Examining Existence

Encouraging Sustainable Change

“Each small change paves the way for future efforts.” – Christie Manning

On February 2, I was fortunate enough to assist in the facilitation of a community event here in Menomonie, WI hosted by Sustainable Dunn. Over 50 people came together from almost as many community groups, businesses, and government agencies throughout the Chippewa Valley to talk about bringing about sustainable change in the community.

The event kicked off with a very inspirational speech by Christie Manning, Assistant Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Minnesota. She used a series of slides, pictures, and stories to depict the magnitude of our societal habits on the environment and how we might encourage sustainable change in our communities by properly framing our ideas and passions for the general public. For instance, in the image below Chris Jordan depicts the 2.5 million plastic bottles we use in America each hour. If information like this isn’t properly framed and presented depending on the audience in may be received in an unwanted or ineffective manner leading recipients to varying reactions of disbelief or being overwhelmed to the point of feeling too small to make a difference.

Chris Jordan's Depiction of the 2.5 Million plastic bottles Americans use each hour

Christie’s presentation continued with a focus on providing positive feedback for those acting sustainably. (Giving thumbs up to the guy riding bike to work when it is below zero.) At the same time, she pointed out, that negative feedback is almost never helpful for those not acting sustainably. When a municipality recently placed frowny faces on the electricity bills of homes in a neighborhood using more energy than their neighbors the reaction was not what was intended – in some cases electricity use actually increased thereafter. In short, positive reinforcement and providing people with sustainable options first was generally the message.

Afterward discussions broke off into an open space meeting where local topics and issues were identified and then discussed. Topics such as transportation, waste reduction, water, supporting local, energy, food, using the internet to tell our story, and a community garden were all discussed and information and ideas exchanged. It is now a month later and many of these ideas continue to grow and take root. More exciting updates to come!

“Your efforts will inspire and empower those around you.” – Christie Manning

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

Sustainability at Organic Valley

Last week we dropped by a talk by Jennifer Harrison, Sustainability Program Manager of Organic Valley. The event was part of the Applied Science Speaker Series here at UW-Stout.

Based in La Farge, Wisconsin, Organic Valley is the nation’s largest and oldest organic farm cooperative. It prides itself on its brand, its image, and the fact that their average size of an Organic Valley farm is just 77 cows. The cooperative boasts over 1600 farms across the United States and distributes products ranging from cheese to butter to milk to orange juice to eggs. Prior to the downturn in the economy Organic Valley saw yearly growth rates of 20% with revenues of $527 million in 2008. Their current revenues remain near constant despite the recession.

Jennifer’s presentation focused on the basics of the farmer owned cooperative and what they are doing as a cooperative to promote sustainability within their business without reducing the amount of money they are able to pay their farmers, producers, and growers for their products.

There are many benefits for individual owner operators under the cooperative system – one of the main ones being the ability to avoid downsizing or the expiration/dumping of product that many conventional farmers experience when supply is high and demand is low. The beauty of the cooperative was relayed in a story by Jennifer of a recent meeting in which the owners had to decide whether to shed farmers or reduce production across the board. Instead of putting one of their fellow farmers out on the street they agreed to each reduce production across the board until demand once again increased.

Another idea that the cooperative is exploring is the renewable energy idea. Jennifer stressed that the company strives to be sustainable in three ways: economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable. They recently installed solar panels at their headquarters in La Farge. Despite the effort and positive publicity the project is producing about 1% of the electricity for the coop’s headquarters which was built to Silver LEED Design Standards. But she stated that it is a start and they are looking into other possibilities such as wind and anaerobic digesters to increase the amount of power they are getting from renewable sources.

The cooperative also operates a separate endeavor for its owners, 3PL shipping, which ensures that produce from each region stays in the region and travels the least distance possible to market.

One thing that didn’t get brought up was the cooperative’s eggs & poultry production and policies. The majority of the talk focused on their cows and beef which are held above most organic and pasturing standards. The cooperative takes pride in these standards which are thousands of times better than the CAFOs and farms across the country with thousands of milking cows and beef in concentrated areas. But how are their chickens treated?

All in all it was a good presentation and the presence of a local co-owner helped to put a face to the organization. Am I willing to pay $3 or more for a half gallon of Organic Valley milk? Although I really don’t consume that much milk, for the little I do I may be able to sleep better at night knowing that they make sure their farmers get good wages, no fellow farmer is hung out to dry, and that through their profit sharing system 45% goes to the farmers, 45% to employees, and 10% to the communities.

Youth Grow Local Conference and Growing Power

Last week I had the privilege to attend the Madison Youth Grow Local Conference and visit Growing Power in Milwaukee. These were two amazing days that really provided many ideas and inspiration for what a group of people are attempting to accomplish by creating a community garden here in Menomonie.

Growing Power & Will Allen have done an amazing job creating an urban farm in Milwaukee. As the last remaining farm in Milwaukee’s central city it is a great way for many urban children to get their hands dirty, see farm animals, and learn where their food actually comes from. Despite being a not for profit organization many of their techniques have been adapted by companies in the for profit sector.

• An innovative, yet inexpensively built, aquaponics system creates a wondrous environment where they grow crops in a re-circulating water system.
• Worms are the main laborers recycling waste from the Milwaukee area and creating the soil that keeps Growing Power producing year round. Bees, chickens, turkeys, and goats round out the farm.
• A few of the greenhouses yield produce throughout the winter heated only by compost and sunlight.

They are continuing to find ways to become more sustainable and soon even water and electricity will be almost entirely “off-the-grid” through water collection, large solar panels, and an anaerobic digesting system.

Growing power provides jobs and internships for area youth and anyone is welcome to come and volunteer and participate. They truly are “Growing Power.” If you get a chance and have an hour or so, stop in and visit Growing Power. You are likely to leave inspired.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

The Madison Youth Grow Local Conference was also very inspirational for me. I learned a lot about how the Madison School District has incorporated school and community gardening into their curriculum in subtle ways. Folks with years of experience explained simple ways of grabbing the imagination and attention of students and using the garden to explore multiple subjects (math, science, social studies, english, art, etc) in a hands-on and memorable ways.

The keynote speaker was Tory Miller the Executive Chef & Co-Proprietor of L’Etoile Restaurant in Madison. One of his passions is working with the youth and inspiring them to eat healthier and giving them “more healthy options”. He was taken aback when he went into his former High School and witnessed the type of food that was being served from fast-food style windows every single day.

He currently inspires youth as a “Chef in the Classroom” to start thinking about their choices by introducing them to new foods, getting them to try things they have never eaten before, cook with them and show them how enjoy foods they otherwise wouldn’t eat alone, and get them to start thinking about the prolonged effects of having “cookie dough and Gatorade” for every meal – he joked that the kid in all of us would love to eat pizza and cheeseburgers for every meal.

The conference also provided a link to a number of exciting resources and people that will help give many of the new projects in Menomonie (from day care gardens, to school gardens, to community gardens) a boost this spring.

Being an AmeriCorps VISTA

When I decided to accept the position as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) I really didn’t know exactly what to expect. After training, orientation, and almost two weeks on the job I no longer question why president Lyndon Johnson and Sargent Shriver, the program’s founders, considered the VISTA program the domestic version of the Peace Corps.

To the first group of VISTA volunteers in 1964 President Johnson had this to say:

“This is your job–to guide the young, to comfort the sick, to encourage the downtrodden, to teach the skills which may lead to a more satisfying and a more rewarding life. On your idealism and on your success rests much of our hope for the final elimination of poverty in our American life.”

“VISTA volunteers stand ready to serve at the request of every community and every neighborhood, every organization and institution, which joins the war against poverty.

I believe–I know–that you will receive the support of all Americans. And I hope that all those with skills and dedication to offer will come and join with you in this most extraordinary force for good in our country. “

In just two weeks I have met some very amazing and passionate people all working in one way or another towards a similar goal: reducing and ending poverty. I am working with these leaders to organize and identify community assets and in doing so will help people and organizations to help themselves through the development of trainings, community organizing, and the development of organizational assets with an emphasis on sustainability. All of this will be aimed at showing people that the metaphorical “lifting myself up by my bootstraps” can be done. Or, if they don’t have any boots to begin with, show people that there are resources in the community that will help them find a pair of boots. My small projects that I am helping to organize may not be a significant contribution to the war on poverty but add up the energy, passion, and accomplishments of over 5000 VISTA volunteers across the country who are spreading that same passion everyday and instilling it in their communities and it is a pretty good start.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead

“We are all part of something bigger and we are all part of it together.”

Reconstruction

Like our economy and our health care system this web site is currently under reconstruction which will make it better and more efficient. We were recently hacked and as a result all of our information was corrupted. Some code was inserted into our database through a hole in the wordpress code, it made almost infinite copies of each post and made our recent backups worthless. Pretty good trick. Sigh.

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
- C. S. Lewis