Methods of Castration

Farm animals, I learned on a recent visit to Seven Pines farm, can castrated without any sedative or painkiller. It is done when they are young – as young as possible – and it can be done without a vet. The only tools needed are a scalpel (or other castrating tool) and an iodine solution to spray on the wound.

Also, there are a couple different methods of castration. Some involve removing the testicles; some involve just severing the spermatic cord.

Male mammals have two testicles and two spermatic cords. The spermatic cords in a calf are very “tough” and can be easily felt through the scrotum. They feel like a wide tendon. When castrating a calf, it's important to cut both of these cords WITHOUT cutting the central artery that runs down the middle of the scrotum. The artery is smaller than the cords and feels like a very thin, fragile tendon.

At Seven Pines, our class castrated a bull calf by cutting “slits” in the bottom of each side of the scrotum, then “pulling out” the testicles and cutting the spermatic cords.

We also castrated several pigs, which was more difficult. The pigs' testicles are “inside” their body cavity; they do not hang outside as the calf's do. To castrate a pig, one person hangs on to the pig's feet and holds it upside down, with the pig's head trapped between the person's legs and the pig's stomach facing “out” towards the castrator. The castrator takes a scalpel and makes a cut between the pig's legs. Then, the castrator removes the first testicle by “popping it out” manually and cutting the cord. Next, the castrator has to make a slit into a membrane (using the first cut as the point of entry) and dig out the second testicle. The second testicle is “popped out” by strategic poking and pushing, and then it is pulled out far enough for the cord to be cut.

Sometimes, if it is difficult to find the membrane to cut, a second incision needs to be made between the pig's legs in order to find and dig out the second testicle.

Although it looked (and sounded) like a horrible process to me as a city girl and animal lover, the pigs recovered quickly. After we set them down, they were walking and running around like normal.

Animal Husbandry at Seven Pines

Seven Pines is a grass-based dairy farm owned by one of my professors, Kent Solberg, and his wife Linda. In addition to dairy cows, they also have pigs, laying hens, and bull calves.

On November 5th, our class visited Seven Pines for the second time to learn about castration. We started by listening to Dr. Tom Prieve (a veterinarian and one of our professors) explain several methods of, and tools for, castration. Then, we castrated about a dozen young barrows and one bull calf. We also watched Dr. Prieve do pregnancy checks on several heifers and treat the foot of another. Finally, we took a pasture walk with Kent, checking in on his dairy herd grazing the neighboring corn and soybean field.

Visiting Seven Pines for the second time, I noticed more about Kent and Linda's approach to farming. Specifically, I observed the tenderness they showed their animals and their focus on responsible stewardship.

When we walked over to the calves in fenced-in circles, Linda introduced the calves by name. “This is Sven,” she said. “We're thinking of keeping him as a breeding bull.” Another bull calf, Zeke, we were there to castrate. However, while trying to wrangle him from the fenced circle, he escaped out the back. Stephanie and I gently coaxed him back towards the group. He didn't seem to be afraid of people and handled the castration quite well – no yelling or kicking.

Kent and Linda's cattle all appeared to be very tame. When Dr. Prieve did pregnancy tests and examined one cow's foot, Kent was able to get the heifers in the holding frame by just calling their names and walking with them in the right direction. He was gentle with them; no paddles or electric prods, like I had witnessed at a larger farm that Dr. Prieve visited to do pregnancy tests a couple weeks ago.

Some of the calves were set apart from the herd, because they appeared sickly after a rain. Linda said they needed special monitoring and attention. I felt like their care of these cattle came from a place of empathy and love; the calves were not simply “investments,” they were living beings with personalities and names.

When we went to castrate the piglets, Kent secured the mother hogs in a trailer. They were hollering, and Kent said to them, “yes I know you're mad,” in an understanding tone. He did not complain about them at all, but rather complemented them on being great mothers. After we were done with the castration, he let out the hogs saying “go comfort your babies.” The mother hogs did not appear aggressive after being penned up, as some hogs might; they seemed tame and relatively mellow. Some actually went back into the trailer to sniff around. Kent kept urging them to go see their babies, and eventually they did. The hogs seemed to trust Kent; or at least, they were familiar with him and did not consider him to be any kind of threat.

While the pigs were being castrated, Dr. Prieve handed a baby gilt to me and said she needed comforting. This seemed perfectly natural in the context of Seven Pines; comforting gilts seemed in keeping with Kent and Linda's approach to farming.

The way Kent and Linda talked to, and about, their animals, was gentle and caring. They seemed to think of the animals as an important, contributing part of their farm who deserved care and respect. The animals were not treated as “property,” but as dedicated workers or family-member employees.

Before we left, Linda offered us homemade pumpkin bars, and Kent invited us to come back individually, spend the night, and experience milking. This hospitality went far beyond “educating students on business practices.” Kent and Linda genuinely care about community, relationships, and nurturing a new generation of farmers.

In Defense of Food | Reactions

In his book “In Defense of Food,” Michael Pollan outlines several suggestions regarding what, and how, to eat. We recently read part of this book for our class, Principles of Sustainability.

Most of the suggestions Pollan makes are familiar to me; I have heard them before. I took a whole foods cooking class several years ago, and many of the same principals were emphasized: don't eat food that isn't recognizable as something from nature; eat mostly plants; invest in high quality, organic food that is in season and locally grown; shop only in the peripheries of grocery stores; drink red wine with meals; etc.

Despite the fact that most of Pollan's advice was already common sense to me, there were a couple of points that made me want to re-evaluate the way I eat:

1. Avoid food products that make health claims.

2. Eat wild foods when you can.

3. Pay more, eat less.

4. Eat meals.

5. Try not to eat alone.

“Avoid foods that make health-food claims.” I actually hadn't heard this piece of advice before, but Pollan's explanation of this eating principle made a lot of sense. I tend to get sucked into health claims on food – as well as on vitamins, cleaning products, appliances, etc. But Pollan makes a good point: “it is only the big food companies that have the wherewithal to secure FDA-approved health claims for their products and then trumpet them to the world.” Furthermore, I agree with Pollan that it's easy for companies to distort or exaggerate the truth: health claims can be slapped on packages based on evidence taken out of context or based on biased studies funded by large corporations. It's tempting for me to trust what “experts” say and believe a beautifully-packaged product is good for me. However, I have to keep in mind the money that is behind all of the claims and packaging and that the health trends are changing as much as any “fashion.”

“Eat wild foods when you can.” I know that eating whole foods is good, but I never really thought about focusing specifically on wild foods other than the kind you can find in a grocery store, like wild-caught salmon. Foraging for food sounds like a lot of fun, and it would increase the amount of whole foods in my diet as well as increasing the amount of local foods in my diet. I remember picking wild blueberries this summer with my boyfriend, and – although I got eaten alive by mosquitoes – it was a satisfying experience. I found delicious, nutritious food – and it didn't cost me anything except time with my boyfriend and some physical labor in the outdoors.

“Pay more, eat less.” I have always thought that good food is worth the investment. However, when I thought of “investment,” I was thinking only in terms of money. Pollan writes, “paying more for food – in every sense – will reduce the amount of it we eat.” The key for me in this piece of advise is paying more in every sense. I agree with Pollan that it's easy to eat lots of food when food is easy to prepare or easy to access. It's tempting to eat a huge bowl of chips when all you have to do is open the package. It's easy to eat lots of sweets when you have candy bars at check-out aisles selling for pocket change. Recently I was at Mills Fleet Farm and I was feeling a bit hungry, so I grabbed a Pearson's Nut Roll at the check-out to have as a “snack” in the car on my 5 minute ride home to my apartment. If the Nut Roll had been more expensive, or if I had to make one from scratch, I would most likely not have given in to this indulgence.

“Eat Meals.” I am a notorious snacker. I very rarely sit down to full meals. In fact, when I'm alone (which I am 95% of the time I'm eating), I usually only eat one thing at a time. It's much easier to eat a couple almonds here, and a granola bar there, and then have cereal later followed, maybe, by some popcorn. Eating randomly and haphazardly like this, it's easy to end up consuming a higher quantity of a lower variety of foods. Peanut butter toast can become a staple. So can corn chips. A lot of people have told me it's healthy to snack often, because it prevents blood sugar from dropping; as a result, I've felt justified in making “snacking” my primary method of food consumption. It makes sense to prioritize meals over snacks, though, because meals encourage a more balanced diet and they help make you aware of the quantities of each item you are consuming. For example, a couple chips on a plate with a sandwich, salad, and veggies is easier to “track” mentally than chips eaten out of a bag while watching TV.

“Try not to eat alone.” This is a difficult one for me because I live alone. However, I recognize that for the most part, when I eat in the company of others, I tend to eat meals instead of snacks. There are the exceptions – friends of mine who, when I'm with them, usually entice me to down candy, chips and soda along with them. But when I make plans to have dinner with people, most of the time we cook real meals. It's easier to cook good meals when there are helpers, and conversation makes all of us eat more slowly. By contrast, when I eat alone (which I do the vast majority of the time), I usually watch TV and eat snacks or single dishes mindlessly. Sometimes this is a good thing: I can end up eating an entire bowl of kale or a bowl of pumpkin soup that is healthy but not necessarily tasty. However, more often than not, eating alone causes me to reduce the variety of my diet and increase the quantity of food consumed. Furthermore, eating alone can leave me feeling unsatisfied and set up cravings – making me want “something” to eat, regardless of the fact that nothing really sounds good.

Three Ways to Kill a Chicken

This fall, I've been exposed to three "methods" of butchering broilers (chickens): at a small-scale chicken processing facility, at a large vegetable farm, and at an Amish farm.

As an animal lover who can't stand the thought of animals suffering, I was intellectually interested yet emotionally uneasy to learn more about the grisley details of chicken slaughter. However, the contexts in which I witnessed chickens' demise, I knew, were about as "sustainable" and "humane" as it gets -- it was to be an easy introduction.

To my surprise, my exposure to chicken butchering actually was somewhat comforting -- it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In all cases, the deaths were quick, and it seemed that the chickens had no idea what was coming.

Granted, I didn't see any actual butchering at the factory; I just took a tour, saw all the equipment, and learned about the process from one of the employees. Our guide said the chickens were killed with an electric knife that both slit their throat and stunned them at the same time. Apparently, this is the most humane way to kill chickens. And it does indeed happen quickly. At that factory, they kill chickens one at a time at the rate of 13 chickens per minute.

I did see actual chickens killed at the vegetable farm and at the Amish farm. At the vegetable farm, it was somewhat mechanized; they do a couple hundred a day. However, the killing happens in the open air and the birds are caught and killed in small groups, so there are never very many birds "on deck" at the kill site.

Interestingly, the birds "in line" to be killed didn't seem to notice anything bad was happening. In fact, some free range laying hens walked into the "kill room" of their own volition and happily poked around, oblivious to the chickens bleeding out two feet away.

The butchering at the Amish farm was by far the best, in my opinion -- meaning it was the least traumatic for me to witness. I even helped out, catching the broilers and picking up their corpses after their heads were chopped off with an ax. The chickens, as far as I could tell, were completely unaware of what was about to happen, even as they had their neck on the chopping block. With one or two strokes, it was over -- the body summer-salting away while the farm dog scarfed down the head.

I think one day I might be able to kill a chicken myself -- something I never thought I would be capable of. It seems to me that decapitation, without any fearful anticipation, is not that bad of a way to go. It's certainly better than some of the alternatives.

White Earth Land Recovery Project | Culture and Sustainability

The White Earth Land Recovery Project is based on White Earth Indian reservation. The people on the reservation make crafts and grow, harvest, process and package food – such as wild rice, maple butter, maple syrup, wild rice flour, and soups. These products are sold under the Native Harvest brand over the Internet, via catalog, and by select grocery stores. Proceeds from sales are used to buy back land to increase the size of the White Earth reservation.

My class visited White Earth earlier this year. We met with Robert, who talked with us about cultural issues in regards to sustainability. He said that for them, sustainability meant not just having fresh, local foods, but preserving cultural traditions and knowledge as well. For example, “wild rice” has a cultural and spiritual significance that it is important to pass on along with knowledge of how to grow and harvest it. Robert said that when the elders were asked why the rice crop was bad this year, the elders said it was because the tribe had not paid enough attention to the lakes and water in cultural and spiritual rituals.

What Robert told us about the connection between culture and sustainability reminded me of Wendell Berry's essays – and in particular “Three Ways of Farming in the Southwest.” When Robert said the elders cautioned that the wild rice crop was not good because the people hadn't cared for the water enough, it reminded me of the concept Berry describes the Papago people having towards agriculture: cropland is something the people make. In both of these cultures, the idea exists that humans should be stewards of the land and care for the soil and water. If the crops fail, it is not because of bad luck, bad weather, or bad machinery – it is because they were not careful enough stewards of the core natural resources that grow their food.

Green Goddess | Winter CSA

Garden Goddess is a winter CSA operated by Chuck Waibel and Carol Ford, who grow greens in a greenhouse attached to their garage in Milan, MN. Chuck and Carol designed the greenhouse based on years of research. As a result, their greenhouse is much more energy efficient, and it cost less, than “typical” greenhouses or high tunnels.

Chuck and Carol's ingenuity has not gone unnoticed; Chuck and Carol's greenhouse has become a famous “model” for growing produce in cold climates during the winter. A couple years ago they wrote a book detailing how they built their greenhouse -- all printed copies were sold. Chuck and Carol have been hired as consultants on the development of several other greenhouses in cold climates, such as the greenhouse at the charter school in Grand Marais and a greenhouse in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Chuck and Carol also have been featured on MPR.

Recently, my class got to visit with Chuck Waibel and see his greenhouse in person. Chuck is a fascinating polymath who seems to know a lot about everything -- from history to computer programming to literature to engineering. Oh, and Chuck also is the author of a fiction book called Phoenix, MN.

Chuck and Carol are now in the sixth year of their winter CSA. They currently have 12 members, but many more than that are on their waiting list.

Any produce that does not go into the CSA boxes is sold to the local grocery store in Milan. Chuck said other grocery stores are interested in buying his produce, too. However, currently he does not produce enough to meet this demand. Good news for us budding Minnesota farmers!

Harvest Thyme Bistro

Recently I visited Harvest Thyme Bistro in Wadena, MN, with my Sustainable Food Production class.

Harvest Thyme Bistro is a new restaurant café serving locally-grown food. It is owned by Derek and Shari Olson, who both work there full-time. Harvest Thyme is located in the back of a building that also houses a bookstore and a used clothing store.

Our class had the opportunity to talk with Shari Olson about the bistro, which opened a year ago (the day after Thanksgiving). Shari explained to us that Harvest Thyme Bistro gets its food from more than 100 different farmers and producers. Harvest Thyme buys whatever farmers can’t sell. Shari said that the local foods they cannot serve or use right away are canned or frozen.

Challenges they’ve had to face include educating the public about the value of local food; finding affordable local food sources; and getting local food without a coordinated distribution system. They’ve made progress in educating people about the value of local food, she said. They talk to their customers personally about the importance of eating local foods, and they put up a sign that articulates their bistro’s values and principals. In addition, they include the farmer’s names under the specials made with their food, helping people connect the food to specific individual producers. In the future, they hope to have farm tours and facilitate interactions between customers and farmers. They also distribute the “Pine and Lake Country Local Foods Catalog,” in which Harvest Thyme Bistro is featured, and a “green routes” pamphlet listing locations and descriptions of food producers in Minnesota.

Find out more about Harvest Thyme Bistro on MPR.

Draft Day at Lindig's Farm

Dave Lindig has a farm that he makes money on through agritourism. The farm grows sorghum, gourds, and pumpkins. It also has several species of poultry, a few calves, and a handful of goats (including two baby goats). Entry is $5 for adults, $3 for children. A variety of products are for sale on the farm, including cookies made with sorghum molasses, Jake's maple syrup, and pumpkins.

I visited Lindig's farm on Homestead and Draft Day -- a special event in which people were demonstrating plowing, tilling, and farming techniques using horses instead of tractors. Others were pressing sorghum with a mule-powered press, then boiling the juice to turn it into molasses.

At Draft Day, I talked with a fellow who bred mules. He told me about the relative advantages of mules over horses: mules live longer; mules are more agile on uneven ground; mules are easier to train; mules have sturdier legs than horses.

It was beautiful to watch the horses and mules plow the fields. There was a bond between the farmer and the horses -- an organic, loving, symbiotic relationship. The farmer and team worked close to the earth -- the farmer was literally a couple feet away from the ground, in the open air, not "protected" or isolated by the cabin of a big machine. It was such a contrast from the gigantic tractors, run by agribusiness farmers in air-conditioned cabins, rolling on huge tires over large acres of monocultures.

I left feeling like horses and mules were the clear path to a better future for sustainable agriculture.

Clock of the World

Perhaps one of my favorite songs performed at the Land Institute's 32nd Prairie Festival was "Clock of the World," by Krista Detor. She wrote it as part of the Darwin Song Project, a performance group at the 2009 Shrewsbury Folk Festival tasked with commemorating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.

The lyrics of the chorus: "somewhere bells are ringing, somewhere someone's marrying, or a casket someone's carrying, a crowd somewhere is gathering; somewhere a bell is marking what is passing as sublime, like a clock of the world keeping perfect, holy time."

As Krista sings in the song, "Grace may find us yet."

Wilderness Plots: Songs and Stories

The 32nd Land Institute's Prairie Festival (Sept. 24-26, 2010) included a musical performance honoring prairie pioneers called the "Perennial Polyculture Suite." The musicians -- Krista Detor, Tim Grimm, Malcolm Dalgish, Tom Roznowski and Scott Russell Sanders -- performed selections from WTIU's PBS film Wilderness Plots: Songs and Stories of the Prairie, based on the book Wilderness Plots by Scott Russell Sanders.

Both the book and the video bring to life short stories about the settling of the American West. The live performance at the Prairie Festival included songs like "Rebecca Versailles," which is about a freed slave who found out, once she reached Indiana, that her children were not allowed to go to school with white kids. She was told that Indiana law forbid black children to be educated with white children, and she was advised to teach her children herself. But Rebecca Versailles, who was raised in slavery, did not know how to read or write.

Determined not to let her children go uneducated, Rebecca Versailles took the initiative to make pens and books that she then sold to the white school. The pens and books were of high quality, and eventually the school let her make them perched in the back of the school room. So the hard-working mother, while making the pens and books, quietly absorbed the lessons taught in school; and when she went home at night, she taught them to her own children. These children never took for granted the value of education, and when they grew up, they became teachers themselves -- teachers who vowed never to turn away someone who wanted to learn, no matter their race or creed.

Other songs from Wildnerness Plots are posted on youtube, such as "Wishing for More than I Dare Say."

Heterogeneous Wes

This past weekend I attended the 32nd annual Prairie Festival at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. It was inspirational beyond my expectations.

Key speakers included Wendell Berry, Scott Russell Sanders, Josh Farley, Sandra Steingraber, Kent Whealy, and of course Wes Jackson, founder of the Land Institute. All of the speakers were given standing ovations after their lectures. They are among the central heroes working towards the advancement of sustainable living through research and consciousness raising on land use issues. Their lectures are available on CD from the Land Institute.

There is much to say about the festival, but what impressed me the most was the humor that was ever-present despite the sobering overall picture that the lecturers laid out before us.

During the evenings and on Sunday morning (the last day of the festival), musicians performed and lightened the mood. Some songs were melancholy and contemplative, to be sure -- like a song about how the air will be bought and sold and the poor will be left breathless. But other songs were downright hilarious, like the tribute to Wes Jackson called "Heterogeneous Wes."

The song traces Wes' journey from genetics student to professor to founder of the Land Institute. It went something like this: "he studied biology, chemistry, genetics to boot, then he moved to Kansas to start the Land Institute." But the chorus was what I remember best. "Polyculture...(it's perrenial). Polyculture (it's incrennial)... Crop rotation, variation, a prairie plan; sustainable, perennial heterogeneous man!"

During the middle of the song, the musicians explained that "incrennial" is a new word that combines "incredible" with "perennial."

The key to getting the humor is understanding Wes' life's work: developing perennial grains to take the place of annuals like wheat and corn. One of the perennials that the Land Institute has developed through selective breeding is kernza, which was available for sale (in limited quantities) at the Festival.

As the Land Institute's website explains, the perennial polycultures they are developing will cut down on erosion, pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, fossil fuel use, pollution, and water use, protecting the soil -- arguably our most precious resource.

Because of Wes' work on perennials, Life magazine named him as one of 18 individuals it predicts will be among the most important Americans of the 20th century. Thank you, heterogeneous Wes!

To learn more about Wes Jackson, check out "Prairie Pioneer Seeks to Change the Way We Farm" by Richard Harris on All Things Considered, available at npr.org.

Badly Drawn Cow

Last night in my Forage and Crop Systems class, we were learning about different types of fences. Our professor showed us a cartoon-y picture illustrating how an electric fence works. I tried to copy it in my notebook... but I'm not very talented when it comes to drawing.

When I inspected my finished "copy" of the illustration, I burst out laughing. It was so horrible! A cow with a tiny head, short legs, huge body, and stumpy tail. :P

Here's hoping this badly drawn cow will get you to laugh, too.

Fencing and Wire Insulators

Today I learned that fencing wire is not attached directly to corner or end posts; instead, it is attached to an insulator, which is in turn attached to the fence post via another wire. Why?

An insulator is used as an intermediary between the wire and the fence post to keep electricity away from the post. This way, if the post gets wet, it doesn't drain electricity from the wire.

Here is a video of my classmate learning to attach the insulator to the fence-post wire. It's not as easy at one might think!

Wrapping and Snapping Fence Wires

During our fencing workshop today, we learned how to attach high-tensile wire to corner posts and line posts using insulators, strainers, crimps, and what I call "wire-weaving." We had to learn how to tie a specific kind of "knot" and wrap the wire around itself several times so that the insulators stay in place. It was hard at first, but we were quick to improve our "wire-wrapping" skills once we got the hang of it.

The trickiest part was actually cutting off the extraneous wire. Wire cutters are considered "cheating"; the "real way" to trim the wire is to snap it off manually.

A lot of people had trouble learning to snap off the end of the wire, but I picked it up quickly. My professor said, "somebody get a picture of this!" as I wrapped and snapped wire like a pro (or an advanced beginner). It was easier for me, I think, because the technique is very similar to the techniques in jewelry-making, something with which I've had a bit of practice.

Above is a video of my friend, Gretchen, learning to "wrap and snap" fencing wire.

Fencing and Crickets

Today I learned how to put up fence corners, ends, and braces. We dug holes 48" deep, put 8' treated wood poles in the holes, then marked off the height of the three high-tensile wires we'll put on the fence: 20" high, 30" high, and 40" high.

In addition to installing several poles, we learned how to do three different types of braces to hold the end and corner poles in place: the "deadman"; the "H" brace; and the diagonal brace. The "deadman" is just a stump of wood placed under the ground at the base of the pole; it's fairly easy to put in, but it only works well for 3-wire fences.

The "diagonal brace" is the next easiest to install. A log is used to "prop" up the end of the fence, with one end of the brace on the ground (on top of a concrete block), and the other end pushing against the side of the top of the pole.

The most difficult brace to build is the H-brace. You basically form a "H" shape with three logs. It looks like a generic fence that a kid would draw. But it's hard to build, because you have to dig holes for TWO posts, then slide a 10' or 12' log in between the posts and secure it with drilled holes and metal pins. Digging holes is hard work!

Complicating this whole process was my fear of crickets... crickets and grasshoppers were all over the pasture we were fencing. I confessed to a class-mate that I had a phobia of crickets and grasshoppers, and he thought it was hilarious. "I've never heard of someone being afraid of crickets and grasshoppers," he said. But he's a farm boy, so of course it seems ridiculous to him.

100 Mile Diet | Day 5

Today I ate rather well. I finished off my Swiss chard quiche for brunch; then I made pumpkin custard to add as an amendment to my pumpkin pie, which I felt didn't have enough flavor. I added lots of pumpkin pie spice to the custard -- maybe a bit too much. But the balance of spicy custard, as a topping on the milder pie, worked out quite nicely.

For dinner, I fried Shiitake mushrooms in homemade garlic-lemon mayonnaise. I combined the mushrooms with garlic-parsley potato salad and a steamed banana pepper stuff with leftover beef stew.

I made the mayonnaise with a fresh egg from Bluebird Gardens; olive oil (a trade item); garlic from Bluebird Gardens; and fresh-squeezed juice from organic lemons (another trade item, which I bought from Wal-Mart).

The garlic-parsley potato salad had potatoes and garlic from Bluebird Gardens. The parsley, which was grown at Lida Far near Frazee, I bought at the Detroit Lakes Farmer's Market.

Feral Cats

I am a cat-lover. The photo is of my Zoey, sleeping in the sun on the porch, using part of a broom and my flip-flop for support. When I see things like this, I melt.

When I moved to Fergus Falls, I learned that feral cats are a huge problem here. There are lots of them, and -- like all outdoor cats -- they are devastating to the songbird population.

On a class trip to Meadowfarm Foods, we saw a brochure for an organization called "Friends of Feral Cats." I was immediately interested, and it sparked a conversation between some of us. To my great surprise, a classmate -- who is vegetarian, does yoga, has pet cats, and seems quite liberal -- said she shoots feral cats whenever she sees them.

I can't begin to tell you how shocked I was when I learned that this practice is not uncommon -- shooting feral cats! Yes, they are a problem as a prolific invasive species... they kill birds... but they are still cute, adorable kitties, aren't they? Don't they at least deserve the same respect as cats in a shelter? I know in many shelters cats are killed, too, but I would guess much more humanely, with an injection. Shooting cats seems downright cruel and barbaric. But maybe I'm just a closed-minded city girl.

It poses a moral quandry. I could look at this habit from an anthropological perspective, remaining somewhat detached, open-minded, and observant... Or I could let my instincts guide me and try to "save" feral cats from such a horrible death. But what would happen to all those "saved" cats? Certainly, many would not be adoptable. Could they be humanely euthanized? If so, who would pay?

Like many people, for now I am trying not to think too much about these emotionally-disturbing moral issues... but it's weighing on me.

Cauliflower Update

Remember my post from this summer about the cauliflower I planted? I heard you are supposed to tie up the leaves, so I did that... But apparently I did it wrong, because my cauliflower died.

I tied the leaves too tightly together and suffocated my poor plant... When I opened up the leaves to check on it's progress, it was a decaying mess.

Rest in Peace, mon petit chou (fleure).

100 Mile Diet | Day 3

For brunch today, I had some Swiss chard quiche and some homemade pumpkin pie. The pumpkin came from Bluebird gardens. I cooked half of the pumpkin in boiling water on the stove-top; the other half I roasted in the oven. Boiling the pumpkin was by far faster, and I don't think there was any difference in the taste. My only regret on the pie was that I should have added more seasonings; I used twice as much pumpkin pie mix as called for in the recipe, but I should have quadrupled the amount. The quiche was good, too -- a little runny, but like the pie, it was made without a recipe by someone who doesn't have much experience in the kitchen.

For an early dinner, I had beef stew made with tomatoes, onions, garlic and carrots from Bluebird gardens; hominy from Native Harvest; and green beans from the Detroit Lakes Farmer's Market (more specifically, I got them from "Feel Good Farm"). It was pretty tasty. I also had some sweet squash, mashed with Cass Clay butter and local maple syrup; that wasn't as good. Maybe I'll try to make another pie and incorporate the leftovers into the filling.

Pumpkin pie again for dessert, and I'll be very satisfied. I've gotten used to cooking, and so today the diet doesn't seem so hard.

100-Mile Diet | Much Better with Practice

Day 3 of the 100-Mile diet, and I'm kind-of getting used to it. I've been cooking up a storm; in the past 24 hours, I've made: a pumpkin pie from scratch, a Swiss chard and onion quiche; mashed squash with maple syrup; a baked potato; and beef stew with hominy, tomatoes, carrots and green beans. I've also prepared an egg bake that is "sitting" in the fridge until it's ready to be cooked; it has Swiss chard, shiitake mushrooms, onions, and Bongard's marble jack cheese.

My egg bake also has Dakota bread from the Falls Baking Company, although that item was a bit of a stretch. The flour in the bread comes from Northern Minnesota, but they guessed their source was about 150 miles away. I felt like that was close-enough -- it was Minnesota flour, and the bread was baked 1/2 block from my house by a locally-owned bakery -- so I called it good and bought it to use in the egg bake.

For the pumpkin pie, I had to use pumpkin spice mix and baking mix (for the crust) -- two more trade items. The quiche also had a crust made from the baking mix.

The beef stew, however, is entirely local. It's pretty good, too -- despite having been made without a recipe by someone who can't really cook.

100-Mile Diet | Critical Caffeine

Oh caffeine, I now realize how wonderful you are!

Today I added a new trade item: Diet Pepsi. I wasn't going to do it, but I was so tired from not eating anything substantial, and I was being so indecisive about what to cook and how, that I capitulated to my craving for diet soda. And truly, it helped -- a lot.

I felt like I just couldn't do this 100-Mile diet without some caffeine, and since I had some cold cans of diet Pepsi in my fridge tempting me, I gave in. I opened a can. And it feels so good to have that back in the "allowed" category! Maybe now I can deal with eating only local food -- as long as I can have that one non-local beverage.

100-Mile Diet | Stress over "Special"

Since I've worked hard to procure all these local ingredients (or, harder than I usually do in buying food), I am finding I appreciate and value each item more.

Today I asked my boyfriend for advice on how to use my pound of local ground beef, and as we were discussing options, he said "don't waste good beef" on an untested recipe. The ground beef had become precious -- the opposite of a fungible commodity.

I feel like it's my duty to make the most of all my local ingredients, which is creating a lot of stress. I've been researching recipes that use only the local ingredients, and I have to be careful what I use when, since there are no more farmer's markets before the end of my diet-week. I can't just go to the grocery store and get more ingredients -- the grocery store hardly has anything that was locally grown. So unless I want to live on Bongard's cheese later this week, I need to ration my produce and use every item wisely.

The local foods are "special" -- not easily obtained, and often more expensive and harder to prepare than alternatives (consider canned pumpkin vs. a whole pumpkin purchased from a local pumpkin patch). Combined with the fact that I can't really cook, this is causing me a lot of stress about how to put it all together.

100-Mile Diet | Sources and Sacrifices

The Cass Clay dairy products I bought said they were from cows not treated with hormones (this was in the fine print), but nothing was mentioned about how the cows lived out their daily existence. I doubt they are on sustainable farms, grazing on diverse forage in a green pasture. They probably live inside, in a high-tech barn on an industrial dairy farm.

After visiting several sustainable farms in the Fergus Falls area, I have become extra sensitive to the origin of my food. I wonder, where is the farm? What does it look like? Are the cows outside year-round, or are they contained in pens filled with their feces?

I felt bad buying Cass Clay dairy products not knowing more about their source-farms. Eating locally should, ideally, bring me closer to the source of my food. But until I identify local farms from whom I can purchase products directly, in some ways I remain as disconnected as I was before.

I am happiest with my purchases from the vegetable farms that I toured in person, where I spent several hours talking with the farmer about his methods and philosophy. I loved cooking "Dallas' kale," which I didn't wash because I know he washes everything three times. I also like having two bunches of Swiss chard to compare: one from Ryan at Lida Farm, and one from Dallas' farm, Forest Glen. I think of the produce as "Ryan's" or "Dallas'," rather than as "just Swiss chard."

Tonight, I cooked Ryan's Swiss chard, mixed with Dallas' kale, in garlic from Mark Boen's farm -- possibly picked by my classmate, Andy, and sold to me by Mark's wife, Diane.

As I was eating my bowl of greens, I couldn't separate the food from the knowledge of where it was grown. Each ingredient (except the olive oil, my trade item) felt personal -- it had an emotional and intellectual significance.

That's what eating local should feel like.

Grocery Stores and Local Food

It is really difficult to discern, when visiting a conventional grocery store, the origin of the food for sale. Some items are marked "United States," or "Canada," but that's about it. It gives the impression that an apple is an apple, a steak is a steak, a carrot is a carrot -- where or how it was produced doesn't matter much. It made me wonder: do people genuinely not care, or has agribusiness and advertising made them believe it doesn't matter where food comes from?

I went to the two "regular" grocery stores in Fergus Falls -- SunMart and Service Foods -- in search of locally grown and produced edibles. In particular, I was on the look-out for local dairy products: Bongard's and Cass-Clay. Before coming to Fergus Falls, I had never heard of either; but to be fair, I haven't been a huge consumer of dairy products for nearly 20 years.

I have decided to abandon, temporarily, my gluten-free, dairy-free diet so that I can appreciate more fully the experience of "local eating." Hesitantly, I purchased Cass-Clay milk, half & half, and butter, along with a brick of Bongard's marble-jack cheese. Cass-Clay was one of the main brands of dairy products displayed at Service Foods; Service Foods was also where I found Bongard's cheese (SunMart does not carry it).

Browsing the very limited selection of food produced by local brands (Cass Clay, Bongard's, Barrel o' Fun), I couldn't help but dwell on what I was sacrificing to stick to the 100-mile diet. I was craving corn chips, but Barrel o' Fun didn't have "non-GMO" or "organic" on the label, so I passed them up. I stuck with the dairy products I usually avoid, daydreaming about making a pumpkin pie from scratch.

I don't know the recipe for pumpkin pie -- or rather I didn't have one with me in the store -- so I searched for canned pumpkin hoping there would be a recipe on the label. No such luck -- neither grocery store had canned pumpkin!

I asked an elderly woman next to me in the dairy case if pumpkin pie called for half & half or heavy cream, and she suggested "gourmet" half & half from Land o' Lakes, which she grabbed off the shelf for me. I politely took it, waited until she was gone, and then exchanged it for Cass Clay half & half.

When I got home, I looked up "pumpkin pie" in the Joy of Cooking, and it calls for heavy cream. Not wanting to go back to the store and buy even more dairy products, I've decided to figure out a way to make pumpkin pie with Cass Clay half & half.

100 Mile Diet | Day 2

This local-diet is turning out to be harder and more time-consuming that I thought. I spent the entire day today shopping for local foods, looking through cookbooks, researching recipes online, and preparing ingredients for nebulous dishes.

This morning I enjoyed a much better breakfast than yesterday: fried eggs and fried eggplant. Tonight, I cooked a huge bowl of kale and Swiss chard; so far, that's been my entire dinner. No protein, except for many some worms eaten by accident; as I was eating, I found a couple dead, fried worms in my bowl of cooked greens.

I am cooking hominy on the stove, boiling pumpkin pieces, and roasting half a pumpkin and a sweet potato squash in the oven. I am not really following a recipe and I don't know how long to cook any of these things... I'm planning to judge by intuition.

Another Shopping Binge and One Concession

After making my lunch of hominy and eggplant, I still felt very hungry -- even faint. So I decided to go buy more local food from Meadowfarm Foods and the Bluebird Gardens stand.

Usually I am a vegetarian, but I was so hungry, I decided this week I'd have to make some exceptions. I bought hamburger meat, locally grown and locally processed with no antibiotics or hormones. I also bought locally-made maple syrup and a head of garlic. This all added up to $14.60.

Still not satisfied, I went to the Bluebird Gardens stand by Kmart. I bought a half dozen ears of corn, another head of garlic, a dozen eggs, and a pumpkin which is supposed to work for pies. The total was $7. Quite a deal, I thought.

I fried some eggs as soon as I got home and put water on to boil for the corn. The eggs were so delicious -- better than any I can remember tasting. My corn on the cob was good too; I had two ears.

Protein is the key. Those eggs are a saving grace. But I still am having lots of cravings... I am seriously considering making chocolate one of my trade items.

100-Mile Diet Week | Inventory

I made a list of all the local edibles -- from the Farmer's Market, Bluebird Gardens, Native Harvest, and an Amish farm -- that exclusively represent my range of choices and ingredients for wood this week. I added to the list the trade items I've used so far: salt, sugar, olive oil, and lemon.

I'm not a natural cook -- I tend to graze throughout the day on a variety of individual food items eaten separately -- and so this diet poses a challenge. How do I transform a mound of local produce into enough satisfying meals for an entire week?

Keep in mind, my diet is limited to items that were grown, processed, packaged and sold within 100 miles of my apartment. That means homemade bread is off limits, unless I can find flour from grains that were grown, harvested, winnowed, and ground all within 100 miles.

So far, the only grains I have are wild rice and dried hominy. I have no sources of protein yet; I still have to investigate sources of local meat, eggs, and dairy. I have parsley and shiitake mushrooms for flavoring (yes, the mushrooms were produced within a hundred miles -- I saw the logs were they grew myself). For starches, I have two potatoes, an acorn squash, a spaghetti squash, and a sweet squash. For desert, I have watermelon. And then I have a ton of veggies: three bunches of kale, two bunches of Swiss chard, a bag of string beans, two regular cucumbers, two lemon cucumbers, and an eggplant. I bought a green tomato, too, but I ate that as soon as I got home to tide myself over while cooking lunch.

My task for this afternoon is to look examine my inventory carefully and plan out meals for the week.

First REALLY Local Meal

After getting back from the Farmer's Market in Detroit Lakes, I was starving. I wanted to do justice to my produce, though, and make a real meal instead of grazing a la carte, the way I usually do.

I took an onion and clove of garlic that I got a couple weeks ago from a local farm (Bluebird Gardens), grabbed olive oil from my cupboard, and decided to fry the hominy with onions and garlic. I fried the eggplant separately and put it on top.

The eggplant was delicious -- and I had purchased it for only 75 cents in Detroit Lakes! The hominy-onion mixture was not so good; the flavor was too overpowering. I thought it needed something acidic or tart, and I settled on adding lemon -- committing to that as my fourth trade item (10 trade items are allowed). It was a good choice; lemon juice significantly improved the dish.

100 Mile Diet Day 1 | Spending Binge

Breakfast was horrible: under-cooked hominy with a little homemade yogurt from my friend, Gretchen. I sweetened the yogurt with sugar (which I decided would be one of my ten allowed trade items). The hominy had been cooked with a little salt -- another trade item.

Hungry, I went to the Detroit Lakes Farmer's Market where I spent $31.25 on produce. Then, we went to an Amish farm where I spent an additional $6. For $37.25, I ended up with six big bags of locally-grown vegetables and two watermelons. Although the items felt expensive when I was forking over the cash, in perspective I realized I would be thrilled to get this amount of stuff for under $40 at Whole Foods. This loot, combined with hominy and wild rice from Native Harvest, will serve as my primary sustenance this week.

Countdown to 100 Mile Diet

Starting tomorrow (with breakfast) and for the next seven days, I have to limit my diet to foods grown, processed, and packaged within 100 miles of my apartment. Why? It's as assignment -- our whole class is doing it. And we're keeping a daily online diary of our local food experience, which I'm hoping will allow for some tips and consolation.

The philosophy behind the 100-mile diet is explained in a book and on the website, http://100milediet.org

The diet is supposedly inspired by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, who spent all of 2005 eating nothing but local foods.

I'm partially excited about the challenge, and partially anxious about having enough to eat. We're going shopping at the Detroit Lakes Farmer's Market tomorrow to stock up on locally-grown food, but part of our assignment is to scavenge for other local food sources by talking to neighbors, farmers, or surfing localdirt.com. It's not supposed to be as easy as one-stop shopping... It will take creativity, research, and initiative to scrounge up tasty local meals for an entire week.

The 7 days culminate with a pot-luck celebration, composed entirely of local foods (and local ingredients).

Tonight, I'm having a beer and making cookies... which tomorrow have to go in the freezer.

Welding and Wilderness

I started the day touring a conventional beef feeding lot, with the intention of identifying forage in the pastures that go unused by the fenced in cattle. It was raining, and our whole class got soaked wading in knee-high grasses while seeking out the elusive species of which we need samples.

This afternoon, I learned how to tie several knots, such as the reef knot, the clover hitch, and the sheet bend. Then, I got a quick lesson on welding and proceeded to weld rebar onto a metal rod that we were transforming into a coat hook. The professor offered to let me take the coat-rack to my apartment, since I welded much of it, but I declined -- so it will hang in our classroom.

After I got over my initial fear, it felt empowering to weld. I considered for about a minute looking for welding jobs in Fergus to finance my education.

I left class today with a jar of homemade yogurt and a crate of pears, which I assumed were grown locally and found out later came from Washington.

First Days in Fergus

I've been in Fergus Falls for 2 weeks now. Actually, I should say I've had my apartment for two weeks. I've probably spent just as much time in Minneapolis as I have in Fergus Falls lately.

I just completed my fifth day of class, and I'm amazed at how much I've learned. Today I drove a 4-stroke John Deer mower with a trailer attached; I practiced driving up and down hills, and "parking" the trailer by driving in reverse. This morning, I collected samples of several forage plants, including Kentucky bluegrass, alfalfa, timothy, sweet clover, smooth bromegrass, birdsfoot trefoil, and pea vetch. This afternoon, I learned about electric fencing and started designed an organizational system for a 12 foot trailer to hold the fencing supplies for the Sustainable Food Production program.

It was an odd feeling, passing by classrooms filled with students hunched over open textbooks while half-listening to the professor's Power Point presentation, while wearing rubber boots and carrying a bouquet of plants to press. Or walking by football practice to the back field where our class was sorting tools and fencing equipment, getting sunburned and eaten by mosquitoes.

This is not the kind of "school" I'm used to. It's so hands-on -- so practical. I feel like an idiot most of the time because I don't know the basics about farming or carpentry or mechanics, whereas most of my classmates do.

My book-learning has come in handy, though. Yesterday, when a grass-based beef farmer quizzed us about the source of all food, I provided the answer he was looking for: photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn sunlight into sugars.

Food Options

I recently read Joel Salatin's book "Holy Cows and Hogs in Heaven," which promotes buying food direct from farmers you know and trust as a means of improving your own health as well as the health of local economies, communities, and ecosystems. Joel maintains that the single best thing you can do to save the earth is eat food purchased from local, ethical, trustworthy, sustainable farmers. I believe there is a lot of truth to that.

When I moved to Fergus Falls, my first priority was to stock my kitchen. I went shopping for produce at four vendors: the local supermarket; the local independent health-food store; a farm stand on the side of the road; and Wal-Mart. I visited these vendors all on the same day; the juxtaposition of the experiences during each purchase was enlightening. I felt very differently with each one.

By far the most satisfying was purchasing "the perfect tomato" from the Bluebird Gardens stand from a kind, thoughtful woman who admitted she had been coveting this particular tomato all morning. She had picked it herself, and thought it was the epitome of tomatoes. She said I would have to enjoy it right away -- that very day -- because it was just at the right ripeness. So I bought that tomato, feeling somewhat guilty for taking the produce she had been coveting all morning, and I felt very proud to take it home and eat it that evening.

At the health food store, I bought locally-grown swiss chard. It was beautiful, green, and large... and I felt good about buying local and supporting the independent store. I refrained from buying the peaches there -- despite their tremendous appearance and flavor -- because I felt they were "too expensive" at 90 cents per peach. But I do realize that, compared to the cost of growing my own peaches, 90 cents per peach is a steal! Nevertheless, I passed them up and headed to Wal-Mart.

When I walked in to Wal-Mart (which is brand-new in town) and saw the expansive, colorful produce section, I was impressed. When I looked at the prices, my initial reaction was "I'm in heaven!" I had never seen produce for so little money!! A container of strawberries for under $2? Unbelievable! Of course, most of it was conventionally-grown far away from Fergus Falls... and I realized the farmers were getting short-changed (to say the least) with what must be an insulting compensation for the "fruits" of their labor. Yet I was hungry and wanted good food (by which I mean produce), so I stocked up and ended up spending by far the most money at Wal-Mart. I got a large quantity of produce at bargin prices, and that made me feel like a savvy consumer. But my satisfaction was tainted with guilt, knowing I was supporting an industrial food system that was depleting the land, polluting our environment, and cheating farmers out of a decent way of living (by which I mean earning a good income from growing produce sustainably, without exposing themselves to noxious chemicals, and selling it directly to people who value the farmer and appreciate their products).

The supermarket was the least satisfying shopping experience. The prices weren't that great; the produce didn't have a story; and I felt no pleasure from supporting a chain store.

I am going to try to get most of my produce from Bluebird Gardens... but I hate to admit Wal-Mart is a tempting back-up. Who knew buying produce could be such an aggravating moral and economic dilemma?

Perfectionism & Farming Don't Mix

Today in class, one professor commented on how there is no perfect farm. No one can farm perfectly. It is simply too complex, involving a large amount of variables which are constantly in flux. You can never know everything; you can never control everything; you can never perfectly optimize your land by creating the maximum, ideal, unblemished yield of every marketable item the land could produce. In this way, farming is like an art. The farmer is always striving to make things better, aware that inevitably there still always will be areas that could use more improvement.

As a recovering perfectionist, this caught my attention. To maintain their sanity, farmers have to "radically accept" that there are always variables out of their control. Things will go wrong: there will be drought or flooding, chickens will get picked off by predators, or a plague of grasshoppers will eat all the forage. Ultimately, you are just a steward of the land trying to do the best you can at the moment.

First Day

Today was my first day of classes in the Sustainable Food Production program at M State. It was intense. I definitely felt like a city girl! We learned how to estimate the dry matter yield (i.e. grass/food) in pounds per acre, to figure out how many days a certain number of cattle could graze on a given paddock. This involved created a tool to measure the height of the grass; taking the height measurements in several sample areas of a field; averaging the grass height from the sample areas; and plugging the average grass height into a formula (DMY = 432 * average height) to estimate how many tons of grass were on a certain acre. Then, we visited a real farm -- with real cows, chickens, and oh, yes, GRASS -- and we figured out how much time 40 cattle could graze on the paddock next to their current pasture. We calculated that there was about a ton and a half of grass on the next paddock, so the cows could graze their for about a day before they needed to move on to another pasture.

In sum, I learned how to estimate the length of time a certain number of cows can graze in a given pasture (before they eat all the grass). This guess-work involves a lot of variables and a lot of assumptions; it's very complicated and by no means precise. Lesson learned: farming involves a lot of careful estimation on a number of complex variables that yield useful information, but with a healthy margin of error.

The Natural Step Condition 4 - Applied to My Life

CONDITION 4: Resources must be used fairly and effectively in order to meet basic human needs globally.

The fourth principal of TNS is to promote equality and social justice in human societies, allowing every individual the opportunity to meet his or her basic needs. This encompasses the protection and preservation of resources - such as clean water, unpolluted air, and healthy soil - across the planet, as well as the protection and preservation of human rights.

I believe strongly in this goal, but I fear it will be the hardest to achieve. Since the dawn of civilization, there has been war, conflict, oppression, and inequality among humans. Much of our current economy is built on the hard labor and exploitation of disenfranchised individuals - especially in developing countries. Our current economy needs people who are desperate enough to take on the "dirty" jobs that the privileged classes shun - jobs like working in industrial slaughter houses.

However hard the challenge, I also believe it's possible for this to change. I can help create this change by not supporting businesses or buying products that rely on the exploitation of the world's poor and disenfranchised. I can choose to patronize businesses with a record of treating their employees well and working with suppliers who similarly value fair trade, human rights, and worker safety. In addition, I can make commitments to volunteer and serve in my community.

COMMITMENTS: Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. I already attended the volunteer orientation session, and I will aim to work one day per month building affordable housing. Volunteer to teach English for the Minnesota Literacy Council. I signed up for volunteer training that begins in July. Get involved with the "Farm Raising" event in Northeast Minneapolis, helping to plant a 50' x 50' farm at St. Olaf Community Campus. Help my friends and neighbors with projects focused on growing organic food for urban populations. For example, this week I am going to a friend's house to install vegetable gardens on the rooftop of his garage. Next week, I will help out on an organic farm that grows produce to give away to food shelters. Advise a non-profit, End of the Spectrum, on fundraising. End of the Spectrum's mission is to create sustainable, productive living environments for children and adults with autism. Partner with a fellow unemployed Minnesotan, offering him help with cover letters so he has a better chance of finding a job. Support companies that are committed to the well-being of their employees, such as New Balance. Seventh Generation, SmartWool, and other companies listed as "best places to work." Instead of buying Christmas gifts for my friends, agree to pool money to donate Heifer International. I did this last year with my friends; I will try to make it a tradition. Become a member of the Land Stewardship Project, which teaches people how to become farmers and promotes policies advancing sustainable agriculture.

The Natural Step Condition 3 - Applied to My Life

CONDITION 3: To not systematically impoverish by physical displacement, over harvesting, or other forms of ecosystem manipulation.

The third principal of TNS is to stop destroying habitats and ecosystems. This principal is near and dear to my heart, because I love animals and care deeply about preserving natural habitats and biodiversity. Recently, I installed two rain gardens in my backyard. The rain gardens will divert rainwater into my vegetable garden, reducing the amount of water I have to use from the city supply.

COMMITMENTS: Buy only shade-grown, fair-trade organic coffee. Eat vegan meals more frequently. Give up red meat Install native plants in my boulevard. Pick up liter near Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi River. Donate money to Operation Migration, which is helping to reintroducing a second population of endangered Whooping Cranes in the range from where they were exterpated. Talk to people with outdoor cats about cats' severe impact on birds. Scientists estimate that cats kill millions of birds each year. This includes common species such as Cardinal, Blue Jay, and House Wren, as well as rare and endangered species such as Piping Plover, Florida Scrub-Jay, and California Least Tern. Volunteer for the Animal Rights Coalition at the Pride Festival on June 27. Buy organic produce as much as possible Learn more about permaculture; take a workshop from PRI Cold Climate.

The Natural Step Condition 2 - Applied to My Life

The second principal of TNS is to cut down on the man-made substances we produce. The goal is to not produce more synthetic materials than the earth or ecosytems can process without harm. To reduce the growth of man-made substances, businesses and manufacturers need to increase their reliance on natural, renewable, non-toxic materials. Also, "waste" needs to be reduced or eliminated. This means making or purchasing products that are safe for humans and animals and that are biodegradable, reusable, or recyclable.

COMMITMENTS: Do not buy any more cleaning supplies; make my own with natural ingredients, such as baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. Buy compostable cat litter, such as Yesterdays News, instead of clay or crystal litter Wear make-up less frequently Recycle electronics that no longer work Promote a culture of "reuse" (or valuing what I have) instead of a culture of consumption Shop at thrift stores, finding new uses for "discarded" items Donate unwanted or unused items to ARC or Goodwill

The Natural Step Condition 1 - Applied to My Life

CONDITION 1: Substances from the Earths crust must not systematically increase in the biosphere. The first principal of TNS is to cut down on what we take from the earth's crust -- oil, metals, and minerals. It's important not to systematically accumulate substances from the earth's crust above ground, because ecosystems cannot handle large concentrations of these substances without deleterious effects. To avoid excess removal of resources from the earth's crust means reducing mining and the burning of fossil fuels.

Every day I use items that depend on substances taken from the earth's crust. My car is made from mined metal and runs on gasoline. My household appliances are made from metal and use electricity, which is generated by burning fossil fuels. My food was grown and transported using oil-powered machines and oil-based products (plastic bags, plastic packaging). Pretty much everything I touch required the mining of oil, metals or minerals from the earth's crust. What actions can I take in my life to help reduce the amount of substances taken from the earth's crust?

First, I can cut down on my energy/electricity usage. Second, I can cut down on the amount of gas I use for transportation. Finally, I can get involved in the community to spread the word about peak oil and facilitate transition to a less energy-intensive society.

COMMITMENTS: Use less electricity: unplug appliances when not in use; turn off computer when not in use; replace incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient bulbs; take maximum advantage of daylight to do work or read in naturally-lit areas, instead of working at night with lamp-light; put up a clothes-line in my backyard. Bike more, and drive less. Bring reusable bags to the grocery store, cutting down on use of plastic bags Buy less packaged or processed foods; stick to produce, grains, and legumes, and purchase in bulk whenever possible Become more active in the Transition Towns movement, learning how to faciliate a graceful energy descent. Attend the Transition Towns training this fall. ( http://www.transitiontc.org/about) Talk to my friends and neighbors about peak oil, and point them to resources where they can learn more, such as chrismartenson.com. CONDITION 2: Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in the biosphere.

Elevator Speech - Sobering Version

As my readers know, I lost my job this past winter, and so I've been doing some soul-searching about what I should do next. I haven't figured it all out, but I know that I want the next chapter of my life to involve promoting sustainable ways of living.

I've been spending my time-off learning about a variety of environmental issues to see where I might fit, and it has really reinforced for me the importance -- and inevitability -- of radically changing the way we live.

Most people know about climate change, but what's scarier to me is the coming energy crisis we're facing as oil runs out. Some scientists think we've reached "peak oil" -- meaning from now on, we'll be producing less and less oil, of decreasing quality, for higher and higher cost (just think of the cost of off-shore drilling compared to land-drillling). The scary thing is, there isn't anything that can really replace oil. Yes, there are alternative energy sources -- but none are nearly as efficient as oil in terms of energy output.

When we first discovered oil, we could get 100 units of energy for every one unit we spent producing it. Alternative fuels can't get anywhere close to that. In other words, even if all of these new technologies -- wind power, solar power, biofuels, etc. -- were put to maximum use tomorrow, and all the infrastructure was there, we still couldn't generate as much energy as we do with oil. The fact is, we are going to have less energy available to use in the future.

On top of that, we will be facing more unpredictable climates and dwindling natural resources -- since we are steadily consuming more of everything (trees, clean water, minerals) than can be regenerated. The best thing we can do is become proactive and start transitioning to a less energy and resource-intensive way of life now -- before we no longer have a choice.

The Business Case for Sustainability

Recently I've been studying frameworks for assessing and advancing sustainable practices in business. It can actually be advantageous for businesses to "green" their operations. First, it increases their resilience in the face of dwindling natural resources and increasing concerns about climate change. Second, it can spark the development of new, forward-thinking, marketable "solutions" that address key challenges of the 21st century. In other words, advancing sustainability offers opportunities for businesses to do good for our planet AND emerge as leaders in changing markets.

We're really living in an exciting, historic time. More and more people are realizing that protecting the environment and really valuing natural resources is not only a nice idea -- it is necessary for ensuring continued quality of life for us and for future generations.

Currently, we are consuming resources faster than they can regenerate, and we are producing more waste and pollution than Nature can effectively process. In the next 20 years, there will have to be dramatic changes in our economy and society as oil production gets more difficult and costly and the signs of global warming intensify. However, I believe the changes will be positive. We'll develop more respect for the intelligence in nature and be empowered to live in harmony with the planet. I also think we'll come to value local resources more and -- as a result of initiatives like the slow food movement -- build stronger communities.

Sustainability is about transitioning to ways of living that promote the health of the planet and people. We have the opportunity now to re-shape society -- developing smarter ways to live and meet our needs, while also protecting the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

The Natural Step

The Natural Step is a broad conceptual framework - widely endorsed by environmentals and business leaders - that offers four key principals or conditions to guide people towards sustainable living. These four conditions were developed by Dr. Karl Henrik Robert as a way to define sustainability and measure our progress towards it.

The four conditions, paraphrased, are:

1) Do not systematically increase what we take from the earth's crust (metals, oil, minerals)

2) Do not systematically increase the concentrations of made-made substances on the earth

3) Do not systematically injure natural habitats, ecosystems, or biodiversity

4) Share resources equitably so all humans can meet their basic needs.

The Natural Step conditions provide simple, yet ambitious goals around sustainability that people from diverse fields, with diverse backgrounds, can agree upon and understand. The Natural Step offers the 10,000 foot, "big picture" view to inform our priorities and actions. It is up to us as individuals to figure out how to apply these conditions to our lives.

Illegal Logging and Contraband Wood

I recently read "Down in the Woods" from the March 23, 2006 edition of The Economist, which is about new strategies for curbing illegal logging in Indonesia.

The article mentions a new system for barcoding timber that was legally and sustainably harvested, making it possible to track facts such as the forest the log was taken from, the date it was cut, the size of the tree, and the log's destination. This system is part of an effort to make it easier to distinguish between legally harvested wood and illegally harvested wood, allowing sustainable logging companies to gain market share advantage and charge higher prices. In other words, the idea is to provide financial incentives for sustainable harvesting practices.

The article explains that in Indonesia, illegal harvesting -- which means over-harvesting -- is a big problem. People who don't make a lot of money can get big bucks from selling wood, and it's relatively easy to bribe officials (who are also low-paid) to overlook illegal logging or create fake permits. Many illegal harvesters don't care about the impact of unsustainable logging, because there is a significant amount of money in it for them.

This article brought up several issues that demonstrate how the deforestation in Indonesia is really an international problem and requires international action. Contributing to deforestation, and essential to its reversal are:

1) international organizations (i.e. the United Nations, WTO)
2) governments in consumer nations (i.e. the US, EU countries)
3) financiers and banks
4) consumers/businesses in the US and other developed nations
5) the Indonesian government
6) individuals/businesses in Indonesia

In other words, it's not just the illegal logging companies that are to blame. All of these above-mentioned players contribute to the problem of over-harvesting, illegal logging, and deforestation.

One example: The role of the WTO in deforestation. I was shocked to learn that countries can't require all wood entering their homeland to be certified as legally harvested, because this would go against the rules of the World Trade Organization. I found publications online that are calling for the reform of WTO rules, such that restrictions can be applied to illegal trade practices. I was surprised such restrictions are not currently allowed!

Some good news, though: Since the article was written, the US has taken measures to curb trade of illegally-harvested wood by adding regulations about domestic trade. According to an article in the Examiner, "In 2008, the U.S. government amended the Lacey Act to prohibit trade within the United States of products made from illegally harvested wood. With this amendment, the United States became the first country to ban imports of illegal wood and related products." I wonder how this sits with the WTO regulations.

UPDATES -- AND SOME GOOD NEWS
Although the article predicted lowland forests in Borneo would be gone by 2010, as far as I could tell researching it there is still hope they'll be saved. According to mongabay.com, there are still about 10,000 hectares of lowland forests, and Indonesia is taking steps to rehabilitate its forests to help meet its target of decreased greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. This summer, Indonesia promised a moratorium on deforestation.

Apparently, the illegal logging practices in Indonesia have proved unsustainable -- and the effects caught up with the loggers. CIFOR reports: " Indonesia's forestry sector is in deepening crisis. Once among the world's leaders in round wood and plywood production, today the country's logging and woodworking sectors are in steep decline. During the last three years, the export of plywood decreased by nearly 75% while the export of sawn timber products fell by nearly 50%. Production and export reductions of such magnitude have had significant economic and social impacts in terms of shrinking foreign earnings and employment loss." The same article states that China and Indonesia have established a working group on stopping illegal logging. An agreement with the EU regarding timber trade is also in the works.

But what about US business? Mongabay.com reported in 2006 that many Americans were unwittingly buying illegally, unsustainably-harvested wood from Indonesia at places like Home Depot and Lowe's. This month, Yale University reported that activists are now turning their attention on corporations -- trying to get them to stop buying and selling illegally harvested wood: "Corporations have today replaced small-scale farmers as the prime drivers of deforestation, a shift that has critical implications for conservation." The article goes on to say: "Deforestation, overfishing, and other forms of environmental degradation are now primarily the result of corporations feeding demand from international consumers."

But apparently, corporations are learning they had better change their ways; Greenpeace has raised awareness of their choices, and the pressure is on to stop supporting unsustainable logging and deforestation. Yale quotes a researcher at an Australian university saying: " Many corporations are learning that it's bad business to engage in environmentally poor practices."

It's on us now to help continue to raise awareness and urge businesses to make sustainable choices. We have been part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution.