In his article Innovative Distribution Can Combat Food Deserts, Derek Singleton examines the impacts poor food distribution can have on a community.  Often times this creates food deserts, such as those found in certain Detroit neighborhoods, where residents do not have access to affordable healthy food, or supermarkets. Food deserts can often be found in low income urban neighborhoods throughout the U.S.

Finding a solution to combat food deserts is not always that simple. As Derek points out, “… food deserts are a multidimensional problem that requires multidimensional solutions. It’s important to keep in mind that these are just a few pieces to an incredibly complex puzzle.”   However, solutions can be found at the local level.  In the case of Detroit, grassroot community initiatives include (amongst others): Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Farmer’s Markets as well as Regional Food Hubs.

In the age of the Internet, new online-enabled storefronts could also play a significant role in the local food supply network.  Such online storefronts would only stock fresh produce according to Internet orders, and could be able to provide the ordered food within just a few hours from when the order was placed.

All the efforts made to bring fresh foods to food deserts need to coincide with a change in peoples’ choices for a healthy, nutritious, diet.  Education and creating a new awareness of the important benefits of healthy food is key to finding a lasting, sustainable solution to the problem of food deserts.

For more information read the complete article: Innovative Distribution Can Combat Food Deserts
 

Derek Singleton recently wrote a very interesting article on Food Distribution in the U.S. Following is a short excerpt. Clink on the link below to be directed to the complete article.

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According to a 2010 article in The New York Times, Americans consume 31 percent more processed foods than citizens of other nations. One reason for this is our food distribution networks. Our average food item travels roughly 5,000 miles before it’s consumed. Because of this, our foods are prepared and packaged to be shipped long distances.

Current trends suggest that the status quo of long-distance food distribution may be primed for disruption. Increased consumer demand for locally-grown organic foods, coupled with a renewed interest in living in urban cores and rising gas prices, collectively suggest that U.S. food distribution networks will soon need to evolve to support these and other shifting lifestyle and economic trends.

For a glimpse of what our future food distribution chain might look like, we need only look to where these trends have already advanced a few steps ahead of us: Europe.

To continue reading follow this link.

Based on an article from the Blog of the Park Slope Food Coop’s Environmental Committee.

The village of Wildpoldsried, in Germany, produces 321% more energy than they need to cover the villages’ needs. Because of their investment in eco-friendly technology, such as wind turbines and solar panels, the village is now able to make money by selling energy back into the grid. At their current rate of energy production the local population, of 2,600, is making about $ 5,7 million in revenue per year. Not bad.

Wildpoldsried (source Wikipedia)

The village mayor visits and advices other communities about how they too can make the energy shift, and the village council offers tours to people who want to learn about energy efficiency.

Wildpoldsried offers inspiration to us all. It is possible to be energy self-sufficient!

For more information, visit Coop’s Committee Blog, or read this more extensive article.

Last week Dreamriver Press supported Ecovillage Movement NYC‘s screening of “A New We.” About 100 people showed up for the screening, demonstrating the strong interest in new sustainable models of living. The event was hosted by the Brecht Forum in NYC.

In “A New We” Austrian filmmaker Stefan Wolf traveled through Europe to explore 10 well established eco-communities. As stated on the film’s website, www.newwe.info, the lives shown in the documentary are more motivated by imagination, vision, respect and cooperation than by economic forces and social expectations. In the 10 communities the creative solutions to many social, environmental and economic challenges exemplify the nearly infinite capacity of humans for self-development through living in community.


Before the film, a short introductory presentation was be made by Jonah ‘Cecil’ Scheib, who is a founder of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, has lived in 5 different intentional communities and is the current Director of Energy and Sustainability at New York University. Cecil stayed on after the screening and answered many questions from the audience.
 
One of the sponsors of the evening was the Fellowship for Intentional Community, which also distributes a fascinating documentary on intentional communities in the United States. The film is called “Visions of Utopia.” For more info visit www.ic.org
 

Eric Herm, a fourth generation farmer from W. Texas, discusses sustainable farming, local food production, and the critical need for more farmers in America to see themselves as guardians of the land. His book, Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth, details commercial agriculture’s strain on natural resources, delicate ecosystems, and the farmer.

Thursday, February 24th – 7:00 pm
Bluestocking Bookstore
172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington, Manhattan NY
Free and open to the public.
For more info, call Bluestockings 212-777-6028
Cosponsored by Sustainable Table

Friday, February 25th – 1:00 pm
New York University
Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health
35 West 4th Street, Room 1080 (10th Floor), Manhattan NY

Saturday, February 26th – 4:00 pm
Brooklyn Public Library
Central Library, Dr. S. Stevan Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY
Free and open to the public.
For more info, call the Brooklyn Public Library 917-275-6945

Sunday, February 27th – 6:30 pm
The Commons
388 Atlantic Ave
Brooklyn NY
organized by Leaders in Environmental Advocacy at Pratt (LEAP)
suggested donation $ 5

Tuesday, March 1st – 7:00 pm
The Old Stone House
Washington Park / JJ Byrne Playground
5th Avenue at 3rd Street
Brooklyn NY
Free and open to the public.
For more info, call the Old Stone House 718-768-3195

Theodore Poulis, Dreamriver Press publisher, was recently interviewed by the Green Bus Tour. The Green Bus Tour is a group of sustainability experts, musicians, artists, yogis & healers on a mission to inspire a culture of conscious living. Green Bus will reach millions of people through live events, online media and collaborative commerce. Visit the Green Bus Tour website to find out more: www.greenbustour.com

See the interview below.

Monday – November 22nd, 7:00 pm
The Commons, 388 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217

What is the current state of commercial agriculture? How to build a healthy and sustainable future, that interconnects farming and community.


Join us along with:

Eric Herm, 4th generation farmer from Western Texas, and author of Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth (Dreamriver Press).

Judith LaBelle, President of Glynwood, which empowers communities in the North East to support farming and save farmland.

Dan Miner, longtime peak oil activist, volunteer organizer with Post Carbon Institute and 350.org, and past Chair of Sierra Club NYC.

Cheryl Rogowski, farmer, The Rogowski Farm, Pine Island, NY.

Co-sponsored by:
Brooklyn Food Coalition
Slow Food NYC
TriState Food Not Lawns
Neighborhood Energy Network

Suggested donation: $ 5

Subway – Train:
Hoyt-Schermerhorn; A, C and G
Bergen Street; F
Atlantic-Pacific; B, M, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Flatbush Avenue; LIRR

Bus: B63 and B65

For more information call 718-715-4365. Connect to this event on Facebook.

Since recently reading one of my favorite Author’s articles on the exact same topic of Happy Cows, I thought I’d put my thoughts down on the subject as well.  Since the swindlers are advertising Milk now as well as Cheese in Happy Cow, California …. (actually those commercials are filmed in New Zealand). I am a little bit more frustrated about this entire fabrication.

Happy Cows come from California

The television commercial, “Happy Cows come from California” airs on National television at least daily, in several different scenarios. The central commercial is depicting female milk cows in a beautiful pasture scene talking about how wonderful their lives are in California, sometimes introducing a new cow from another state raving about the weather and how beautiful it is there. The ad goes on to claim “Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California” portrayed in big bold words on your screen.

Surveys have proven the effectiveness of the inclusion of animals into an advertisement, photo or commercial. (Think Geico/gecko or the Aflac duck).  It draws the viewers’ attention to the ad by using a subject that creates an emotional response, as most people love animals. This ad is also playing on the heartstrings of people who are concerned with animal welfare but who are unaware of the reality of the dairy business. The industry that is spending billions of dollars on these advertisements appears to be trying to influence people into believing that their production of dairy is humane and safe. This could not be further from the truth. A huge percentage of people eat cheese, so their target audience is the general consumer, i.e. anyone who shops for and consumes food. This ad is also making an effort to ease consumers’ concern for ethics in dairy production practices.

The commercial is focused on an idyllic scene of cows in a grassy green pasture with rolling hills, a few oak trees scattered around for shade, a sunny day and blue sky with white puffy clouds and a red, old-fashioned barn in the background – typical of a Norman Rockwell painting. The cows are smiling and seemingly happy. All of the cows pictured are Holstein bred cows (black and white), which are the most common milk cow used today. They are exceptionally clean and give the impression of being well fed, both physically and emotionally, and appear to be living a life of bliss.

The Milk Advisory Board paying for these commercials is obviously trying to thwart any notion of abuse or misuse of these beautiful and peaceful creatures because evidence has proven otherwise. (1) This ad also appears to be a reaction to the many lawsuits filed against the industry for inhumane treatment by the groups attempting to hold them accountable for their actions. (2) This ad also appears to be a huge endeavor to keep afloat in a seriously drowning industry. The milk industry is experiencing a downturn in business as more and more dairy farms are closing regularly. (3) It seems that keeping cows alive and well enough to produce 100 times the milk that would naturally be produced for their offspring, with added antibiotics, bovine growth hormones and all the other foreign garbage they feed them is costing them a fortune. Cows continue to die prematurely at an alarming rate as a consequence of their maltreatment and the industries profits die right along with them.

False advertising is a crime, however, considering that the bovine sensibilities and pain thresholds are difficult to prove since they cannot speak, the milk industry, since winning one arm of the lawsuit brought to them by PETA, has the OK from the legal system to continue to air these commercials. The Milk Advisory Board is trying to appeal to their viewers sense of ethics and morals by relieving consciences for the consumption of inhumane animal products in an effort to help the industry look beautiful, kind, loving and oh-so responsible. Their appeal to consumers is an attempt to provide proof – via these commercials – that their dairies and products are safe and nutritious. That most consumers cannot live without the protein or outstanding health benefits they supply. Unfortunately they have reached deep into their pockets to put out some of the most blatant lies ever aired on television.

The fact that advertisers in all facets of our lives try to ‘trick’ us into buying their products by appealing to some deeply seeded need or deceptive emotional requirement is absolutely unethical. What is even more astonishing is that a large percentage of consumers fall for the ads. We all purchase products without further research, trusting that these companies deliver what they are selling. We as consumers have to learn that not a single ad on television in newspapers or magazines can be trusted.

The illegal ad practice known as  “failure to inform” is what is being used in the “Happy Cow” commercials; however, there are probably a few others not identified. False advertising has become big business and a consumer nightmare.

The point is that it is shameful that this type of deceit exists at all.  Most people like myself are easily fooled when it comes to merchandise that promises to make us look and feel younger, thinner, grow more hair, even have better sex.  Most of these things tempt customers to purchase based on the premise that these products will work.  Why?  Because the advertisement stated that it would. I think as consumers, we have to realize that there is a heck of a lot of deception going on out there in the marketing and advertising industry.

What the Happy Cow commercials are selling is good clean dairy food, namely cheese. Dairy is a food that is very detrimental to the human body.  The Milk Advisory Board knows this; they have all seen the reports, statistics and the evidence of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and a host of other ailments that their products cause. (4) But ethics and responsibility fly out the window when the bottom line is money. How much money can they make with these contemptible commercials? How many more people can they fool into purchasing their products? Plenty. Their ads are effective and their tactics are working. In researching some comments on this ad from Happy Cow websites, most people who comment state they “just love” these commercials. Some even believe that this is the life cows lead in dairy farms. Most don’t even get up or change the television channel when the ad airs. They think the cows and the scenarios are adorable and the ad is appealing to the audiences’ pathos and in many cases logos.

I think we must become smarter and wiser than succumbing to these deceptive advertisements. That is the bottom line in fighting this trickery, not buying the products that do not project truth, which fuels their pockets to do more of the same.

1.            Advocacy for Animals;

2007 The big Business of Dairy Farming; Big trouble for cows

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/06/dairy-farming/

Unhappy cows come from California:

(http://tinyurl.com/yaj854o) or (http://www.unhappycows.com/)

2        UnhappyCows.com: 2010 PETA Takes “Happy Cows” Lawsuit to Higher                                                             Court. www.peta.org/feat/caldairy/index.html

3      Burnett, John – NPR

2009 Independent Farmers feel Squeezed by Milk Cartel

http://tinyurl.com/ncnalq

4.            Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

2010 Health Concerns about Dairy Products

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/dairy.html

Thelma and Beauty

The animals I am lucky enough to share my life with – never cease to amaze me with the kindness they show to one another.  Of course there is the occasional misunderstanding, or pecking order disagreement, but generally the chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks and all of the others are simply amazing in the love and kindness, even empathy – shown to one another.

The photo that is attached shows Thelma, one of the turkey’s I have adopted, and Beauty, an older Rhode Island Red chicken who has been with me her entire life…

Beauty is getting old by chicken standards, and it shows it in her walk -  a slight limp and a very slow methodical manner of getting around is what can be seen from the outside.  She is very trusting and sweet, and comes to humans for pets on occasion.  She sometimes gets picked on by the younger chickens.  But, Thelma is having none of that.  She actually sits next to Beauty, sometimes covering her with a wing in a protective pose and when anyone comes around to touch Beauty’s food or thinks about picking on her, Thelma puts herself between Beauty and the other animal.   When I see this, it displays love in a fashion that I wish I knew more of in this world.

Thelma passes up some of the treats I throw outside, something that most fowl will never do, in order to stay close to Beauty.  It is astonishing how kind and gentle turkeys are, it took me awhile to realize they were such loving, kind and gentle beings.  They have always been aloof, even to me, who raised them as babies,  but to take on an older chicken to protect is beyond any kindness or empathy I would’ve imagined from a turkey.  One of the “labeled”  creatures for being the least intelligent.  There is no stupidity in any turkey I have ever known. In fact, I’ve known more unintelligent human beings.

I am continually amazed at turkeys.  They move in a slow and steady manner, never getting ruffled or excited, unless threatened by a peacock or an aggressive rooster, and even then, they perk up their feathers, show a little strength, and go on their merry way.  Not ever have I seen a turkey actually attack or try to harm another animal who lives on this farm.

In the mornings when I open the pen to allow them their freedom, they are graceful and excited to be free and enthusiastically run toward the feeding area making excited cooing sounds…they usually spend their days dust bathing, picking at plants and grass and are peaceful and quiet creatures.

I cannot imagine ever doing any harm to any of these loving birds.  I rescue them, but I would never consider eating them.  I imagine what their brothers and sisters, OUR brothers and sisters for that matter are enduring in factory farms and slaughterhouses.  These gentle birds constantly suffering makes me very sad.  That someone could do harm to another creature who by nature protects older chickens – sickens me.  I wish I could save them all.

Instead, I plea to others who do not have the opportunity to know turkeys the way that I do, to take my word – and to please help them too.  Start by not eating them.  Our food industry is consumer driven.  The more of us that refrain from purchasing these beloved animals in those plastic wrapped packages, the more our voices will ring out that we don’t agree with the lives these animals lead.

Author and farmer Eric Herm is building a house from compressed dirt found on his land. It is energy efficient, eco-friendly and costs much less to build. Local TV station, NewsWest 9, did a short video report.

http://www.kwes.com/global/story.asp?s=12426603

Eric Helm’s book Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth, is coming out soon from Dreamriver Press.