Happy holidays, everyone!! As you can tell, I have not been blogging much this month of December. Besides all of the craziness and hoopla of everything involved with the holidays, I had a major muscle spasm this month that had me on my back on a heating pad and taking muscle relaxers for almost a week then I was still very limited in what I could do.

I also have scar tissue in my knee for many years and it has steadily been getting worse as I age and all year I’ve been going to physical therapy to deal with it so I could exercise more without so much pain. After all of these sessions with not that much change they tell me at my last session that I may need surgery. Ugh.

I went back to the orthopedic surgeon who occasionally gives me cortisone shots in my IT band in my leg so I can exercise without so much pain (and he also told me to do PT) and as my last ditch effort before surgery he decided this time to stick a giant needle directly into my lump of scar tissue. I thought I was going to die from the pain that night. It was almost as bad as when I was in labor and my son got stuck and caused ligaments to tear inside my hip. The only thing that helped was icing it for 48 hours straight to keep it numb and immobile until the injected fluid was absorbed into my leg and away from expanding the scar tissue. It took several days of no moving and icing it but at least it was over a few days before Christmas and we were able to enjoy a really fun family day. Now my knee feels great and I am hoping it did something in breaking up the mass and I can avoid surgery!

We also had a really nice winter garden of hardy greens under a hoop house and big cabbages ready to be harvested when my back issues were going on and my husband was crazy at work. He was going to harvest lots of it that weekend and one morning early in the week he says, “I think the digital outdoor thermometer is broken, it says it’s minus 15 outside.” We both were like, uh-oh and turned on the weather and sure enough, the arctic cold front came down overnight and I was too distracted with pain to watch the news that week and the sub-zero temps basically ruined our lovely winter crop!! We were sad. The cabbages were huge, too. At least we started growing our indoor sprouts again but I was really looking forward to the spinach, kale and collards that were doing so well out there. Damn Arctic cold front!!! We did finish building a new, little greenhouse by late November but didn’t get anything planted in it before the cold came so we decided to just rely on the hoop house this winter instead. Ha! Now we know better for next year.

Another change that happened this month was for my husband. He received a surprise call in November from a consultant that had worked for him this past year. It was for an unadvertised position at a good company in his field that is poised to do even better in a recession. This consultant became a full time employee there because of the economy and because it’s such a good place to work he said. My husband was not looking for a new job, his was pretty safe even though his present company has done a few rounds of layoffs this year. He decided it was something to go for and he fit the bill perfectly for what they wanted. We think it was meant to be since they chose him and he starts next week. The only downside to this is that he now has to commute 20 minutes instead of working down the street. He gets a better salary, more paid time off, better job security and more exciting work to do so that was the trade-off. He’s really excited for his new adventure.

Since he used to eat lunch at home almost every day, I decided to get him a rockin’ lunch box of some sort that he would love and where I could make him some interesting, healthy lunches in. I did some research and ordered him a Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar - aka a “bento box.” I gave it to him as one of his xmas gifts and he loves it. It has 2 insulated containers for hot or cold food (one even holds soup) and 2 for cold or room temp food. It stacks inside this steel, vacuum sealed cylinder and even has a carry case and comes with a spork but he added chop sticks, too. There are several bento box “food p*rn” sites and blogs to get ideas of what to make from simple to gourmet and we being the gourmet types are geeking out a bit over it, I have to say!

He gave me as one of my gifts Veganomicon, an amazing (cooked) vegan cookbook. There are so many great recipes in there and even meal ideas for the different recipes so I’m sure I’ll be making him lots of good food from that book (plus sneaking in some raw recipes, too!).

Right now while he’s on vacation til the new job starts, we are trying to finish up some house projects and major re-organizing. It feels good to move stuff around and get rid of things. He is building some new shelving in our multi-purpose rec room to make it more user friendly for each of us that uses that room for different activities. I am ready to start doing yoga again there now, I figure that won’t hurt my back if I start slow and build up again.

I’m sure I’ll be back to posting more after the new year and settling into my family’s new daily routine.

I hope you all have a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!!

Please take a few seconds and sign this important petition today! The sustainable agriculture community has developed a list of six names that would be appropriate choices for the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. There is a nationwide effort underway to get as many signatures as possible on this petition that will be sent to our President-elect in the next 24 hours and time is of the essence.

An excerpt from their letter to President-elect Obama:

Today we have a nutritional and environmental deficit that is as real and as great as that of our national debt and must be addressed with forward thinking and bold, decisive action. To deal with this crisis, our next Secretary of Agriculture must work to advance a new era of sustainability in agriculture, humane husbandry, food and renewable energy production that revitalizes our nation’s soil, air and water while stimulating opportunities for new farmers to return to the land.

We believe that a new administration should address our nation’s growing health problems by promoting a children’s school lunch program that incorporates more healthy food choices, including the creation of opportunities for schools to purchase food from local sources that place a high emphasis on nutrition and sustainable farming practices. We recognize that our children’s health is our nation’s future and that currently schools are unable to meet these needs because they do not have the financial resources to invest in better food choices. We believe this reflects and is in line with your emphasis on childhood education as a child’s health and nutrition are fundamental to their academic success.

This could be a breakthrough for our organic farmers and sustainability in general if the right person is chosen to be the head of this department. We already know that Obama/Biden have a “Plan For Rural America” which I have blogged about before so now we just have to ensure there is a really great US Secretary of Agriculture chosen to make this vision a reality.  Please pass this on to gather as many signatures as possible today! Spread the word! Thank you.

Technorati Tags: Food Democracy Now Petition, sustainability, US Secretary of Agriculture

I have received so many responses from very creative mamas to my recent query about ideas for homemade or low budget gifts (mostly for children) for the holidays. With the economy being the way it is, this topic seems to be one that is on many people’s minds. I’ve divided the many ideas given to me into different categories. I hope there is something here you will find to make and give to your loved ones this holiday season.

Food Gifts:

Make your own peanut brittle, fudge, holiday cookies or another tasty treat and present it in a pretty tin or on a plate you’ve decorated that will also be part of the gift. If you are giving this gift to another from your child, have the child help make it as well as decorate the container – photo tins were suggested a few times, too.

The hot cocoa or brownie kit is another idea for either kids or adults. You can make “hot cocoa cones” by layering the separate dry ingredients in a cone shaped piece of cellophane or a clear frosting bag or in a mason jar and tie it with a pretty ribbon and add an instruction card on how to prepare the mix. Chocolate dipped spoons are another easy gift idea you can add with the hot cocoa cones. If it’s a cookie mix, you can include some cookie cutters. Caramel or kettle popcorn is another fun food gift to make.

If you are a gardener, giving away some homemade canned items from your garden is always appreciated. You can make different jams, salsa, tomato sauce, pickles, dilly beans, pickled beets, grape juice, etc. Whatever you have a lot of just remember to can more of it at the time to give out as gifts. You can even prepare a whole basket of assorted pint or quart sized jars of items that you have made. You can do the same with dehydrated items like fruit leather, apple or banana slices, dried herb mixes, herbal tea blends, spice rubs or jerky.

For Sewing/Knitting/Crocheted Gifts:

If you are a sewer/knitter/crocheter, you have a world of possibilities of things to make! Many suggestions given in this category included crocheting pot holders or dishcloths to go along with the food gifts, sewing fleece blankets or even fringing all of the edges on two pieces of fleece and tying them together for a 2 sided blanket – no sewing there, sewing aprons for kids to wear in their play kitchen – one mama said to use terrycloth material for the kid’s apron. If you are a good seamstress, sewing doll clothes, sun hats, dresses and all the other cute items that your child likes will save you tons of money if you do it yourself.

Knitted or crocheted hats, scarves, mittens, and knitted afgans are so appreciated in the cold weather. To be extra green and frugal, you can get some wool sweaters from the thrift store and unravel them and re-use the wool for your new knitted creations.

Felt:

Felt items are also another inexpensive, crafty and fun gift to make. You can make play food by cutting out the desired shapes and sewing two pieces together and stuff with batting or wool and sew closed or you can leave it single-sided cut to the shape of what you want and since felt sticks to itself, it will stick to a felt storyboard or you can make a felt pizza with toppings, a birthday cake with candles or a felt Christmas tree with ornaments. You can also make easy finger or hand puppets, picture frames and little bags too. Crayon rolls are popular with kids as well. There really are so many fun ideas for things to make with felt and it’s easy to use and dirt cheap!

Jewelry:

Make beaded jewelry - it’s fun and very creative. Go support your local bead shop, take a class or buy a how-to book, pick out beads that you like, a few basic tools, some wire and clasps and you can make inexpensive yet pretty jewelry, bookmarks, hair accessories, window shade pulls, light catchers, the list goes on and on. My step-mother-in-law is really into this and now works with more semi-precious stones and silver combos and she makes some really beautiful gifts. This photo is of some of her work that I received as a gift.

Photo Gifts:

This also is a pretty popular gift. All of those photos we take of our kids, dogs, vacations can be made into photo books, calendars, mouse pads, mugs, pillows, etc. We can also take actual photos and decorate the outside of tin boxes with them and fill the box with yummy treats, too. Kids love to see pictures of themselves so this is popular with them as well as the grandparents. It seems grandparents can never have enough pictures of the grandkids and making the calendars or other photo gifts are pretty easy, inexpensive and much appreciated.

Other Craft Items:

Make your own homemade playdough which is safe and non-toxic and you can even color it with different food coloring. Store it in little containers, tins or even glass baby food jars that you’ve saved. Simple cookie cutters can go along with the playdough for a fun and inexpensive gift.

You can make homemade soy candles in empty jars - using baby food jars again or jam sized canning jars work well, too.

Don’t forget about cardboard boxes! There is just so much you can do with them. We have in just about a couple hours’ time made our son a playhouse and a train car that he can sit in. Now I hear there is talk of a space ship happening soon. You can make the large stacking blocks like the kind that are sold that look like bricks as well as a play kitchen, too. Cardboard boxes, a sturdy knife, duct tape and paint (optional) are all it takes. We have even made him impromptu costumes – wings, a helmet out of a cardboard bucket and a shield we painted as part of his Halloween costume, too. There are so many, many things you can do with cardboard. You can find lots of ideas and instructions on this site.

Wooden Crafts:

Since my husband has a small wood shop and makes unique furniture, last year he decided to make our son a play kitchen for Christmas and a play workbench for his birthday. Both required time but the cost of the materials was pretty inexpensive. He purchased a large sheet of plywood for each project that had a really nice facing on it, some small door hinges, some plexiglas for the oven and microwave door windows and a dowel rod for door handles.  He used an older bath faucet he had and a steel bowl for the kitchen sink and faucet. Both the kitchen and workbench were finished with a non-toxic oil and both came out really beautifully and are heirloom quality pieces so we can pass these down to our grandkids. The actual cost of the play kitchen came out to less than $30 with everything - except labor! The workbench was even cheaper.

Easier projects to make with wood are wooden building blocks, a simple pull toy, different geometric shaped puzzle pieces called tanagrams, different wooden puzzles, doll cradles, and wooden memory game squares that you paint the matching pictures on. There are many websites with instructions on how to do all of this and I really like this site.

You can take many different little things that fit into a theme and put them all together in a box or basket for a person or family to enjoy. Several mamas said they were making movie baskets for a whole family – a dvd, different kinds of popcorn and chocolate all packaged in a pretty basket with cellophane or shrink wrap. Pick a theme and go with it.

Stores:

If you don’t want to make much (or anything) but still want to save money on gifts, shopping the thrift stores, garage sales, Craigslist, Freecycle, eBay, Dollar stores and the dollar bins at Target for all inexpensive new or used items in good condition is a great way to get toys and things at a fraction of the price or free (Freecycle). And most children don’t know the difference and wouldn’t care anyway if they did. If it works, they are happy!

New items at greatly reduced prices are sold at many closeout stores such as Marshalls, Big Lots, Ross, TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning among others. You may have to sweep through these types of stores periodically and keep your eyes peeled for the quality items you want.  I’ve found some amazing deals this way including new German wooden toys (which are normally very expensive), nice puzzles and books for my son. It’s fun, too once you get the hang of it.

Wrapping Paper:

It’s fun to unwrap presents but we don’t have to use the commercial wrapping paper which is hard to recycle in many locations. What to do? – make your own!! There are so many options for this. If you get a Sunday paper, save the comic section each week and use that, buy a roll of butcher paper or brown craft paper or visit your town’s local newspaper and ask for their left over end of the rolls (it’s free) and have your kids draw or stamp all over it. Or buy some inexpensive play silks – a gift in themselves which can be dyed any color – and wrap the toy in that, too.

All of these “wrapping” papers listed can be easily recycled and can be a fun craft activity for you and the kids to do together. If you don’t want to do any of the above, try to purchase the wrapping paper that was made with recycled paper instead.

I hope this list has helped you find some new, creative and inexpensive gift ideas for this holiday season. There definitely are many resourceful and creative people out there and I thank each and every one of you for contributing your amazing, thrifty gift ideas! If you have other creative ideas not mentioned here, feel free to leave them in the comments section. I love hearing about other fun gifts to make.

Happy Holidays!!

photos: orderonline,  kathy marie perez,  the library of congress,  lil miss maya, nature deva, family fun, nature deva, nature deva

Technorati Tags: budget holiday gifts, crafts, eco-friendly gifts, homemade gifts, make it yourself

Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

All of the talks I went to were extremely interesting and informative. The best one though was by the keynote speaker, L. Hunter Lovins. She is an internationally recognized expert on climate change, green development, energy efficiency, resource use, land management and “natural capitalism.” She was named Time magazine’s “Hero for the Planet” in the year 2000.  She has also founded a school named Presidio School of Management where you can receive your MBA in Sustainable Management.  One job that these graduates are excelling in is helping large companies to convert their corporations to become more environmentally friendly and find ways for them to save money at the same time. Others go on to work for the EPA or even start their own eco-friendly businesses.

During her presentation, she spoke to us about why it’s important to build a sustainable community. For one thing, it’s prosperous for all of the residents and you will feel secure and self-reliant. All residents will have assured supplies of water, energy, food and basic services.  Being sustainable means fully valuing and enhancing all forms of capital: financial, manufactured, human and natural.

One idea that was mentioned by several speakers including Ms. Lovins was the “Triple Bottom Line - profit, protection and people.” This refers to what are the financial, environmental and social impacts of an organization, business or community? This is what we must think about when we are in the planning stages.

She talked a bit about businesses and mentioned that businesses also need to remember the most important thing which is to always start with efficiency. There will always be surprises in business but as companies are now realizing, protecting the climate is profitable! This is evidenced by Walmart who has very large sustainability goals in place and they are actively taking steps to become more green and sustainable to help their company’s bottom line as well as the planet. Since announcing this, their stock prices have gone up even in a bear market economy. I know this seems crazy that Walmart is committed to this but since they are leading the way, other large corporations will surely be following soon enough.

Ms. Lovins is also a part of the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) which is a large group of experts working together to help find solutions to reversing the damages caused by climate change, improve our economy and our national security. A plan for our 44th president’s first 100 days in office regarding climate change has been produced and since we have now had the election a few weeks ago, we know our new president is on board with halting climate change and creating economic growth by moving forward with new technologies and greenhouse gas regulations that will help save our planet and grow our economy at the same time. A win-win for all once again.

Here is the background on what PCAP is trying to accomplish:

One of the most important challenges facing the 44th President – arguably the most important challenge – will be to quickly and effectively address the three interrelated problems of climate change, energy stability and national security.

Leading climate experts estimate that the international community has 10 years to make dramatic changes in greenhouse gas emissions if we wish to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. A similar need for action in the next decade is being created by the growing international competition for oil, the approaching peak in world petroleum production and America’s increasing dependence on oil from unstable or hostile regions. Left unaddressed, these problems may create unprecedented economic and environmental hardships and increasing global tensions.

By the time the 44th President takes office, the window of opportunity to prevent these crises will be one-third gone. The people of the United States, as well as other nations, will be looking for an early indication of whether the President intends to lead the world’s largest energy-consuming and greenhouse-gas emitting nation on a responsible course of action.

To help the President launch effective Federal leadership on these issues, the University of Colorado and several partner organizations are engaging the nation’s science, policy, business and civic leaders to produce a Presidential Climate Action Plan (PCAP).

The plan will contain a broad menu of policy and program recommendations for the President, rather than advocating a particular policy. It will be announced early in 2008. During 2007-2008, the project will operate a web site that offers resource documents and background information on climate policy to assist the Presidential candidates in forming their climate-action commitments.

If you’d like to read the full plan, click here.

In summary, this whole event was very inspiring for me to attend. I am so happy that the ideals and beliefs about how my husband and I like to live our lives for the past 14 years are becoming more mainstream and widely accepted.  I am really feeling optimistic even in this bad economic downturn that our country will be implementing these new environmental changes that will be beneficial for everyone on many levels. The time has come and the changes have to be permanent. We are still currently before the “point of no return” and we have to make these changes so we can keep living on this beautiful planet. Don’t you agree?

Technorati Tags: climate change, L. Hunter Lovins, Presidential Climate Action Project, sustainability, Triple Bottom Line

Last week I read the article, “Farmer In Chief” written by Michael Pollan. It is probably the most thorough article about our current food and agricultural system here in the U.S. and what we need to do to shift the  agriculture policy to make it better. Pollan calls it his “Sun-Food Agenda” and it is written as an open letter to the next president. In my opinion, this article is simply amazing. And even better, Obama read it and even quoted from it before he was elected:

Obama’s quote (from Treehugger):

There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy. I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollan about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil. As a consequence, our agriculture sector actually is contributing more greenhouse gases than our transportation sector. And in the mean time, it’s creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats, are now vulnerable to sky-high food prices or crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices, and are partly responsible for the explosion in our healthcare costs because they’re contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in healthcare costs. That’s just one sector of the economy. You think about the same thing is true on transportation. The same thing is true on how we construct our buildings. The same is true across the board.

Willie Nelson, the musician and the president of Farm Aid, wrote a letter to Obama offering him every resource that Farm Aid has available to assist him in creating a new farm and food policy that supports a sustainable family farm system of agriculture.

From the letter:

There is broad agreement that our farm and food system needs to be drastically reworked. The good news is that the work of building an alternative to the industrial food system is well underway and Farm Aid is proud to have been a leader in this work, something we call the Good Food Movement. The Good Food Movement has grown and thrived almost entirely without the support of the federal government. However, now is the right moment for the leadership of our country to take a role in this important movement. In fact the future of our economy, our environment and our health demand it.

I am waiting to see how this all will unfold once Obama takes office. The way things are run now is clearly not working for anyone on any level anymore. This has to and will change at the policy level and thankfully we have a very aware president-elect that will make sure at least some major agricultural changes take place at that level.  It’s already been shifting at the grassroots level as you can tell by the huge surge in consumers buying organic produce, pasture raised meats, attending farmer’s markets, joining CSA’s and the rising awareness of people wanting to take charge of their health starting with nutrition and knowing where their food comes from.

I especially love that he wants to make school food come more from local farmers and be of higher nutritional quality.  This is going to really help the low income families who rely on this food program sometimes as their kids’ only source of calories for the day.

Here is the plan from the Obama/Biden Real Leadership For Rural America pdf regarding the farm to school program:

Bring Farms to Schools: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will support providing locally grown, healthy foods to students as a part of the school meals program. This will both reduce childhood obesity and grow vibrant rural economies, supporting community-based food systems and strengthening family farms. They will support funding for farm-to-school projects for food, labor, equipment, and staff training. They also will allow schools to give priority to local sources when ordering food. Currently the USDA prohibits schools from requesting local products during the bidding process. Finally, they will expand commodity support to include the school breakfast program as well as the school lunch program.

The farm to school program is already being initiated in one school district in my county right now and I’m hoping my school district will be next to embrace this program.

This is just so great, I’m completely excited that finally I can be happy my government has listened to We The People and will act upon what is best for it’s citizens and not the corporate greed system that has been destroying us and our planet for so long.

Technorati Tags: Farm Aid, farm to school program, Farmer In Chief article, Michael Pollan

Click here for Part 1.

After finishing up at the Agriculture presentation, I moved on to the presentation about Water and Climate Change. The first speaker was Charles Montgomery from The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. His words were very profound to hear spoken to the masses. I have known this info for a while but many people don’t like to discuss or even believe it.

Charles said, “The world is rapidly warming due to the greenhouse gas effect. CO2 and methane are great in small amounts to balance the cold effect but in large amounts, they are disastrous.” The problems really started to escalate in the 1970’s and it is way worse in the western part of the U.S. And ground zero for global warming in the U.S. is CO, UT, NM, AZ.  90% of global warming is caused by human activities (including factory farming).  There is a coming crisis in the water supply of the western U.S.  From north to south, it will be getting hotter and drier. Where I live will stay approximately the same because I am near the mountains and the runoff. Woo hoo!

He did say with the earth’s temperature increasing, we will be getting more rain rather than snow so there will not be much snowpack in the mountains and also melting will be happening earlier which means the evaporation rates will be accelerating. Really not a good thing for all the states that rely on the Colorado river basin. He said that by the year 2100 or sooner, we are going to dry out the system. We are still currently before the “point of no return” temperature-wise so we need to make major, global changes now before it’s too late for us to be able to do anything about it.

He did leave us with this final thought, “We have to take action now, climate scientists around the world are terrified right now. Think about sustainability collectively.”

The next person to speak, Tracy from the Great Western Initiative spoke about water conservation and all that we can do. He gave examples of what sustainable, technological developments came out of Australia where they have been suffering from severe drought for decades. Another fun fact I learned is that 20% of energy used in the U.S. is to treat, pump and distribute water. I personally think the whole pooping in our water supply is wrong, disgusting and both a waste of energy and polluting of a dwindling valuable resource. I hope we will start to change our thinking on this soon since our water is drying up. There are many alternative options to this.

He also talked about “community based social marketing” which helps to identify what the barriers are to people’s behaviors changing.

What we can do: education: influence the schools, be aware of our own use, check for leaks, how do you spend your money, tell the stores, vote with your dollar.

Communicate: Telling your friends your story will then lead to changing attitudes. Change then becomes part of our social fabric and it becomes sustainable. (Which is why I am blogging about this in such detail).

The last person to speak on water was a woman named Cynthia from Aware Colorado. She spoke about the connection between land use and water being blocked from getting into the land by impervious surfaces. Now some towns are designing parking lots and roads with pavers instead of blacktop so that water can seep back into the land instead of just evaporate. She also talked about new street designs that have swales to catch the water, different street edges for water to get into the soil, xeriscaping, native plants that need less water, gravel roads instead of blacktop to absorb water, rooftop gardens to help with regulating a building’s heating and cooling and natural ecosystems put back in place.

The other two presentations on Alternative Energy and Recycling I didn’t get to hear but since I’ve lived off the grid for a few years I know all about the greatness of solar and wind power and the stupidity of us as a nation not utilizing this free power source. But we can all right now buy wind power through our local power company or a reputable online company.

Recycling in our town went up a notch recently when curbside pickup went single stream and that makes life easier for people who choose not to recycle the items that were not picked up at their house. Now they can recycle much more since almost everything is being picked up from their house and they don’t have to make a special trip to the recycling center. They also had posters up saying they would be doing curbside compost pick up within the next few years for those townspeople that don’t compost or have a garden. Amazing!

All of the speakers I heard that day were very enlightening and really helped get the message out and got people thinking. The best one was the keynote speaker, L. Hunter Lovins. I will write about what her message was in part 3.

Technorati Tags: climate change in the US, composting, recycling, solar and wind power, sustainable water use

This past weekend I attended a Sustainability Fair that was sponsored by my town and was completely free for us to attend.  They even served a free lunch. The info I have below is really important and I feel very lucky that it was presented to us. This Sustainability Fair was a major highlight for me to have right here where I live since this lifestyle has been a passion of mine for the past 13 years.

Having lived in my conservative town for the past 6 years, I really never expected the concept of real sustainable living to reach the mainstream consciousness here so soon especially since this town is not as liberal or environmentally friendly as other places in my county.  Attending this entire day long, well coordinated conference with expert speakers talking about all areas of sustainablility and how do we work together to achieve this for the single purpose of making this town the most sustainable and eco-friendly place to live was just so deeply rewarding to me on so many levels.

At the fair, they had an expo area with lots of companies explaining what they do in different areas relating to environmentalism. They also had presentations in different rooms by a few different panels of experts, most of whom were local to either my county or state. The topics covered were: Agriculture, Water, Alternative Energy and Recycling. There was also a keynote speaker and then lunch then a breakout session where we went to brainstorm and give ideas on each topic.

Since there was only time to go to two presentations out of the four, can you guess which two I picked? If you read this blog regularly, you can tell I’m pretty passionate about healthy food especially seasonal, local and organic plant based foods. Agriculture was my first stop and it was great.

There were 3 presenters and the first was a man named Tom who owns a large, local farm and builds solar powered farm equipment. His designs have been patented and he is now developing a solar powered tractor. His description about his whole way of living was inspiring to me.

Another man, Adrian from our county commissioner’s advisory board spoke about better farming practices and the need for younger, sustainably aware farmers since the average age of farmers now is 55. He spoke about how all of the confined animal feedlots (CAFO) are just so cruel to the animals and horrible for the environment also use the most fossil fuels and contribute to the the largest output of greenhouse gasses (including dairy and all kinds of meat production). That’s huge and the sooner we do away with these inhumane ways to raise livestock and go back to the local farms for pasture-raised flesh foods and dairy, it’s better both for the people’s health and the greatly minimized environmental impacts. We should not be eating animals everyday, 3 times a day. Plant based foods are healthier and better for you and the planet. Limit the intake of animal based foods (especially the cheap, antibiotic-laden factory farmed meats & dairy) because they are the biggest contributors to our planet’s degradation.  CAFO also uses and pollutes enormous amounts of water (which I will speak about in part 2).

Next, a woman named Cindy spoke that runs our farmer’s market here in my town of which it is part of the larger county run farmer’s markets organization and there are many of these markets here in my county which is a great thing for the people and the local CO farmers. She said on the last day of the season (Nov.1st here), our largest farmer’s market in the county made $80,000 just from selling produce. Not from the arts and crafts vendors or the prepared meals food carts. Just the farmers themselves.  That is astounding to me (and to them, too!) because it shows how many people are really interested in fresh, regional, seasonal, organic foods. It is what we need for our health and what is also good for our planet. So glad it’s on the upswing.

She also spoke at length about how many people are considered “food insecure” and how food banks and shelters are adding 200 people every week in our county and it’s only going to get worse as we go into this economic depression. There was talk about some trial programs my town just did with growing potatoes in a public park area on only about an eighth of an acre and volunteers came and dug them up a few weeks ago and donated all of the potatoes to the food bank.  They grew several hundred pounds with very little effort so more of this type of growing on public land will be happening in the future to benefit the food insecure.

Cindy also spoke about the farm to school program aka - the “School Food Project” that they are trying to get established in my school district. Currently, in the bigger city in my county their school district is being trained by none other than Ann Cooper from Berkeley, CA’s school district (and I posted a great TED video of her speaking a few weeks ago). This woman is an amazing dynamo in terms of getting off the processed, subsidized food bandwagon which helps to make kids fat and unhealthy and she is also teaching the kitchen workers how to cook real food again from many locally sourced food items from farmers and it’s all done on the school’s budget.  She also advocates teaching and growing a garden at each school and educating the children about where food comes from. I truly admire this woman and am so excited she is working with our neighboring school district because this means that program will come to my school district at some point and I would love to help out with getting that going. This is especially great for all of those children that have to rely on the free breakfast and lunch program and who have to consume many highly processed foods everyday. This will help turn the children’s health around by eating high quality, nutritious food which will also increase their mental acuity as well as educate them about sustainable living skills, too. All win-win.

Next, in part two I will write about the water and climate change presentations I went to and the very enlightening info I learned there.

Technorati Tags: CAFO, farm to school program, food insecure, school food project, Sustainability Fair

I can’t tell you all how happy I am that we as a nation can now move positively in a Greener direction with the election of Obama as President.  He has said that one of his first initiatives after stabilizing the economic whirlwind that’s going on right now is to get alternative, sustainable technology going here so we can end our dependence on foreign oil, create millions of jobs that cannot be moved overseas and lower our carbon footprint which will basically save the planet at the same time.

Since I write (and live) a mostly green, sustainable and health blog, this is one of the chief things that I have wanted to see for many years.  Having been involved in this lifestyle since the mid 1990’s, I can’t tell you the heartbreak I have had over watching Bush not give a damn over the state of our planet and therefore the people and animals who have to consume the water, air and frankenfood allowed to be so polluted and denatured under his administration.  I am OVERJOYED and FILLED WITH HOPE that we can actually survive now.  For a while I was not too sure. I think Obama will make wise choices for each position in his administration and even Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s name is on the short list for heading up the EPA which I personally think is an excellent choice considering all the years he’s worked so hard for the environment through the NRDC. (I highly recommend you read this letter from the president of the NRDC through that link).

It gives me goosebumps to see good people that work for the greater good of all to be put in positions of power to ensure we clean up the gigantic toxic mess Bush/Cheney let happen and make our planet safer and cleaner and greener again for our children to grow up in. We do need more regulation in certain areas and many people have been working hard to get certain legislation passed such as the Kid Safe Chemicals Act, the Safe Toys Act, getting the US to sign the Kyoto Protocol, etc.  This is necessary and needed to keep us and our children safe. Regulation is not a bad thing especially when corporations are getting away with murder, basically to make a profit. We are not lab rats, we are fellow citizens of the world who are being polluted on so many levels that millions of us are sick and dying, again good for the corporate drug companies to make a buck, not good for the people suffering and dying from toxic overload that causes cancer and other diseases.  Obama is aware of these issues, has young children and wants to focus more on preventative medicine and good health and wants to clean this up.  That is something stellar to see in a leader because preventative medicine is inexpensive and does not make much money for the drug companies.

And to be clear, I see him as a human, dealing in the world of duality just like the rest of us humans and I don’t hold him up to be a savior or anything like that.  I am just so happy that a person of high intelligence, thought and caring for many different issues and is progressive and wants to do things differently and more wisely than the old and decaying ways that no longer work for us as a collective.  Those ways just simply won’t work anymore.  It won’t be easy, we are going into an economic depression and have to deal with getting through that chaos even with Obama as president.

When I heard “44th President” I was excited because the number 44 is a “power number” according to numerology  (which is the metaphysical science of the vibration of numbers developed by Pythagoras in the sixth century BC) and the definition of the number 44 is “universal builder with insight; can institute and assist world-wide reform for the good of mankind; can manifest his postulates.”  I feel Obama’s energy and soul wisdom is the right person to embody the power of this title.  He is fair and balanced and listens to the advice of others who may not agree with him. That is a mark of a great leader.  I know he is fulfilling his karma and will be a real unifier of humanity who is ushering in a new way for us all. And lawd knows, the entire planet is desperate for the US to go in a new direction!

Have you seen the footage of the viewing parties across the globe on our election night and the massive celebrations taking place in other countries once Obama was elected? I think that really says something and we Americans need to take note of that.  The most powerful nation on earth has finally chosen a leader the people of the world feel represents the greater good for all.  And I hope and pray that we all can move forward working together for this very purpose because we don’t have that much time left to keep destroying the planet without more and more dire consequences being thrust upon us all.

photo: haneybabe

Technorati Tags: envronmental issues, President Obama

Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway and leaving me with so many really great ideas for homemade and/or inexpensive holiday gifts for kids and also for the gift ideas for kids to make for others.  I will compile several good ideas in an upcoming post but if you have the time to look through many comments, you will get some great and inexpensive ideas for gifts!

Now for the winner……#14, Carol!  I have already contacted Carol by email and if I don’t hear back from her within 72 hours, I will move on to the next number generated by random.org.

Thanks, everyone for playing and keep a lookout for my future giveaways and big thanks also to Bloggy Giveaways!

Technorati Tags: bloggy giveaways

I am offering a great giveaway for both mama and child that is already wrapped and ready for the holidays!  Baby Candy, a small, mom owned company, makes cute shirts and onesies for babies, toddlers, kids and mamas, too.  I am giving away a matching “Sugar Mama” chocolate brown 100% cotton tee shirt size L for mom and the same adorable shirt size 2T for her toddler.

The way they are packaged is very unique - it looks like candy and comes with a “nutrition facts” label on the back listing the size and what it is.

This giveaway is worth just about $50 and makes a wonderful gift for the holidays!

To enter (up to three chances to win!):

• Please leave a comment telling me some of your creative ideas for holiday gifts for kids that are inexpensive or homemade. I think we all will be trying to economize this holiday season and I hope you can share some tips that I may not have thought about yet!
• If you would like another chance to win, subscribe to my feed via RSS or email and leave a separate comment letting me know you have done so.
• For yet another chance to win, just link to this post on your blog and then leave another comment here with the link to your blog’s post.
• Be sure to leave a valid email address
• Contest is open to US and Canadian citizens
• Contest will end on Saturday, November 1st at 12:59pm EST
• Winner will be chosen by Random.org and contacted by email

Be sure to stop by the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival to see all the other great giveaways!

Technorati Tags: baby candy tee shirts, bloggy giveaway carnival