZ83l4uHauLEyH_tDuFZ-BJhH9QVVz-6csCY0w3MtKwlJMSkcbznwbrwa_Jkd_fnNomuprdSsUwb0lZfNlQttm-EPqVnLJPLzVW6g1/s320/Grill+Greetings.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Chuck Waibelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18325052697708268344noreply@blogger.com0