Hope

Tonight's Ecological Footprint class featured a presentation by Charlie Stephens of Adjuvant Consulting. Charlie is a seventeen-year veteran of the Oregon Department of Energy and an expert on energy systems for homes. As someone in the class said to me afterwards, he should be where Al Gore is, giving his presentation to the masses. I learned a bit about heat pumps, phantom energy use, and how much it is going to take for everyone in America to avoid an energy crisis (50% reduction in space heating and cooling in our homes to begin with). A daunting task but something that we must get to work on now. Here is a link to a pdf of a similar presentation that he made.

I was pretty tired when I got home tonight, so I tried to go to bed after taking the dogs out. But I couldn't sleep because I was troubled by the enormity of the task of figuring out what to do to (pick one) (a) save the planet, (b) help starving children, (c) keep more of the kids in the US from being so idle that they turn to crime or drugs...

In my last post I challenged readers to state or to think about what they are or could be doing to give our children hope for the future. So here's my own answer. Although I have some technical skills with computers, the thing that I get most excited about is opening up possibilities for others. This can be in the form of tutoring a student in math, getting neighbors to think about the climate crisis, or contributing money toward the building of a theatre to give young artists in Cambodian villages a stable place to practice their art.

Tonight, after hearing Charlie Stephens describe several ways to enhance existing home hot water heating systems, I raised my hand and explained that this information was great for the twenty-five or so people there in the room who would take this information home and maybe think of applying it, but the real issue is how do we get the larger population motivated to do something about this? It is the answer to that question that motivates me. I can study how to improve my own house's ecological footprint but how do I not only reach a lot of people but actually help move them toward significantly reducing their footprints and embracing renewable resources?

This summer I was exposed to the slow food movement which led Maria and I to subscribing to an organic produce delivery service. Eating local, eating organic, they became a passion (they still are, just more routine now that we have a regular delivery). And I'm pleased with the progress that that switch to eating more local food is also reducing our ecological footprint. Taking this message to others, encouraging others to eat local and organic, is another way to feed the hope of our children. Geez this is almost sounding like one of those tv commercials about giving twenty dollars to feed a hungry child. But it feels real, even if it sounds cliche.

A Healthy Sense of Hope

Here's an inspiring story written by Sonja Waters of grist.org about how those of us who are parents (and yes, the non-parents of our generation) have to help our children (and other peoples' children) develop a healthy sense of hope about the future. The story is punctuated with a somewhat humorous dialog between Sonja, her teenage daughter who is having climate nightmares and her mother (the grandmother in the story). There was a lot that our generation (essentially the baby-boomers) have done for clean water, clean air and tolerance of differences in our society, but the gloom and doom of the future exists for our kids. They see big, big problems, melting ice caps, suicide-bombers, the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons, and wonder whether the world will end in their generation.

So what are we doing about giving them a sense of hope? We tell children not to talk to strangers, to avoid fast-food (at least most of the time) and to study really hard to get ahead (ahead of whom?). Are we really preparing them well for the future? I've worked hard for over twenty years in my career, a testament to my children that hard works sort of pays off. Both of my children understand the importance of working hard. But that's not enough. As role models for the young (yes, that's us, not Kobe, certainly not Roger Clemens, maybe, maybe Tom Brady) we should be doing our best to make the world a better place for our children and that requires effort.

So, what are you doing to make the world a better place for our children?

Reduce the Hype, Get the Real Numbers on Alternative Energy Sources

Heather and Martin referred me to this book by a British physicist for learning how to assess the real impact of various forms of renewable energy. The book is in draft form right now. Just reading the Preface, I'm hooked! The author, University of Cambridge physicist David MacKay, explains that he had to understand why two professionals, one a physicist, the other an economist, could write books about the global energy crisis and have completely opposite points of view: one claiming oil will run out and the other that there is no crisis. MacKay saw similar disagreements among noted professionals on topics such as nuclear energy and renewable forms. To understand the problem better, he wrote this book that looks at just the facts, the numbers, applied to energy sources. He explains that he wants the reader to be able to make sense of policy decisions. In his words:

"The aim of this book is to help you figure out the numbers and do the arithmetic so that you can evaluate policies; to lay a factual foundation so that you can see which proposals add up."

If you are at all concerned about energy and environmental issues, you should consider reading some or all of this book. Let's reduce the hype and get the real numbers on alternative energy sources.

An Adventure in Reducing my Ecological Footprint

This past Tuesday evening I attended the second class in the Ecological Footprint class I'm enrolled in. As homework, we were supposed to walk, bike, or take public transit for at least one errand we would normally do by car. I chose to take TriMet's light rail from the Sunset Transit Center in Beaverton to downtown Portland and walk between there and the class over on 1st and Columbia. Although it took me a little longer to get to the class, it was far more exciting, educational and peaceful than driving Skyline to the Sylvan entrance to 26 and then 26 to Market Street in downtown.

I've taken the light rail several times before (in my eleven plus years in Portland, that's not nearly enough, I know!) but this was an adventure. When I arrived at the transit center I went up to one of the ticket machines to purchase my ticket. From the brief information I found on the machine, I figured I needed a two-zone pass, which is $1.75 for a two-hour ticket. As some people who know me locally know, I pay for most things with cash these days. With only a $20. bill and a $1. bill in my wallet, I put the twenty into the machine. Out came my ticket and my change: ALL in coins, mostly the new one-dollar coins shown below.

Since my train was scheduled to arrive at any moment, I was in a bit of a hurry so I didn't count the change until later, when I realized that TriMet ripped me off on the order of two to three bucks! Geez! But no worries, it didn't upset me as much as notify me that I need to use more forethought when I'm about to buy tickets from those machines.

After my class, which focused on eating locally and eating less meat, both more sustainable than not knowing where your food comes from and eating lots of meat, I walked back to the transit mall area for the ride home. At the ticket machine (replica shown below),
I pressed the button for a $1.75 ticket and then tried to insert my newly-acquired one-dollar coins. The coin slot was blocked, didn't open. I tried forcing a coin in it and that didn't work. So I thought, well, maybe you place the coin sideways into this larger circular area and it slides down. Well, it sort of took my coin, but it didn't slide very far. Stupid me, I pushed it and eventually it slid down, somewhere into the belly of the machine. At that point a screaming and loud siren sound came blasting out of the machine! People gathered around me as I explained that all I did was try to insert a coin. The siren went on for about a minute I think after which it just stopped. No ticket, no indication that my one-dollar coin was used to deduct from the $1.75 charge for the ticket. Soon after a train came by but it was going to Gresham not towards Beaverton. I realized I was on the wrong platform and walked the two blocks to the westbound platform where I was able to buy a ticket from a "working" ticket machine! Whew!

The last part of this adventure was a thirty-minute delay near PGE Park where the train broke down. Fortunately I had a book to read.

One Laptop Per Child (and One for your child)

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program started at MIT that had the goal of creating a $100 laptop for children in developing countries has announced an offer for donors to not only donate a machine to a child in a developing country but to get one for their own child to use. The program will be for a short time in November and is revealed here. The original $100 price-tag goal, however, has been raised to $188. And the program requires you to pay $399. for the two laptops, one going to a child in a poverty-striken area and the other to you.

This gives OLPC an opportunity to expand the distribution of the laptops throughout the world while generating excitement about them among families in the developed world. For kids interested in programming, it provides an additional opportunity for developing and testing software for the machine. Presumably a separate Linux machine would be necessary for software development; not sure.

Intel's Classmate PC is their own attempt to inject a low-cost laptop into the developing world. Apparently Nigeria has adopted it in some of their villages because it runs Windows, which presumably will give high-school age students a better chance of getting work. That's Intel's claim I believe, not mine.

Alternative Energy Sources

I've been corresponding with a friend in the Washington, D.C. area about setting up a non-profit oriented toward alternative energy sources such as solar. Although there are a lot of sources out there for energy information, not everyone knows how to get started. I'll post more about this as we make progress in our planning and are ready to go public with the organization.

In the meantime, a local friend has just blogged about the wild and crazy idea of bicyclists storing up electrical energy generated while riding and then selling that energy at a depot or energy station, with the accumulated juice going back into the local electrical grid. I think that this is a great idea. There are already some home-made electricity generators based on stationary bikes and some cell-phone chargers hooked up to bikes. Think about the possibility of having cheap electricity generated by thousands of people and making that electricity available to the community to reduce demands on fossil fuels. Think further about that idea being applied in a developing country where the electricity powers local industry, raising the country's per capita income in a sustainable economy!

Ecological Footprint

I went to my first Ecological Footprint class tonight. Offered by the Center for Earth Leadership in Portland, the class started out with a general overview of sustainability and what an ecological footprint is. Dan Bower, Transportation Options Policy Program Manager for the City of Portland then gave a very interesting slide presentation in which he explained why Portland is a model city for sustainable living. Focusing primarily on bicycling in the city, he explained the Bicycle Boulevard concept. Here's a quote from the Transportation Options website:

"Bicycle boulevards are not striped with bicycle lanes, so they are not always visible to new or potential riders as good bicycling streets. They do have amenities that make them work well for people riding bicycles, including crossing treatments at major intersections; traffic calming to keep auto speeds slow; and a stop sign pattern providing cyclists with a better flow along the street."

Bicycle commuting has increased dramatically in Portland since we came here in 1996. In that year about 5,000 bicyclists had crossed a group of four surveyed bridges in a day. It's now up to 14,000 cyclists! The city and some businesses offer cash benefits to employees who do not drive to work, bicycling, walking and/or taking mass transit instead. I'm curious if surrounding communities (Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham) have incentives for businesses to encourage their employees to not drive. There is a business tax credit available in the city of Portland.

Some interesting web links from the class: CarpoolMatchNW.org, GettingAroundPortland.org.

Clinical Economics

Jeffrey Sachs' description of the developing world in terms of an economic development ladder is vivid. Through engaging stories, he shows the difference between Africans in Malawi who have not a toehold on the development ladder and Bangladesh women and young Chinese professionals who are, with their countries, on the ladder and on their way to escaping poverty hopefully forever.

Early in The End of Poverty, Sachs then relates the key paradigm shift that he made and which he professes for understanding and eradicating poverty: clinical economics. His wife is a pediatrician and no doubt his observance of her skill and practice of solving late-night emergencies has helped him to develop his concept of clinical practice applied to developing country economics. Sachs took four lessons from clinical medicine: (1) the human body is a complex system, (2) complexity requires a differential diagnosis, (3)all medicine is family medicine and (4) monitoring and evaluation are essential. Just like the human body, a country's economy is a complex system and diagnosing it requires more than looking at a severe budget deficit and runaway inflation (the two symptoms of Bolivia's problems when Sachs first got involved in development consulting back in the mid-1980s). The diagnosis for Bolivia, for example, required an understanding of its economy in terms of geography (it is land-locked), its political and social systems and the fact that its primary exports have been high-dollar value per weight items such as tin which were necessary to overcome the high costs of transporting it to ports from the high Andes. If you're browsing a bookstore and come across this book, don't forget to look at the table on page 84 entitled "Checklist for Making a Differential Diagnosis." Pretty comprehensive. Sachs is one of the main players in the Millenium Development Goals, a UN initiative to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the health of people around the world.

An example of seeing the forest AND the trees

I've been fairly active this weekend. On Friday night I got some help from a few of the mechanics at The Bike Gallery on NE Sandy Boulevard. They recommended replacing the tires on one of the bikes Kilong and I are donating to indigent girls in North Portland. And they fixed the brakes on the other bike. With my pleading, the mechanics were able to knock ten percent off the cost of parts.

Then on Saturday morning, I met Kilong's family in their neighborhood and we all walked the bikes up the street to the girls' residence. They were very happy to have bikes! I also got to meet their brothers, little guys with a lot of energy who kept us company as Kilong showed me around part of his neighborhood. I found out that Kilong's wife Lisa later purchased bicycle helmets for the girls and their brother!

We walked around the New Columbia neighborhood, drank coffee at AJ Java, talked with another neighbor about elderly services and events, picked apples from a tree and generally had a good time in this jewel of a community. The coffee shop, AJ Java, I have since learned, has an owner dedicated to enriching the lives of disadvantaged children. The community has its own paid security force which is housed in a building that just blends in as just another house or apartment. Children are encouraged to keep the parks and greenspaces litter-free. Not with ugly signs saying not to litter, but through direct encouragement from community leaders who themselves are residents of the community. Knowing that the Liberian girls to whom we donated the bikes live in this neighborhood really lifts me up!

That was by far the highlight of my weekend. After that, I went to the Hoyt Arboretum where I am in the process of scanning all of their photographic slides into a computer so that the photos can be accessed electronically. I started earlier in the summer and am about halfway done. Hopefully I can finish the entire task by end of the year. We have also talked about how to use the images, such as extending their database to contain pointers to the image filenames. One of the horticulturists on the staff once told me about a larger arboretum that had a setup throughout their grounds where visitors could get information, read from a database, displayed on a handheld (bluetooth-enabled) device. That's cool and I'm sure the Hoyt will get there someday.

I've read through a few chapters in Jeffrey Sachs' The End of Poverty. He believes we can end 'extreme poverty' which is what about one billion people on our planet are experiencing. They struggle on a daily basis for survival and have not yet reached even the first rung on the ladder of economic development. I'm heartened that he firmly believes that we can eradicate this poverty within our lifetime, and not with a drastic alteration of our own well-being. I'll post more as I continue reading.

Finally, I saw the movie Hotel Rwanda last night. Besides feeling the shame at not trying to get our government to do something about that when it happened, I was struck by the courage of Paul, the real-life character who was Assistant Manager at a resort hotel in the country and helped save twelve-hundred lives by housing refugees in the hotel during the genocide. While watching the movie, I reflected on the fact that Kilong told me that the six-year-old Liberian boy in his neighborhood remembered and could tell what he experienced in his country before they had to leave it. These events brought home to me the tragedy of our times and how it is not just something we can sit back and shake our heads at before we switch the TV channel or sit down to another home-made meal.

A good example of seeing the forest AND the trees.

One person at a time

When someone he knows does a good deed for another person, my friend Kilong may say to that person that he "is now part of a force that makes the world a better place, one person at a time." In today's sound-bite world, it may seem just like part of the background but let me explore exactly what this means to me, personally.

Like most people, I want to make the world a better place. I want the war in Iraq to end, poverty to be eradicated throughout the world, child abuse to go away, etc. Choose your poison, there are a lot of ills in today's world. How can I be part of a force that makes the world a better place?

A "force" is something powerful. Merriam-Webster Online defines it as strength or energy exerted or brought to bear. It is from Latin's fortis meaning strong. Another way of putting it is, to have force is to have influence. So how can I be a force, an influence, on the ills of society? And how do I do it one person at a time?

My son mentioned an interest in volunteering to me the other day. I pointed him to Hands On Portland. Kilong, learning that I was a fairly avid bicyclist, asked if I could find a way to obtain bikes for two ten-year-old Liberian girls who live in his neighborhood. We're delivering those bikes this weekend, thanks to the generosity of two wonderful residents of Sandy, Oregon who discounted them 66% from their original, craigslist-advertised prices. One person at a time.

I don't care what you think of me about writing about this. I'm not interested in getting credit for any of this. But I won't be quiet if, by telling my story, I can help you to be a part of a force to make the world a better place, one person at a time. As Kilong so astutely wrote me in regard to the bikes, "it's not about the bikes."

Technology and Microfinance

This article in MIT's Technology Review magazine highlights a UW grad student named Tapan Parikh who has applied a whole lot of common sense to the problem of poverty in the developing world. As the subtitle states, he applies 'simple, powerful mobile tools' which are software programs that he develops for mobile phones. Tapan spent a lot of time in the field learning how people performed their work, whether they were fair-trade coffee farmers or fishermen, and then crafted software that would assist them in making their business successful. As an example, a fisherman in India could determine which port to head for to sell their catch, avoiding ports where the market is glutted on a particular day. Tapan believes in decentralization and his products are being used in the traditionally decentralized area of microfinance.

Contrast this with Mifos, an open source microfinance software project sponsored by The Grameen Foundation. This project's core is a freely-available MIS system for microfinance institutions. The Grameen Foundation is providing the initial leadership and funding for the project but is actively seeking developers and other technology pros to participate in this open-source project with the goal of making it an industry-wide effort.

These are two great examples of applying technology expertise to the problem of poverty by enabling more successful microfinance ventures. I'm excited about both of these projects. Whether they are conflicting models or will someday meet in the middle is hard to say. But there are smart people applying themselves to an increasingly dire situation.

My Family

I've been back to blogging for about a month now, covering events and causes of importance, and it has been a lot of fun. Along with these things I care about, there is a wonderful family that I want to recognize. They are my rock and always keep life interesting and fun.

I've been married for almost twenty-five years to my lovely wife Maria. Born on a farm outside of Rome, Italy, and living only a five-minute walk away for the twenty-something years before we met, Maria is one of the reasons I'm who I am today. That's a long story for another time. Today, she is a metaphysical counselor and sole proprietor of the Inner Peace Connection.

We have two children who, and yes this is a cliche but it is so true, we are so proud of! Ken is our oldest and is a personal banker at Wells Fargo while continuing his college studies in the evening. We sometimes wonder how he went from the rebellious teenager to the professional, courteous and kind adult we know today, but then we never shy away from taking credit for him. Here's Ken during one of his Patriot moments as we sat waiting for the Pats to take on Indy last November in Gillette Stadium (yes that's in Massachusetts for my Oregonian friends).



Last but not least is my daughter, Laura, who is just a little over a year younger than her brother. She is in Quebec this fall as an exchange student at an all-French-speaking university. That sort of tells you what Laura's all about -- learn something then dive right in and immerse yourself. She's blogging about it too. When she comes back to Portland, Laura will be graduating from PSU after the spring 2008 term. I'm glad she's frugal and sensible; doesn't want a Lamborgini for a graduation present :)

So that's my immediate family. Pretty cool people, huh? Well, I certainly think so.

Portland Century

This past weekend I rode the Quarter Century (25 miles) in a relatively new Portland bike event called the Portland Century. On Saturday, the day before the event, I helped out by posting course markers throughout North Portland along the tail end of the 50 and 100 mile routes. It was a learning experience -- finding bike trails I didn't know about. An exhausting day but I'm glad I did it since I saw how much goes into such an event. The day of the ride was a breeze. I could have easily done the 50 miles but when I came to the crossroads where the 25-mile turned off, I decided to err on the side of caution given that I haven't biked a whole lot this summer.

Along the route, the organizers had set up rest stops (just one for the Quarter Century, which was just enough) and to my surprise there was a delicious strawberry shortcake and other treats waiting. I also met up with a few other riders, Bob and Farrah and Beth. Everyone was just so friendly! At the finish line back at the North Park Blocks, we were treated to a fresh wild salmon dinner with organic produce provided, I think, by Pioneer Organics (the competitor to the service we use, Organics To You) and a raspberry cobbler. Oh, I can't forget the free beer provided by Widmer Brewing. I spent about three hours on the ride, including the break, and another three hours after the event, talking with fellow riders as we drank and ate to our hearts' content. The picture of yours truly accompanying this post was taken by fellow rider Bob.

The remaining proceeds of the event fees goes to Hands On Portland which is where I first heard of the volunteer call for the course markers. Thanks y'all!

Take Back the Tap

Anna Lappe, here, wrote about a really important water resources issue that has a steep slope to climb: that slope I see as the "convenience" of bottled water. It's so easy to go from "I want to take care of my body, so I don't drink soda." to "Going for a hike, it would be nice to tote some water. Oh, darn I don't have a reusable drink container so I'll just buy a case of that bottled water from the supermarket." When you examine this, you realize that there are great opportunities for saving money as well as improving the environment while continuing to drink water instead of soda pop.

Eat Local Challenge

One of the blogs I subscribe to is the Eat Local Challenge, and they are urging folks to participate in a month-long challenge for September. I'm in! Maria and I subscribe to Organics To You, a delivery service from which we receive delicious, fresh produce (vegetables & fruit) from an array of local farms. This covers a lot of the food we eat but not all of it by any means. I want to find some good sources of grass-fed, locally-grown chickens, lamb and beef. We eat a fair amount of chicken and much less lamb and beef. So part of my challenge to myself is to find these sources before September 1st.

I've cut down to almost nothing my intake of dairy milk, replacing it with rice milk for my morning cereal (which has been Puffins of late). For the Challenge, I'll have to find a local source of this milk if it exists, and of cereal. These are not going to be as easy to find, I'm afraid, and may have to be my exceptions.

If I continue to bring lunch to work, I can avoid the local restaurant fare and stay true to the Challenge. This has worked well for me for the past few weeks. Cutting out the free chocolate from the company reception area will be tough, even though I justified it because of the benefits of dark chocolate!

Buy a brick to build the theater

Last Thursday night, I attended a fund-raising event at The Monkey and The Rat store in Old Town. The event was to raise funds to build a permanent theater in rural Cambodia for The Reasmey Angkor Bassac Theatre Troupe, which is the last remaining traveling theater in Cambodia. The atrocities brought on the people of Cambodia by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975 - 1979 also nearly obliterated the cultural life of these wonderful Southeast Asian people.

Initiated by the Portland-based actress and philanthropist, Helena de Crespo, the fund-raising event was both fun and instructive. My good friend Kilong Ung was the master of ceremonies and his personal involvement with Cambodian causes (he is the president of the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon) shined through in his inspiring introductions and encouraging words. The highlight of the night was the dancing of Cambodian teenagers who performed the Coconut Dance, a traditional Khmer dance.

After their show, the dancers were individually introduced to the audience and it was then that I learned how much the Cambodian community is thriving in Oregon. One student is headed to Stanford University in the fall to begin college and another to Columbia University. They are all involved in either sports or music programs as well. When I talked to one of the students, Sidney, who had been selected as a member of the Caddy program through his involvement in The First Tee golf program for youth, I met a confident young man who is thinking positively about his future.

Helene de Crespo needs to raise $10,000. to build the theater. At the event, each person that contributed at least $10. will have their name displayed in both English and Khmer on the legacy wall within the theater. Donations are being handled through Village Focus International, a non-profit 501c3 organization.

Here are some pictures from the evening:

Healthier Food in Schools

How to educate our children is a question answered in a multitude of ways, and there is enough controversy over it that it is often difficult to get clear information on the results of applying different educational techniques or systems. But one thing that I firmly believe is not controversial is that our children should learn good habits while they are in a formal school system. The diet of school-age (K-12) children is something that schools can teach through the practice of providing healthy meals and snacks. Soda machines and highly-processed foods have no place in a school.

To this end, US citizens have an opportunity to promote healthier food delivery in schools through a couple of measures currently going through the US House and Senate. Please follow these links to learn about these measures, sign the petition and send a note to your senators and congressmen. Thanks.

http://www.schoolfoods.org/
http://takeaction.cspinet.org/campaign/schoolfoodspetition

Cambodia Backstage

Through a good friend, Kilong Ung, I have come to learn and care about the work being done to rebuild the country of Cambodia that went through years of horror at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Next Thursday, August 16th from 7pm to 10pm, a free event called Cambodia Backstage will highlight the live arts of that beautiful country. It will be held at The Monkey and The Rat at 131 NW 2nd Ave and Davis. Here is a map.

Actress and philanthropist Helena de Crespo is trying to raise $10,000 to build a theater that will be the only indoor theatrical performance center in rural Cambodia. Attendees to this event can help by sponsoring bricks. For $10 per brick, a sponsor would get his/her name imprinted on the brick in both the Cambodian and English alphabets.

Please consider attending this event if you're in Portland next Thursday evening.

Kudos to Allan Classen of The NW Examiner

I look forward to getting The NW Examiner, a free monthly newspaper covering northwest Portland. Reading about new businesses in the area, local events and politics gives me a feeling of community in the rapidly privatized world we live in. Allan Classen, Editor and Publisher of the paper, pleasantly surprised me with his view on the blogosphere. At first I thought he was going to rant about how non-professionals are taking away the attention of readers who should be reading what the professional journalists write in brick and mortar (and paper) publications. Instead, he praised blogs because they are so up front with their opinions and do not attempt to walk an objective point of view to satisfy a theoretical standard. Classen states that

"While most of the conventional news stories I see serve only to spark speculation about what's happening between the lines, some local bloggers are steps ahead: pursuing angles I haven't even thought about."

And the different points of view that he gets in the blog replies adds to the enjoyment and the variety of points of view.

Kudos to Mr. Classen for his article (which appears in the Editor's Turn column on page 3 of the August issue)!

This evening while in my car on the way to a walk in northwest Portland, I heard Bill Moyers on the radio railing about the establishment media and their control over Americans' minds. It made me realize how lucky we are to have the Internet and the blogosphere. Blog proliferation has given us many places from which to gather news, hear opinions and learn. Maybe too many places but better than too few.

I believe everyone needs to learn how to analyze competing points of view and how to effectively absorb knowledge. When I was growing up, it meant paying attention in school, reading, having discussions. Formal education is still a valuable vehicle for training young minds. But the Internet, composed of the blogosphere, academic, non-profit and commercial sites and both known and anonymous interactions, provides a goldmine of information and opportunity to become educated, effective stewards of our planet and of our communities, local, regional and global.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma last night. This is an important book. The 'omnivore's dilemma' is that there are so many choices of what to eat for an omnivore and he has to determine what to eat based on...what? what is safe to eat? what is nutritious? what tastes good? It is a dilemma but what Pollan is really talking about in this book is where our, meaning our species, food comes from. He examines food coming from the industrial food system, where the corn crop is king, fertilization is primarily from fossil fuels, meat is fattened in unnatural ways and the conglomerate food companies process the overabundance of corn and soy into food items that are intended to satisfy our variety of tastes and assumptions about what we should eat. Pollan contrasts this system with what he calls the pastoral food system, focusing his attention on a single farm in the state of Virginia where very little external input (i.e., feed) enters into the complex equations of the farm which produces high quality chicken, ham, eggs and beef. The contrast with the industrial food system is so drastic that this section of the book reads like a breath of fresh air after the suffocation of our sense of morality that rises from the pages of the industrial food section. A third section of the book contrasts these two food systems with the hunter-gatherer system which Pollan points out is not a realistic alternative for Americans (or nearly anyone else on the planet) but which he wishes to explore because it is a stage in which we as a species experienced.

About halfway through this book, which is extremely well-written, I decided to change the way I eat. Maria and I subscribed to an organic produce delivery service which delivers a box of vegetables and fruits from mostly local farms once a week. Although I have not sworn off meat, I am striving to eat organic meat. To date, we have been successful in finding organic chicken. Pollan reveals that just the 'organic' label is not enough to satisfy the truly moral chicken-eater (my words). An organic chicken is fed with pesticide and chemical-free feed but the feed is grain nevertheless. Chickens don't take to grain naturally -- they like grass. I want to find a local farm which has grass-fed chickens which also freely roam as opposed to living in their filth in a barn which they never leave for the grass lawn outside (this describes the large organic farming of chickens). Truly grass-fed chickens will also produce much nicer eggs, with yokes high in carotene which makes them a richer orange color and easier to separate from the white of the egg.

Read this book. It will change the way you eat if you typically eat from the large supermarket foodstuffs. Another book I want to read, maybe next, is also about eating , and it is by Barbara Kingsolver. It is called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Her family spent a year growing their own food or buying locally. No industrial food system allowed! Barbara is a talented novelist. This book promises to be another breath of fresh air I think.