Food
WHEREAS All people are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; and
WHEREAS Food is human sustenance and is the fundamental prerequisite to life; and
WHEREAS The basis of human sustenance rests on the ability of all people to save seed, grow, process, consume and exchange food and farm products; and
WHEREAS We the People of Vermont, have an obligation to protect these rights as is the Common and Natural Law; and in recognition of the State’s proud agricultural heritage; and the...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Robert Wagner, Ripton VT robert@senatorwagner.com CENTER FOR VERMONT INDEPENDENCE: RIBBON-CUTTING & SUMMIT Hancock, VT (December 13, 2010) – A diverse group of Independence-minded Vermonters, state-wide political, social and economic organizations, political office candidates and private individuals came together in solidarity and support for Vermont’s sovereignty, independence and constitutional rights, at noon on Sunday for the formal opening of the Center for Vermont Independence (CVI).
Kathleen Byrne, a local business owner, cut the ribbon and gave the...
Hug Your Farmer! from lovetomorrowtoday on Vimeo.
Eye-opening blog post from Pale Morning Media's Drew Simmons this morning.
The Wicked Outdoorsy blogger reports on Ben "The Greenneck" Hewitt's talk in front of a room full of "rapt" Middlebury planners last week, and the vital importance of Green Mountains' prime ag soils for Vermont's future in an emerging Age of Limits.
If you haven't read Hewitt's new book about the "town that food saved" (Hardwick), do yourself a favor and grab a copy.
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A friend has been promoting brigades to plant sunchokes (aka Jerusalem artichokes) on the margins of roads, fields, etc. as food security. This perennial tuber can be prepared in much the same way as potato, and it's pretty yummy. It also naturalizes readily. And can it outgrow weeds in the garden! I didn't weed my plot at all this year, and the sunchokes just shot up above the weeds, ultimately getting to 7-8 feet and shading the weeds out.
If we plant a bunch of sunchokes now in areas not used for cultivation otherwise, the thought goes, they'll be there in case of a food...
Editor's Note: I received this email today from permaculturalist Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design in Moretown, Vermont. I've spent enough time with Ben on the Vermont landscape (he taught me how to use and sharpen my scythe) to know that he is one of the smartest emerging thinkers and doers in our once-and-future republic, and we here at the news journal are fortunate enough to have his wisdom present in every issue. His email follows.
Congrats to ALL on the new issue of Vermont Commons. ...
In my work the lines between planning a landscape and planning a lifestyle are becoming increasingly blurred. From continuing climate shifts, to peak oil, to national bankruptcy, and the various instabilities these set in motion, sound planning looks ahead and aims to respond ahead of the curve – where response is most strategic (before the flood, before the well dries up, before the dollar is worthless, before a gallon of gas is six bucks).
It’s clear that landscapes will need to be adaptive to hotter temperatures, longer drought and/or flood cycles, increased deposition of toxic pollutants in the atmospheric, increased pests, and other ecological factors.
It’s also becoming increasingly clear that our...
The first time I heard the term “winter vegetable” I thought that there must be a whole family of vegetables that I didn’t know about. Then I learned that winter vegetables are not necessarily grown in the winter, but rather they are grown in the summer and are stored for use in the winter.
Winter veggies include root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabaga, celeriac, and parsnips; winter squashes such as, butternut, acorn, spaghetti and Hubbard, and some cabbages. A hundred years ago, this was the produce that Vermonters lived on in the winter.
The beauty of these winter vegetables is that even if you don’t have a root cellar, chances are you have somewhere in your home that you...
Editor's Note: From today's Rutland Herald. Even bigger for Vermont than the MARIJUANA question is the HEMP question (though the 2 are clearly linked). As we enter an Era of Peak Oil and an Age of Limits, we will no longer be able to rely on Big Pharma or Big Oil to reliably deliver us cheap and abundant energy or pain relief drugs. Reviving hemp production in Vermont would do both.
We Are Vermont: The marijuana issue simmers
VIDDA CROCHETTA - Published: October 20,...
The USDA would like to buy the world a Coke--or at least buy a Coke for those eligible for Food Stamps. And they want to use my tax dollars to do so. In fact, they already do. Food Stamps purchases face some restrictions on hot or prepared foods, and they can't be used to buy alcohol or pet food, but the USDA rejected a plan from Minnesota in 2004 that would have banned junk food purchases, including soda and candy. (This is from an AP article in the Times-Argus, which I don't see much point in linking to since it's behind a pay wall.)
Now New York City is asking the USDA for permission to...
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