“Vermonters Feeding Vermonters: Growing Local Food Sovereignty”
February 4, 5:30pm – Capitol City Grange Hall, Montpelier
Northfield Street – Route 12 just south of Montpelier (physical address: 6612 Vt. Rt 12, Berlin) Free and open to the public, potluck to follow.
Robb Kidd, Organizer for Rural Vermont, will discuss Food Sovereignty and the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters Campaign with members of the Capital City Grange.
February 11, at the NOFA-VT Winter Conference – The Davis Center, UVM
Rural Vermont Organizer Robb Kidd and board member Carl Russell, co-owner of Earthwise Farm and Forest in Bethel, will host a special Food Sovereignty workshop. For more information or to register, visit this page.
If you are interested in having Rural Vermont facilitate a Food Sovereignty discussion in your community, please contact robb@ruralvermont.org.
A new Resource Library is being compiled of links, resources and documents on everything pertaining to ecology and sustainability. It is a collaboration of Permaculturists from Vermont and others around the globe. The vision is for it to become an open-source information hub, connecting people and communities with the information they need to become more sustainable. The Library is in its infancy, we imagine in the years to come its “shelves” will be filled and its content refined. Take a perusal of the pages, links and documents or use the search field to locate something of your fancy. Bookmark it, share it with your friends and networks and if you have documents you would like to see added or topics that are not covered leave a comment here. For a reference later on, you can locate the link to the Library in our Blog Roll on the right hand margin - http://permitools.wikispaces.com/
100 cities (and counting) are holding rallies to participate in Occupy the Courts – a one-day protest at federal courthouses across the United States – including the US Supreme Court. Please watch and then share our video call to action and join an Occupy the Courts action near you on Friday, January 20, 2012.
August 2011 – After the March 2011 catastrophic disasters in Japan, debates about nuclear power reignited around the world and uncertainty about the costs and benefits of nuclear energy rose dramatically. Set amid the world’s historic transition toward energy sustainability, this important film looks at nuclear energy through the lens of ecological economics. It features commentary from over twenty students and fellows of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics. As an important part of the nuclear discussion, this film expounds common misconceptions about nuclear power – rendering old arguments transparent and empowering new perspectives.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Gund Institute or the University of Vermont.
This film adheres to the Documentary Filmmaker’s Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use and is strictly intended for educational and informational purposes only.
Vermont is leading the Revolution by declaring that Corporations are not Persons and don’t have the rights we Humans have, like electing our representatives. The unified efforts of Public Citizen, WILPF, VPIRG, Move to Amend, the Peace and Justice Center, Common Cause, Occupy Vermont and others can be followed at this web page “Vermonters Say Corporations are not People“. We are working together to support town meeting petition drives, and a state resolution led by Senator Ginny Lyons. To learn more about how to get involved visit their web site linked above and read more about the resolution here.
This Friday, the 6th of Jan. The Vermont Food Venture Center is celebrating their Grand Opening (more information). The Center opened this past September in Hardwick, VT, offering fully equipped certified kitchens for rent as well as technical assistance and consulting for their clients. The VFVC is a business incubator that was designed by The Center for an Agricultural Economy, to support Vermont’s local agriculture and food processing sectors. They “aim to maximize access to local food for local consumers and local markets for local growers.” Check out their Site - http://vermontfoodventurecenter.org/
Heartworks of Vermont is a group of caring citizens who organize to make a difference in our communities through “simple random acts of kindness”. Their random acts of kindness include; mobilizing to house and provide funds for flood victims of Irene, providing care and food for those in need, running clothes-drives and much more. It is this type of active participation in our communities that will create a better World, the World we all want. Heartworks of VT meets on the second Tuesday of the month at the Ross Barn on River Rd. in Manchester, Vermont. Check out their site and facebook page where you can donate or join them to help further their Heartworks. Happy 2012! May it be a year full of helping and caring for each other! Peace on Earth Goodwill to All of Humanity!
Join the Rural Vermont statewide discussion on growing local food sovereignty. These discussions are designed to assist in (1) defining a particular food shed’s current food system, (2) identifying gaps and barriers, and (3) creating a long-term vision. Also, learn how Vermont’s tradition of Town Meeting Day resolutions can help communities like Montpelier develop local food sovereignty as a way to further support our agricultural heritage.
Robb Kidd is an organizer at Rural Vermont, a non-profit farmer’s advocacy organization, which has recently launched a local food sovereignty campaign to further elevate discussions outside traditional legislative platforms and back into local communities. Joining Robb will be a farmer to fill in with personalized stories of farming in Vermont.
Co-sponsored by Transition Town Montpelier and Kellogg-Hubbard Library. This is the November Third Thursday Transition Speaker Series at the Library.
In this video starting at minute 01:38, Attorney James Leas shares his view on how to change the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. The Citizens United case gave corporations the right to spend unlimited funds on campaign contributions, effectively buying our electoral system. Congress has the Constitutional power to restrict the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 3.2.10:
In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
This is James Leas’s (and our founding father’s) remedy, simply using the Constitutional power of Congress to remove this jurisdiction from the Supreme Court. James Leas goes further saying, that by passing a Constitutional Amendment we are actually legitimizing the Supreme Court’s involvement in this aspect of our policy making. This Constitutional solution is also easier to accomplish only needing a majority vote from congress, whereas a constitutional amendment needs a two thirds majority of congress and then three quarters of the states to ratify it.
Regenerative Landscapes is a series of short films about Permaculture designers in the Northeast - By TerraVisus
This film is a tour of the Whole Systems Design Research Farm, presented by Ben Falk. Ben explains how they established their diversified Agroforestry systems. The Agroforestry systems include; storm-water detention basins; ponds, swales and rice paddies, silvopasture systems and intensive rotational grazing. These systems work together to restore the ecology and at the same time yield a useful product. Great film, check it out!
December 17th marks a year since our brother Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in Tunisia. His act began the Arab Spring where ordinary people like ourselves began to stand up for democracy and justice. Nine months later on September 17th in New York City, the Occupy Movement began.
In remembrance of Mohamed Bouazizi and in celebration of three months of occupation, Occupy Burlington is holding a candlelit march and vigil to remember all those who have suffered under a system that solely supports the interests of the 1% at the detriment of the 99%.
Burlington Permaculture proves that this time of the year doesn’t have to be, a “shop till you drop” typical holiday experience. Permaculture is a way to design sustainable human societies, it is guided by three ethics; Earth care, people care, and “share the surplus”. Burlington Permaculture has brought these three ethics together online and into the community, with their web page Perennial Exchange which is,
a community tool facilitating the free exchange of plant resources among residents of Burlington and its environs. This site allows members of the exchange to both offer and request plant resources from neighbors and fellow community members in the form of transplants, root divisions, cuttings and other propagation materials completely free of charge.
We hope this tool helps to enhance our region’s food security and foster urban agriculture while building new social connections and strengthening our community.
All members of the public can view offers and wants. However, to create an offer, or to contact a member, you must first create an account.
I leave you with a quote from John McConnell, founder of International Earth Day
“Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure.”
Why are honeybees so important for humans? well, It isn’t just their divine honey, over one third of our fruits and vegetables are reliant on honeybees to pollinate them so they can reproduce. The reproduction of the plant is also the production of our food. As most of us know bees are having a hard time these days, in 2006 a phenomena know as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) was first observed.
CCD is the mass die-off or disappearance of entire colonies. Every winter since 2006 one third of the US bee population has vanished, nearly twice the amount annually prior to 2006. The loss of the honeybee and the subsequent loss of 1/3 of our fruit and vegetables, would also cripple the already struggling US economy, by collapsing the US agricultural and commercial pollinating industries.
So what is happening? Many people claim it is a mystery and there is no hard evidence what is causing CCD. It is true that there is no single cause for CCD but there is plenty of scientific data that proves some of our current agriculture practices are a portion of the problem. Chemical pesticides sole purpose is killing insects, these products are supposed to be tested to ensure standards that prove they are safe. “Conditional registrations” are a way that the Chem-Ag. industry uses to avoid these standards. which is explained in this article.
Also in the same article it explains Neonicontinoids type pesticides. It states that there are three forms that the treated plant will expose honeybees to the pesticide; Through the pollen, the plant nectar and the plants perspiration, called gutation, which the honeybees drink. Neonicotinoids kill insects by disrupting their nervous systems. This would explain why the worker bees (which are the ones that forage the pollen and nectar) in a colony that has collapsed never find their way back to the hive.
Two of these Neoeicotinoids; Clothianidin and Imidacloprid have been addressed in House Bill H.34 by three Vermont representatives calling for them to be banned in sales, use and application in the state of Vermont by July 2012.
Here is the link for a letter to the EPA on this subject from; the National Honey Bee Advisory Board, the American Beekeeping Federation, the American Honey Producers Association, Beyond Pesticides, the Pesticide Action Network, and the North America Center for Biological Diversity
I am writing you in regards to Bill H.34 http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2012/bills/intro/H-034.pdf . This is a very important bill for the future ecology of Vermont. If you don’t know anything about Neonicontinoids pesticides please read this article and follow the links for more detailed information. Neonicontinoids are not only polluting our water but are also threatening our pollinators, including our honeybees, whom we rely on for pollinating our food crops. The call to ban these pesticides is backed by the National Honey Bee Advisory Board, the American Beekeeping Federation, the American Honey Producers Association, Beyond Pesticides Pesticide Action Network, and the North America Center for Biological Diversity and others. Please help by educating yourselves and others on this important subject and by supporting the passage of this bill. Thank you for your efforts to protect the future of Vermont.
Vermont For Evolution is now compiling a resource page for The Remediation and Restoration of Lake Champlain (Link), It is located in our ECO & VT VIDEOS Page. I have always wanted to do this, the following movie trailer kicked me into action!
This is the follow-up series to last year’s award-winning documentary on the health of Lake Champlain premieres on December 15th at 7:00 pm at the Palace 9 Cinemas in South Burlington, Vermont. The first Emmy award winning film, Bloom – the Plight of Lake Champlain, addressed the main sources of phosphorus pollution contributing to the growing problem of algae blooms in the sixth largest lake in the United States. The follow-up film, Bloom – the Emergence of Ecological Design, further investigates pollution sources from wastewater, agricultural, and urban land use, but with a focus on integrative design solutions. (more)
In this video, filmed on July 28, 2011, Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont was “cornered” into answering some of his constituents. They ask why he had not yet supported the federal resolution H.R. 1831: The Industrial Farming Bill, when Vermont had already passed Hemp farming legislation back in 2008.
Well, it took the Congressman a little over 3 months to finally cosponsor the bill, the point is that he did. This just goes to show how important it is to confront our representatives face to face and educate them on issues that we believe in.
Hemp is by far the most ecologically sound cash-crop that we are forbidden to grow. The web site Vote Hemp was set up to educate people on the issues surrounding hemp, register voters, and build coalitions to fulfill their mission. To get a deeper understanding of the mission of Vote Hemp please read The Vote Hemp Treatise: A Renewal of Common Sense: The Case for Hemp in 21st Century America.
The amount of information on hemp and the implications of legalizing industrial hemp farming is astounding. Many of the European countries that followed the US in prohibiting hemp cultivation, have since repealed these laws and are now growing, processing, using and exporting it.
Here is one videos illustrating just a few out of the thousands of its applications.
I was inspired to write this post after visiting this Hempcrete building in Switzerland (slide show below). At first glance it looks as though the building was carved out of one solid piece of sand stone, on closer inspection you see it fibrous reality.
“Vermonters Feeding Vermonters: Growing Local Food Sovereignty” 
