Greenblog

John Hartman and Kay Richie  ”Draft Animals for farming , is it
sustainable or just an expensive hobby?”
John is a very entertaining person to work with and I was very glad to see that he is also a very entertaining speaker. He brings up many good points to consider , even if using horses or mules never crossed your mind. Kay also brings in her personality to the mix. When I first suggested the title to her, she immediately responded ,”Is modern agriculture sustainable?”
Click here to listen to talk by John Hartman and Kay Richie

Leonard and Linda Hicks  “Wisdom from experienced farmers “
Leonard had been our agricultural extension agent for many years until his retirement. He and his wife give a lot of suggestions here about the varieties and techniques that have worked for them. This informal talk is packed with useful information.
Click here to listen to talk by Leonard and Linda Hicks.

Michael Hylton   “Small Farms, What’s working and what’s not”
Michael Hylton is our current  Agricultural extension agent.  His job puts him in touch with a lot of farmers trying different approaches to make a living from their land. We can gain from his experience as some of these ideas are doing well and some have not been  too successful.
Click here to listen to talk by Michael Hylton.

By L. Kevin & Donna Philippe-Johnson

As a middle class American, it's been difficult for me to understand how we are
supposed to make a living when there are so many things working against us. How
can we go on day after day with the rising cost of food, fuel, utilities, car
insurance, taxes and health care, while dealing with the insecurity of
unemployment? In the past, whenever I considered these things, I felt a hopeless
sense of impending doom in the pit of my stomach. There is so much talk about
how to solve these issues, but nothing ever seems to stop the downward spiral of
struggle and stress that millions of folks are experiencing. 

Like many working people, my life went along fine during the 1980s. I had a good
paying job ($42,000 a year) and though I didn't enjoy the kind of work I was
doing as an industrial draftsman, receiving a steady paycheck every week kept me
going without much complaint. But then came the Gulf War in the 1990s and after
that point I faced nine layoffs over the span of 10 years. By the time September
11 happened, I hadn't been able to maintain steady employment in the
petrochemical industry for over a decade. I would work about three or four
months, then back again to the unemployment line. 

It was at this point that I realized that something was wrong. The life strategy
I had grown up to believe in was no longer working and there didn't seem to be
any answers. Obviously no one was going to get me out of this, so I decided I
needed to take matters into my own hands and figure out a way to redefine my
basic approach to living. 

Lucky for me, I have an adventurous wife. She was on the same page with me and
was willing to make some drastic changes in our lifestyle. As a committed team,
we decided to figure out another way to survive despite these uncertain, hard
economic times. Since we didn't have a lot of money and because it was getting
harder to find steady employment, we decided to rethink our basic values in
order to create a life for ourselves where we could be independent and free of
needing a career or a full-time job. 

And for us, that meant first and foremost, moving to the country. If we were
going to be poor, we thought, at least it would be better to be poor in the
country. That way we could grow our own food and reduce our expenses. Eventually
we discovered that there were others who felt the same way we did. Today there
is a small, but growing movement in this country towards a lifestyle we call
"Voluntary Creative Simplicity." 

We decided to start over, to shake loose from all the things holding us down. We
got rid of all the stuff we didn't need and worked on paying off debt. Then
canceling our credit cards and using cash, we followed an efficient financial
plan that taught how to track every penny. By doing this we were able eventually
to save a little bit of money. (See the book entitled, Your Money or Your Life,
by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin.) 

Also, we wanted to be strong and healthy to do the work required for this basic
lifestyle so we changed our eating habits. We broke away from the standard
American fast food, pre-packaged supermarket diet in favor of organically grown
whole grains, raw fruits and vegetables, fermented dairy, nuts, seeds and
sprouts and eliminated all junk foods and prescription drugs. We started
exercising regularly by walking, practicing yoga, and gardening. Since we no
longer wanted to pay health insurance premiums, we decided to start a special
savings account ($1,000) just for emergency first-aid treatment. And of course
we got rid of the cell phone, cable television and Internet bills and greatly
minimized our use of air conditioning. The beginning of the path to the simple
life was a process of elimination in every aspect of our lives. 

Eventually we found 2-1/2 acres of land, 35 miles out of the city. Inspired by
our new vision, one summer we said goodbye to the city, permanently moved out to
our new place and set up a dome tent to live in. We happily lived in our tent
that summer while clearing the land and constructing a rustic 10' by 12' room
with a sleeping loft. We did this on a "pay-as-you-go" plan, hauling all the
materials in the back of our old pickup truck. Never having built anything
before, we worked hard and gained the skill of building our own shelter. 

As the tiny outbuilding took shape, next came the installation of an underground
cistern for collecting rainwater, and finally, the construction of our
three-room (500 square foot) cabin. Since we had to borrow $9,000 to purchase
the property, I continued to take whatever jobs I could find (drafting, clerk
work, courier, dishwasher, bakery assistant, etc.) while Donna stayed busy
working on our organic garden, planting fruit trees and composting. She enjoys
learning about native plants and healing herbs that she can grow. 

Over the next few years, while working toward our goals of self-reliance and
independence, we became stronger, healthier and more confident in our ability to
rely on our own skills. It was quite an empowering experience. We learned how to
build things, grow our own food, take responsibility for our own health, and
best of all, we learned how to laugh and have fun again. The simple joys and
true pleasures of fresh, home-grown food, watching everything grow and prosper
in harmony, working with our own hands and spending quality time together
replaced all of the costly false values that had occupied our time before. 

Gradually we paid off the land, finished the cabin and succeeded in minimizing
our basic utility costs. We began to notice that our expenses were decreasing as
the quality of our life was increasing. As long as we stayed home and didn't
travel to a steady job we really didn't need very much money. The lifestyle of
voluntary creative simplicity was resulting in compounding efficiency and
improvement in every area of our lives. Soon, we saw the proof of the
inefficiency of working a full-time job. After figuring in the work-related
expenses of one job, I realized that my take home pay was only $3 an hour! At
that point I was convinced that it was far more cost effective to stay home,
grow our own food, split our own firewood and bake our own bread than it was to
travel to a job day after day. Yet we still needed some form of income. 

Though we had reduced the amount we needed to around $540 a month (way below the
poverty level in America), we still had to find a way to generate that income
without relying on full-time employment. Once we had succeeded in drastically
reducing the amount of money we needed, I knew it would be easy to earn this
income by working odd jobs such as building rustic furniture, playing guitar for
tips, simple carpentry, part-time drafting, office work, plumbing, etc. However,
there was one thing I really loved to do...bake handmade whole-grain sourdough
bread in an outdoor wood-fired clay oven! I had always shared my bread with
friends and family, but it never really occurred to me to do it as a way to earn
extra money. 

We soon discovered that there was no authentic, handmade sourdough bread being
produced in our area, and little by little, people began asking if they could
trade or buy from us. Within a year we had enough bread customers to generate
the supplemental income needed to meet our modest expenses. And now there is
even more demand and a waiting list of neighbors and friends who want our bread
regularly. They know our bread is special because the organic wheat is freshly
hand milled, the loaves are lovingly made entirely by hand and baked in our
outdoor clay oven. (See our article, "A Homemade Clay Oven and Naturally
Fermented Sourdough Bread," in the July/August 2005 issue of COUNTRYSIDE.) 

We want to let others know there is a wide open market for this kind of
specialty bread, even in very small towns like ours, because so many people, for
various reasons, are unable or unwilling to make it for themselves. In fact,
there is such a demand for this unique artisan bread that many people are
perfectly willing to pay us $4.50 a loaf! Anyone who wants to earn a little
extra cash, say $50-$100 a week or more, should consider learning this valuable
skill, then educating and sharing in their local community. We continuously hand
out educational material about the health benefits of sourdough bread, offer
informative presentations in our local community and give out free bread
samples. 

Our system of distribution is arranged like a "bread co-op." There are regular
customers who buy a batch of six loaves at a time, which we deliver fresh to
them once a month. An added bonus of learning this skill is the inexpensive,
incredibly delicious, wholesome bread that we make for ourselves, which helps
reduce our food bill. This is just an example of how a valuable skill such as
this can be financially supportive when you are living and thinking small. 

While the key to the lifestyle of voluntary simplicity, is "thinking small,"
many people still believe the opposite is true-"bigger is better." For example,
people often tell us we should invest in a commercial bakery and produce more
sourdough bread. But in order to expand and make a career out of baking and
selling bread, we would have to go into debt to purchase commercial mixers,
freezers and large ovens, work longer hours and face the mountain of
bureaucratic permits, codes, fees and restrictions. As a result, the simple,
authentic handmade artisan bread that our customers love would have to be
sacrificed in favor of expanding volume and making more money. Everybody loses
but the bankers and the bureaucrats. We would fall right back in the same old
trap, getting into debt and sacrificing our freedom and quality of life for a
job. This is an example of compounding inefficiency. 

The downfall of many people who would like to break the bonds of stress and
financial enslavement to the system is their tendency to think too big. But we
must realize that this has been programmed into us by the industrial society and
loan institutions, all attempting to excite and feed our insatiable desires.
Friends, it takes a lot of mindful awareness to break free of all these traps.
It also requires an ability to improvise and adapt towards an alternative model.
The lifestyle of voluntary simplicity is one option and the resulting benefits
are transformational. 

The point I'm making is this: many of us can no longer think in terms of having
a lifetime career anymore. For whatever reason, things are changing in this
country. Outsourcing and cheaper labor costs in other countries will continue to
eliminate jobs in the United States. And though the opportunity still exists to
work, we must understand that it may be only temporary. While continuing to work
at a job or career one should be wise and set up a plan to survive without
steady employment for certain periods of time if necessary. 

This could mean storing some supplies, purchasing a piece of property where a
small shelter, tent or tipi can be erected if necessary, or getting out of the
city and into the country where one can provide food for themselves. My old
Grandpa used to say, "all the troubles in this country began when people stopped
growing their own food." And he was right. The younglings of this modern age
don't even know what real food is, much less how to grow or prepare it! This has
to change. (That's another reason we promote sourdough bread baking. It is time
to start a "slow-food" movement). 

Thinking small is one of the most intelligent and powerful things one can do.
Consciously reducing one's life down to the simple basics is the secret to
happiness. And it is so easy. What is the solution? This is our advice,
especially to young people: 

"Don't get in debt, don't think in terms of a career (work at a job for one
reason only, to get paid so you can buy a place to live and grow some food),
live in a small shelter, unload unnecessary stuff, reduce monthly expenses,
extract yourself from the enslavement of modern technological materialism, stay
healthy by exercising, eat a simple, wholesome diet, develop some practical
skills, practice your art or trade and serve your local community. Teach your
children to value true pleasures. Real wealth is perishable: food, health,
trees, flowers, herbs, healthy soil, clean water, fresh air, friends and art.
Learn to value and appreciate these above all else." 

Of course we realize that everyone has to creatively work out their own unique
plan according to their particular circumstances, especially if there are
children to raise. (We have six grown children.) But with "small thinking," so
many opportunities open up and the more one can release, the more freedom there
is to experience with each passing year. 

If someone would have suggested to us ten years ago that there was a way for the
two of us to live on much less, build our own little hut, buy our freedom, give
up steady employment, work fewer hours, become happy, healthy, debt free,
self-reliant, and live fearlessly without health insurance, I would have told
them they were crazy. This has been an incredible, radical journey for us, but
now we know from first hand experience that with vision, patience,
self-discipline and courage, it is possible to create such a reality. 

Creative voluntary simplicity expands faster than inflation. For those who can
do it, instead of thinking too big and chasing after more money to find
happiness and security, the answer can truly be summed up in the words of the
Greek philosopher, Diogenes: "True freedom is in the minimum of needs." 

Kevin and Donna have an instructional video (VHS format only) on baking
naturally fermented sourdough bread for $30. This includes the video, a set of
written instructions, a packet of starter culture and shipping costs. Send check
or money order to L. Kevin Johnson, 4402 Gilead Rd., Clinton, LA 70722.

Subject: WES JACKSON and WENDELL BERRY …”A 50-Year Farm Bill” “…Civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland.”

“…we need a national agricultural policy that is based upon ecological principles.”

A 50-Year Farm Bill
WES JACKSON and WENDELL BERRY     NYT     January 5, 2009

THE extraordinary rainstorms last June caused catastrophic soil erosion in the grain lands of Iowa, where there were gullies 200 feet wide. But even worse damage is done over the long term under normal rainfall — by the little rills and sheets of erosion on incompletely covered or denuded cropland, and by various degradations resulting from industrial procedures and technologies alien to both agriculture and nature.

Soil that is used and abused in this way is as nonrenewable as (and far more valuable than) oil. Unlike oil, it has no technological substitute — and no powerful friends in the halls of government.

Agriculture has too often involved an insupportable abuse and waste of soil, ever since the first farmers took away the soil-saving cover and roots of perennial plants. Civilizations have destroyed themselves by destroying their farmland. This irremediable loss, never enough noticed, has been made worse by the huge monocultures and continuous soil-exposure of the agriculture we now practice.

To the problem of soil loss, the industrialization of agriculture has added pollution by toxic chemicals, now universally present in our farmlands and streams. Some of this toxicity is associated with the widely acclaimed method of minimum tillage. We should not poison our soils to save them.

Industrial agricultural has made our food supply entirely dependent on fossil fuels and, by substituting technological “solutions” for human work and care, has virtually destroyed the cultures of husbandry (imperfect as they may have been) once indigenous to family farms and farming neighborhoods.

Clearly, our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities.

For 50 or 60 years, we have let ourselves believe that as long as we have money we will have food. That is a mistake. If we continue our offenses against the land and the labor by which we are fed, the food supply will decline, and we will have a problem far more complex than the failure of our paper economy. The government will bring forth no food by providing hundreds of billons of dollars to the agribusiness corporations.

Any restorations will require, above all else, a substantial increase in the acreages of perennial plants. The most immediately practicable way of doing this is to go back to crop rotations that include hay, pasture and grazing animals.

But a more radical response is necessary if we are to keep eating and preserve our land at the same time. In fact, research in Canada, Australia, China and the United States over the last 30 years suggests that perennialization of the major grain crops like wheat, rice, sorghum and sunflowers can be developed in the foreseeable future. By increasing the use of mixtures of grain-bearing perennials, we can better protect the soil and substantially reduce greenhouse gases, fossil-fuel use and toxic pollution.

Carbon sequestration would increase, and the husbandry of water and soil nutrients would become much more efficient. And with an increase in the use of perennial plants and grazing animals would come more employment opportunities in agriculture — provided, of course, that farmers would be paid justly for their work and their goods.

Thoughtful farmers and consumers everywhere are already making many necessary changes in the production and marketing of food. But we also need a national agricultural policy that is based upon ecological principles. We need a 50-year farm bill that addresses forthrightly the problems of soil loss and degradation, toxic pollution, fossil-fuel dependency and the destruction of rural communities.

This is a political issue, certainly, but it far transcends the farm politics we are used to. It is an issue as close to every one of us as our own stomachs.

Wes Jackson is a plant geneticist and president of The Land Institute in Salina, Kan. Wendell Berry is a farmer and writer in Port Royal, Ky.

The first sustainability festival held last November was a bigger
success than we had expected. In discussing with some of the
participants we decided that the surface had been just barely
scratched , that many more such meetings must be planned to actualize
our goals of sustainability in our area.
“I see sustainability needing to address 3 areas. Our basic needs
are food, shelter and energy. All 3 of those needs can be easily met
with the natural resources of our county. If we consider the knowledge
and experience of the residents of our area in these fields, I see no
reason that we can’t accomplish our goal of being a self sustaining
community. I’ve been very impressed with the people of Stokes County.”
,said Mitra, the organizer of the event.

The event this Saturday is focusing on the first aspect of
sustainability namely producing our own food supply. I know that we
are all driven by economics, if we can find a way for the farmers to
make a decent living by growing food, that’s the first step in making
this work. A lot of the seminars this Saturday are aimed at that
purpose. Tony Mcgee of Stokes Corp, has told me of some farmers
growing sweet potatoes that are making better money per acre than they
were with growing tobacco. I’m really glad, I like to see more land
being used for growing food. If the economy fails, you can’t eat
tobacco.

There will also be seminars on helping the consumer connect with
local growers.

“I think the most popular event will be the panel discussion with
experienced farmers. The title is”How to get the most from your
garden” One of the featured speakers will be Leonard Hicks ,our
retired Agricultural extension agent. With the farmers I have lined
up,you;ll have the benefit of about 300 years of garden experience .

11 AM till 4 :30
This will be held indoors at the temple. Bring socks that you’ll be proud to
wear in public. Like many homes here , we leave our shoes outside.

1283 Prabhupada Road, Sandy Ridge NC 27046

We have a solid 5 hours of learning to offer you. I’ve been to
seminars like this and had to pay quite a bit. There is no charge for this
however, even the lunch is free. We prefer to give you the chance to
offer your gratitude as you are able. The speakers are generously here
on their own time. Many of them do this all week long, and yet are
still eager to share on their days off.
I’ve tried to get a variety of subjects , hopefully there is
something that will induce you to come for the whole experience.

We are developing a short hiking trail along the creek nearby.It
might be a half mile loop from the temple. If the weather allows , you
are welcome to break from the classes, stretch your legs and take in
the sights.

11 AM  Protecting Farmlands

KEN BRIDLE  of the Piedmont Land Conservancy will inform us of some
ways this organization is helping to protect  farmlands from development.Once a fertile piece of farmland is developed into houses or parking lots , it’s gone forever.Or at least as long as humans are around.
http://www.piedmontland.org/about/vision.php

Ken is also a good resource for all your questions regarding edible
landscaping, fruit trees, solar anything, composting and the Stokes
Stomp Festival.

11:30 Saving Seeds

PAT BUSH of Handance Farm will show us how to do it. It seems simple
enough , but there are some things you need to know to get your crop
to resemble it’s parents.

12  Stokes Core

TONY MCGEE of Stokes Core  will tell us how this organization can
help you in many ways whether you are a farmer , consumer or something in between. He’s got a lot of things going on, I’ve heard reliable rumors of the old Jailhouse in Meadows being converted to an extension of Forsyth Tech . The classes there would be on Alternative Agricultural Practices. There are some farmers in our area growing sweet potatoes and marketing them in such a way as to realize a larger profit than they have by growing tobacco. He’ll tell us some of their strategies and how we can all be involved in this.

12:30  Rainwater Harvesting and Storage// and Year Around Harvest
without a greenhouse

KIRBY WILKINSON of Reidsville, has one of  the smallest carbon
footprints of anyone I know.
He designs and installs solar electric systems for homes. He gets by with a small system on his own house,using very little electricity.
He is a good example of sustainable practices on a small budget.
He’s been collecting and irrigating with rainwater for some time now
and claims to be still eating fresh tomatoes from his garden.
I’ll let you ask him how he does it.

1:00  Lunch Break

Live music and fresh locally grown food

2:30  Farming with Draft Animals-
is it just an expensive hobby?

JOHN HARTMAN and his wife KAY have been farming with horses as long as
I’ve known them, over 15 years now. They will give an honest
assessment of their experiences. My next door neighbor Mathura also
uses his horses for some of his farming. It is a beautiful sight
watching them plow or pull a wagon. A lot quieter than his tractor.
I can see how one could fall in love with the practice, even if
it is just an expensive hobby, or is it?

3:00 Small Farms - what’s working and what’s not

MICHAEL HYLTON is our local agricultural extension agent.He gets
to see a lot in his job. Some things are doing really well and others
are , well…not. We can all benefit from his experience as we make plans
for this coming year’s farm or garden.

3:30 Farmer’s wisdom - how to get the most from your garden

This will be a  discussion with experienced farmers from our
area. Among them will be LEONARD HICKS , our retired extension
agent.Years ago I asked  him a question about how to do something
organically, “I don’t rightly know, “he replied,”I’ll try to find someone that does though”.A few days later , he called with a suggestion, then asked me
to tell him how it worked out. It seems he is always learning more and
always ready to try something new.

Bring your questions and a note pad , you’ll want to record some of
the ideas you get from this.
We’ll keep this one going as long as there is interest,which may be
a few hours.I think this may be the most popular event of the whole
show.

,

Mitra

I met Robert Smith over the phone a few weeks before our festival . We talked for quite a while trying to narrow down which topic he should present. The difficulty was that Robert seems to do just about everything there is to do in the sustainability industry .

While most of us concerned environmentalists are buying compact fluorescent light bulbs and riding bicycles to do our little bit, there are a few quiet heroes like Robert who have the skills and experience to come up with the ways and means to offset literally tons of carbon and other pollutants.

Robert is one of the managers of Sun Power Systems

This company installs solar electric systems mostly for industrial applications in the Triad Area.

I already had a speaker lined up for solar panels and tax credits. That was no problem for Robert, as he is also involved with Farm Power Systems.

This company organizes the waste management of farms to produce fuel and energy .Poultry farms for example , spend a lot on propane to keep the chickens warm. Instead , the litter is processed to make methane to heat the barn, which helps the farmer get a quick return on his investment , or ROI as businessmen call it.

There are a few other stages the product goes through that bring in an ROI including producing electricity , selling the dry manure as a fertilizer and then , with algae production , you can make biodiesel .All of these products are coming from something that was initially a problem, causing ground water contamination and greenhouse gasses.

We didn’t choose that as a topic either.

In the course of our conversation he had mentioned the term “incubator” for ideas to hatch in. Personally I suffer from too many ideas and nowhere to put them. I’m forced to let most of them go. The incubator seemed intriguing to me. Robert assured me that such a thing was already in place. I thought, “All I need to do is plug my ideas in and off they go down the line and onto the shelves of Wal Mart. I’ll be rich in no time and the world will thank me for all my inventions.”

When Robert began his talk on Saturday before the assembly of hopeful inventors , I realized , this was still going to be work. He has experience in the real world of business. He warned us of the dangers of not making a clear business plan. He advised us to take legal possession of our ideas before sharing them with any investors. It is a realm of intense competition. Only the clever and efficient will survive. This was starting to sound a lot like a business 101 lecture with the jargon and acronyms.. Maybe I should have had him talk about poultry manure, that’s a lot more interesting for someone like me.

I looked around at the audience. They all seemed to be enjoying it immensely and were ready with questions at the end.

It was a wake up call for me. I was thinking I could approach the business world like Winnie the Pooh and be able to get somewhere.

I’m very glad we chose that topic. Now that I have a preliminary understanding of the process, I feel encouraged roll up my sleeves and get to work .

 Pat Flinchum made a presentation about the hydro electric plant that was built in 1925 on the Dan River, near Walnut Cove,NC .

The dam was demolished in 1975, just after the coal-burning generator was installed on Belews Lake. Pat had a difficult time finding any history on this and referred to it as a “ black hole in history”.

“You would think there should be something about it in the newspaper archives. When they took it out, it was quite an explosion”

Tommy Brim, who grew up near the site said it sure was. He was a young boy when they blew it up. That’s the kind of thing a boy would enjoy watching. He said there was quite a crowd to see it. Years later though, we wonder why it was taken out.

Unable to find much at all on paper, Pat met with Dean Lewis. Dean is the grandson of the late John Lewis who was the caretaker of the dam for all but 2 of the generator’s 49 years of operation. This was Pat’s main source of historical information.

The dam measured 426 feet across and  held back 44 acres of water, with an 18-foot drop. The two generators supplied 540 Kilowatts each. That was sufficient for the needs of the area at that time. With the technology available today , quite a bit more power would be generated with the same dam, if it were still in place.

Currently, the power plant on Belews Lake uses over 100 train car loads of coal every day. That’s a lot of coal.

      I remember watching a train going by once in Virginia. I noticed it was loaded entirely with coal. Since I was with my son , who was learning to count , we counted the cars as they rolled past us. I remember getting up to 67 . I don’t remember the final count, but what I do remember is thinking,”That’s a lot of coal, it ought to keep something going for a real long time.” It may have been one day’s worth of electricity, kind of a disappointment.

   The Local Sustainability Festival turned out every bit as good as I had hoped it would. The weather was very pleasant and a fairly large crowd attended.
The speakers all did a great job with their topics and our lecture area was often filled to capacity.

Early on in the day I had assigned a member of the audience to act as a timekeeper to prompt the speakers when to wrap up. He did a great job of keeping things on schedule. It turns out that this man had been trained in the US Marine Corps for exactly that task; assessing public speaking ability. I asked him how our speakers measured up. He replied in a very authoritative tone,

” Excellent, every one of them. Much better than anything I had expected”

I still get bits of feedback from the audience about how the topics presented were very interesting and the information useful.

I was able to listen to part of Eric Henry’s presentation. He was speaking on the subject of  ‘Creating Our Own Economy’ His story is that his business of printing tee shirts for large companies like Nike etc lost 90% to overseas businesses. His company, TSDesigns, decided that they would never put themselves in such a vulnerable position again, by dealing as locally as possible. He told of cotton being grown here, then shipped off to other countries for processing, ultimately returning here as a product for us to buy back. Besides being a waste of fuel, it undermines our local jobs.

He explained the economics of buying something for less from a large supplier. These large corporations have no real interest in the local community so long as the population there can afford what they sell. If the economy goes down, the corporations simply move somewhere else.

If you buy something that was grown nearby, and processed nearby, even if you have to pay a little more for it, ultimately you are making a good investment in a sound economic future for your community. You may have to look around a little to find where to get your daily commodities, but when you come across an opportunity, you should understand that this is a good choice to make in supporting these local businesses.

  Eric also told of helping local cotton farmers by committing to purchase from them while they make the transition to organic. He mentioned that in his opinion, it was a more sustainable, environmentally friendly choice. Shipping certified organically grown cotton from overseas costs fuel. One of the reasons to support the organic industry is that it puts less of an impact on the environment. In the long run it is better to buy conventional cotton grown locally to help the farmer in his or her required 2 year transition period into organics.

  He is willing to put his money where his ethics are and seems to be doing well with it.

The sweet potatoes for our event were grown less than 5 miles away . Norma-Jean and Lewis Hutchens  are the farmers, they will be celebrating their 51st  wedding anniversary at our festival . Now that’s what I call sustainability.

LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY FESTIVAL
Nov 8, 2008  10:30  to 4:30

1283 Prabhupada Rd.
Sandy Ridge NC  27046
The Hare Krishna Temple Grounds

Tents and sound system will be set up outside. If it’s very cold or
rainy , we can do everything indoors.

LOCAL MUSIC!!!!!!
There will be various local musicians performing throughout the day

LOCAL FOOD!!!!!!!!!!
Locally grown food will be served in ample quantity,most of it grown
within 10 miles

LOCAL SPEAKERS AND DEMONSTRATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SCHEDULE
10:30 Opening ceremonies
We are putting  together a bluegrass version of the national anthem

11 AM     Eric Henry   - CREATING OUR OWN ECONOMY
http://ts.whispertrail.com/bio-eric-henry/.
He is developing a grocery co-op  in Burlington
to reconnect local food to our community
“The main purpose of our co-op is to give our local farmers a
retail place to sell their produce”

we don’t need to be affected by a  failing economy.

11:30  Tony Mcgee  -COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE - Tony is the
director  of Stokes Core. http://www.stokescore.org/
StokesCORE was formed as part
of the Program for the Rural Carolinas funded by the Duke Endowment in
2003 as a response to the declining tobacco industry, plant closings,
job cuts and corporate downsizing that have impacted Stokes and
surrounding counties.

12        SOLAR OVEN  COMPETITION -  Bring your home made solar
oven.At noon the participants will be given quart jars of water. The
first to boil wins $100

12:15    Pat Flinchum     HISTORY OF HYDROELECTRICITY IN STOKES COUNTY
in place until mid 70s , why did
it stop? What was the output ?Can we get it back?

12:45    Pat Bush           LOCAL HERBS AND THEIR USES
“I will focus on 3 or 4 -so common they are are all around us waiting
to be used-Dandelion, plantain and burdock and maybe a 4th (yellow
dock) if time permits.i will bring a sample of each so those that
don’t know them can see them.

“I am a community herbalist,growing or wildcrafting almost all the
herbs I use for friends and family. I have self studied since the 70’s
, attended The South Eastern School of Herbal Studies (Marty Wall’s
school) and taken courses and workshops with some of the leading
herbalists in the world. I am excited to continue to learn more each
year about our green allies and happy to help others connect with
plants “.

1:15      Liz Seymour         TURNING SCARCITY INTO ABUNDANCE -
Creating Collaborative, Secure and Joyful Communities
http://lizseymour.wordpress.com/
Liz works with the homeless in Greensboro , or , I should say , she
helps them work with themselves. She has an ability to turn what
appears useless into something valuable and attractive.

1:45     Krishna Chaitanya           BAD KARMA IS NOT SUSTAINABLE-.A
look at how our choices can affect the future. Krishna Chaitanya has
been raising cows for milk and oxen for draft animals .

2:15     Dennis                $4000  ELECTRIC CAR  The car will be on
display, Dennis will tell his story. You can see the car here  .
http://www.evalbum.com/1791

2:45    Subal                  TAX CREDITS FOR SOLAR PANELS
(  Pronounced ” Sooo   Ball “)
Works for Southern Energy Management   http://www.southern-energy.com/
installing solar systems all week
He installed the system at our temple on his days off. He will explain
some of the costs and savings on such a system so you can make an
informed decision.

3:15   De Wayne and others - HYDROGEN CONVERTERS FOR CARS-do they work?
De Wayne installed one on his VW Jetta
for $50, he claims to be getting 66 MPG    De Wayne has been an
engineer for Westinghouse since before some of you were born.

3:45    Robert  Smith      -INCUBATOR FOR SUSTAINABLE IDEAS -What do
you do when you’ve got a great idea?To see it through you’ll need
investors, engineers , manufacturers and marketers.This is already in
place and not just a dream.

4:15   TOUR - STRAW BALE HOUSE AND COB STRUCTURE- Cob  is a mixture of
mud and straw,there are buildings hundreds of years old made this way
that are still in use.
The straw bale house in our community was the first approved in this
county by the building inspectors. With walls 2 feet thick , it doesn’t
take much to keep comfortable.