Land Stewardship LIVE-WIRE, Dec. 21, 2004
Hello:
This is the 18th issue of "Land Stewardship LIVE-WIRE," the Land Stewardship Project's e-mail newsletter. We send 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
1) New York Times Calls Livestock Plan "Destructive"
2) Citizens Barred From Livestock Meeting
3) Tell Governor to Support Local Control
4) Supreme Court Considers Checkoff
5) Extension Scholarships Available for Food Alliance Meeting Feb. 10
6) Francis Moore Lappe in S.E. Minnesota Feb. 11
7) Dairy Farmers Looking for Land
8) LSL: Fresh Faces-Fresh Farming
9) LSP Database Position
10) Art Gallery Entries Needed
11) Eat Well Guide
12) New CSP Fact Sheet
13) Check the Calendar
14) Give the Gift of Stewardship
15) Worth Repeating
16) Worth Repeating II
17) Join LSP
1) NEW YORK TIMES CALLS LIVESTOCK PLAN "DESTRUCTIVE"
Criticism of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's attempts to weaken local government in Minnesota continues to pile up. Through his Livestock Advisory Task Force, Gov. Pawlenty has been pushing plans to weaken township and county democratic rights in order to pave the way for more factory farms. As we reported in LIVE-WIRE No. 17, in November 5,000 Minnesota
citizens expressed their displeasure via a postcard campaign. On Dec. 2, the criticism came from the editorial board of the New York Times. "It's a blueprint for the destruction of family farming in Minnesota," editorialized the Times. "The way to aid animal agriculture isn't to sell out to corporate interests or make rural residents feel powerless.
It's to increase the diversity of Minnesota farming, build new markets and preserve rural life. Massive feedlots and hog-confinement operations do none of that." That editorial prompted the Des Moines Register to also comment on the Pawlenty Administration's attempts to weaken local control. "Minnesotans should fight to hold onto [local control]," wrote the Register's editorial
board on Dec. 6. "Iowans don't have it. County boards of supervisors can make recommendations on where the animals, buildings and manure pits go, but the state decides. That has caused enormous controversy." To read the Times local control editorial, go to http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/04/itn_041203.html. The Register's
editorial is at http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2004412060305.
2) CITIZENS BARRED FROM LIVESTOCK MEETING
One response to the demand for keeping local control in place has been to limit access to information on what the Livestock Task Force's final recommendations will be. These recommendations will provide a basis for the Governor's 2005 legislative agenda as it relates to livestock agriculture (the legislative session begins Jan. 4). On Dec. 13, a
Minnesota Department of Agriculture official barred representatives of LSP and Minnesota COACT from attending a subcommittee meeting of the Governor's Livestock Advisory Task Force. All previous meetings of this subcommittee had been open. But the official told the citizens that Gov. Pawlenty's office had given the okay to close this particular meeting,
which produced recommendations on what role local government would play in controlling the location of large livestock facilities. The official told the Star Tribune newspaper that the committee members decided later to "open" the meeting. However, the citizens who were turned away were not notified of this, and the subcommittee's final recommendations have not been made public.
3) TELL GOVERNOR TO SUPPORT LOCAL CONTROL
Call Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 800-657-3717 or 651-296-3391, or e-mail him at tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us. Tell him that township local control is working for Minnesota and he should stop his attempts to weaken township rights. Gov. Pawlenty should not sign off on any proposals that change the zoning powers of counties or townships. Also,
let him know that Minnesotans believe that public policy should be created in public and that it was wrong for citizens to be barred from the final meeting of his Livestock Task Force subcommittee. For more information, contact Bobby King at 507-523-3366 or
bking@landstewardshipproject.org. You can read more about how to promote sustainable and economically viable livestock farming in Minnesota at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/04/newsr_041001.html.
4) SUPREME COURT CONSIDERS CHECKOFF
LSP members and independent hog farmers Jim Joens and Rich Smith traveled to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8 to hear oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the mandatory beef checkoff. Smith and Joens were joined by other members of the Campaign for Family Farms (CFF). For details, see
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/04/newsr_041208.html.
5) EXTENSION SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR FOOD ALLIANCE MEETING FEB. 10
Travel scholarships are available for Extension educators interested in attending the Food Alliance Midwest's fourth Annual Meeting on Thursday, Feb. 10. The meeting will be held in the Twin Cities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For details, see
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/04/newsr_041212.html.
6) FRANCIS MOORE LAPPE IN S.E. MINNESOTA FEB. 11
On Friday, Feb. 11, Frances Moore Lappe will be featured at two LSP events in southeast Minnesota. Lappe, a leading sustainability and anti-hunger activist, is the author of Diet for a Small Planet and You Have the Power, among other books. Event details were being worked out at this writing. For more information, call 507-523-3366, or e-mail lspse@landstewardshipproject.org.
For more on Lappe's work, visit http://www.smallplanetinstitute.org.
7) DAIRY FARMERS LOOKING FOR LAND
Reagan and Kevin Hulbert are looking to rent a dairy farm where they could graze 50 to 100 cows. They are recent graduates of the Land Stewardship Project's Farm Beginnings™
(http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_farmbeginnings.html) program in southeast Minnesota, and have extensive dairying experience. They are open to many possibilities, but their main goal is to have the opportunity to graze cows. If you would be interested in working with them, call the Hulberts at 507-523-3599, or e-mail wellness_rk@yahoo.com.
Another Farm Beginnings™ graduate, Jon Kaiser, is also looking for land. He is building up a dairy herd through a share-milking arrangement on a grazing farm in southeast Minnesota. Jon, along with his wife Mindy, are looking for situations where, for example, they can buy their own homestead and milking facilities and rent grazing land. Jon can be contacted at 507-635-5985.
8) LSL: FRESH FACES-FRESH FARMING
Speaking of Farm Beginnings™, a special Land Stewardship Letter is on its way to your mailboxes. This LSL profiles nine graduates of this unique beginning farmer program in a package called "Fresh Faces-Fresh Farming." Farm Beginnings™ has recently launched pilot programs in Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska.
9) LSP DATABASE POSITION
LSP is looking for a Database Administrator. LSP's Database is an important tool for servicing members and recruiting new members. This is an hourly, part-time position, and it would be located in LSP's White Bear Lake office. For a full description, go to http://www.mncn.org/jobs/list/lspda1213.htm. A job description will also be posted later this week at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-aboutus.html
(look under
"Career Opportunities").
To apply, submit a cover letter and resume to: Cathy Eberhart, Membership Coordinator, Land Stewardship Project, 2200 Fourth Street, White Bear Lake, MN 55110. You can also submit material via e-mail at cathye@landstewardshipproject.org. Cathy's telephone number is 651-653-0618; her fax number is 651-653-0589.
10) ART GALLERY ENTRIES NEEDED
LSP's online Stewardship Art Gallery
(http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-gallery.html) is now accepting entries for its Spring 2005 show. The theme of this show is "New Life on the Farm," and the deadline is June 1. Please submit them to Louise Arbuckle at lspwbl@landstewardshipproject.org. If your entry is chosen to
appear on our Web site, you will receive a free LSP membership for you or as a gift for someone.
The entries should celebrate new life on the farm, whether it is plants, animals or humans. We will accept any kind of artwork: sculptures, paintings, illustrations, photos, etc. For photos, candid shots work well, black and white or color are fine. Tell us when and where you took the photo. Please provide a title for all entries.
Send entries as digitals or scanned files. Do not send originals. If you are using pictures from your digital camera, they will work just fine if they are JPEG files. If you are scanning the images yourself from photographs or artwork, it is better to save them in either TIFF or EPS format. When scanning, use a 150 PPI ("pixels per inch") setting. If you have any questions, e-mail
Louise or call her at 651-653-0618.
11) EAT WELL GUIDE
The Eat Well Guide (http://www.eatwellguide.org) is a free, online directory of sustainable meat, poultry, dairy and eggs. As a partner organization with the Eat Well Guide, LSP has submitted names of producers that are on our Stewardship Food Network List, in the Pride of the Prairie directory, or
are certified by the Food Alliance Midwest. You can update your farm's listing on the Eat Well Guide by searching under "Advanced Search," and typing your farm's name under "Keywords." Once you find your record, click the link to "E-mail us if you see any errors or omissions with this entry." The Eat Well Guide also plans on
e-mailing producers every six months for any changes or updates. If your farm is not listed and you would like it to be, please contact Cathy at 651-653-0618 or cathye@landstewardshipproject.org.
12) NEW CSP FACT SHEET
Fresh out of the oven is a new LSP fact sheet on the Conservation Security Program. This particular fact sheet provides tips on enrolling in this unique conservation program. To download a pdf version of "CSP Fact Sheet #7-CSP: Tips for Enrolling in the Conservation Security Program," go to http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_csp.html
and scroll down to "Conservation Security Program Fact Sheets." This winter LSP will be holding a series of meetings so our members can provide input on the next federal farm bill. For more information, contact our Policy Program at 612-722-6377 or marks@landstewardshipproject.org.
13) CHECK THE CALENDAR
For the latest on meetings, field days and other activities, check out
http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-calendar.html.
14) GIVE THE GIFT OF STEWARDSHIP
As 2004 winds down, consider giving stewardship gifts in honor of your friends and family:
-Give a gift of hope to your loved ones -- and to beginning farmers eager to make a living on the land.
-In the name of your favorite cooks, invest in work to produce more healthful food for our communities.
-Honor those active citizens in your life with a gift that empowers people to fight for family farms and the environment.
Make a donation to LSP of any size and we'll send your loved ones beautiful, personalized certificates notifying them of your gifts and giving them more information about the work your gift helps accomplish in their honor. With gifts of $35 or more, we will give them a one-year membership in LSP. With a gift of $50 or more, we'll also send them your
choice of an LSP mug, hat or T-shirt. More information is available at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-joinus-gift.html. You can print out an order form to mail in at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/gifts/gift_form.html, or do your
shopping securely on-line at https://www.applyweb.com/public/contribute?lspmemb.
15) WORTH REPEATING
"Spend any time in rural America and you will see the result of this farm policy: long-term damage to our soil and water from subsidy-induced overproduction, continued farm consolidation as the big subsidy recipients take over more and more land and more factory farms, which get taxpayer-subsidized feed for their massive numbers of livestock.
Meanwhile, family farmers get the short end of the stick."
--LSP Policy Program Director Mark Schultz, writing in the Star Tribune (http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/04/itn_041202.html)
16) WORTH REPEATING II
".some evenings it's astounding how much of our food's human, geographical and ecological history we are aware of. We can't produce coffee or bananas in the Midwest, but this region has some of the best meat, dairy and vegetable farmers in the world."
--from the commentary, "Food can better link us with farms, farmers"
17) JOIN LSP
The work of LSP, including the LIVE-WIRE, is supported by the donations of people like you. To become a member, give a gift membership, or donate an extra gift above your membership, visit http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-joinus.html. If you have
questions about membership, contact cathye@landstewardshipproject.org.
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