But your yard is even fresher and more local than Farmers' Markets

Awesome. More like this, please -- everywhere!

UPDATE:

Rockin' Jay Inslee (D-WA), has proposed a bill to have USDA pick up 80% of the costs of setting up community gardens! You know, like in Minto-Brown Island Park! What a great idea! Jay was briefly a Congressman from the dry side of Washington State, but got wiped out in the 1994 "Contract with America" revolution where Washingtonians also got rid of a sitting speaker of the house, Tom Foley in order to enjoy life under Newt. But Jay just went to the wet side and was back in Congress before long. He's got a foolish fascination with biofuels but his heart's definitely in the right place.

Nice piece on the value of Farmers' Markets

Salem is blessed with the April-October outdoor Salem Saturday Market (now supported by an enthusiastic and energetic Friends group, complete with a blog) and the midweek Wednesday Market and the year-round indoor Salem Public Market as well.

One possible silver lining to the continuing collapse of the commercial real estate market is that it might create an opportunity for more year-round options for fresh, local produce sales as well.

Farmers’ Market — the new village for today?

. . . With the automobile we have gained access to places much farther away than a day’s walk would afford. We have lost the intimacy of strolling through the street or town at a pace that affords really “seeing it.”

How many times have you walked around a neighborhood that you are driving through on a daily basis and seen homes, flowers, nooks of interest that are totally unnoticed at the pace of an automobile and with your eyes on the road? So it is with the advances of technology that are coming at a faster pace every day. . . .

Perhaps the attraction of a Farmers’ Market may be more than the freshest vegetables and fruit. When I look at the faces of the people thronging these small places, hear the lilt in their voices, feel the warmth and joy that overhangs the area, I think there is much more to going to the market than just provisions for the larder. It may be that we are “provisioning” our soul’s hunger for connections and the feeling of community . . . . I would stipulate that every neighborhood would have stores and facilities within walking distance so the need of a loaf of bread at the last minute would not require a trip in the car.

This is sounding more and more like the small towns that so many of us grew up in. Not such a bad idea.

I’m not “Queen,” but I can dream of the best of both worlds. In the meantime, see you on Saturdays at the [Salem Saturday] Market!

(Wednesday Market photo "Fresh Tastes Better" from the wonderful Salem, Oregon Daily Photo Diary.)

Who says August doesn't have a holiday?

Be on the lookout here in the next 12 days for an announcement about a party here in Salem to celebrate the freshest, juiciest, most satisfying holiday we've heard of in a long time -- It's "International Kitchen Garden Day," on Sunday, August 23, the kick off for

National Community Gardening Week!

	AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK [see his wedding photo above] PROCLAIMS AUGUST 23-29 AS NATIONAL COMMUNITY GARDENING WEEK
	WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today encouraged Americans to connect with the land, the food it grows and their local communities by proclaiming August 23-29, National Community Gardening Week. A community garden is an opportunity to educate everyone about from where food comes, whether that is a Farmers Market or a garden, and is important to increasing generations of healthy eaters. Community gardens can be anywhere whether it is in the country, a city or a suburb. It can be one community plot or can be many individual plots. "Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification," said Vilsack. "But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for." The American Community Gardening Association was presented with the official proclamation at the association's 30th Annual Conference today in Columbus, Ohio. USDA continues its work across the country to promote the value and importance of how people can benefit from healthy food in their communities. Resources available to community gardens through the USDA include grants, site technical assistance and informational materials on gardening and food production methods. . . . The garden concepts that USDA is practicing serves as a living example of how to provide healthy food, air and water for people and communities as well as food and shelter for wildlife, while improving soil health and water quality. Information about 'The People's Garden' initiative is available at www.usda.gov/peoplesgarden or follow 'The People's Garden' at www.twitter.com/peoplesgarden for the latest updates, harvests and events.

Questions to Ask About Health Care

Coat of arms of Canada, a country very much like the US, only it spends a LOT less on health care per person, covers EVERYONE, has a longer life expectancy, better infant mortality rates, and much higher satisfaction with health care. Obviously, we have nothing to learn from them. Image via Wikipedia

Questions Should You Find Yourself at a microphone at a 'Town Meeting':

1. If Canada's single-payer system is so god-awful, why have repeated Conservative governments at the provincial and national level in Canada never touched it? Canada is a democracy. If Canadians don't like their health care system, why haven't they gotten rid of it in 35 years? Since the system there is run by the separate provinces, many of which are very politically conservative, why has not one province ever tried to get rid of single-payer?

2. Why is rationing by income, as we do it here, better than rationing by need, as they do it in Canada?

3. Wouldn't single-payer mean that companies could no longer threaten working people with the loss of their health insurance? Why is this a bad idea?

4. The bigger the insurance pool, the better. So doesn't having a national pool, as with single-payer, make the most sense?

5. Why should we be allowing politicians who are taking money from the medical industry to write the new health care legislation?

6. How can the Congress be developing a health system reform scheme and not even invite experts from Canada down to explain their successful system?

7. If Medicare--a single-payer system here in America--is so popular with the elderly, how come it's no good for the rest of us?

8. Isn't it true that Medicare currently finances the most costly patient group--the elderly and infirm--so that extending it to the rest of the population--most of whom are young and healthy--would be much cheaper, per person?

9. The AMA, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Insurance Industry all bitterly opposed Medicare in 1964-5 when it was being debated in Congress and passed into law, with the right, led by Ronald Reagan, calling it creeping socialism. It became a life-saver for the elderly and didn't turn the US into a soviet republic. Why should we give a tinker's damn what those same three industry groups and the Republican right think of expanding single-payer now?

10. The executives of Canadian subsidiaries of US companies all support Canada's single-payer system, and even lobby collectively to have it expanded and better funded. Why does Congress listen to the executives of the parent companies here at home, and not invite those Canadian execs down to explain why they like single-payer?

Mark your calendars: Salem Progressive Film Series resumes Sep. 10 with a must-see film and talk by an exonerated man

Cover of The Exonerated

One of the most unusual contradictions is that people who support the death penalty tend to have very little faith in government's ability to do anything right, as the furor over health care and bailouts shows. The fact that government, like any human enterprise, is imperfect, somehow seems to get shoved to the side when peoples' bloodlust is aroused by the desire for revenge against a heinous killer. The problem is, even setting aside the moral concerns about killing to condemn killing, is that the system that brings a tiny few people, primarily minorities, to death row is fraught with incentives for error, bias, and downright lying, which has often resulted in innocent people being condemned to die and, almost certainly, actual executions of innocents.

Thanks to DNA technologies, we're constantly being reminded of how error-filled the death system is, so this is an opportune moment to revisit the question of whether state-approved killing to punish killers -- or maybe just completely innocent people -- makes any sense. The Salem Public Library has an important book on the subject that will make your appreciation of the upcoming SPFS film even greater.

Thanks to the dedicated volunteers who work hard to put together the Salem Progressive Film Series, which shows a different, important film every month on the second Thursday at 7 p.m.:

DATES: Sep 10, 2009
TIME: 7:00 pm
DESCRIPTION: Salem Progressive Film Series Begins the 2009-10 season with "jolting and powerful" film, The Exonerated.
The Grand Theater, 191 High St. NE, downtown Salem,OR

Salem’s Progressive Film Series (SPFS), kicks off their 2009-2010 offerings with a presentation of The Exonerated, an award-winning film and stage play. The film presents the true stories of six exonerated survivors of death row. While every bit of dialogue in the film is true and documented, it is only a glimpse into the lives of the 135 people, since 1976 released from death row prison sentences, after they were proven innocent. An all-star cast, including Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Brian Dennehy, is featured in the film described as ‘jolting”, “powerful” and "stories you will never forget" by critics and viewers alike.

As is the custom with SPFS events, a discussion will take place following the film presentation. Guest speaker will be Curtis McCarty who was exonerated in 2007 after serving 21 years…19 years on death row, for a 1982 murder he didn’t commit. His freedom was granted after DNA evidence was presented and proof of prosecutorial misconduct by the State’s chief forensic analyst was proven. The great number of cases, such as Curtis McCarty’s, are causing people throughout the United States to question the ability of the criminal justice system to adequately and fairly administer a death penalty.

Joining Mr. McCarty will be Ron Steiner, a community organizer with Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP). Mr. Steiner was an active member of the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty, leading up to that state’s March 2009 repeal. He is also a member of the national board of directors of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation.

The Salem Progressive Film Series takes place the second Thursday of each month. The September film presentation and discussion will be Sept. 10th, 7PM at The Grand Theater, 191 High St. NE, downtown Salem. Major sponsors of SPFS include The Historic Grand Theater, Salem Monthly and Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Peter Bergel, Executive Director of Oregon Peace Works, one of the on-going sponsors of the film series, says regarding the death penalty, “Almost all of us know in our hearts that killing others feels wrong. Moreover, it is ineffective as a deterrent and expensive as a punishment. That leaves only ‘getting even’ as a motivation and that’s not worth it.”

Dr. Bill Long, former Willamette U. law professor and chair of the Outreach Committee of OADP, stated that "On top of all the other problems with the death penalty, one that gives great pause for concern is the possibility that we might execute an innocent person." Curtis McCarty will give testimony to how close we come to that horrible outcome.

For more information on the SPFS, visit http://www.salemprogressivefilms.net or call (503) 588-8713 or (503) 779-5288

Temporary reprieve on Minto

The five members attending the City Council meeting tonight unanimously voted not to accept the federal easement proposal to lock up 200 acres of cultivated land in Minto Brown Island Park.

Naturally this means that we can expect staff to honor the wisdom of Mark Twain by proving him an acute observer of human nature when he observed that "Having lost our bearings, we redoubled our efforts." Having had to concede repeatedly that the public involvement for this idea was lousy, the plan is to ram through a motion to reconsider and pass the thing with no further public involvement in two weeks, should the feds permit yet another extension (which, if they do, only shows that they want this much more than the people of Salem do).

In other words, the betting is that staff and some of the Council members will push hard to have the Council to entertain a motion for reconsideration in two weeks, meaning that the 5-0 vote to reject the easement only means that the people advocating for the easement want a do-over ....

Tonight city staff admitted that the contract for the easement gives total control of the parkland's future to the feds, that none of the sweet whispers about working with the city are in writing, and that the whole emergency floodplain easement program is not really a good fit for a public park. Nonetheless, expect a full-court press to get this thing jammed through at the last minute, public sentiment be damned.

Word of the Day: Continued

"But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation even among people who should and do know better." George Orwell (Eric Blair) Image by jovike via Flickr

Since the current Minto-Brown Park Master Plan --- the one that the Salem City Council adopted in 1995 after lengthy public involvement and participation -- expressly states that agriculture within the park is appropriate and should be continued, let's see what that word means:

con·tin·ue (kn-tny)

v. con·tin·ued, con·tin·u·ing, con·tin·ues

v.intr.

1. To go on with a particular action or in a particular condition; persist.

2. To exist over a prolonged period; last.

3. To remain in the same state, capacity, or place: She continued as mayor for a second term.

4. To go on after an interruption; resume: The negotiations continued after a break for lunch.

v.tr.

1. To carry forward; persist in: The police will continue their investigation.

2. To carry further in time, space, or development; extend.

3. To cause to remain or last; retain.

4. To carry on after an interruption; resume.

5. Law To postpone or adjourn.

And since the proposal to sell off control of 200 acres of that land would reduce acreage being farmed in the park by about 80%, let's consider that whether that could possibly satisfy the meaning of continue:

re·duce (r-ds, -dys)

v. re·duced, re·duc·ing, re·duc·es

v.tr.

1. To bring down, as in extent, amount, or degree; diminish. See Synonyms at decrease.

2. To bring to a humbler, weaker, difficult, or forced state or condition; especially:

a. To gain control of; conquer: "a design to reduce them under absolute despotism" (Declaration of Independence).

b. To subject to destruction: Enemy bombers reduced the city to rubble.

c. To weaken bodily: was reduced almost to emaciation.

d. To sap the spirit or mental energy of.

e. To compel to desperate acts: The Depression reduced many to begging on street corners.

f. To lower in rank or grade. See Synonyms at demote.

g. To powder or pulverize.

h. To thin (paint) with a solvent.

3. To lower the price of: The store has drastically reduced winter coats.

4. To put in order or arrange systematically.

5. To separate into orderly components by analysis.

6. Chemistry

a. To decrease the valence of (an atom) by adding electrons.

b. To remove oxygen from (a compound).

c. To add hydrogen to (a compound).

d. To change to a metallic state by removing nonmetallic constituents; smelt.

7. Mathematics To simplify the form of (an expression, such as a fraction) without changing the value.

8. Medicine To restore (a fractured or displaced body part) to a normal condition or position.

v.intr.

1. To become diminished.

2. To lose weight, as by dieting.

3. Biology To undergo meiosis.

Nope. As they say on Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the other." In this case, it's more like NONE of these things is like ANY of the others.

Thus, when people try to argue that it's ok to prohibit growing food on four-fifths of the land now being farmed in the park because ag wouldn't be barred from 100% of the cropland, they are trying to twist the meaning of the words, which is generally a dead giveaway to something not being kosher.

There are some good arguments for the easement deal, and more good arguments against it. One of the most compelling arguments against this deal at this time is that it completely guts the park Master Plan, which is essentially the guidance we the people of Salem gave to city government for how to care for our treasured possession, Minto-Brown Island Park. If the City Council ignores the plain, clear language of the master plan, they are essentially saying that no one can rely on any of the planning documents that the city prepares, even the ones specifically adopted by the council.

Ask yourself -- if the shoe were on the other foot and the city staff were alarmed by some proposed action of the state or federal government, would the city say "Hey, no need to follow any plans developed with our participation ... go ahead and do what you think is best."

Imagine the ag land on Minto helping keep us healthy and fed

Image via Wikipedia

One of the main arguments against kicking agriculture off 200 acres on Minto Brown is that we would do so today -- forever -- in the face of a huge and fast-growing mountain of evidence that all is not well with our food systems, which have basically become entirely dependent on a copious supply of fossil fuels and a finance system that selects for megafarms that require megaprofits -- meaning producing the cheapest possible food and shipping it a long way.

Here's a great article from todays NY Times calling for a rebirth of the agricultural extension service to help people all over the country select and breed plant varieties appropriate for their particularly place.

If we reject this "Rush, rush!" deal and think carefully, we can, if we wish, restore hundreds of acres on Minto Brown Island AND preserve its rich heritage as an agricultural place; we can convert those acres, one at a time if need be, to organic production and community gardens, with community supported agriculture operations to find which perennial vegetables, to name just one example, are most suitable for this area. We can, in short, act with caution, rather than making an irrevocable commitment of land to a particular (if not particularly well-fleshed out) use.

None of this is possible under the terms of the proposed easement. Instead, just as we will be needing MORE local food for more people, we're talking about reducing ag acreage that is perfectly situated on land we already own.

On a happier note

Instead of reducing precious farmland within the urban growth boundary, let's get rid of some asphalt! Image by BikePortland.org via Flickr

This is awesome.

P.S. If you don't know why we need land for growing food a lot more than asphalt, here's a pretty good primer.

Why we won't miss the Statesman-Journal when it follows the Seattle P-I and Rocky Mountain Daily News

Coming soon to Salem. Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Wow. Just wow. We hear a lot about the collapse of the "mainstream media" and how their advertising revenue is eroding almost as fast as their subscriber base. You wonder if you should be concerned, but then you hit on a "story" like this and you know that, like the dinosaurs they are so often compared to, their disappearance will make room for much smarter, nimbler species.

Recently, misinformation about the proposal began to surface, prompting the city to set up a Q&A document on its Web site.

Too bad the cliched, passive-voice-adopting SJ doesn't bother letting people know what "misinformation" has "surfaced" (which way to the beach?) out there, nor do they bother examining any of the statements in the city's "Q&A" document.

Back when newspapers mattered, editors told reporters to trust no one, particularly if they stood to gain from a certain outcome. "If your mother says she loves you, check it out" was the rule. Now it's "If a bureaucratic official says something, just copy it down and run it."