The Dirt: The Video

Here is an intro to why I do this...

Here's to the Ladies! The women of sustainable agriculture

While it may be true that today's average farmer is most akin to Elmer Fudd, there is a growing (or maybe its just re-emerging) trend of women in agriculture. The agricultural industrial revolution introduced the farm to many boy-oriented products and practices like tractors (weee! look at my big toy!), pesticides (die bugs DIE!), and a narrow-minded linear perspective on a complex system. Thankfully for farms everywhere, a resurgence of women farmers is making waves in the agricultural industry.

Recently, Tom Philpott wrote an article for Grist titled: "Acknowledging Women's Role in the Sustainable Food Movement" and after reading it, I felt inspired to reiterate some of what he wrote. While the sustainable food movement does have a group of men in the spotlight (Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Joel Salatin, etc) the voices and names of the women in the movement are becoming more and more recognizable every day.

Personally, I find myself so drawn to this topic because most of my biggest role-models in sustainable food are women.

-Firstly, I have my mom to thank for introducing me to farming and gardening at our home in suburban Boston. She is the one who first taught me how to plant a seed, help it grow, harvest the food, and compost the rest. Thanks mom.

-I learned the principles and practices of Permaculture from a woman named Joanna Pearsall, who is co-creator and organizer of the New Zealand EcoShow, a conference to bring together sustainability professionals. She is also an integral member of the New Zealand permaculture movement, and much more!

-I was inspired by the grit and determination I witnessed in Ann Cure, who co-taught an Agro-Ecology course I took during my BA at the Naropa University. Ann used to be the farm manager for the university-owned educational farm in Boulder CO, until the school's board of trustees decided to sell the farm to free up some cash to finish building the MFA facilities elsewhere... Personally, I left Naropa's environmental studies program after the sale of Hedgerow Farm. Ann lost her job at the farm, but she didn't even flinch. She went out, found the financing, and bought her own farm, Cure Organic Farm, which she runs to this day. She continues to provide educational opportunities to children in the Boulder area, along with delicious organic food to high-class restaurants and at the farmer's market.

-After Boulder, I moved to Oakland CA, where I was lucky enough to meet Temra Costa, who was then program director of CAFF (Community Alliance with Family Farms). I was inspired by her commitment to sustainable food, and then totally wowed when she released her book "Farmer Jane" which is all about the ways women are changing the food system. On her website, Temra writes:  

"As farmers, moms, businesswomen, chefs, and activists, women are changing the way we eat and farm. They are the fastest growing demographic to own and operate sustainable farms, comprise the largest percentage of sustainable agriculture nonprofit employees, own sustainable food businesses, cook the majority of household meals, and control household budgets. “Farmer Janes” are creating a more healthful, sane, and sustainable food system for present and future generations." 
 
-Another influential woman I encountered in California was Alice Waters. Her work as a chef led her to focus on where her food came from, and well beyond. I was lucky enough to spend some time at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, and witness what growing a garden can do to change the way a child sees the world. Inspired by Alice and her work, I went and taught a gardening class at a small elementary school in San Leandro where the kids and I built up a beautiful and fruitful garden.

-I work with a company providing information, products, and equipment to the growing agriculture movement increasingly known as 'Biological Agriculture' which focuses on managing the microbial communities in the soil and on plants. The technology is amazing, and stands to put Monsanto out of a job. This technology, and the scientific approach to its agricultural applications, has come from Dr. Elaine Ingham, now president of Soil Foodweb Inc. I attended an educational workshop of hers after listening to her lectures on CD, and my life has never been the same since. In fact, I decided to pursue a master's degree in business to be able to figure out a way to bring these technologies to the world!

-Currently, my inspiration from Dr Ingham has led me to a very interesting project I am developing. I am working on a way to assist in breaking the cycle of chemical dependency in rural Indian agriculture. In my research, I have repeatedly come across the work of Dr Vandana Shiva (not to mention really enjoying her books Soil not Oil, Stolen Harvest, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development. Also, be sure to catch her interviews in films like Dirt: The Movie, The Corporation, and Blue Gold). Not to be overwhelming, but she also founded Navdanya, an organization networking, training, educating, and facilitating people working toward sustainable food in India (oh, and did I mention that Navdanya is a woman-centric organization and has a branch called Diverse Women for Diversity?)

So, without going further (and I assure you I could!), it is abundantly clear to me that women are back when it comes to sustainable food, or maybe they never left and we just haven't been hearing about them. In his Grist article, Philpott (actually his girlfriend) made the observation that: "the whole "vote with your fork" ethos that has dominated the food movement for decades is arguably a permutation of one of '70s-era feminism's central insights: "The personal is political." Lets keep that mentality moving!

In conclusion, it is clear to me, at least in my own path and development, that women have played a major role in leading me to where I am today in sustainable agriculture and food systems. Lets all try to find ways to recognize the women in ag who are shaping the next generation of food producers around the world. To my woman readers: what ways can I, as a man, help to support, promote and recognize the critical role women are playing in the food system?

Renewed in my gratitude to the women in my life who have helped to shape my perception of what a sustainable food system looks like, I'll end this post. Hopefully I'll be coming back to this topic less as a way to point out the unrecognized women of ag, and more to celebrate a wide-reaching public perception of women as an obviously powerful force in our food system.

Here's to the ladies!

Sustainable Food and Agriculture Resources

While I sit here on my soapbox shouting out to the world about all kinds of amazing ways that we can meet our food-system needs without utterly devastating our earth and the good people on it, sometimes I forget that not everyone thinks like me, or even has the same informational background I do...

So here is a chance for all of you who would like to learn more to have a look at some other places you can learn about this stuff I'm preaching:

Soil Microbiology and Agriculture:

http://biologicsystemsusa.com/ - My Company! Check us out, and our website is pretty rich with information, research, supplies, and more.


http://biologicsystemsusa.com/docs/catalog.pdf - Produced by my company, our catalog is actually an amazing way to get some perspective on this whole approach without having to 'buy the cow,' as they say

http://www.soilfoodweb.com/sfi_approach1.html - This is the website for all your Soil/Microbe/Plant interaction information. Dr Ingham, president of Soil Foodweb Inc, is a personal hero of mine, an amazing scientist, and an inspired change-agent.

 Soil Carbon Sequestration and Cows


http://www.savoryinstitute.com/ - Allan Savory is the founder of the Holistic Management movement, and his book is worth reading for anyone. Savory works all over the world to spread his experience and knowledge working with cows and other large herd animals to actually heal land. (Check out the project he did in Zimbabwe in a recent post of mine!)

http://soilcarboncoalition.org/ - These guys are serious about impacting climate change by putting the carbon back where it belongs, in the soil! There are some incredible stories, some really educational articles and papers, and be sure to check out the interactive map where you can actually see where (and how much) people have made a difference on their farm!

Enjoy these links! I'm sure there is plenty more to come...

Face your Food

A fellow food and sustainability blogger Organic Nation recently wrote about an event that I want to share. Fair Food International, a non-profit working to advance the cause of healthy and sustainable food globally, has initiated a campaign called "Face your Food."

The campaign recognizes that to enact change, especially in an industry so heavily lobbied by corporations, public support must be impossible to miss. So, Fair Food has invited people to make a video of themselves eating. The video will be slowed down and reversed, with the intended consequence of getting people to think about where their food comes from. 

Dorothee from Organic Nation writes:


"I think this is a great opportunity for folks in the U.S. to show their support not only for this organization, but for the concept of sustainable and fair trade food. I like how easy they make it to participate, you can simply use your computer's web cam to film yourself eating something and the site will turn it backwards and share it on Facebook with all the other entries."

As a huge food advocate myself, I absolutely agree that the premise behind this campaign (rallying public support around healthy food by creating a viral video campaign to which it is easy to contribute) is really good. The drive to bring out people's opinions around healthy food to show to the government and the food producers is hugely important.

Filming yourself while eating? The mere thought makes me uncomfortable. Watching up close other people eating, even in reverse? Not really an appetizing activity...

Unfortunately (or maybe not) the culmination of this campaign was about a week ago, so I missed my chance to put myself chowing down on Facebook (where they want me to post the video). In a way, it is campaigns like these that make me wonder... who thought this up? did they really think that this would encourage people to think about food sustainability? or about where the piece of broccoli in that blond guy's teeth came from? Honestly, it didn't me.

I am really glad to have encountered this post on Organic Nation, as it inspires me to think of how this kind of campaign (easily accessible, showing of public support for healthy food, directed to the decision-makers) can be otherwise structured to better guide people's minds to food sustainability.

A question to my readers: What kind of similar campaign (perhaps viral and video-based) could bring people together to voice their concern for healthy foods/lands/farms?

If I get some good suggestions, I may even take them to completion as part of a class I'm taking right now. So you never know, you might find that an idea you sprout here may become nationally fruitful!

Water, Water, Everywhere...

When Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," he probably didn't do it thinking about agriculture in the 21st century, but I will.

He wrote:  
"Water, water, everywhere,
     And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
     Nor any drop to drink."

While Coleridge may have been referring to the un-drinkability of seawater from the eyes of a sailor, I will focus on the un-drinkable water we create everyday through bad agricultural practices. Today, in honor of Blog Action Day, I'll be focusing on water. Since my focus is on sustainable agriculture, I'll take a moment to highlight some of the relevant posts I've made about water, and share some new information. 

First, allow me to point out a post I made back in August after reading an NPR release about the severe drought in West Africa. I brought to light, in comparison with the situation in Africa, which the UN was under stress about because they didn't have enough food to send to feed those who were suffering from the consequences of the drought, a positive example from Mexico. Doug Weatherbee conducted an experiment in rural Mexico growing corn during a severe drought season. He treated his land with biological inoculants (good compost and compost tea) and had some amazing results. Go to my post to see the pictures. 

One point I'll introduce, also related to water and specific to Africa, is that Ethiopia, for example, puts 96% of the water collected from above and below, into their agricultural system. The remaining 4%, a mere sip in comparison, pretty much entirely flows to the capital Addis Ababa, where it is drunk, used for watering lawns, and pooped in. The people who live outside the city rely on murky puddles of water which they share with livestock (who don't necessarily refrain from using those puddles as toilets). They come to the water with a bucket, push the cow out of the way, and fill up on their daily dose of drinking/washing/cooking water. All the while in the background, huge sprinklers are spraying thousands of gallons of water into the air, where most of it (on a hot day, as much as 85%) evaporates before it ever makes contact with the ground. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner certainly has some close relevance for these people. 

Another water-topic I want to mention is something I just recently discovered. Turns out, a team at the University of Minnesota produced a movie call "Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story." The film documents the ways in which bad agricultural choices are leading to major problems down the line. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it. U of M decided to postpone their release of the movie after some criticism was brought up by some interested parties *cough* LOBBYISTS! *cough*. Apparently the issue has turned into quite a debaucle over academic freedom, and the control that financial contributors to an educational institution ought to have over the material produced therein. 

Dixon, CA

One piece of info I am privy to related to this movie is that in Dixon, CA, home of almond, walnut, and other agricultural products, there are some concerns from farmers about their drinking water. The EPA has set the limit of nitrite (a soluble form of Nitrogen, and a popular fertilizer) to 1 ppm. On a small walnut farm in Dixon, the nitrite concentration in the water coming out of the faucet measured in at an astounding 75ppm! All that extra nitrogen comes from the excessive use of this synthetic fertilizer on Dixon's orchards. What a waste! Producing that fertilizer consumes 3-5% of our global natural gas production every year, only for it to become a health risk and pollution problem! Where's the logic there?! 

Okay, so I may be rambling a little, and I'll curtail my rant. Before I do, I just want to ask the question of whether it is really worthwhile for our food system to rely on an energy-intensive process that leads to water contamination, and actually decreases the soil's ability to hold on to that precious water. Is it really worth a 'dead-zone' the size of Rhode Island in the Gulf of Mexico? Is chemical-based agriculture really providing enough benefit to outweigh the cost to lives of people who are effected by contaminated drinking water, a system that doesn't allow drinking water for people outside the city, and a system that is devastated when excessive amounts of water aren't available?


Water, water, everywhere...

From Grist: Vote for the your favorite Food Villain

This week Grist has launched a poll to assess who is the world's worst villain of food. I know a few names popped into my head as soon as I saw the title, and I reckon some will for you too. Chances are, they're on the list.

As much as I really try to focus on positivity and possibility in my blog, there are some times when we just need to get together and collectively vent our frustrations with agriculture, the food system, and those who we perceive as actively trying to squelch the efforts of those trying to create a healthy and sustainable food system that will genuinely nurture.

Image courtesy of Grist.org

From the Grist article: "This is our attempt to root out who's currently keeping America sick, fat, and poisoned: a preliminary list of a Dirty Dozen rotten eggs spoiling our food system. Cast your vote, or write in your candidate in the comments below, and let's see who's food's Public Enemy No. 1 -- and plot what we can do to stop them."

So go read the article, cast your vote for the worst offender, and stay posted as to who comes out to be Food Villain #1!