Land Stewardship LIVE-WIRE, October 18, 2005
Hello:
This is the 28th 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) Call Your Senators Before Wednesday
2) Jackson to Give Shivvers Lecture in Iowa Oct. 19
3) Vote for LSP at the Wedge in October
4) ‘Future of Farming’ Dialog Oct. 22 in Rochester
5) Boody to Speak at FoodMed 2005 Nov. 17
6) Lappe´ in Minneapolis Nov. 18
7) ‘Insider Tips’ Farm Credit Workshops in November
8) LSP Holiday Open House Dec. 15
9) Dine Fresh Dine Local a Delicious Success
10) Help Farmers Left in Katrina’s Wake
11) Fresh Faces-Fresh Farming on the Web
12) LSP Members Named Outstanding Conservationists
13) Check the Calendar
14) Worth Repeating
15) Worth Repeating II
16) Worth Repeating III
17) Join LSP
1) CALL YOUR SENATORS BEFORE WEDNESDAY
Your calls have made a difference before, and they can deliver yet again. The future of key federal conservation and nutrition programs will be on the line Wednesday, Oct. 19, as the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee considers the 2006 federal agriculture budget. The Ag Committee was supposed to consider the budget Oct. 6, but postponed the vote. It's looking like this time Oct. 19 is the real
deal. Unfortunately, the Conservation Security Program (CSP) is still on the chopping block. CSP represents less than 1 percent of farm bill spending, but is targeted for 27 percent of the total cuts. In addition, there are attempts to severely cut nutrition programs for low income Americans. Ironically, these cuts to stewardship and nutrition programs may
be executed at a time when agribusiness interests and commodity groups are fighting to preserve massive crop subsidies for a handful of mega-farms that receive over $250,000 annually in payments.
It is critical that you call your Senators and
tell them:
--Make no cuts to CSP.
--Don't cut food support and nutrition programs.
--Put in place real payment limits on commodity crop programs.
To get the telephone number for your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. For more information, contact LSP's Policy Program at 612-722-6377 or marks@landstewardshipproject.org. More information on LSP's ag budget priorities is available at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/05/newsr_051007.htm.
To learn more about how CSP can help the land and family farming, see the cover story in the July/Aug./Sept. issue of the Land Stewardship Letter.
2) JACKSON TO GIVE SHIVVERS LECTURE IN IOWA OCT. 19
LSP member Laura Jackson will present the 2005 Shivvers Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 19, beginning at 7 p.m., at Iowa State University in Ames. Jackson will speak on how agriculture can coexist with a healthy ecosystem. She and LSP Senior Program Associate Dana Jackson co-edited the 2002 book, The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems. For more information
on the lecture, call 515-294-3711 or visit http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/jackson_092005.htm. For details on The Farm as Natural Habitat, see http://landstewardshipproject.org/programs_agroecobook.html. You can read
excerpts of the book in the April/May/June 2003 issue of the Land Stewardship Letter.
3) VOTE FOR LSP AT THE WEDGE IN OCTOBER
Members of the Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis have a
chance to support LSP in October through the WedgeShare program. This initiative gives Wedge members an opportunity to cast votes to determine which organizations get grants and gifts from the co-op. LSP's "Sustainable Farmers, Prosperous Communities Project" is on the ballot. Ballots need to be mailed in by Oct. 23, or can be dropped off at the Wedge by 5 p.m. on Oct. 27. Ballots
will also be accepted at the co-op's annual meeting until 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 27. For more information, see http://www.wedge.coop/membership/membership-wedgeshare.html.
4) 'FUTURE OF FARMING' DIALOG OCT. 22 IN ROCHESTER
Members of the Land Stewardship Project and the Minnesota Farmers Union will discuss sustainable agriculture and the future of farming on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Rochester Chapter House, 937 7th Ave. NE. In conjunction with this discussion, which is being sponsored by the Izaak Walton League, there will be an organic luncheon served from noon to 1 p.m. for a fee of $15.
For details, contact Cherry Schwartz at 507-451-6676 or ikepres@hotmail.com.
5) BOODY TO SPEAK AT FOODMED 2005 NOV. 17
LSP Executive Director George Boody will speak about the Multiple Benefits of Agriculture initiative at FoodMed 2005. The conference, which is being billed as the first such gathering on "healthy food in health care," will be held Nov. 17 in Oakland, Calif. Boody will present data showing how agriculture can produce benefits in water quality, wildlife habitat, greenhouse gas reductions,
farmer profitability, and community economics. Check out http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_mba.html for more on this research initiative. Other FoodMed speakers include Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, and Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. The conference will feature sessions on: obesity
and the food system, protecting antibiotics through sustainable food procurement, sustainable meat production and nutrition, food waste management, implementing farmers' markets and onsite gardens, understanding food certification, food miles and how to purchase locally, healthy vending and catering, and case studies. For details, see http://www.foodmed.org.
6) LAPPE´ IN MINNEAPOLIS NOV. 18
We're pleased to announce that the story of LSP's organizing work in southeast Minnesota's Dodge County is being featured in France Moore Lappe´'s new book, Democracy's Edge, and is now the feature photo and story this week on her website at http://www.democracysedge.org.
You can hear Lappe´ herself when she comes to Minneapolis on Friday, Nov. 18, for a special event sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project. She will be speaking about Democracy's Edge and her pioneering work on the global issues of food, land and democracy, as well as why there is real hope for progressive change. For details, including a registration form you can print out and send
in to reserve a spot, see http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/05/newsr_051101.htm.
7) 'INSIDER TIPS' FARM CREDIT WORKSHOPS IN NOVEMBER
"Insider tips" workshops on successful farm credit have been scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5, in southeast Minnesota and the next weekend (Nov. 11-12) in the western part of the state. The workshops will address aspects of both record keeping and loan applications, with a goal of better preparing farmers to manage their farm as a business and feeling confident when they
enter a bank. Get the skinny at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/05/newsr_051012.htm or http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/pr/05/newsr_051013.htm.
8) LSP HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE DEC. 15
LSP's western Minnesota office will be holding its holiday open house Thursday, Dec. 15, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, contact Michelle Skogrand at lspwest@landstewardshipproject.org or 320-269-2105.
9) DINE FRESH DINE LOCAL A DELICIOUS SUCCESS
LSP would like to thank everyone who turned out Oct. 11 to celebrate local farmers and local dining during the second annual Dine Fresh Dine Local event in the Twin Cities. Watch the next issue of LIVE-WIRE for details. You can learn more about the restaurants and farmers involved in bringing local cuisine to the area by visiting http://www.dinefreshdinelocal.com/profiles/birch_river.htm.
For a listing of restaurants that source their food from local, sustainable farmers, see http://www.dinefreshdinelocal.com.
10) HELP FARMERS LEFT IN KATRINA'S WAKE
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in September, it wasn't only New Orleans that suffered. Family farmers throughout the region lost homes, crops, livestock and facilities. Losses like that are enough to finish off a farming career. After the storm, Patchwork Family Farms teamed up with Farm Aid and the Campaign for Family Farms to donate 3,500 pounds of sustainably-raised pork products
to the relief effort. Patchwork is a cooperative effort of mid-Missouri hog farmers and an economic development project of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. Both the Missouri Rural Crisis Center and LSP are founding members of the Campaign for Family Farms. Help is still needed in the devastated region. To make a contribution, visit http://www.farmaid.org,
or call 1-800-FARMAID.
11) FRESH FACES-FRESH FARMING ON THE WEB
A new Farm Beginnings™ class begins Oct. 22, and it's filled to capacity with eager people looking for a chance to get established on the land. To read more about how past graduates are faring, see our new "Fresh Faces-Fresh Farming" report at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_farmbeginnings.html#fresh.
It features profiles and color photos of some of these new farmers.
12) LSP MEMBERS NAMED OUTSTANDING CONSERVATIONISTS
LSP members Dave and Diane Serfling have been selected for the "Outstanding Conservationist" award in area VII by the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The Serflings raise crops and livestock near Preston in southeast Minnesota. Dave is a member of LSP's Federal Farm Policy Committee. For details click
here.
13) CHECK THE CALENDAR
Frost may be on the pumpkin, but the fall is warming up activity-wise. For the latest on meetings, field days and other excitement, check out the LSP calendar at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-calendar.html. Details on events can also be found on our Press Releases page at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/news-pr.html.
14) WORTH REPEATING
"We have conservation measures that were built for a climate scenario we no longer have." -- soil scientist Jerry Hatfield, quoted in the July/Aug./Sept. Land Stewardship Letter
15) WORTH REPEATING II
"The local people aren't going to pass off trash." -- Alyce Fust, meat locker owner and caterer, quoted in the July/Aug./Sept. Land Stewardship Letter
16) WORTH REPEATING III
"I've had a lot of jobs in the animal science field. This is the best job I've ever had." -- Farm Beginnings graduate and dairy farmer Reagan Hulbert, quoted in Fresh Faces-Fresh Farming (http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_farmbeginnings.html#fresh)
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, see http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/index-joinus.html. If you have
questions about membership, contact cathye@landstewardshipproject.org.
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