(via Literaghost)
Keeping Tabs on Monsanto
You Grow Girl
Seed buying and seed starting season is upon us. It won’t be long now (let’s pretend, even though the snow outside says otherwise) before we’re happily knee-deep into the growing season.
Yesterday, I put out a call on Twitter for an online list or chart of garden companies (as well as makers of garden products) affiliated with Monsanto. Several people replied, hoping to find something similar that they can refer to when making seed and product purchases for their own gardens.
It’s time to have this talk, and even though I have brought it up here and there, I am remiss in having neglected to post about this until now. It seems like many of us are flailing around, trying to make heads or tails of who, what, and where is profiting on our excitement to grow our own food and flowers. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a more definitive list that covers affiliate companies in the garden product spectrum beyond seeds, but considering the way things are going, seeds are a great place to start and one in which our spending dollars can make an impact.
The following link goes to the Council for Responsible Genetics Safe Seed Resource List that includes all of the US and Canadian seed sellers that have signed the Safe Seed Pledge affirming their commitment to non-genetically modified seed. While you’re there, I would also urge you to read through the CRG’s FAQ that makes an argument for why we should care about genetically modified seed and buying GM-free in the first place.
I was also pointed to another page put together by a concerned gardener that includes a list of some known GM seed sellers to avoid, as well as links to additional articles around the issues with Monsanto.
To Read the Rest of the Post and to Access the Hyperlinked Resources
Showing posts with label Gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardens. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Journal of Aesthetics & Protest: SF Victory Gardens 2007+: A Conversation Between Amy Franceschini & Christina Ulke
SF Victory Gardens 2007+: A Conversation Between Amy Franceschini & Christina Ulke
Journal of Aesthetics & Protest
Christina: SF Victory Gardens 2008 taps into several current and historical movements of participatory urban agriculture, can you talk about your relation to the SF community garden culture?
Amy: I have no direct connection to the community garden culture in SF. My relation to agriculture stems from my parent’s farming practices. My father was an industrial farmer in the San Joaquin Valley and owned a pesticide company and my mother was an organic farmer and activist near San Luis Obispo. Although their ideologies were seriously opposed, my parent’s involvement in growing food was politicized in their own way; my father heavily involved in water politics and labor issues and my mother fighting local strawberry farmers to stop using Malathion. Through canvassing and attending public hearings I was introduced to food politics in action. My interest in urban agriculture evolved through a desire for aspects of the rural, but not being ready to be away from the urban environment. In 1995, my best friend worked for the now-defunct San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners. (1) SLUG had always been in my mind as a successful, municipal project. It had many simple frameworks for cultivating citizen action and collective ownership of neighborhood programs. For example, if ten people in a neighborhood got together and approached SLUG, they would organize a workday and build a community garden for the neighborhood. The process of rallying neighbors took advantage of an organizational network that was already established and it strengthened neighborhood relationships.
Currently the Victory Garden program has teamed up with Slow Food Nation to plant a garden in front of City Hall. The Victory Garden program runs through the Garden for the Environment and a network of volunteers. The garden at City Hall will create a community for urban gardeners. Each major urban agriculture organization will have a plot to demonstrate their growing techniques. This garden will shed light on the diversity of garden practice and groups in the city; City Slikcers, Alemany Farms, Edible Schoolyard, Garden for the Environment, and Quesada Gardens. The City sees this garden as an important symbol of their long-term commitment to urban agriculture; which includes funding, access to land and integration into public programs, schools, libraries, and parks. The city used to fund SLUG, but since SLUG collapsed, there has not been another program in place. When we went to the city to present Victory Gardens, they were extremely receptive and saw our project as a resurrection of SLUG and a promise of a program that would benefit a diverse population through education, support and employment opportunities.
Working on a greater, municipal scale seems to be a crucial component of the project. Why was it important to you to get the city involved?
My desire to work with the city was inspired by a myriad of things: time spent living in Gent Belgium over the last five years (2); the 2003 mayoral campaign in San Francisco for former President of the Board of Supervisors and Green Party member Matt Gonzalez; my general dissatisfaction with politics in this country; reading about the scale and participation of the WWI Liberty Gardens and WWII Victory Gardens.
I first became aware of the WWII Victory Garden program in Laura Lawson's City Bountiful: A History of Community Gardening in America. The program was initiated in 1941 by the Office of Civilian Defense in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. During a national garden conference a guide for the Victory Garden Program was produced and distributed to cities across the country. Between 1941 and 1943 there were 20 million Victory Gardens and 41% of our total food was being produced in Victory Gardens.
The image of 20 million gardens being planted within 2 years gave me the fuel to imagine a new program with a focus on contemporary food issues. My intentions were set to revive not only a city-supported gardening program, but a personal revival to get politicized and radicalized about the current food crisis. Our food is controlled by profit-driven corporations like Monsanto. The current Farm Bill promotes production of food not fit for human consumption, and destructive farming practices that deplete soil and air through overuse of pesticides, Nearly 70% of farm subsidies go to the top 10% of the country’s biggest growers. This form of corporate welfare encourages the ongoing consolidation of farming and food into fewer hands. I might be naive, but I hope that food can be produced by a smaller network of familiar faces like “neighbors”.
As an idealist I believe that the government is the PEOPLE and was designed to reflect, represent, and support the needs of the PEOPLE. This country has lost touch with what that means. Imagine an amazing potluck with a huge list of ingredients and cooks. Participation is key.
Since more and more businesses and corporations control "public policy", they do have the power and autonomy to develop sustainable systems and products. The homogenizing effect of power being controlled by fewer voices has resulted in the loss of decentralized decision-making made at a local level. But despite our conservative tendencies at the national level, San Francisco has been successful in moving the progressive movement forward on many fronts.
It inspired me to think of the city as a place where progressive ideas can take root. San Francisco is ready for a decentralized and systemic approach to urban agriculture. To be honest I did not even know what that meant when I went to the city, but I knew that I had the historical precedent of the massive participation in the Victory Garden program and a simple proposition for the city. When I approached the city with the help of Matt Gonzalez, I was met with overwhelming interest and support. After one small presentation to the city with images and information about the historical program, namely the photo of the demonstration garden in front of city hall, 12 different city offices were ready to support the program in any way.
To Read the Rest of the Interview
Journal of Aesthetics & Protest
Christina: SF Victory Gardens 2008 taps into several current and historical movements of participatory urban agriculture, can you talk about your relation to the SF community garden culture?
Amy: I have no direct connection to the community garden culture in SF. My relation to agriculture stems from my parent’s farming practices. My father was an industrial farmer in the San Joaquin Valley and owned a pesticide company and my mother was an organic farmer and activist near San Luis Obispo. Although their ideologies were seriously opposed, my parent’s involvement in growing food was politicized in their own way; my father heavily involved in water politics and labor issues and my mother fighting local strawberry farmers to stop using Malathion. Through canvassing and attending public hearings I was introduced to food politics in action. My interest in urban agriculture evolved through a desire for aspects of the rural, but not being ready to be away from the urban environment. In 1995, my best friend worked for the now-defunct San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners. (1) SLUG had always been in my mind as a successful, municipal project. It had many simple frameworks for cultivating citizen action and collective ownership of neighborhood programs. For example, if ten people in a neighborhood got together and approached SLUG, they would organize a workday and build a community garden for the neighborhood. The process of rallying neighbors took advantage of an organizational network that was already established and it strengthened neighborhood relationships.
Currently the Victory Garden program has teamed up with Slow Food Nation to plant a garden in front of City Hall. The Victory Garden program runs through the Garden for the Environment and a network of volunteers. The garden at City Hall will create a community for urban gardeners. Each major urban agriculture organization will have a plot to demonstrate their growing techniques. This garden will shed light on the diversity of garden practice and groups in the city; City Slikcers, Alemany Farms, Edible Schoolyard, Garden for the Environment, and Quesada Gardens. The City sees this garden as an important symbol of their long-term commitment to urban agriculture; which includes funding, access to land and integration into public programs, schools, libraries, and parks. The city used to fund SLUG, but since SLUG collapsed, there has not been another program in place. When we went to the city to present Victory Gardens, they were extremely receptive and saw our project as a resurrection of SLUG and a promise of a program that would benefit a diverse population through education, support and employment opportunities.
Working on a greater, municipal scale seems to be a crucial component of the project. Why was it important to you to get the city involved?
My desire to work with the city was inspired by a myriad of things: time spent living in Gent Belgium over the last five years (2); the 2003 mayoral campaign in San Francisco for former President of the Board of Supervisors and Green Party member Matt Gonzalez; my general dissatisfaction with politics in this country; reading about the scale and participation of the WWI Liberty Gardens and WWII Victory Gardens.
I first became aware of the WWII Victory Garden program in Laura Lawson's City Bountiful: A History of Community Gardening in America. The program was initiated in 1941 by the Office of Civilian Defense in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. During a national garden conference a guide for the Victory Garden Program was produced and distributed to cities across the country. Between 1941 and 1943 there were 20 million Victory Gardens and 41% of our total food was being produced in Victory Gardens.
The image of 20 million gardens being planted within 2 years gave me the fuel to imagine a new program with a focus on contemporary food issues. My intentions were set to revive not only a city-supported gardening program, but a personal revival to get politicized and radicalized about the current food crisis. Our food is controlled by profit-driven corporations like Monsanto. The current Farm Bill promotes production of food not fit for human consumption, and destructive farming practices that deplete soil and air through overuse of pesticides, Nearly 70% of farm subsidies go to the top 10% of the country’s biggest growers. This form of corporate welfare encourages the ongoing consolidation of farming and food into fewer hands. I might be naive, but I hope that food can be produced by a smaller network of familiar faces like “neighbors”.
As an idealist I believe that the government is the PEOPLE and was designed to reflect, represent, and support the needs of the PEOPLE. This country has lost touch with what that means. Imagine an amazing potluck with a huge list of ingredients and cooks. Participation is key.
Since more and more businesses and corporations control "public policy", they do have the power and autonomy to develop sustainable systems and products. The homogenizing effect of power being controlled by fewer voices has resulted in the loss of decentralized decision-making made at a local level. But despite our conservative tendencies at the national level, San Francisco has been successful in moving the progressive movement forward on many fronts.
It inspired me to think of the city as a place where progressive ideas can take root. San Francisco is ready for a decentralized and systemic approach to urban agriculture. To be honest I did not even know what that meant when I went to the city, but I knew that I had the historical precedent of the massive participation in the Victory Garden program and a simple proposition for the city. When I approached the city with the help of Matt Gonzalez, I was met with overwhelming interest and support. After one small presentation to the city with images and information about the historical program, namely the photo of the demonstration garden in front of city hall, 12 different city offices were ready to support the program in any way.
To Read the Rest of the Interview
Friday, April 02, 2010
Journal of Aesthetics & Protest #7: Conversations and Theory in Practice
Journal of Aesthetics & Protest
Conversations and Theory in
practice. go practice!!!
issue 7editorial
Green is the New Red: An Interview with Journalist Will Potter: by Dara Greenwald
Food Justice Now! by Mark Vallianatos
Two Notes on Art and Class (Composition)
Never Art/work! by Stevphen Shukaitis & Erika Biddle
The Power Class: by Michael Parker
Notes for an Artist Run Credit League: by InCUBATE
Protests Past and Protest Futures: a conversation with Benj Gerdes, Gavin Grindon and Rodrigo Nunes
The Aaron Burr Society: by Jim Costanzo
Between Art and Anarchism; Horizontalism in New Social Practices: Revolutionary Autonomous Communities and Artists For Social Justice: by Sue Bell Yank
Gathering The Fruit Together: a conversation on gleaning with Hynden Walch and Asiya Wadud
The Free Store: by Salem Collo-Julin
Clump Camp, Real World and the web 2.0 Social Remix: a conversation with tobias c. van Veen, Kate Rich and Kayle Brandon
The Participant: Scenes from Time Banking: by Elana Mann
A Conversation: Scott Berzofsky(Participation Park Baltimore) & Jennifer Renteria
(Starlite Swap Meet LA)Coop 57; It Is Possible To Undertake Projects Outside The Market: by Amy Franceschini
web Special* Welcome to the Cultural Goodwill Revolution: On Class Composition in the Age of Classless Struggle: by Marc J Legerweb
Special* gardens of utopia: by Jennifer Breckner, Robin Hewlett, Mark Tribe
A critical look at issue seven: by our intern Lucy Dinnen
To Read Issue #7
Conversations and Theory in
practice. go practice!!!
issue 7editorial
Green is the New Red: An Interview with Journalist Will Potter: by Dara Greenwald
Food Justice Now! by Mark Vallianatos
Two Notes on Art and Class (Composition)
Never Art/work! by Stevphen Shukaitis & Erika Biddle
The Power Class: by Michael Parker
Notes for an Artist Run Credit League: by InCUBATE
Protests Past and Protest Futures: a conversation with Benj Gerdes, Gavin Grindon and Rodrigo Nunes
The Aaron Burr Society: by Jim Costanzo
Between Art and Anarchism; Horizontalism in New Social Practices: Revolutionary Autonomous Communities and Artists For Social Justice: by Sue Bell Yank
Gathering The Fruit Together: a conversation on gleaning with Hynden Walch and Asiya Wadud
The Free Store: by Salem Collo-Julin
Clump Camp, Real World and the web 2.0 Social Remix: a conversation with tobias c. van Veen, Kate Rich and Kayle Brandon
The Participant: Scenes from Time Banking: by Elana Mann
A Conversation: Scott Berzofsky(Participation Park Baltimore) & Jennifer Renteria
(Starlite Swap Meet LA)Coop 57; It Is Possible To Undertake Projects Outside The Market: by Amy Franceschini
web Special* Welcome to the Cultural Goodwill Revolution: On Class Composition in the Age of Classless Struggle: by Marc J Legerweb
Special* gardens of utopia: by Jennifer Breckner, Robin Hewlett, Mark Tribe
A critical look at issue seven: by our intern Lucy Dinnen
To Read Issue #7
Monday, March 01, 2010
Peace and Conflict Studies, Part 3: The Garden (USA: Scott Hamilton Kennedy, 2008)
(Students: you need to post in the comments a response to this documentary. People/Themes/Topics raised in this documentary and in our discussions of it can be used to develop a term paper project. This documentary is an example of Zinn's People's History projects. You can get your grade for Leon lane's assignment here )
Official Website
Watching this film today reminded me of this report I saw last week and emphasized the value of community gardens for our collective knowledge about the world:
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: First Graders Can't Identify Fruits, Veggies
and another that spoke to our disconnect from the process of food-production as a result of large-scale agri-businesses dominating our food practices:
William Neuman: Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food
and the classic statement from the hunter-conservationist Aldo Leopold on the consequences of this lack-of-knowledge about the web-of-life:
Aldo Leopold: Thinking Like a Mountain
One of the most important and influential writers on the need for us to re-connect with the land and build strong communities is Kentucky native Wendell Berry
A great article that looks at our disconnect from the "stories" of the processes/beings that lead to the products we consume (including food): Rebecca Solnit: The Silence of the Lambswool Cardigan
Extending the politics of food and communal relations to our interaction with our fellow animals, I reflected on the The Politics of Meat
Samuel (I think that was his name) in actively supporting and joining the Latino gardeners in their fight to keep their gardens stated that he was a Black Panther. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Black Panthers so here is a history of the organization.
I mentioned The Garden is playing in the Lexington One World Film Festival that started this weekend--check out the other films.
Zack de la Rocha is seen playing at a fundraiser at the South Central Garden and this song from Rage Against the Machine seemed relevant to the themes of the documentary: "Ashes in the Fall"
Terr Bruckner just sent a message about a BCTC Library Resource online that may be of use for some of your projects: Women's History
Extra Credit Opportunities (attend and write a 600+ word response)
1)
Dear All,
Wanted to let you know that Rev. John Dear, S. J. (Jesuit priest) will be speaking at the UK Newman Center on Thursday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Rev. Dear was nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His talk on Thursday night is entitled “Following the nonviolent Jesus in a world of violence and war.”
The abstract of the talk: Fr. John Dear will share reflections about the world of violence and war, the life of creative nonviolence and peace, Jesus’ active nonviolence, and how we can become contemplatives, activists, and prophets of peace and justice to work for a new world without war, poverty, nuclear weapons or global warming.
One note – he has been arrested over 75 times in acts of civil disobedience against war and nuclear weapons.
Take care,
Rebecca Glasscock
2)
PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST HANAN ASHRAWI TO VISIT
LEXINGTON, UK
A free public lecture featuring Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi has been scheduled for the evening of March 23, 2010, at the University of Kentucky. Ashrawi has served as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jerusalem District. In 2009, she was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), making history as the first woman to hold a seat in this executive body. Ashrawi’s academic career spanned several decades in which she served as a faculty member, chair in the Department of English and Dean of the Faculty at Birzeit University on the West Bank. From 1991 through 1993, she served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Process and a member of both the Leadership/Guidance and Executive Committees of the Delegation.
With the signing of the peace accords by Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 and the establishment of Palestinian self-rule, Ashrawi headed the Preparatory Committee of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights in Jerusalem, and was the founder and commissioner general of that committee until 1995. From 1996 through 1998, she served as minister of higher education and research. In August of 1998, she founded the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), and has served as the Executive Committee chairperson of that organization since that time.
Tickets for Ashrawi’s public talk are available through the Singletary Center Ticket Office or by going to the SCFA website. No phone orders accepted. There is a limit of FOUR tickets per person using the SCFA website. Schools and community groups may contact Richard Greissman, at (859) 257-2471 or richard.greissman@uky.edu, for more information about group seating. Tickets are free.
As students ask question and/or make comments I will add more information in this post...
Official Website
Watching this film today reminded me of this report I saw last week and emphasized the value of community gardens for our collective knowledge about the world:
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: First Graders Can't Identify Fruits, Veggies
and another that spoke to our disconnect from the process of food-production as a result of large-scale agri-businesses dominating our food practices:
William Neuman: Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food
and the classic statement from the hunter-conservationist Aldo Leopold on the consequences of this lack-of-knowledge about the web-of-life:
Aldo Leopold: Thinking Like a Mountain
One of the most important and influential writers on the need for us to re-connect with the land and build strong communities is Kentucky native Wendell Berry
A great article that looks at our disconnect from the "stories" of the processes/beings that lead to the products we consume (including food): Rebecca Solnit: The Silence of the Lambswool Cardigan
Extending the politics of food and communal relations to our interaction with our fellow animals, I reflected on the The Politics of Meat
Samuel (I think that was his name) in actively supporting and joining the Latino gardeners in their fight to keep their gardens stated that he was a Black Panther. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Black Panthers so here is a history of the organization.
I mentioned The Garden is playing in the Lexington One World Film Festival that started this weekend--check out the other films.
Zack de la Rocha is seen playing at a fundraiser at the South Central Garden and this song from Rage Against the Machine seemed relevant to the themes of the documentary: "Ashes in the Fall"
Terr Bruckner just sent a message about a BCTC Library Resource online that may be of use for some of your projects: Women's History
Extra Credit Opportunities (attend and write a 600+ word response)
1)
Dear All,
Wanted to let you know that Rev. John Dear, S. J. (Jesuit priest) will be speaking at the UK Newman Center on Thursday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. Rev. Dear was nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His talk on Thursday night is entitled “Following the nonviolent Jesus in a world of violence and war.”
The abstract of the talk: Fr. John Dear will share reflections about the world of violence and war, the life of creative nonviolence and peace, Jesus’ active nonviolence, and how we can become contemplatives, activists, and prophets of peace and justice to work for a new world without war, poverty, nuclear weapons or global warming.
One note – he has been arrested over 75 times in acts of civil disobedience against war and nuclear weapons.
Take care,
Rebecca Glasscock
2)
PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST HANAN ASHRAWI TO VISIT
LEXINGTON, UK
A free public lecture featuring Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi has been scheduled for the evening of March 23, 2010, at the University of Kentucky. Ashrawi has served as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jerusalem District. In 2009, she was elected a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), making history as the first woman to hold a seat in this executive body. Ashrawi’s academic career spanned several decades in which she served as a faculty member, chair in the Department of English and Dean of the Faculty at Birzeit University on the West Bank. From 1991 through 1993, she served as the official spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Process and a member of both the Leadership/Guidance and Executive Committees of the Delegation.
With the signing of the peace accords by Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in 1993 and the establishment of Palestinian self-rule, Ashrawi headed the Preparatory Committee of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights in Jerusalem, and was the founder and commissioner general of that committee until 1995. From 1996 through 1998, she served as minister of higher education and research. In August of 1998, she founded the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), and has served as the Executive Committee chairperson of that organization since that time.
Tickets for Ashrawi’s public talk are available through the Singletary Center Ticket Office or by going to the SCFA website
As students ask question and/or make comments I will add more information in this post...
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