As the budget cuts slice deeper and deeper in Salem and Marion County

Someone notices that it's starting to resemble the Gilded Age again.

Sharon Astyk nails it: What hunger in China means for Salem

Sharon Astyk, author of the excellent "Depletion and Abundance" and the upcoming "A Nation of Farmers" has such a good piece with such importance for Salem that I'm going to shamelessly reprint it too:

Lester Brown has a lead article in _Scientific American_ this month, on the potential unrest caused by growing food insecurity worldwide. The article is appropriately dark about the potential problems in feeding ourselves, and he asks whether it is possible that widespread food insecurity could “bring down civilization” by destroying functioning nation states from the inside. It is a fascinating article, and well worth a read.

What struck me about it was one rather brief point that Brown makes - along with his discussions of soil loss, falling water tables, climate change and population, he very briefly debunks what I think is a prevailing idea - that because the US is a major producer, if things get tough, we’ll simply stop exporting grain. He writes:

“No country is immune to the effects of tightening food supplies, not even the U.S., the world’s breadbasket. If China turns to the world market for massive quantities of grain, as it has recently done for soybeans, it will have to buy from the U.S. For U.S. consumers, that would mean competing for the U.S. grain harvest with 1.3 billion Chinese consumers with fast-rising incomes—a nightmare scenario. In such circumstances, it would be tempting for the U.S. to restrict exports, as it did, for instance, with grain and soybeans in the 1970s when domestic prices soared. But that is not an option with China. Chinese investors now hold well over a trillion U.S. dollars, and they have often been the leading international buyers of U.S. Treasury securities issued to finance the fiscal deficit. Like it or not, U.S. consumers will share their grain with Chinese consumers, no matter how high food prices rise.”

This, I think is an important point, and one that becomes more acute as we become more dependent on buyers for our Treasuries - and we are presently becoming more and more dependent, not less and less. As Bloomberg reported a few days ago, lost tax revenue in the US means that we need to sell dramatically more Treasuries, even as nations have indicated they are inclined to pull back.

Brown predicted this - in _Depletion and Abundance_ I quoted Brown’s Plan B 2.0 (he’s up to 3.0, and I admit, I wish he’d change book titles ;-)) on just this subject:

“The first big test of the international community’s capacity to manage scarcity may come with oil or it could come with grain. If the latter is teh case, this could occur when China - whose grain harvest fell by 34 million tons or 9 percent between 1998 and 2005 - turns to the world market for massive imports of 30 million, 50 million or even 100 million tons of grain per year. Demand on this scale could quickly overwhelm world grain markets. When this happens, China will have to look to the United States which controls [over 40 percent of] the world’s grain exports…some 200 million tons.”

Brown has written an entire book on the subject, _Who Shall Feed China_ as well.

Last week, China Daily and other Chinese papers reported that China has begun a national audit of its grain supplies due to recent speculation that grain reserves have been exaggerated, and due to expressed concern that it may not be able to weather an extended drought. China now imports about 5% of its national grain demand, but because it depends on irrigation for 80% of its grain production, that figure is expected to rise, as soybean imports have already risen.

This is important, not to scapegoat China (I’m always a little wary of the “bad China - poor us” narrative), but to realize that while many peak oil and climate change activists fear an absolute scarcity of food - periods where food is simply not on the shelves - they perhaps should be at least as concerned with dramatic rises in food prices, and an increasing number of everyday Americans who go hungry. This is already the case, of course. But a poor to seriously crappy economy, combined with rising food prices is a recipe for real and serious trouble for all of us.

I think a lot of people express skepticism about the idea that the US, the world’s breadbasket, will have bare shelves. And while I think that is technically possible, it is far more likely that, as in most places with deep endemic hunger, the US will likely have full shelves - and more and more people peering in at them, unable to purchase food.

This is why we need, at every level, from family farms to family gardens, a renewed focus on food security, increased access to food in its cheapest form (the seed), local food trade, a nation of people who can eat grain, rather than processed foods, and a nation of farmers.

Sharon

A model for Salem: The Greening of Detroit

Hat tip to The Progressive Review for this pointer to this important piece in the Christian Science Monitor about Greening of Detroit:

. . . As the trio cleared a bed for planting seedlings, Saba said, “I love gardening, It’s cool. It’s nice. And you can get your hands dirty without getting yelled at. You get to plant things and when they grow, you pick them.”

Such interaction between kids and adults is one reason that Ms. Kohn, an urban agriculture apprentice for the Greening of Detroit (www.greeningofdetroit.com), is encouraging families in the neighborhood to come to the garden to work, visit, and harvest fresh produce.

Another reason is that she and others see such urban gardens – 355 of them so far, planted throughout the 139-square-mile city – as vital to the revitalization of Detroit, often called a rusted out industrial city. . . .

Today, with 25 percent of the land in the city vacant due to the removal of many residential and commercial buildings, Ms. Atkinson has been instrumental in developing gardening and youth education programs to help stabilize and redevelop neighborhoods. . . .

“What we’re doing is to start with one block, and we don’t dare move until we take care of that one block,” he says.

Another key ingredient to the city’s gardening success is Earthworks, founded in 1997 by Rick Samyn of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen (www.cskdetroit.org) on Detroit’s East Side.

Brother Rick noticed that the poor were buying their food at gas stations, and kids were calling Coke and chips a meal. He began a small garden in a vacant lot and two years later developed six other lots by removing debris and regenerating the soil with compost.

The gardens now supply food for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, which prepares 2,000 meals per day, and the Gleaners Community Food Bank (www.gcfb.org/site/PageServer), which distributes 25 million pounds of food each year.

Four years ago, Earthworks added a 1,300-square-foot greenhouse that produces more than 100,000 vegetable seedlings for family, community, and school gardens across the city.

However, gardening is not just an economic or a community-building asset. It’s considered therapeutic and healing, especially for urban children who often live in a violent and unsafe world.

“The toughest children derive a sense of pleasure and accomplishment by growing plants,” says Sister Nancyann Turner, manager of the youth program at the soup kitchen. . . .

The urban garden movement began in Detroit in 1992 when Jimmy and Grace Lee Boggs, local labor and civil rights activists, envisioned a different future for the city since it was clear that industrialization was gone forever.

They founded Detroit Summer (www.detroitsummer.org), a multiracial, intergenerational collective that works to transform citizens and their communities by confronting problems with creativity and critical thinking.

“Actually, it was a blessing that Detroit no longer had the illusion of expansion,” says Mrs. Boggs, now in her 90s. “You can bemoan your fate or, as the African-American elders taught, you can plant gardens.”

As the garden movement caught on in the city, partnerships developed among people and organizations and became known as the Detroit Agricultural Network (DAN).

Each summer for the past 11 years, DAN has held a two-hour bus and bicycle tour to show off the community gardens to the public and to demonstrate how gardens are influencing larger issues such as reducing crime, cleaning up trash-strewn lots, connecting people to nature, nurturing leadership in citizens of all ages, and improving property values.

Rule 1: Don't burn the house down to save a buck

Homemade biofuel makers: burning down the house.

Also sweet! (Must be the Earth Day)

A rooftop CSA! Putting what is normally dead space atop urban buildings to better use.

Sweet! A guide to gas-free travel

OptimalRide!

Hugely important behavioral study

Crucial study here. If this finding can be generalized---and I see no reason that it should not be---then this is a vital challenge to those of us who are interested in fostering sustainable behavior in Salem (or anywhere else, for that matter). Hat tip to Sightline Institute's blog "The Daily Score:"

Yes, I'd Like Fries With That
New study shows we're our own worst enemy.
ERIC HESS

"Sprawling from Grace, Driven to Madness" -- free viewing from 1,000 Friends

A New Documentary: Sprawling From Grace

In honor of Earth Day, in partnership with Cinema Libre Studio and Grapeflix, we would like to offer you the opportunity to view David M. Edwards' powerful new documentary, Sprawling From Grace: The Consequences of Suburbanization, online for free!

The film features Bill Clinton, former governor Michael Dukakis and many other leaders on the issues of suburban sprawl and the need for better public transportation, centralized planning and renewable energy.
For a preview, visit www.sprawlingfromgrace.com

Or check it out on Facebook.

So check it out -it's free- and once you've viewed the film, we ask that you consider making a secure donation for at least the same amount it might cost you to see the film in a movie theatre! The filmmaker and distribution company are allowing all donations to come directly to us so we can continue our important work.

The free online access starts Monday, April 20 beginning at 8:00am ET through Wednesday, April 22 at 11:59 PT and can be viewed at any time during that period.

So start watching it now – it's easy!
Go to http://www.grapeflix.com/Category/frmCategoryDisplay.aspx?CategoryID=3591
Click on the green "Play Online" button
Register for Grapeflix VOD (video on demand)

Test your system to make sure you meet the minimum requirements to view the film online. (After the test is complete, click 'Continue' to watch the film. If you get taken back to the Grapeflix homepage, just click on the link in step #1 of these instructions and then click "Play Online".)

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The film is viewable in full screen by clicking the full screen button on the video player or by double-clicking the video player in Firefox. To ensure you will not have difficulties viewing the film please –
Disable all pop-up blockers. (Enable Active X)
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Allow time for the film to buffer after the video player pops up.
*Please note: the Grapeflix system work best with a Windows operating system and Windows Media Player 11.

Further help with Grapeflix can be found here: http://www.grapeflix.com/Index/frmPlayerHelp.aspx?QID=49#answers
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If you enjoyed the film, click on the orange button on the Grapeflix page to tell your friends about it.

The film will be available on DVD this week at Cinema Libre Store, online at Grapeflix and through other major retailers.

We hope you enjoy it and find it as enlightening and inspiring as we do. Again, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our organization by clicking here.

Enjoy!

The Team at 1000 Friends of Oregon

Transition Initiatives in the NY Times

The NY Times Magazine profiles the Transition Initiatives movement -- like the one just beginning to STIR in Salem -- the Salem Transition Initiative for Relocalization.

People you should know -- or become!

Salem City Watch reaches the intertubes.