tales of a turkey.

yesterday the weekend duty-ers wrastled some turkeys down to the nic house pen in preparation for part two of the two part turkey series here at the world hunger relief farm. papa ghana has raised some be-U-T-ful turkeys this season and now they are bound to bless some families further than the farm.

for those of you who are curious, the following is a short and sweet summary to turkey harvesting:

- love and nurture turkeys on a daily basis.
- let them frolic in open fields, and when feeling particularly light-hearted, gather old vegetable scraps from the garden bed and stand in the midst of the turkeys with broccoli leaves in hand like some obscure tree from a seuss book as turkeys nibble your green bits.
- sing to them.
- quietly coo to them one by one as you individually place them in so-called "killing cones."


- with quick movements of hand and knife . . .
- stick bird in a bubble bath of sorts, to loosen feathers.
- tickle the feathers outta the bird with so-called rubber finger "plucker."


- remove feet and neck and most of the good bits from their inside parts.
- stick in a bag.
- thank God for his good provisions.



so are the tales of a turkey here at the farm. and for those of you who are o-so intrigued by the beauty of the story of where your food comes from, gather the family 'round for a short film entitled "consider the chicken" - insert fowl of choice for same effect. merry christmas!


Consider The Chicken from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.

(photos from farm volunteer Reatha Thiessen. video from http://www.goodfarmmovement.com/)

Life on the farm...

For those of you who've been to the farm, you know that it is much more than a place where vegetables are grown and goats are milked. The farm is an intentional community. It is a home for twenty or so people. It is a place to learn, a place to grow, a place to find beauty in the broken world in which we live.


I've lived at the farm for quite some time. I've seen people come and I've seen people go. The community is ever changing and yet always the same. There are always AMAZING people at the farm. People that make you laugh, people that challenge you, people to learn from, people to share life with...

I've been thinking about the farm quite a bit as I sit here thousands of miles away visiting my family for Christmas. I started thinking of all the things that make the farm home.

- the 100 steps it takes to get to work in the morning
- filtering goats milk while watching the sun rise
- eating lunch with twenty or so friends, whom you now consider family, every day
- talking about poop while eating lunch
- the sound of fresh goat milk hitting the bottom of an empty stainless steel pail
- sleeping in and still getting up before eight
- eating fresh organic local produce that you helped grow everyday
- Tuesday harvest
- morning devotions
- talking to goats
- sitting around with a bunch of people in the evening, each reading their own book and yet still feeling a sense of community
- making ice cream
- drinking out of jars
- hugs, smiles, and laughter from the youngest members of our community
- trying to figure out how many times one walks up the farm lane in a given week
- knowing that if you make muffins or cookies or brownies, twelve other people will gladly help you eat them
- talking about poop while eating diner
- the daily search for the newspaper in the drainage ditch
- trace minerals and the song that goes with them
- begin able to ask fifteen people for help when you get stuck on a crossword clue
- the almost weekly "Hot and Ready" that appears on the counter in the dorm
- going around the table and having everyone introduce themselves
- the sound of a rooster crowning coming from your roommates alarm clock
- the exhilaration of leaving the warmth of your bed and stepping onto the cold concrete floor in morning
- soup of every kind
- the smell of dirt and grease
- cooking for twenty and not thinking anything of it
- farm fresh eggs
- trying to find my bed in the dark without waking anyone up or tripping over my own mess
- the Waco Trib's headlines
- pulling into the farm and knowing who is around by the cars parked outside the dorm
- the six steps it takes to get to the throne, which is the Nannies composting toilet
- the many sounds of Lolita
- the farm's traveling minstrel playing "Wagon Wheel"
- running down the stairs to get the mail because the mail lady is sitting in her car honking the horn
- warm hugs from good friends
- spontaneous community breakfasts
- Friday morning hymn sings
- delicious Ghanaian Bofrotu
- fresh bread
- sitting around and talking about anything and everything
- my favorite sound in the world - the sound of the t-post driver driving a t-post into the ground
- our buck, Rasputin, and his yellow legs

the stumbles, stutters, and stark-raving wonderfulness of urban agriculture in east waco.

as part of the ever-burgeoning hipster movement bursting forth 'cross the nation - which hopefully proves more everlasting than such - world hunger relief presents urban agriculture. and all the joys and frustrations of uncharted territory - where beer stores are more prevalent than broccoli stalks and church's chicken more commonplace than chard or choi. where community once thrived but now only resides in the heads and hearts of a few from a different era.

urban agriculture is not just the story of sun, soil and water - but the story of a people. people coming together - be they life-long residents of east waco, eager green students from Baylor, or a wayfaring stranger from the dark, dirty corners of the midwest.

stumbles, stutters

• after-school program coordinators who snub their noses at unprofessional farmer-types, because they would rather have their students play guitar hero than dirty their hands and partake in their food system.
• water. and many hundred feet of hose. and weekday working hours, 9am-5pm. when the administration cooperates. (but praise God! we now have water!)
• too many white people. makes the neighbors feel suspicious.
  

stark-raving wonderfulness

• students who defy the expectations of their elders (see stumbling point #1) by talking so much about collard green seedlings that their parents call their teachers to see what's up with their raving child.
  
• conquering an inner-city teenager's fear of bridges by crossing them hand-in-hand, on our way to the garden as part of an after-school program.
  
• a roving fellow who shouts obscenities at low-flying helicopters and passes out literature on the undercover kkk in east waco - and pray blessings over me after we harvest bok choi, head lettuce, onion greens and snap beans for him and his wife.
• a bike-riding neighbor (even tho our government would classify him as illegal) who offers his hands - and his neighbor's horse manure -in the elm ave. garden, excited that some dirty gringa shares similar passions that the world deems crazy.
  
• a redneck-ed amish-looking fellow who also rides a bike. and helps occasionally. also wears a feather in his hair.
• a forth-coming greenhouse/cold-frame, converted from the junked and soon-to-be gutted refrigerator wasting space on the farm (french men eat alfalfa). constructed in true freegan fashion. spending money is not my style.
  
• rows and rows of onions, collards, lettuce, bok choi, carrots, cabbage, broccoli . . .
  
• 1.5 acres of available land. ready for those brave - or naive - enough to dream.

signed lovingly,
the urban madame

(currently seeking abandoned toilets or bathtubs. and locations in need of some guerrilla gardening.)

reasons to be thankful.

1. biking in a farm hand-me-down dress to collect chicken eggs after lunch.
2. milking goats to the tune of the sun-rising.
3. sitting on abandoned couches in the middle of the yard as the big ol' texas sun tucks itself to bed.
4. folks who think dirty farmers are beautiful.
   
5. teaching city kids about compost.
6. having pre-schoolers close their eyes, inhale the scent of 35 tons of turkey manure, and watch the delight/disgust in their eyes.
7. snake-skin boots.
8. progressive tea parties with farmers who look like gypsies when they trade in their overalls and carhartts for skirts.
   
9. wendell berry's mad farmer liberation front.
10. farm-brewed kombucha.
11. friday morning baptist hymn sings.
12. beautiful community composed of broken folks (ie the body of Christ).
13. rocking chairs.
14. laundry lines.
15. the never ending pot o' coffee.
16. others who appreciate agriculture as art.
17. reclaiming the abandoned places of the kingdom by growing vegetables on vacant lots, in front lawns and old busted-up television sets.
    
18. God. neighbors. the opportunity to love and be loved on a daily basis. and give thanks.
    

Give Me Frost

This chilly weekend has offered multiple surprised for the lovely weekenders.

1. Our beloved turkeys, who are growing so fast in body but not brain, have discovered the art of exploring and their cousins the chickens.

2. Our strapping buck, Raz (short for Rasputin), has impregnated two females. Eliza and Frosty. If you have never witnessed a breeding session between goats, I strongly urge you to find a local goat breeder. It is a sight, and smell, to see. We are happy to help produce future kids, but we are also obliged to laugh at goats urinating on themselves for courtship.

3. We say goodbye to Verde Valley School from Arizona. A boarding school that has been living in the Nicarauge House all week and sharing in life with us at the Farm. They worked out, played hard, and were all around pleasant.

4. Saturday afternoon the Freshman Leadership Organization from Baylor University visited the Farm for two hours to volunteer. With thirty-one students we were able to accomplish four very necessary tasks. My favorite moment was watching ten or eleven freshman girls from the suburbs herd twenty goats from one pasture to another. The guys lifted heavy material and thankfully one guy carried knived and tools in his truck that came in handy. They had a good time and we were grateful to have the help and excitement. They finished off their afternoon, like any good college freshman group would: with a wrestling match and huddle. See below.




Cheers and Hurrahs,

Melyssa

Fiscal Conservatism: Rhetoric Reality

Peter Zylstra-Moore

One of the defining myths of the Republican Party is the concept of fiscal conservatism, as opposed to the so-called, “tax and spend liberals.” With economic concerns rising to the top among voters it is important to separate myth from reality. It is important to look at different factors including, overall growth, the national deficit, income growth of the rich and poor, and taxation rates and policy.

If we consider some actual numbers from 1948 to 2005, a common measure of economic growth, Real per capita GNP, grew significantly faster under the Democrats. During their 26 years of office, after accounting for inflation, GNP grew an average of 2.78% per year. Under 32 years of Republican administration, real GDP grew an average of 1.64% annually, over whole percentage point lower than Democrats. In other words, our economy grew 2/5 more quickly under the Democrats.

Not only has economic growth actually been slower with the Republicans, but they have also significantly increased the deficit. In fact the national deficit has increased 36.4% or 2.25% per year, in Republican administrations since 1978. The Democrats, on the other hand, have increased the deficit a total of 4.2%, or.35%, per year in office. We have spiraled into debt seven times quicker with the Republicans. Per year in office, government spending rose .76% under the Republicans, while it grew .83% per year under the Democrats. Government spending has grown only .07of a percent faster under the Democrats. The reason for this slight difference in spending is because Democratic administrations have made payments on the deficit rather than taken out substantially higher debt. It should also be recognized that one of the main reasons for a growing deficit is the fact that both Republican and Democratic budgets include irrationally high spending on the military.

In considering the economic effects of each political party it is important to also consider the distribution of wealth. Princeton Professor, Larry Bartel did a mass study of political parties and their effects on economic growth for various groups in American society. He found that after accounting for inflation, the era of Roosevelt’s New Deal policies which began in response to the Great Depression not only provided the most economic growth overall but also the most equitable growth. Starting with Reagan, the income gap between rich and poor in the United States has increased with every Republican administration. Including Roosevelt, the gap between the rich and the poor has declined slightly with all Democratic administrations except under Carter who was hurt by oil inflation. According to Bartel, during Democratic administrations, Real Incomes (the amount you can buy with each dollar) grew twice as fast for middle-class families and six times as fast for working-poor families than with Republicans in office.

Yearly Real Income Growth Rate, 1948-2005 (Bartels, 32)

Democrats Republicans
Poorest 20th percentile 2.64% .43%
Bottom 40th percentile 2.46% .8%
Middle Class 60th percentile 2.47% 1.13%
Upper 80th percentile 2.38% 1.39%
Highest 95th percentile 2.12% 1.9%

It is fascinating to note that even the richest 5% grow quicker under Democrats (2.12% compared to 1.9%). Thus even if we don’t care about the poor we should vote Democrat. If we look back on history if we vote Republican for economic reasons, then it is because we want inequality, stunted growth, and deficits.

Examining what has actually happened under each administration, we recognize that with Republicans our national debt has increased along with the disparity between rich and poor. At the same time their overall tax revenues have been equal to those of Democratic administrations. Finally per capita income has slid under Republicans. With Republicans, tax cuts for the poor and middle class which create consumption and equality are replaced with tax cuts for the rich and business, which leads to increased indebtedness and more frequent recessions. Even growth for the rich slows, because they can only produce profitably in relation to what is demanded. When we separate rhetoric from reality, it becomes clear; if we really want a government that will grow our economy and balance the budget, we had better vote Democrat.

It is time for the Democrats, but not the Democrats of the past 30 years who look more and more like the Republicans. It is time for labor. It is time for unions. It is time to accelerate progressive taxation. It is time for big businesses to start paying taxes again and to start paying workers again. It is time for higher minimum wages. It is time for estate taxes. It is not about giving the poor handouts, but allowing the poor and middle class to compete. It is time for the Fed to be run not by big banks and their friends, but by democratically elected governments. It is time to improve rather than undercut our public education. It is time for an efficient single-payer medical system. It is time to create new, high-paying jobs; green jobs in producing renewable electricity and making our homes and businesses more efficient, infrastructure jobs to maintain and repair our country. It is time to focus our technology not on the military but on things that actually improve our lives and the lives of our children. It is time for the Democrats and it is time to demand of the Democrats a new New Deal.

Evangelical Concerns and Republicans: Rhetoric or reality?

Peter Zylstra-Moore

As a former youth pastor of an Evangelical church, I felt and continue to feel that there is a lot within evangelicalism that the world needs to hear. However, I have grown increasingly concerned over how evangelicals have been manipulated by empty rhetoric of especially the Republican Party. Evangelicals, more than any other group in American society, suggest they vote the way they vote for moral or ethical reasons. These issues often concentrate around the issue of abortion. However, are the outcomes of Republicanism consistent with their claims, and are they consistent with Evangelicalism?

Many Republicans claim moral high ground when it comes to the rights of unborn children. The American abortion rate is 20 abortions per year for every 1,000 women of child bearing age. The rate is actually the highest of any of the G8 countries. Western Europe’s rate stands at 12 and Canada’s at 14.1. The global average is 29, with the most abortions occurring where it is illegal, where there is poor or no healthcare, and/or in countries with poor access to contraception. Thus abortion rates go down where there is strong promotion of women’s rights, including reproductive rights.

Conservatives have traditionally sought to avoid abortions through policies of abstinence-very often fighting against sex education, or at least certain topics within sex education. I don’t disagree that saving yourself for marriage is incredibly rewarding, that it can be a source of trust, selflessness, safety and joy. Subsequently, it should be a part of sex education. However we must also recognize a world around us where pre-marital sex is a reality both inside and outside of churches, and thus hold to an ideal while working within a muddy world. Thus we must cry out against the Bush administration that is cutting aid for condoms in AIDS-ravaged Africa.

Biblically, many passages used to support full human life within the womb relate God’s intimate knowledge and knitting together of life within the womb. However biblical poetry has been used to argue that the earth is flat, that contraception is wrong, or that the earth is center of the universe, etc and so how clearly these verses apply is debatable. Verses pertaining to intimate knowledge of the hairs of our head or birds of the air aren’t then used to suggest cutting our hair or eating meat is subsequently murder. Similarly poetic verses like Genesis 2:7 can argue the other way-that humans become a living soul upon receiving the breath of life-thus life begins at first breath.

Scientifically, accidental miscarriages are normal. “50% of pregnancies miscarry before implantation in the womb occurs. Early after implantation, pregnancy loss rate is about 30%. After a pregnancy may be clinically recognised (between days 35-50), about 25% will end in miscarriage.” (http://www.womens-health.co.uk/miscarr.asp).
So then what is our spiritual reaction to abortion? Do we honestly feel the same way about mass murderers and abortion doctors? Do we feel the same way about women who have an abortion as murderers? Our grieving process is also different for fetuses, though not absent (especially for the couple involved both psychologically and biologically for the women). However, the death is often without funeral. Again, suggesting whatever our professed beliefs, our internal beliefs are very different.

In summary, abortions are the poorest available option but it remains an issue among issues. Practically, abortions are least common where women’s reproductive rights are respected, where protection is available, and where social services help mothers receive the medical help and the financial security in their need. If Republicans were concerned with the life of children they would be advocating for and not against single payer healthcare. Evangelicals should advocate against the death penalty. Evangelicals should argue for more diplomacy and not less, to save lives of Americans and other persons rather than play fast and loose with them. How the issue affects our voting should be based on the real world, and not political rhetoric, and in the real world the democratic strategies favored in Europe and Canada have something to teach conservative America about protecting our unborn children.

As Evangelicals, we have an important voice in helping an increasingly individual and confused generation recognize the fingerprints of God in all creation, and the image of God in all people. Evangelicalism desire to place high value on life, even that of the unborn, is an important message in a world where many people are unsure of even who they are and their inherent worth as bearers of the image of God. However, if we want to reduce abortions, it is not through making it illegal, but through a mixed approach. We can maintain that sex is best confined to marriage, while allowing for sex education, accessibility to protection, and providing single mothers, the poor and middle class with affordable access to health care and social services.

You Too Can Talk to Animals!

Farm Day is just around the corner. 

Saturday, October 18th, (pdf) to be exact.

Be there.  

Its.  Gonna.  Be.  Huge.

If you come, you can talk to animals just like Mark Wahlberg.

PS - We still need a few volunteers (pdf) so check it out and get in where you fit in.

Fall Farm Day: Saweet

For any bi-annual open house in the Heart of Texas, two elements must be included: Visitors and Volunteers.

Check out the links below (my technological skills are limited so I have to piggy-back) for information on both

If wondering what Farm Day is:
Why-would-I-even-want-to-go

If interested in Volunteering:
How-much-fun-could-I-possibly-have

If wondering what Robert Plant was up to in 1984:
Where-have-you-been-all-my-life


Please continue down to read the Westerly post about the Slow Food Nation conference.


Cheers and Yorick melonheads,

Melyssa

p.s. photo by Amanda Becker

p.p.s. I posted this before watching the "economy shmonomy"....oh well, that's how we roll

Distractions

Sometimes they are both nice and necessary.  

So, if you need a break from pouring over the minutiae of the bailout or worrying about your 401K (or lack thereof in most of our cases) here are a few things to keep you busy and maybe even newly inspired.

A lot of you are no doubt already familiar with Slow Food International and their American arm Slow Food USA.  If not you should definitely get to know them as they are an important voice in the global (and national) local food movement, here's what they have to say about themselves:

Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Well, Slow Food USA recently wrapped up their annual gathering, Slow Food Nation, and they have now posted all the video online from the plethora of great panels and discussions that took place over Labor Day weekend.  They are literally all worth checking out so please do so, but here are a few we recommend.

The World Food Crisis - moderated by Michael Pollan with Anya Fernald, Corby Kummer, Raj Patel, Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva.

Aside:  if you haven't had a chance to read Raj Patel's book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (and it seems not enough people have) you really should make it a priority.

Edible Education - moderated by Katrina Heron with Alice Waters, Anya Fernald, Van Jones, Craig Macnamara and Josh Viertel.

Aside:  if this discussion of integrating local, sustainable, healthy food production with educational programs gets you so excited that you just can't stand it email our Education Director Matt Hess and he will get you involved in edible education right here in Waco, TX (if you're not from Waco we feel sorry for you but email him anyway and he'll try to point you in the right direction.)  Also, be sure and plan on being at our Fall Farm Day (pdf) to hear John Garland talk about his own work in connecting schools in the Rio Grande Valley with edible education.

Closing Panel - the whole panel is good so watch both parts but I'm mostly putting this here for Wendell Berry's portion at the beginning.  It's gold baby.

Aside:  "We live in a time when things fall apart.  The falling apart of things is bad.  But once we identify something that is good and we begin to understand how that goodness ramifies a longer chain of causes, it really ultimately involves everything. Then we begin to glimpse the possibility of entering an age in which things that have fallen apart come back together."  If that's not the gospel and the kingdom I don't know what is.

For one final distraction we're going to give you another dose of Wendell.  This is his commencement address to last years graduating class at Bellarmine University (warning: video starts as soon as you open the page) and the whole thing is too good to attempt an excerpt.

Well, there you go - economy, shmonomy.

Pizza Mania

The past week at the farm has been drenched with pizza.

We believe that social gatherings are much more satisfying with a sizzling pie topped with various foodstuffs.

EVENT 1: Hurricane Ike Pizza Party
We prepared for the worst, but only wind and an inch of scattered rain made it our way. So everyone, even the Coles and Hesses, traveled to the Ed. Building for pizza off the griddle. I made five or six pies of various sized, with help of course (where is the fun of making pizza alone!).

Toppings: Farm Veggies-hot and sweet peppers, zucchini, Susan's mozzerrela, and tomato sauce from a can (oh well). With a side of mozzerrela filled fresh breadsticks.

EVENT 2: Cole Painting Part
The duplex at the end of the Farm lane is wrapping up. The Cole's bought paint (royal blue, eggplantish purple, and khaki) and invited us up for pizza and painting one evening. They laid out a spread of Little Caesars Pizza, fruit salad, a lasagna, and juice with sparkling water. They also laid out a flood of painting equipment.

Just as baking pizza with many people is enjoyable, consuming pizza then painting rooms with many people is a gratifying way to work.

EVENT 3: Chris Becker's Friday Lunch
Our beloved boy Becker turned out nine.....I repeat NINE, freshly griddled pies for lunch. Topped with sausage, hot peppers, spices, herbs, salts....I couldn't keep track really. The pizzas were a salivating glands heaven. Were there leftovers? Not for the first time since I have been here.

EVENT 4: Friday night...nothing special
Inspired by Chris's lunch, Susan and Darren baked two tomatosauce-less pizzas for dinner to share. A little bit of cheese, some chopped herbs and salt goes a long way.

So to share a little pizza love with you, our friends far and near....

Most recently liked pizza crust recipe:

1 TBSP yeast mixed with 1 cup warm water: let stand 10 minutes

Stir in
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Pour into 2 cups flour (preferably high protein flour like bread flour)

Mix and knead until smooth. Let sit in covered bowl for 30 minutes (ish)

Roll out 2 flat disks, brush a little oil on, go to town. Well, don't literally go to town, but top the pie nicely and bake at 350 for thirty (ish) minutes.

Cheers and Che buon'idea!

Melyssa

Poults and More

So, you might be wondering...what is a "poult"? Well, I have included a photo or two for you to see how cute these little guys are. It's a good thing I have documented their cuteness because it sure doesn't last long! But, come Thanksgiving time you won't be concerned about that and might not even want to think about the fact that they were once cute, fuzzy little guys.
You might have guessed by now that I am talking about turkeys! Yes, the little guys are called poults, although I am not sure how long that name sticks with them. Already, and this is only day 5 of their lives, they have mini wing feathers!! Amazing!

Friday was the big day we received 100 of these 2-day-old turkeys, graciously donated by Cargill. Let me tell you, it took a lot of work to get their house turkey-ready. Chickens, of which we have an abundance of on this farm, are much hardier than turkeys and can pass on disease to them. So, their whole house had to be scrubbed from top to bottom and dishes thoroughly cleaned so there would be no contamination. Samson is their new mommy and he will be checking on them multiple times a day to make sure they have water, food, and the temperature in their "house" is good. They have a specific temperature range that is ideal for them based on their age. If it is too cold they huddle together and could get suffocated. Too hot- well they can suffer from heat exhaustion just like us. Needless to say, they require a lot of attention at this tender stage of their lives! During my weekend on-duty, I feel like I spent most of my time in the barn checking on them...taking off blankets, putting on blankets, making vent holes, filling water, replacing feed...sheesh!! Good thing I have such a great weekend-duty partner by the name of Nick!

I can hardly complain though because there were also the fun times of spying on them through a small crack in the cage and watching their little antics. Funny how such a small bundle can make you giggle! It was as if they could not decide which was the better side of the house and suddenly take off, their bare legs a blur, scraggly little wings going up and down (none have reached the stage of air-born yet), till they reached the opposite end and suddenly come to a complete STOP. With big, dark eyes blinking they look to and fro and then get distracted by some little piece of wood shaving or thread or decide the heat lamp above their head is a most amusing thing to look into.

You know when you get to the end of the ketchup bottle and have to tip it upside down, shake it hard, pound it against your hand, and then finally manage to get a burp of ketchup out, spattering all over your bun or fries (or whatever else you put it on)? There is that distinct sound the ketchup makes on exiting the bottle. Well, I have found these poults make a very similar sound except I have yet to see any ketchup! Right now they are getting a special green feed sprinkled on top of the regular brown food and so there are a lot of green spots all over the floor of wood shavings. In the midst of my spying this noise greeted me from all over the house almost continuously and that indeed made me giggle! Remember, there are 100 of these yellow, fluffy bundles.

Right-o. You have probably heard enough about turkeys and such for now. I did have some other pleasant times this weekend... cool mornings, trimming our basil hedge with my snips (I could smell it on my hands hours later!), sunrises, sunsets, and enjoying some of the beautiful late summer flowers. I believe this one is a variety of campanula. If you know otherwise, tell me!

It's off to bed now as soon as I make one last check on the poults and close up the chicken coops for the night! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Jocelyne

Upcoming Events at the Farm

Saturday, September 6th, 2008
9:00am - 4:00pm
End of Summer Sale at the Village Store

Saturday, October 18th, 2008
9:00am - 4:00pm
Fall Farm Day

Monday, October 27th, 2008
Social Justice Movie Night at the Farm

World Hunger Relief and Fair Trade

Sustainable farming is more than nutrition and practices for growing food, but a balance between making food affordable while also paying farmers enough to sustain a healthy standard of living. That is why World Hunger Relief is involved in trade policy and running a fair trade store at the farm.

When all trade regulation is stripped away under free trade, the only thing left to determine what we buy is quality of product and price. The companies who are more profitable are largely the companies that skimp on costs of production, making their product cheaper. Successful companies generally skimp on worker wages, raise work hours and disregard the environment. Employment is moving to places like China where there are less human rights. Correspondingly, deficits for developed counties with good labor laws are growing under free trade.

Legislatively, this is not to disregard a need for a market, but to suggest that, as countries, we need to regulate the market to ensure higher trade standards and balanced budgets. Just as rules in sports ensure healthy competitions, so can rules in trade offer competition around strong minimum wages, benefits, etc. It is your right to have a say in these rules as a citizen.

As individuals we need to consume fairly traded products. Fair trade is a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable alternative. Fair trade might cost more, but for most of us getting enough is not the question, but rather enjoying what we have and acquiring what we consume in ways that bring justice and peace into our world.

So where do I go from here:

1. Support Local and National business.

2. Support Cooperatives and Union Made.

3. Support Fair Trade.

4. Support Micro-Credit as a way of developing small businesses rather than international corporations. Please visit Kiva - loans that change lives & The Grameen Foundation.

5. Sign our petition for fair trade bananas at HEB. Commit to pay up to 99 cents/lb for fair trade bananas in trying to encourage HEB to carry fair trade bananas.

6. Recognize that from banana wars to oil wars, things have not changed. Half your tax dollars are spent on the military. The US spends more than the rest of the world combined on the military. The best way to keep America safe is to stop fuelling hatred. The best way to support your troops is to bring them home.

7. Support fairer trade legislation and higher labor standards as an alternative to free trade with your vote. You can have the market while competing between agreed on living wages, environmental standards, etc.

8. Support International law and institutions with your vote and demand it of your Leaders. Part of being a democratic nation and supporting democracy worldwide is being a nation among other nations by respecting international democratic opinion and law.

9. Finally advocate for publicly funded elections. It would cost a dollar a person to have elections funded publicly. Right now they are funded by your corporations and so they answer to them, and not you. All it would take to have a President and Congress that answer to you is one dollar.

10. Talk to your neighbor about fair trade!!

Fair Trade in Waco

The Village Store at World Hunger Relief
- Coffee, Tea (loose leaf and bagged), chocolate, cocoa, almonds, cranberries, as well as a variety of kitchen and housewares, clothing, handmade artwork, bags, scarves, jewelry, and instruments, etc.
356 Spring Lake Rd, Waco, TX 76705
254-799-5611
Open 9-5 Mon-Fri, Sat 10-3

The World Cup Café
- Coffee, and a variety of kitchen and house wares, clothing, handmade artwork, bags, scarves, and jewelry
Corner of 15th and Colcord
254-757-1548
Open 7-5 Mon-Fri

HEB @ Wooded Acres
- Coffee, Tea (loose leaf and bagged), Dr Bronner’s Soap, Sugar, Molasses as well as some World of Good Handcrafts.

Drug Emporium
- Coffee, Tea (bagged and in liquid concentrate for Chai Latte’s), chocolate chips, Vanilla, Sugar, Dr Bronner’s Soap
5900 Bosque Blvd

Connor Health Foods Inc
- Dr Bronner’s Soap, Sugar, and Tea.
2625 W Waco Dr

Wal-Mart
- Coffee

Bananas, Not So Sweet

Chiquita Bananas Not so Sweet

Chiquita is the world’s leading supplier of bananas. In doing a little research on the banana industry I began with their website. Reading over Chiquita’s core values might give you new hope for the business world. Chiquita’s stated core values include integrity, respect, opportunity, and responsibility.ⁱ However, a closer look at Chiquita tells another story.

History in Guatemala

In the 1950s Chiquita Bananas, then the United Fruit Company, owned a huge portion of land in Guatemala. In fact it controlled about 60% of the banana and pineapple trade worldwide. The newly elected Arbenz government in Guatemala was elected under the promise of remedying the unequal land distribution. In 1945 over eighty percent of the population was rural yet 2.2% of the populace controlled 70% of the land while using only 12%.ⁱⁱ

In purchasing back the land for redistribution, the Arbenz government based the price of land to be purchased back for redistribution on what the company had declared its value of unused land at during tax time. The United Fruit Company had undervalued it’s land, paying less than it was worth in taxes. Being much larger than the Guatemalan government, they began a lobbying campaign to remove the elected government, eventually gaining a hearing with U.S. President Eisenhower and the CIA. CIA agent Howard Hunt later felt betrayed saying, “Hey, you know, I’m working for the United States, I'm not a hireling for United Fruit.” ⁱⁱⁱ

This connections between the United Fruit Company and the US government ran deep. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ran a law firm that represented the United Fruit Company. His brother Allen was director of the CIA. Assistant Secretary of State for the Inter-American Affairs John Moors Cabot was the former President of the United Fruit Company.

CIA documents released in 1997 disclosed direct American support for the military coup that would topple the new democracy. From the 1950s to the 1990s the US supported a series of Guatemalan military rulers that are responsible for 140,000 to 250,000 deaths.^iv For forty years we armed this tyrant state with only a brief interlude during the Carter administration. Bill Clinton, in 1999, made an official apology for US support of the Guatemalan military.^v

The political control of the United Fruit Company, Dole and other major players led to much of Latin America being coined the banana republic, a term that essentially recognized the political instability created by the small group of elite responsible for the fruit trade in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Same Company, Different Name: From the United Fruit Company Yesterday to Chiquita Today
In 1997 three Costa Rican workers were not warned about fumigation and were harvesting bananas when they became sick and nauseous. One went to the hospital where he remained on an IV drip for a few hours. Another reported the incident to his superiors and was sent home. One of the workers reported to work the next day, and the nausea returned. He was forced to stay. Two of the men reported the incident to Chiquita. They were fired.

Chiquita regularly intimidates workers using private militia as well as carelessly and dangerously using pesticides.^vi In the same year Chiquita was fined $25 million by the United States Justice Department for its ties to Columbian paramilitary groups.^vii

Beyond Chiquita
Bananas are the world’s most popular fruit. Farmer prices for bananas can be as low as six cents a pound, which in Ecuador can translate into many workers being paid around one dollar a day. Banana plantations in Central America apply around 30 kg of active pesticide per hectare, ten times the average of industrial agriculture in industrialized countries. Many of these chemicals are considered extremely toxic to humans.^viii

Beyond Bananas
It is unfortunately true that rather than being an exception, bananas represent the rule in international business. From child trafficking in chocolate, to sweat shops, to blood diamonds fuelling ongoing wars in Congo and oil in Iraq, it is time to recognize the blood on our hands. It is time to consume in ways that foster real prosperity and peace.

Sorghum Syrup: Better than Molasses

The past two days have found the farmees at Homestead Heritage, a community of one hundred or so families on over five hundred acres of land about five miles from the Farm.

This week is Homestead's annual sorghum harvest, and Monday they will celebrate with a festival open to the public. The Farm volunteers and interns had a chance to participate in different facets of the harvest from cutting to cooking.

Normally many farmees like to wear sandals and shorts, as noticed by our fearless leader D. Cole, but for this day we donned long sleeved shirts, pants, boots, gloves, and hats. Samson, in a mustard yellow western shirt and crumpled cowboy hat looked like a 1920s cowboy straight out of a tintype. Kris Hiew even came by to participate in the fun.

Sorghum is very much like sugar cane, and the processes of harvesting, pressing, and cooking are similar. Tuesday we loaded onto two large wagons pulled by Belgium draft horses and mules. Down in the sorghum fields, Kurt taught us how to strip and cut the canes. We did not actually cut the stalks because they had gotten a bit ahead of themselves the day before. However, we picked up piles of cane by the arm full. These stalks were seven to ten feet tall, monsters. Chewing on an end of the cane produced a sweet snack while working.

Hauling the sorghum from field to drop off, we each took turns driving the team of horses, or mules, navigating tight squeezes, turns, and the occasional passerby.

Wednesday the Homesteaders started pressing by 4:30 am, we Farmers (the non-professional type), slept until chore time, worked a little around the grounds, then headed to the sorghum at 10.

The press is beautiful. Fire Engine Red. Operated by a single work animal walking in circles to turn the cogs. The boys fed cane into the mill, cleaned the mill, hauled the spent canes, and scooped the poop. The girls (minus Jocelyne who could not tear herself away from the magnificent animals) worked with the Homestead women cleaning the copper cooking vat.

From the outside, the Homestead men and women, and even children, look similar to each other in dress and demeanor. It took a while to find a conversation between us Farm women and them Homestead women; we look so different from the outside. Once someone mentioned milking though, the conversation kept steady from dairy goats, dairy cows, small scale livestock, livestock diseases, sewing, cheese making, yogurt making tips, hair braiding ideas, and family background. These women and teenage girls know more about this life than I do, but what little knowledge about a simple or self-sufficient life that we knew, the ice was broken never to be resealed. I don't know how the Farm men fared with the Homestead men, but my respect and like for these families has more than doubled from their hospitality to complete outsiders.

Quote heard more than once..... "I even like sorghum better than molasses." Challenge to you to find and try some. I've heard it is tasty on anything; maybe a biscuit, or toast, or even oatmeal.

Cheers and "gits!"

Melyssa

Whats the Haps

In lieu of story-telling, you might be wondering...."hey what's the haps out there at the farm?"

The nitty-gritty, 411, scoop, or in Nicholas Grant's (Farm CSA intern) words "Haps":

Saturday's farm stand will feature a Melonpalooza. Come out and enjoy farm melon tastings and garden tours.

Last night's movie in the park, hosted by the city of Waco, was slightly thwarted by the heavy rainstorm 2 hours before. Peter and Kristine made a beautiful display of fair trade education, chocolate covered frozen bananas, zucchini brownies, iced coffee, and iced tea (all made with fiar trade and organic products). Since we have many many banana left over, we will be sealing them until Farm Day. So make sure you come.

Next Saturday night will be our first ever Farm Fundraising Dinner. Chris Becker, our chef in waiting, received his stylish chef's jacket today in the mail. Everyone is prepped and still curious about how to be suave and professional. Hopefully we will have picture and an update of the dinner, featuring Wanaka: the bountiful heifer turned beef.

The dairy goat, moms and kids are back out in pasture thanks to the abundance of rain the past week which brought new life into the previously foraged sorghum sudan fields.

Big Mama, the oldest, most ornery goat, turned in her badge a few weeks ago. She made a nice sausage.

About a month and a half ago a friend of the Coles generously donated young Boer goats. Although their horns are a tricky nuisance (they get stuck in the fences everyday), we will enjoy some delicious meat sometime in the future.

A welcome to our first new volunteer in two months. Seth Horton moved from North Carolina; he jumped right in to work Monday morning.


Gracie was quarantined earlier this week, so she has a lonely bleat. Thankfully she gets to join her milking sisters very soon.

A generous businessman in town is leasing-donating a plot of land to the farm to set up an urban garden on Elm Street in Waco. The ground is not broken yet, but we are very excited to move further into the city to bring green things.

The duplex is scheduled to be sheetrocked and drywalled early next week. Hopefully the Coles and Hesses can move in sometime September.

Turkeys are coming in a month or two. Farm talk is already circulating about the hideous facial features of the previous year's turkeys.

Sadly enough, one of the most beloved interns moved away last Saturday to McAllen, Texas where he will be working with John Gardner, a former farmee, gardening at a school and probably doing many other unforeseeable things. We partied and said our goodbyes to Will Summers. The dorm is not the same; neither is the farm. This is how things go here though; people leave, people come, animals leave (slightly a more violent process), animals come (a much more sentimental process), the land changes every day, every season, every year. The constant is in change. Ah, the beautiful irony.

Cheers and shimmies and shakes,

Melyssa


Caption: Will holding the honey frame, surrounded by bees, during the honey harvest.
Photo by: Amanda Becker.

On a dark and most appropriate night to shoot off some fireworks...

A Dud in Darkness

The Bomb and Barley

The Studinka Exporative

Warrior in Fire

CHUNK CHIMING IN

click here for the video

Climatize the Body

Most Texans are well aware right now of the heat. Most Texans, however, choose to escape that heat with air conditioned homes, cold cars, and shopping malls. Here at the farm we work from 9-12:30 then half work after lunch into the evening and the other half seek shelter in the fanned buildings (notice I did not say air-conditioned buildings). Being here, working outside, and not having the luxury of moving in and out of air conditioning my body has become acclimated.

A while ago my friend suggested that I read a book called Better Off, by Eric Brende. It is a recent book about a man and his wife’s journey into the land of the pseudo-amish to try life without modern technology for one year (This man had been studying at MIT previously). I personally loved the book and getting into the thoughts of an educated, modern man leaving modern-day amenities. It also stirred longings for experiencing different adventures with someone else (and so I continued reading about people going on adventures with their significant others-walking across America, traveling the world on nothing, ect) but that is another beast to tackle.

In this book, Eric related a story about working in beginning summer heat. He and his wife repositioned their bed for maximum air flow from the window, sat outside in the evening for the breeze, welcomed sweat as internal conditioners. One two-week period of time they took a driving trip back to civilization to find their next home. When they returned, Eric told how the heat was unbearable to him. He was working with the other men and experienced sever heat sickness, but the other men were hardly affected. In researching why he became so sick, he found information about the body’s ability to acclimate. We know from science that the seasons and temperatures that our immediate environments go through change gradually for the most part. The other men in the area had been working outside in the summer while the heat increased, while Eric was driving around staying in hotels. When he returned, their bodies had adjusted but his had not.

I think about this practically now. The temperatures are ranging from 100 to 106 depending on the day, and time of day. We are sweating inside and outside of buildings. I know it is hot, believe me-it gets me, but my body has had a chance to acclimate over the past two months because I am for the most part without air conditioning (except 7 hours at nighttime from the window unit). However, I can sit in a room that is 95 degrees with minimal air flow and hardly notice it. Even the sweat on my own body is largely unnoticed. It is normal.

Last night, a storm blew in. It sprinkled twice last night, and cloud cover lasted the entire day, and the sky finally dropped a river onto the ground after lunch. I may be used to the heat and sun, but the breeze, rain, and shade have never been so welcomed and a source of relief. The rain must stop though; otherwise, the plants would drown and stop their photosynthesizing.

Metaphorical Analogy: Seasons and times. Dry, hot, scorching, shadow, sunny, cloud, drizzle, humidity, cool breeze, frigid air, sunny, dry, wet, numb cold, warm sun, cool air, hot, dry, humid, scorching, shadow…..each is not an evil in itself. At least not when compared to the everchanging cycle of seasons and times. Instead of thinking of the metaphorical “season” of life as a large chunk of spring-summer-autumn-winter, I am beginning to notice the smaller seasonal moments. How in each season there is hot and cool, dry and wet….each has some difficulty and benefit. The sun makes the plants grow but dries out the ground. The rain feeds the plants but shields their leaves from the sun. The sun and rain exist in every season really.

It’s all about perspective.

“Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect…Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Now I must run off to doctor my spotty poison ivy.

Cheers and itches,

Melyssa