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One word blogging? Is this the gateway drug to twitter? — by Sam Pearson — posted on Sep 09, 2009 10:05 PM — 0 comment(s)

Since I can't maintain a discursive blog of any kind. And my non-virtual notebook has gone AWOL. Welcome to the world of random notes from a mind thinking intermittently of sustainability and the strange balance to be struck between living in the here and now and planning for an uncertain future without looking like you're too far off your rocker.

The Loyalsock Trail Association would love to have your used canning lids.  You're not supposed to use them again.  Their bona fides in our local recycling stream is dubious because of the rubber.  And they're ready to reuse them to create the most lovingly handpainted trail blazes you've ever seen.  Some representatives noted that most of their canned goods are going to some form of pop-top, so their supply is running low.  I think we may have a win-win for all here.

 

We got a fancy new dehydrator.  The biggest problem with it is its size, though.  Combine its footprint with that of all the produce awaiting desiccation and we have a serious space issue.  This will take some logistical planning.  It is supposed to dry much more evenly.  I'm even tempted to try making fruit leather -- which I have no particular interest in eating -- just because we can.  Even yogurt leather bites.  That sounds interesting.  I like the coating on the pretzels or the raisins, but the thing inside not so much.  This could be perfect.

 

These don't look like single words, do they?  But they started out as "canning jar lids" and "dehydrator"...

 

The intractable non-recyclable:  #1 and #6 rigid food containers of all shapes and sizes.  Yes, a limited number of us could donate them to LARA or day-cares for use in craft projects (stalling them briefly on their landfill trajectory), but there's really nothing to be done with them.  In the interests of space, they are now destined for the trash in our household.  We do try to minimize accruing them, but it's tough to entirely avoid them around here.

 

Similarly, there are about eight orders of magnitude more plastic bags than we could ever really use in our lives.  We can wash them and save them, but we'll never actually get around to reusing them as they continue to accumulate ad infinitum.

 

It is possible on the other hand to find yourself with a ready carry-out container in your own bag.  I've been keeping a few crackers in a (compostable) cellophane bag inside a plastic container (for the most part banished from the kitchen these days in favor of glass of all descriptions).  In a pinch, the rest of the burrito can supplant the crackers for a trip to the homestead.  I'm trying to make it as much of a commonplace to carry that as it is to carry my reusable bag(s).  What I really need to do is make sure to tuck a couple cello bags into the container too, to cover any and all take-away opportunities that arise.  They don't survive well floating freely.  But can keep the backpack or shoulder bag from assuming mammoth proportions.

 

Compostable cellophane -- I've surely mentioned them before.  They are really quite handy.  We've been using them for years.  We do have to order them from OR, but we get several cases in a few different sizes periodically and it seems to work out.  We have shared them with other households, but no one else seems to be quite as addicted to them as we are.  We've also been composting them seamlessly from the start of our compost pile two years ago.  I came across them when searching for edible packaging back in 2000.  They seem to be as close as it gets, aside from an apple -- which Hazel doesn't really believe does have an edible wrapper.

 

Speaking of odd things to compost -- Compostable Diapers -- the component system, with its compostable or flushable core behind the gdiaper, really seems to be the way to go.  It takes cradle to cradle design to heart and segments the different material properties needed into different parts of the unit.  Each one can be cycled, washed, wiped, swapped out, composted/flushed, when necessary.  We only tried them on a token basis at the very end of Hazel's brief tenure in diapers, mostly out of curiosity, rather than need.  She was already done.  I don't know whether they have added an adhesive to keep the insert from bunching so badly or sliding around.  You can also just use them as wraps with prefolds or doubler stacks inside.  (If you use cloth, you know what I'm talking about.)  There's another version in the UK and another competitor out of AU, which I think is where gdiapers came from too.  The end conclusion there is that EC (elimination communication) should be some part of the process all the way along and probably we'll all be better off for it, but yay for appropriate technology.  (And then start reconsidering all that flushing going on for the rest of us.)

 

Produce bags -- I'm experimenting with cotton, mesh, nylon, etc produce bags.  The biggest issue seems to be not being able to tell what's inside.  So mesh or the really pale nylon may win out there.  But the cotton really is a superior substance to wrap foodstuffs in.  It does start to look funky, though.  It gets a real patina of what I think are residual mildew stains.

 

People are asking about snack containers.  There are several systems out there, most combining a waterproof material and a fabric.  In that category, I think I prefer the wrap'n mat type that opens fully for easiest cleaning.  But I'm not convinced that the fabric is really doing anything for you other than offending your sensibilities less.  It would probably work fine, better even, if it were just a durable foldable washable piece of polypropylene.  To that end, there are now envelopes for snacks made of just that with a little hook and loop closure.  Those seem to win out in the washability area, not having seams to catch crud and hold moisture.  If you want a fancy pattern, there's a little "device" someone has started marketing (under a name so forgettable I've forgotten it) which essentially consists of a stainless bowl that sits inside a cloth drawstring pouch, with a carabiner for clipping to bags or belts or whatever.  In this case, pull the bowl out and clean.  Throw the bag in the dishwasher.  They sell it in cute patterns, but would probably be just fine to make them out of muslin (or use one of those produce bags I've been stocking up on).

 

Lunchboxes -- the bowl in bag approach is also what I've settled on for the lunchbox dilemma for the time being.  We are too subject to catastrophic spills to stay with anything absorptive.  So I've stuck a plastic container inside the zippered lunchbox, to catch the more deplorable leaks, and still leave room for a variety of strange-shaped contents.  If only they'd stop chewing on the now-discontinued straws that I put their kefir in.  I just can't bring myself to buy the stuff that comes in the IV drip bag format that often.  It is much less energy intensive than single-use bottles, but just can't hold a candle to bulk bottles and resusable single-serving containers (if only the straws were more durable).

 

Durable Straws -- we do actually have several stainless steel straws.  I couldn't resist.  Though the kids don't seem to like them.  There's even a company that makes byos straws from glass.  They have a variety of styles, some kinked, some with anti-roll beads, and a variety of carrying satchels, including a bamboo case.  But obviously, there's no way that's working in a 1st grader's lunchbox.  Especially a first grader who won't drink the stuff unless its anonymously hiding under an opaque lid.  But maybe if you really think a straw is essential, you might indulge in this bizarre artifact of a culture of consumption trying (cluelessly) to put on the brakes.

 

Steve thinks I deprive the kids because I see no point in serving them juice.  I don't drink the stuff myself.  It's mostly empty calories and just cultivates a craving for sweets in them.  Hazel would have an IV drip of juice, if she could.  Ezra is really just happy with oj anyway.  The latest version is that Hazel is drinking fruit tea, which I sweeten with sugar, or agave, or honey.  It winds up tasting like kool-aid.  But there, that must be my anti-juice bias speaking again.  I just don't get the point.  I like a nice smoothie, but that's not a drink, it's a dessert or snack.  I guess it puts us in the same place I find myself with respect to soda.  That's also a dessert.  To be consumed in small quantities, exceptionally, not next to a meal, probably in a nice ambiance (soda-fountain anyone?).  But that's just food-nazi me.

 

Beakers, 250ml, for kid's glasses.  There are slightly heavier duty ones.  We have moved on to regular glass and hang the consequences, but retroactively that might have been a good idea 5 years ago.

 

The latest entries -- refillable dry-erase markers -- from AU.  We already have refillable regular markers, though they are halfway between permanent and washable.  They don't stay in well enough to be used effectively to decorate cloth napkins or t shirts, but they also don't come off of furniture, fingers, or other hapless things in the surround.  The dry-erases seem pretty classy.  They come with everything you need.

 

I was prodded into searching for non-toxic refillable dry erase markers by the new push for dry erase scratch sheets -- as a replacement for note paper, scratch paper, workpads, etc.  Either make your own by laminating a sheet of something.  Or get purpose made ones, complete with preprinted graph lines, the periodic table, or other subject-specific features.

 

Pencil and chalk extenders -- a really low-tech, classic and classy way to green your school supplies.  These extra handles can help you eke out the last centimeter from your stubs, without causing carpal tunnel or provoking fits of frustration.  These are just no brainers.  Where were our brains when we forgot about them for 50 years?

 

I think that's it for now.  If you're lucky, for my next act I will add all the links to help you track these wonderful things down and learn more.

 

Or I'll wax lyrical and unrequited about the Xtracycle -- they're running a great promotion right now which might have been perfect for us two years ago, but will probably just result in me still not getting one (an awesome, efficient, and utilitarian ride which I would take back and forth to the community pool???  good point...) ...

 

And a ps Cast Iron Kitchen Implements -- I've been looking for a good natural version of a ladle or a pasta fork.  We got this coconut shell think with a wood handle, but it seems to have an excellent food debris lurkim underneath the basket-woven handle/bowl attachment.  And all the pasta forks die sad deaths.  So I think I'm going to try to commission a ladle and a pasta fork from the blacksmithy in New Columbia.  We don't use non-stick pans so I don't think that will be a problem.  And we don't tend to leave a ladle sitting in the hot soup, though I think it may be easier to add an insulating sleeve of some kind to a metal handle than to fiddle with the connection down in the business end of the implement.

The Game of Unintended Consequences — by Sam Pearson — posted on Apr 13, 2009 11:16 PM — 0 comment(s)

This is a stream-of-consciousness, but drawn-out-over-a-long-period of attention comment on current movements in regulation and stricture. It's a "real" blog in that it's really messy...

Victory!  Garden on the South Lawn of the White House...

So then it turns out the MACA (Mid America CropLife Association) "shudders" to think that Michelle Obama is planting a garden and not depending on their chemicals to maintain it.  How could she so bald-facedly opt out of the treadmill of unnecessary expenditures upon which our economy is based?

As if that weren't enough, there's the Food Safety Modernization Travesty of HR 875 to keep your eye on, which according to some readings threatens to completely annihilate even neighborhood produce swaps.  In the name of food safety, they want to impose regulations and standards that small operations (like your backyard) can't possibly accommodate.  According to Brian Snyder at PASA, don't panic, though it does not look good for raw dairy in general.

Speaking of raw dairy, there's been a crisis in CT lately over some acute health effects from some tainted dairy.  What's interesting is how they have not been able to draw the parallel between not outlawing the sale of peanuts, or pistachios, or spinach, or scallions and the demonization of raw dairy.  What we need is assurance that best practices are in place and the ability to access safe food, not a ban on anything that has ever harbored a pathogen.

It seems possible that this could wind up being another round of the same game of unintended consequences that had us panicking (supposedly) prematurely over new Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations that would impose intense safety standards on any and all products for sale, even in thrift stores.  The most extreme levels of testing have not come to pass; the second-hand stores still exist, but the next time you try to give away some of your possessions to a charity, the bar may be a little higher -- they aren't taking x or y. 

If only we could believe this will actually help to get them to stop selling the stuff at the Dollar Store.

 

Enough Already — by Sam Pearson — posted on Mar 30, 2009 09:06 PM — 0 comment(s)

Who is first out of the starting gate, economic or ecological meltdown? It all depends on where you start keeping score. In a belated response to all the concerned lawmakers stacking up dollar bills to "make it real" and bring home our out-of-control spending, I propose that they/we would do well to contemplate Chris Jordan's visceral realizations of our material consumption (chrisjordan.com, since the visual editor isn't working) -- sadly quite on par with our spending. I agree, we should be appalled -- and cut the consumption already. Too bad their concern for our spendthrift ways only boils over when it's spelled out in dollars rather than externalized in raw resource depletion -- they don't mind leaving their children and grandchildren an extreme deficit in terms of natural capital -- soil, water, air, toxin sinks all over-drawn irreparably. Nah, it's just the dollar signs that get them...

Local Action Calendar 20080908 — by Sam Pearson — posted on Sep 08, 2008 11:47 PM — 0 comment(s)

Time to start logging this stuff the "right" way, rather than letting it languish evermore in my email archives.

LOCAL ACTION CALENDAR RESUMES

The Montessori nature school in New Berlin has started up for the year.  My preschooler is duly and oh so happily ensconced.  And so the summer hiatus has come to a close.  There are a number of fall events coming up, including the 3rd Annual Susquehanna River Symposium at BU this Friday and Saturday.  Some have made the calendar already and others have yet to be posted, but moving forward there will once again be more regular Local Action Calendar Updates to keep you abreast of such news. 

For now LAN monthly meetings will be less of a focus, with programs happening at a variety of times and in various locations under the aegis of LARA or Bucknell or Slow Food or SEDA-COG.  There will still be time for monthly get togethers, just less in the way of organized programs.  It's time to resurrect the business meeting, in fact.  If you have projects or ideas or just want to talk over the state of the ecosphere, those late evening 3rd Mondays will be for you:  8:30pm at St. Paul's United Methodist Church on S. 4th St in Lewisburg.

There is one event that we are really working to get the word out about now and that is Rev. Richard Cizik's lecture on creation care coming up on Thursday, October 16, at 7pm at the Forum in the Langone Center.  There is a broad coalition of sponsors making this appearance possible.  For those not familiar with Cizik, he was named as one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential" people of 2008.  He is a formidable force within the ranks of organized religion, specifically evangelicals, in the United States and since 2000, he has been working to bring the issue of climate change into focus for people of faith.  We are working on inviting every church in the area, both pastors and entire congregations, and hoping to get a good turnout for what should be an interesting evening.


LIFESTYLES OF THE WASTE REDUCERS:  SUMMER BACKLOG

Union County is cracking down on improper recycling these days.  The persecution of those who actually try to participate in the voluntary program (as opposed to those who just discard plastic, glass and cans willy nilly with their trash) is giving some people a complex.  But to ease your mind, HandUp Recycling in Milton takes ANY paper, including junk mail, envelopes, whatever.  They also take chipboard (most of that packaging you find filling your waste bin).  They even take things like aerosol cans, like for shaving cream.  Don't make a special trip to Milton just to visit them, but if you're heading that way anyway during the day, bring it all on by.  So even if your efforts to enlist catalogchoice to empty out your mailbox are falling behind, you still have recourse.

Maybe worms don't eat the refuse from your house that HandUp won't take.  But they could.  And you think about it some.  And you've looked at the Worms Eat My Garbage book and you still aren't quite sure...  Would you like some worms to borrow.  We have access to a nicely established colony of the requisite red wrigglers in a bin and ready to go.  Their regular humans are on sabbatical and they are available on a trial basis for people to see what it's like, think about what size bin their household would really need, and decide whether having such a nexus of activity in the garage or basement seems ok or too scary for words.  They are not demanding.  They like to be fed, kept moist, and stay in the dark.  They can't be allowed to freeze.  Call me if you'd like to try them out for 2 to 4 weeks.

You're getting really good at remembering to bring your nifty cloth bags to the store and to the market, but then you get home and find them full of smaller plastic bags.  What you need are smart, small reusable produce bags.  There are may options.  Here's one source for some made from rip stop nylon in a wide range of sizes.  And here's another that carries a muslin version.  They aren't see through so the vegetable bin takes on a different look and air of mystery, but it's such a relief...

Or maybe you have reduced the plastic bags so effectively that you don't have any left.  What's a person in search of a bag to do?  Well, call the Local Action Network supply line (i.e. email me).  We may have just the compostable bag for you.  We have a selection of cellophane bags usefull for snacks and sandwiches that will just disappear in your compost bin given the chance.  And another set of corn starch kitchen garbage bags that promise to disintegrate fully one they get to the landfill.  Check in and we'll see if we can't set you up with something or the other (like toothbruses with replaceable heads, if the bags aren't doing it for you, or chlorine free, recycled paper products, for when you just can't use cloth).

Yet another carpooling facilitator has crossed our line of sight.  This one, called GoLoco, looks like it builds more on social networking sites like Facebook or My Space to provide transportation communication in real time for the trips you really need to or want to make.  It's less subset focused (work, kid chauffeuring) and could be the most flexible yet.

You ditched the bottled water but you still want it filtered, but buying the filters over and over -- and throwing them out -- is kind of getting to you (especially since they are recycled by the company in Europe).  Here's an interesting site that tells you how to refill the filter.  There are some drawbacks.  You don't have access to the components that keep the ichor from growing in short order all over your massively huge surface area filter media or those that bind heavy metals.  So it all winds up begging the question why it's not recycled by the manufacturer here.  Since they can even reprocess the activated carbon and recycle it...

Send more goodies (information, not stuff) and I'll pass it along.

All for now,
Sam

Rain Barrel Bulk Order Project — by Sam Pearson — posted on May 01, 2008 08:33 PM — 1 comment(s)

Save water, save your garden, save some money... What's not to like?

The Local Action Network is working on assembling a bulk order of rain barrels in order to significantly increase the number of rain barrels in use in the area and raise the profile of this time-honored system of environmental husbandry.  Rain barrels are a good way of tapping into a free local resource, in this case, rainfall, allowing it to be used as needed, particularly for gardening.  They can cut individuals' water bills, reduce stress on the water supply during drought periods, provide for a handy water source on parts of a property without water lines in place, and, if properly used, reduce water in basements.  At a community level, they can help create a climate of responsible environmental stewardship and reduce "first flush," or the removal of contaminants from paved surfaces which sends them directly into waterways as part of surface runoff.  At a large scale, they, or any strategy for extensive water harvesting (green roofs, porous pavement, tree-planting programs, built-in cisterns) could theoretically even help cut back on flooding.  They are an essential part of permaculture principles -- waste nothing -- and a way of reestablishing the characteristics of the ecosystem once prevalent throughout Penn's Woods.  In our former forests, perhaps 2 or 3% of rain moved across the land as surface run-off, the rest was taken up by the plants, soaked up by the soil, and transmitted underground and through authentic watertable-connected streams.  Today, Pennsylvania has run-off quotients more in the range of 60-100% of rain water running off over the surface, with the consequent flooding, water quality impacts, and stream erosion and deposition problems.  For further information see http://rainbarrelguide.com.

If you, as a Central Susquehanna Valley resident, would like one or more of these miraculous rain barrels, your current options include,
 

• building your own, which has certain drawbacks, including ease of cleaning for the finished product and aesthetics/curb appeal;
• purchasing a premade one from a local store, which limits you to expensive, mostly ornamental models which don't hold all that much water to begin with; or
• buying one online, in which case you get your choice of features, but have to pay high retail prices and substantial shipping.

As an alternative, the Local Action Network has found a medium range barrel, with high capacity, basic aesthetic appeal (available unpainted black, or painted brown, grey, or bright green), recycled content and critical functional features like removable top for cleaning and effective screens to prevent mosquito nesting.  We have made arrangements to obtain a shipment of 100 barrels to our area at cost (~$48) plus shipping ($8/barrel, subject to confirmation since it’s an old quote and as we all know fuel prices are up).  They are made by the Great American Rain Barrel Company (www.tgarb.com), which also imports foods like olives and capers and recycles the shipping barrels in this way.  Typically, to buy a rain barrel, of this design or most others, it would cost over $200.  Even to build your own typically costs between $30 and $50, so this arrangement seems to make a lot of sense.

Once you have a barrel of any sort in hand there are some additional expenses associated with installation.  These can include labor, one or several diverters from your downspouts, or additional connectors should you want to attach several barrels in series, as well as other basics like firm footing, possible tie-backs, cutting downspouts, etc.

On the basis of an informal marketing effort to date, we have so far managed to reach a total order of between 70 and 80 barrels (subject to confirmation).  One of the barriers we've found is that people have a hard time visualizing what we're suggesting.  So now we’re offering a sample barrel, workshops for master gardeners, and links to images online (also available in brown, grey or unpainted black).

How many do you need?  That depends on your house, yard, current gutter/downspout arrangement and need/interest in free water for your garden.  A safe answer is at least one to get into the swing of things.  To assess how much water you are likely to get from the roof areas you have in mind, check for volume calculation guidelines at http://rainbarrelguide.com.

Once we reach the bulk order cutoff, we will contact everyone on the list and reconfirm their interest; order will not be placed until payment has been received from all parties.  Delivery will take 4 to 6 weeks from time of order.  We hope to receive delivery in the Lewisburg area and may also have a Columbia County dropoff.

Mountaintop Removal Mining — by Sam Pearson — posted on Feb 22, 2008 10:42 PM — 0 comment(s)

Preface to I Love Mountains presentation on Sunday, February 24. Ideally there will be a part two after the fact and we can see what I will have gleaned...

Given rapidly rising energy costs, imminent threats to national security caused by energy dependence, and increasing awareness of the limits and inaccessibility of world oil reserves, it may seem rational and even sensible to direct our energy economy more aggressively toward domestic coal supplies.  There are those who champion the continued and expanded use of this venerable form of fossil fuel at any cost, but it's good to get a sense of what the costs actually are. 

Beyond global climate implications, the impact on human health, local economies, water quality, and environmental integrity are only bearable when never actually considered.  This willful ignorance is a luxury we may be able to enjoy at a distance – for now.  But buying into the energy-at-any-cost strategy will eventually have dire consequences right here in Pennsylvania.  We, too, have coal.  It’s hard to get to on the massive scale that would be required, but not harder than wresting oil from tar sands or from wells sited in hostile territory. 

Come learn about the consequences of our energy habits on the people of West Virginia and consider how vulnerable we are.  Current and proposed policies (carbon caps, sequestration, and cap-and-trade systems) only address the problems at the top of the smokestack; what about the rest of the dirty process?  On Sunday, February 24th, at 2pm, at the Senior Center in Lewisburg (116 N 2nd St), the Otzinachson Group of the Sierra Club will sponsor a program called "Horrors of Mountaintop Removal Mining," given by Barbara Strangfeld, a representative of the West Virginia-based I Love Mountains.

It’s clearly time for serious conservation and efficiency efforts and a reform of our power system.  Let’s start thinking ahead by seeing clearly what we’ve already left in our wake.

Our Energy Habit -- Putting It into Perspective — by Sam Pearson — posted on Jan 02, 2008 02:30 PM — 0 comment(s)

How many energy slaves do you keep busy on a daily basis? You may be surprised at the number.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 
Yes, and…?  What does that have to do with me? 
In this moment in history, everything. 

Consider that a barrel of oil can produce as much work as 20 men working for a year.  And that we in the US consume on average the equivalent of 5 barrels of oil per year per capita (those are oil equivalents for our total energy consumption, including coal, nuclear and alt fuels).  It’s as if we all unwittingly enjoyed the services of a small army in order to conduct our lives in the manner to which we have become accustomed.  We are a nation of Louis XIV’s, mincing about in an absurdly grandiose fashion – a nation of Rois Soleil, enjoying our supposed energy birthright.  For that matter, even an impoverished Bangladeshi commands a crew of 1 or 2 full-time to accomplish his yearly share of life in the world economy.

When I first did the math, I came up with 60 energy slaves each, but then I discovered that they were all Lance Armstrong, so I used a different output in the denominator and came up with a nice round 100 per person.  So my household of four includes an additional ghostly contingent of 400, none of them with any food, shelter or energy needs themselves.

We are accustomed to speaking in energy absurdities – for example, of the imaginary/invisible hundreds of horses under the hoods of our private vehicles.  It’s a useful thought experiment to try to envision your driveway and garage or the roads you travel daily to work clogged with those one to four hundred equines per car.  And that’s just our transportation habit.

Duane Griffin, Professor of Geography from Bucknell, has calculated current US consumption patterns using NASA figures for assessing human needs in space.  Our daily lives entail a thousand-fold increase in both inputs and out flows over those of man “in a state of nature.”  A return to noble savagery is unlikely to be high on anyone’s list of personal aspirations – but how can we achieve a life in balance with our sense of ourselves and the capacity of the planet?  Part of the answer is “it depends.”  It depends where you are; it depends how much of the planet buys into the transformation at once; it depends on when we get around to downshifting…

It’s this invisible army of energy slaves, this extravagantly spendthrift mode of existence we enjoy, that make alternative energy sources unviable.  Of course alternatives can’t replace oil and coal at our current level of consumption.  Our energy demand is skewed and wildly out of scale to the needs and means of the planet.  Our current solar income is miniscule compared to the rate at which we are vaporizing the accumulated solar wealth of eons in the form of fossil fuels.  It’s also why it’s so difficult to conceive of a more reasonable way.  It’s hard to correct for miscalculations off by several orders of magnitude.  And yet, we need to, in one fell swoop, transform our technology, re-envision our way of life, and, somehow, preserve our economy.

How can we go from a world of energy inflation to one of wise use (to borrow a term from the energy barons’ lexicon)?  Oh, oh, I know, we could use coal, which is basically the same thing as oil in a slightly different physical form.  But coal is the crack cocaine of our oft-touted energy addiction.  It won’t really solve any of our problems and is ultimately an even more destructive habit (just ask Appalachia).  But it does give a glimpse of the lengths we will go to as a society to feed our need for battery-operated cat food dispensers, 10-minute marinaters, 50-mile commutes, 6,000 mile plane rides, and salad shipped year-round from CA.

Some cultures refer to oil as “el sangre del diablo” – the devil’s blood.  This certainly fits with the absolute corruptions such casual access to power has engendered.  I’m not certain there’s a moral argument to be made.  It seems indecent to me, to consume at a rate so out of proportion to the carrying capacity of the planet – but that’s true of us in any number of areas – we use more synthetic chemicals than the earth can process and neutralize, we use more heavy metals and other toxins than we can keep the biota secure from, we generate more waste than anyone knows what to do with, and we go through fresh water as if it were free.  We’re not creating a culture that the planet could continue to support for future generations – that shows both lack of foresight and outright stupidity.  It’s also venal to steal from those not yet born.  To me it’s downright immoral but others have a different set of terminology for that discussion.   Conservatives are having a field day mocking the religious overtones of Al Gore’s message, so perhaps I should just leave morality to the side.

(Oh, and by the way, trash is not the solution to our energy woes.  Yes, we could extract large amounts of energy and raw materials from what we currently discard – even easily if we designed for it, but it would still be a cycle of net energy loss – the energy used in manufacture, infrastructure, transportation and use we spend irretrievably.  The object itself could be more efficient, but it’s ultimately of minor significance in the overall energy picture.  Far better to wring out the efficiencies earlier in the process.)

So what next?

Well, when you’ve been living beyond your means financially and it’s time to pay the piper, you don’t just carry on, you stop spending money you don’t have.  I might recommend we imagine stopping spending energy beyond our current income.  Unimaginable you say?  Well, time to start imagining.

It’s also time to wean ourselves off the energy industry.  They live by the creed that says you can make more money selling a man fish than teaching him to fish.  They are absolutely right, but it’s not a very effective way to secure a food supply.  It’s time to learn to fish.  If we can succeed in “feeding ourselves for life,” instead of staying in thrall to industries perversely incentivized to sell us more rather than less, we will be able to make sensible decisions about fuel sources (nuclear is only a part of the solution, if you feel those 100 energy slave actually belong to you; it, too, is finite, i.e. subject to peak, not to mention poisonous), transmission patterns (which are currently mindlessly wasteful), and consumption profiles (who says you have to actively heat buildings?  Only those who don’t bother to design the buildings to maintain acceptable temperatures year-round).

There are low-energy alternatives across the board to the wasteful way we currently do all sorts of critical things:  obtain clean water and handle our wastes, provide basic medicine, travel nationally and internationally and communicate globally.  (For the curious, rain harvesting, aquifer husbandry, and living machines; preventative neighborhood medical care and real food; blimps and canals; low-energy dispersed communication webs like the XO laptop.)  None of those is likely to be realized if we keep chipping away at the energy issue from our current angle.  And none is ever likely to be realized if we sleepwalk into the energy-constrained future without making provisions, indeed, triaging, for it now.  Wouldn't it be better to go cold-turkey on consumer culture, instead of modern medicine?

Bottled Water: What's the big deal? — by Sam Pearson — posted on Dec 01, 2007 09:06 PM — 0 comment(s)

The long-awaited part one of the discussion of beverage containers. Part two will include the full rundown on each of the different numbers. I know, you can't wait.

When it comes to bottled water, it’s not just the failure to recycle that’s the problem (90% of the bottles end up in landfills).  Even the outrage over being sold astronomically marked up tap-water is easy enough to convey:  “we’re being robbed!”  But we tend to forget about the amount of resources being squandered by the entire process of bottling and selling what is readily available.  These are resources that would still be squandered even if every bottle were recycled. 

Specifically, to make, fill, store and transport bottled water, we use an amount of energy approximately equivalent to filling each bottle 1/4 full of crude oil.  If we recycle, we reduce the amount of oil that is used to create the plastic itself, but we still pay to have it shredded and reconstituted, filled, (often chilled), and shipped to us.  Water from the tap also has an energy footprint, but it’s a miniscule fraction of that. 

And beyond energy use, there’s also the excess water use.  The rule of thumb is that making the bottle (whether from scratch or recycled) uses 3 to 5 times the amount of water contained in it (some studies and circumstances send that number up near 7).  So imagine, filling and dumping the bottle, say, four times, for each full bottle you drink.

While we're listing the evils of bottled water, we can add the threat of privatization of the world's common water resource, whereby corporations appropriate a readily available public good, cut the public off from it, and then extort profits for the use of the formerly available substance.

So it’s bad for the world and bad for our communities, how about personal health?  For now the jury remains out on whether the antimony in the plastic leaches into the contents enough to endanger the consumer.  Having watched the back and forth on the health effects of polycarbonate for the past decade and seen it finally decided against the plastic this past August (turns out it leaches endocrine disruptors), I’m inclined toward the precautionary principle – avoid until proven safe.  The bottling companies already put expiration dates on mainly to guard against any excessive leaching over time or at least any legal liability in the event.  They also recommend against reuse, the bottles are hard to clean and can harbor bacteria, plus, when the material is stressed by repeated use, damage or heat (like inside the trunk of a car), it might start to leach more…

In the end, it's hard to find a single reason why we should ever be drinking bottled water.  Other than the manufactured need, created by marketers.

What’s the alternative?  Not a bottle of soda of course, but a refillable bottle that you take with you, filling with tap-water or your beverage of choice.  Get a stainless container or a safe plastic container (#2, #4 or #5) or an aluminum container if it has a food-safe coating (these may also be suspect however).  If no children are involved, consider glass.  Carry a small one with you that you can refill as you need and keep larger ones available for refills where you used to stash the case of bottles (e.g. in the trunk of the car).  If you’re concerned about what comes out the tap, please know that tap water, which is regulated by the EPA, has far more stringent requirements for purity than the bottled stuff.  Some bottled is clean, but how can you tell whether the bottle you just purchased is part of the 60% ok water or the 40% nasty stuff?   Use a filter if you must.  In fact, if the tap water seems like such a threat, realize that you get more exposure by bathing in it than drinking it, go ahead and filter the entire domestic water supply coming into your house.

Special topic:  What if you have a serious seltzer habit?  There are alternatives for that too.  Remember those cool soda siphons the Marx Brothers used to squirt each other with?  They still exist.  They’re also a great way to turn local products like Tait Farms Shrub into a tasty fountain drink.  There are a few current brands, including Isi and Kayser.  (They do involve the use of disposable CO2 cartridges, so go easy on that too, if you can.)

"Slow Food"??? What on earth is that? — by Sam Pearson — posted on Nov 05, 2007 09:38 PM — 2 comment(s)

I get it, slow food is the opposite of fast food, but really, if there's an international organization devoted to it, what does it really mean and how does it relate to local-everything?

A small but growing group is looking to start up a local Slow Food convivium in the Lewisburg/Selinsgrove/Williamsport area. Slow Food, a non-profit educational organization, works to support and celebrate food traditions, both local and from around the world. Slow Food's goal is to build food systems that are, in essence, "good, clean and fair," by emphasizing principles such as supporting food of high quality and taste, striving for environmental sustainability, and promoting social justice.

Slow Food's mission, in promoting a sustainable food system, focuses on the kitchen and the table, on the social aspects of food and eating. Think of it as a personal approach, centered on friendly, social gatherings, using the appeal of food, carefully prepared and thoughtfully enjoyed, to help us to better consider the impact of our food choices and the value of our food traditions. This isn't limited to concerns over the state of our agricultural system today, but also encompasses efforts to support food crafts and traditions, such as microbreweries and farmhouse cheeses, and work to protect the biodiversity on our farms and in our wild places. Food, after all, isn't simply nutrition, but serves as a means for social and cultural connection.

As an organization, Slow Food operates on several levels, from the large Slow Food International and Slow Food USA to local chapters, called "convivia." Each convivium works to develop its own activities, to put the energy and efforts of its members into the areas they find most interesting, most important, most educational. Events can range from visits to local farms, to food and beverage tastings, to cooking classes, to potluck dinners, to working with groups like PASA or local schools to make a difference for everyone's benefit. You can be as involved as you choose to be.

Above all, we strive to be inclusive. Food is a common thread that connects all of us. We each have traditions of place, and of family, that provide us with a sense of context. Whether a lifelong resident of central Pennsylvania, or a transplant from around the country or the world, everyone has something to offer the rest of us. Our family food traditions and all valid, worth keeping, exploring, and sharing with others.

For those who may be interested in joining, please visit http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ for more information, or feel free to send me an email at garthwaite.brian@gmail.com.

Currently, the hope is to bring a group together for a kickoff meeting in mid-January 2008; please send an email if you would like more details as the plan develops; I encourage anyone who would like to help organize this initial event to contact me.

Until then, I hope you all enjoy the cooling weather and the opportunity to let the oven warm the house and fill it with the enticing aromas of fall.

Best regards,
Brian Garthwaite

 

PS  [We asked for more information and this is what Brian offered (should I have put this in as a comment?):]

I think that Slow Food can really be whatever the members want it to be.  There are a few basic kinds of meeting that I'd like to see, though it's not limited just to these:

 

 - Potluck get-togethers - For more informal meetings, especially early on when the group is just beginning to get organized, or for smaller planning meetings that may not be of interest to the entire convivium. It could be as simple as potluck at someone's house, or as big as a holiday cookie swap for everyone.

 

 - Producer visits - A combination of tour and tasting, be it at a local farm, winery, brewery, cheesemaker, etc. Personally, this is what I'd like to focus my energies on, because it's of most interest to me.

 

 - Group dinners - Rather than potluck, have a meal at a restaurant, farm, or even a member's home. This would likely be a chance to spotlight one or several key elements, be it seasonal ingredients, a special cooking style, or something else of specific interest.

 

 - Cooking classes - Assuming that we could find a good place for it, these would allow one member to teach the rest how to cook or prepare something, whether it be an old family recipe or how to can a garden's worth of tomatoes.

 

There would be at least one meeting open to the public every year, and we could tie activities into the growers' market whenever possible. With luck, there'll be meetings every month or every other month, with room for an educational presentation or discussion each time.

Union County Comp Plan Talking Points — by Sam Pearson — posted on Oct 29, 2007 12:13 AM — 1 comment(s)

How to make Union County more sustainable and more locally self-sufficient. Where to begin...

The Union County Comprehensive Plan is in its fact-gathering stage.  That means it needs all of us to speak up and help guide it.  So it's time to gather our thoughts.  If you want to put in a good word for a sustainable future built on principles of relocalization, here are a few possible angles to take.  You don't have to hit them all of course.  Just keep them in mind.

OVERVIEW:  Sustainability and Relocalization. 

Union County should be moving toward sustainability every chance it gets.  That means, as a community, we should be looking to optimize our ability to meet our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to also meet their own needs.  This is good for our health, our economic outlook, and our local resources.  A strong, liveable, local community will be built on a viable local food system, a truly local business network or economy, and a locally-scaled, locally-determined, locally-controlled arrangement for local power production and use.

ENERGY:  Planning Now for Uncertain Times

Fuel uncertainty and the sure knowledge of rising costs suggest careful planning now to take into consideration the community's exposure to risk.  Both at the county level and in terms of providing direction and guidance to the municipalities, it's time to implement assessment teams to look at the security of water, food, emergency services and basic municipal functions in light of rising energy costs.  These costs will be borne by everyone in multiple ways, both from direct expenses as well as rising tax burdens (for school or municipality expenses) and indirect risks (to the continuing provision of clean water, waste collection and waste water treatment).  Beyond these fundamentals, the county should guide the community to think of ways to minimize its dependence on problematic fuel sources to secure its food supply and local business vitality.  Along these lines, the I-80 toll issue should be an opportunity to rethink basic business models and market-sheds.

 

TRANSPORTATION:  New Options for the Future. 

Transportation in Union County currently means driving, with minor exceptions.  It's time for that to change.  Can the plan encourage, if not shape, a future with many different viable transportation options for the County, from walking to biking to carpooling to mini-transit?  It's time to stop building anything that is only accessible by car and start retrofitting our existing neighborhoods and communities for safe, convenient, practical, and fun walking and biking.  A rail trail would be a fantastic showcase feature and recreation/exercise focus, but beyond that we need a secure network that lets daily life be carried on safely without a car.  "Transit-Oriented Development" may not be possible at the current or projected density of the county, but multi-modal options, workable alternatives to single-occupant motor vehicles, are.  The best, cheapest and most sensible response to the cost of building and maintaining road infrastructure is to increase sustainable transportation and decrease standard traffic.

LAND USE:  Stop Sprawl and Build Smart. 

We need to maintain the rural character of our county through ag preservation and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.  We need to reinforce our core communities and make sure they remain viable and functional places to live, providing a full range of services and functions for residents as well as visitors.  Orienting toward highway strip development is a self-fulfilling prophecy with known bad consequences.  Let's build on our strengths instead.  Don't orient to Route 15 or Route 45, orient to our towns, our farmland and our wilds.  Mixed use, mixed income, pedestrian-scaled communities are part of our past and are the key to our future.  Rural and wild parts of the landscape are integral to the success of walkable towns.  A functional agricultural and ecologically diverse and restorative landscape is not compatible with large-lot, dispersed single-family development.  Where additional housing is needed outside the core communties, cluster development, preserving open space, greenways, wildlife corridors and valuable ecologies like forest and wetlands and maintaining non-car connections to the larger community, is essential.  Rural farmland should be preserved from development and the feasibility of farming as a full-time pursuit should be bolstered at every opportunity, through the encouragement of sustainable agriculture niche marketing, community supported agriculture (CSA) operations, and support for the creation of local farm/market links.

RESOURCES/ENVIRONMENT:  Saving the Environment Means Saving Ourselves. 

Our forests, watersheds, and energy resources have been largely misused in the past.  We should reorient to understand how the community benefits financially, health-wise and ecologically from healthy environmental systems.  We should be looking to husband these resources rather than selling them to the highest bidder or undercutting them through neglect, especially since we end up paying the price with compromised water supplies, ever more flood prone communities, and fuel and food insecurity in the midst of the potential for plenty.  Sustainable forest management, aggressive watershed restoration and a sensible policy on renewable agricultural energy sources are all interrelated.  Sustainable agriculture and innovative water treatment and bioremediation can also contribute in this area, as can public education on the benefits of conservation, efficiency and waste reduction (solid and otherwise).

ECONOMY:  It's the Local Economy, Stupid. 

Local business should not mean business at any cost.  It should mean a building block of a local, liveable economy.  In other words, Union County would be made stronger with more businesses serving local needs, rather than expecting to attract storage/transfer or micro-market opportunism from outside. 

KEYS TO IMPLEMENTATION:

Education/outreach, and high-impact, low-effort flagship projects.

GRAB BAG TOPICS:

Green building is good for the local economy (building local expertise and capacity), good for the environment (using resources wisely), and good for residents (both in their physical and fiscal health).  Anything the county can do to promote it will also promote historic preservation, town revitalization, and rural character.

Making long-range planning and local self-determination part of the ongoing practice of the community can empower residents and provide answers to tricky problems (like teen disengagement or neighborhood maintenance issues or filling the need for non-commercial public space).

 

 

Once you're got your favorite issues lined up, you can send them in by snail mail, or online, or in person at one of the public fora.  The public forum may not work for your schedule, but if it does, please also consider that it's a good way to get ideas about sustainability into view for others who may attend.  So you'll be saying your piece and doing a bit of education/outreach at the same time.

Let's Look on the Bright Side — by Sam Pearson — posted on Oct 25, 2007 02:31 PM — 0 comment(s)

This is a reprint of an email from early in the End of Suburbia showings/creation of Local Action period. It continues to be relevant, so I'm posting it here for general access.

Ok, for all those really feeling hopeless about peak oil, etc, it has finally come home to me exactly how depressing you are finding The End of Suburbia.  Please let me emphasize that there are more optimistic takes that still encompass the same message of a need for drastic change in the overall amount of energy and resources we consume.  I don't know whether it is something in my own mental make-up or the fact that I have training as a designer, but where a lot of people see a recipe for hopelessness, I see lots of things that need to be changed significantly, starting now, and want to know when we plan to get going on it.

To help with your own re-visioning of the future, please consider seeing "The Power of Community:  How Cuba Survived Peak Oil," or reading Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach or Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson.  The former is a documentary, the last two are speculative fiction, but all are equally informative about the possibilities for a green and bright future.

The problem lies in continuing business as usual and pursuing alternative technologies with the idea that they might allow us to continue business as usual.  We should not be leaping into personal internal combustion vehicles several times a day; we shouldn't have to and we shouldn't expect to.  We shouldn't be transporting most of what we consume half-way around the world from where it was made; again, we shouldn't have to or expect to.  We shouldn't be generating and using power at such a profligate rate that we don't even notice when we've poured a kilowatt down the drain or lost it to inefficient distribution... 

However, there is hope.  IF we both drastically change the way we have structured our lives, economies, communities, etc, AND we make significant investments in a wide range of new energy technologies, we can come out of all this stronger, healthier and saner.  The gloom and doom only holds if we keep being obsessed with using energy literally as if there were no tomorrow (thereby ensuring that there won't be).

If we start thinking along different lines, within a different paradigm, the future actually looks rosy.  Imagine: local energy production across a wide portfolio of technologies that are locally appropriate, healthy local economies that produce most of local needs, rationally organized development patterns that encourage community and minimize energy waste, solid and modest housing that uses little to no fuel for heating, using scarce resources like water and fuel for life  rather than frivolous and pointless things, etc. 

How to get from here to there?  That's where you all come in.  Each of us can (and should) make some small incremental changes, but we need to work as a community and eventually as a force within our larger surroundings to educate people about what kinds of changes are most productive, effective, efficient, worthwhile, and fun.

We will all have opportunities to learn more about sustainability and our own potential in the coming months, through programs this group will offer like the Northwest Earth Institute discussion course on sustainability and Environmental Action Teams.  There will also be a public showing of The Power of Community in late August/early September.

In the meantime, another title to be recommended is The consumer's guide to effective environmental choices : practical advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists by Michael Brower.   It provides useful and strategic prioritization for where to focus our personal energy for environmental change -- rather than getting bogged down in hopelessness.  There is a copy of this in the BU library and LAN has donated another to the Public Library for Union County.

Cheerily,
Sam Pearson

Local Ice Cream and the Dairy CSA — by Sam Pearson — posted on Oct 23, 2007 10:27 PM — 1 comment(s)

We need to drum up enough interest in the raw dairy CSA to allow me to get local ice cream.

It's time to try out the blog option and what better place to start than with ice cream?  You see, I'm rather partial to the stuff, but my latest bit of local food mania has taken the form of swearing off non-local ice cream.  This is really cutting into my ice cream consumption, which is typically substantial.  So now I'm looking for help to reinstate tubs of the yummy cold stuff in my freezer.  Specifically, we need to get enough people signed on to restart the Dairy CSA.  The CSA is another version of "community supported agriculture," though different from the garden-variety summertime produce type.  In this case, it's a year-round contract one arranges with a local producer to provide dairy goods on a weekly basis.  We have in the past had a slice of a Dairy CSA from Spring Bank Acres north of Millheim in Rebersberg.  Raymond Fischer is a Mennonite farmer who runs a dairy there.  He was kind enough to attend our Know Your Farmer Know Your Food event last month, which gave me an opportunity to grill him about all sorts of stuff.  To wit:

Will raw milk kill me?

Mine won't, but don't ask me about anyone else's operation.  The pasteurization process was a boon when it was introduced many years ago, but we have the technology that allows us to produce clean and healthy milk without resorting to sterilizing it.  We sterilize our production facilities, not our product.  In fact, it's more to the point to ask whether pasteurized milk might kill you.  In CA, for example, where it's been legal to buy and sell raw milk in stores for several decades, there have been no incidents of illness arising from tainted raw milk, but in the same period there have been repeated serious and even fatal outbreaks of illness stemming from consumption of pasteurized milk.

Illegal milk, huh?

It is currently legal to buy raw dairy products in 38 states.  It is illegal in the rest.  In the ones that do allow it, there is a wide range of degree of availability.  As mentioned, in CA, you can buy it in the grocery store.  In PA, by contrast, raw milk can only be sold in small quantities from the farmer or through small-scale stores and other raw dairy products are not available direct-to-consumer for the most part.  However, it is legal to establish an ongoing business relationship with a dairy and contract for the making of the product, whether cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, etc.

Why would I want to drink raw milk?

It's a lot better for you in the same way that breastmilk is best for babies.  For those unfamiliar with the miraculous properties of breastmilk, it contains all sorts of enzymes, healthy bacteria and fragile fatty acids.  It is less prone to spoilage than processed milk.  However, those who breastfeed are cautioned not to heat it above body temperature.  Why?  Because doing so destroys many of the most valuable components of the milk.  The same is true for cow's milk.  Raw it still has all sorts of healthy components which get destroyed by the heating for pasteurization.

What about the cream on top, it's not homogenized either?

Homogenization is also a likely health detriment in standard milk.  The globules of fat are broken down to a tiny size and placed in suspension in the rest of the fluid.  Those tiny globules are apparently far more likely to clog your circulatory system.

It's still got cholesterol, right?

Glad you asked.  It does, but since our cows are grass-fed, rather than grain-fed, it has a higher proportion of good cholesterol to bad than standard grain-fed milk.  In fact, it also has ultra-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  We are so convinced of the health-giving properties of our milk that we drink it whole and we encourage you to drink it too.  Though, if you insist, we can also supply you with skim milk, if we must.

So how much fat is in the milk?

However much comes out of the cows.  The milk you buy at the grocery store is a highly processed and reconstituted product.  In addition to the superheating and the serious agitation, the contents are first separated and then reassembled in very precise proportions, exactly matching the minimum legal requirement for the grade specificed, e.g. whole milk, or 4% milkfat milk actually has about 3.5% fat; lowfat, or 2% milkfat milk actually has about 1.8% fat; and skim does have a small amount.  Our cows are not so regulated.  At different times in their milk-producing cycle, they produce milk of different fat contents (also familiar to those who are acquainted with breastfeeding) and at different times of year it can vary as well, given changes in their diet (fresh grass in summer versus stored fodder in winter).  As a result, the fat content in the milk varies from about 4.5% to 5.8%, substantially higher than storebought.  Our cream products also vary a bit, but it's a natural variation, not a market-driven one.

So if your milk isn't subject to these regulations, is it regulated at all?

Yes, the PA Department of Agriculture certifies and inspects raw dairy facilities and products.  We welcome the regulation and are glad to have our cleanliness and quality vouched for.  Again, as with the origins of pasteurization, the regulation of milk products was a highly desirable innovation.  At one time, before the milkfat content was regulated, it was a game to extract the high value cream for other uses but still get the remaining milk to taste as creamy as possible.  There are documented cases of all sorts of additives, including powdered dandelion and sheep brains being used to doctor the consistency of the skim milk.  Clearly, if that sort of thing was going on (as with the mystery ingredients we're hearing about in products from China, or in animal feed), some kind of regulation was in order.

How about hormones?

Only the ones that the cow's produce themselves.  We don't administer rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) to quadruple the milk production and make the cow's sick, short-lived, and miserable.  We go with their natural production rate and patterns.  Of course it's up to you whether you feel that that's a benefit for you or not, since the industrial milk lobby has prohibited advertising our rBGH-free status since it implies that their hormone-laden product is inferior...

Are all your products raw?

No, we also sell pasteurized yogurt and ice cream.  By making pasteurized versions of these products, we ensure that we can sell them at farmers' markets in single-servings.

What's the shelf-life of raw milk?

It is more fragile than the industrial version, but kept properly, it can last several weeks.  It is best to store it in a narrow-mouthed glass jar (a milk bottle!), but we don't supply it in such a container.  The equipment is just too expensive for us to invest in right now.  The advantage of the glass is eliminating air infiltration, and the narrow mouth allows the cream to rise and form a cap at the top.

What else do you make, besides whole and skim milk?

Yogurt, with and without thickening or sweetener, cottage cheese, butter, sour cream, cream, buttermilk, many different cheeses, and ICE CREAM (my emphasis).

How can I get some?

 

Sign up for a subscription to our Dairy CSA.  You select a certain number of "units" to receive each week and pay in advance, either by 13-week, 26-week, or full-year installments.  By Monday night, you send in your order for the week to Nell Hanssen by email.  So, for example, if you sign up for 2 large units and 2 small units, you might order a gallon of milk, a pint of butter, a half-gallon of skim milk and a 8-oz block of cheddar one week, and a half-gallon of maple yogurt, a half-gallon of ice cream, a cup of sour cream and a cup of cottage cheese the next.  Nell would then come pick up all the orders for the Lewisburg area on Thursday morning and deliver them to a central drop-off location with fridge for you to pick up at your convenience that afternoon or evening.

 

Anything else I need to know?

We make the ice cream in 2 gallon batches.  So I need to have orders for that much to make it -- whether for one household or split among several.  Obviously it keeps in the freezer, but if you use your entire subscription for ice cream one week, you might be out of milk before the next delivery...

 

Thank you, Raymond, for the milk edification.  I need to follow up with some more information as well.  What you really need to know is that this stuff tastes fantastic.  If you are into food, you ought to do yourself a favor and eat the real thing.  If you can't stomach the raw concept, just go with the yogurts and ice creams, or the cream or sour cream for cooking and baking.

 

To complicate things further, I also have to mention that there is another Dairy CSA possibility, though not one that has operated in our area previously.  This one would be supplied by the Stone Meadow Farm cheese fellow and the dairy he works with.  They are out in Aronsburg, west of Woodward.  They are interested in possibly starting a CSA service in our area, but if we can't maintain enough interest to keep Raymond's stuff coming our way, I'm not sure we can muster the people for a second group.  On the other hand, their cheese, particularly the Camembert, is amazing.

 

But they don't make ice cream -- so you know where my vote lies.  Actually, yes, I am perfectly capable of making my own ice cream.  I am now down to 3 churns.  But I have a hard time keeping myself in it on a regular basis, which is really what one ought to do while we still have the energy to throw around (obligatory peak oil reference).

 

But, seriously, what I'd really like to see would be both of them fully subscribed.  They don't need a huge amount of business, but it does need to be worth their while to transport the dairy goods here.  The fact that we haven't maintained adequate numbers is not a sign of attrition or loss of interest, but rather that key early-adopters have moved out of the area and that we haven't ever gotten above a sort of borderline number of subscriptions.

 

Search in your heart (yearning for dairy bearing omega-3s) and see whether you want to give it a try.

 

For the weak of heart, do note that Swiss Valley Dairies raw whole milk is available at Ard's Market, in glass bottles, even.  It is delivered on Thursday mornings, if you want to give it a try.  And even Weis is now offering local, grass-fed, though pasteurized organic milk in their small organic dairy section.  The milk comes from Natural By Nature, which is a PA company, I forget where out of.  It's available in several grades including skim.

 

But come on, live a little.  Be a dairy queen or king.  After all you live in the heart of dairy country.  My aunt, who lives outside of New Orleans gets PA raw dairy (and eggs!) shipped to her by FedEx.  Needless to say, this is illegal (it's not certified for interstate commerce), bad for the environment (raw dairy is truly meant for local consumption, not air transport), and silly (about two thirds of the eggs typically make it...).  But if she is so desperate for this stuff that she goes to these extents, shouldn't you be taking advantage of it since it's legal, quite healthy for the local economy and agriculture, and not at all silly?