Land Stewardship LIVE-WIRE, September 8, 2003
Hello:
This is the second issue of “Land Stewardship LIVE-WIRE,” the Land Stewardship Project's new e-mail update. We will be sending this out periodically to provide an update on activities and information related to LSP’s work. We hope you enjoy this service, and are looking for feedback. Please send your comments to Brian DeVore at bdevore@landstewardshipproject.org. If you prefer not to receive this newsletter, please e-mail lspwbl@landstewardshipproject.org and write “remove LIVE-WIRE” in the subject line.
IN THIS ISSUE
* It’s Time for a Picnic
* Farm Beginnings™ Class Deadline Oct. 7
* Farming with the Wild Oct. 8
* LSP Book Event Nov. 6
* Sign up for Mexico Trip by Oct. 15
* Taking on Agribusiness
* It’s Time to Call Congress
* When a Factory Farm Comes to Town
* Local Meal Planner
* Click Your Heels for Local Food
* We Need Help With Food Demos
* LSL Out Soon
* A Graphic Account
* Worth Repeating
IT’S TIME FOR A PICNIC
Have you made plans to attend the LSP Local Foods Potluck Benefit Sept. 27 at Gale Woods Farm Park west of the Twin Cities? This is a great opportunity to eat good food, catch up on LSP’s activities, visit with friends and get a close-up view of an exciting new park that features sustainable farming systems. The farm is very child-friendly.
FARM BEGINNIGS CLASS DEADLINE OCT. 7
The Land Stewardship Project’s nationally recognized Farm Beginnings™ program is taking applications for its 2003-2004 session. The deadline for registration is Oct. 7. Farm Beginnings™ programs now exist in southeast and western Minnesota. Details are available at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_farmbeginnings.html.
FARMING WITH THE WILD OCT. 8
How can society help promote a type of agriculture that works with nature, instead of against it? Come find out during a special “Farming with the Wild” event Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at the Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis. This event, which is sponsored by LSP, the Wild Farm Alliance, Ruminator Books and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, is free and open to the public. It will feature nationally recognized authors, farmers and activists who are involved with efforts to reconnect farming and ecosystems. Watch our Web site for more details.
LSP BOOK EVENT NOV. 6
More than a year and half after its publication, The Farm as Natural Habitat continues to receive rave reviews for its insights into how to connect the “shopping list and the endangered species list.” LSP’s southeast Minnesota office will host a Farm as Natural Habitat book reading event on Thursday, Nov. 6, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It will feature LSP Associate Director Dana Jackson, who co-edited the book, and Tex Hawkins, an LSP member and wildlife biologist who wrote one of the chapters. Also on hand will be Brian DeVore, editor of the Land Stewardship Letter and a contributor to the book.
The event will be at LSP’s Lewiston office at 180 East Main Street. For more information, contact: 507-523-3366
SIGN UP FOR MEXICO TRIP BY OCT. 15
Agriculture is truly a global issue, which is why the Land Stewardship Project is co-sponsoring "People, Plants, and Profits: The Culture and Political Economy of Corn
in Mexico" Jan. 2 to Jan. 12, 2004. The registration deadline is Oct. 15. Interested? Go to http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/03/newsr_030702.html.
TAKING ON AGRIBUSINESS
LSP is continuing to work with the Campaign for Family Farms to fight concentration within the livestock industry. Check out http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/03/newsr_030801.html for information on our efforts to prevent the largest pork processor/producers from controlling the industry even further. Also, watch our Web site for updates on a recent meeting LSP held with Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. Hatch has pledged to help fight consolidation in the livestock industry.
IT’S TIME TO CALL CONGRESS
Fall is shaping up to be a hot time in Congress in terms of agricultural policy issues. The Conservation Security Program (CSP), corporate consolidation and factory farm subsidies will all be on the agenda in our nation’s capitol during the next several weeks. Go to http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/news-pr.html for the latest press releases and action alerts related to these issues. Calls to Congress and letters to the editors of local newspapers would be particularly helpful right now. It only takes a few minutes to make your voice heard. Contact LSP’s Policy Program Office at 612-722-6377 or marks@landstewardshipproject.org for more information.
WHEN A FACTORY FARM COMES TO TOWN
What do you do when you find out that a multi-million gallon manure lagoon may be your next-door neighbor? Get organized. See what one group of rural residents recently accomplished at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/03/newsr_030722.html.
LOCAL MEAL PLANNER
Interested in planning a meal for the next gathering of your club, group or religious community? LSP has developed a Local Foods Dinner Planning Guide. This guide has been prepared to give you ideas and suggestions on how to get started (http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/foodfarm-main.html#LFDPG.)
CLICK YOUR HEELS FOR LOCAL FOOD
Speaking of local food, the second edition of the Pride of the Prairie’s There’s No Taste Like Home: Local Foods Guide for the Upper Minnesota River Valley is now available. This year’s listing includes 94 farms in the region that produce food for direct marketing to consumers. For a free copy, contact the Land Stewardship Project’s western Minnesota office at 320-269-2105 or lspwest@landstewardshipproject.org. More information on Pride of the Prairie is available at http://www.prideoftheprairie.org.
WE NEED HELP WITH FOOD DEMOS
The Midwest Food Alliance (MWFA), a joint project of LSP and Cooperative Development Services, needs volunteers to help provide samples of food that’s been raised using sustainable methods. This fall, MWFA is planning food demos in several grocery stores throughout the Upper Midwest, and one of them might be in your neighborhood. In the past, these demos have proven extremely effective at getting the word out on local food raised by family farmers using sustainable methods.
LSL OUT SOON
The next issue of the Land Stewardship Letter is at the printer and should be hitting your mailbox by the end of September. This edition features a special report on how land grant research can serve the public good, the latest news on federal farm policy, a review of Farming with the Wild, updates on efforts to develop a regional food system, an article on a group of people who are fighting factory farm development, resources, event announcements, and more. If you have any story ideas, comments or criticisms related to the LSL, please contact Brian DeVore at bdevore@landstewardshipproject.org or 612-729-6294. For back issues of the newsletter, go to http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/news-lsl.html.
A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT
For a peek at the huge gap that exists between farmers and lenders when it comes to their views on sustainable agriculture, check out http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/03/newsr_030826.html and click on the link for the bar graph at the bottom.
WORTH REPEATING
“I think people like the Fisher-Merritts are doing about the most important work on the planet.” — CSA member Loren Nelson, quoted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/03/itn_030823.html).
top
|
