http://www.greenblade.org Greenblade Blog Sat, 12 Sep 2009 04:33:02 GMT en-us http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=435 What if we were look to the Bible for answers but hear with new ears? We are in trouble now. The road we are on, the one where we are using up the resources of the earth at an unsustainable rate, is a dead end. At things are going we cannot assure the next generation, let alone the seventh, that they may even be able to live on the earth we leave to them, let alone thrive. So we cast about for solutions. With all the perversity of the human, we seek those solutions in the very things that have brought us to this point: we have mined the earth, so we must mine more, we have dominated the earth, so we must redouble our domination. (You know the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing again and again but expecting a different result.) There is a lot of theological backing for this view involving that word “dominion” in Genesis ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=435 Susan Dixon Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:16:16GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=432 Two days ago the season made a little turn. There are signs – a change in the light, in the sounds of insects, in the way the plants bend under the rain. The squash plants are still putting energy into the leaves; soon it will all go into the fruit. The tomatoes are just beginning to turn. Most of the elderberries are still green and upright but a few, filling with juice and turning purple, have dropped downwards. The days are shorter, steamy and hot. This the leading edge of Lughnasa, Celtic autumn, meaning harvest. Sensing these subtle changes in season is a way to develop awareness of place. It is easy to fall into the stereotypical definitions of seasons: spring = daffodils and tulips, summer = tomatoes and corn, fall = pumpkins and chrysanthmums, and winter = root vegetables. The seasons move organically from one to another, though, out there in the world and that’s the show to ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=432 Susan Dixon Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:59:16GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=430 I wrote this story for Giffen, who said she had never been to the desert, but this encounter has come to feel emblematic to me of my ongoing effort to learn to live on this earth with respect and awe. I was visiting in southwestern Colorado and we had driven into Utah. It was hot but I didn't care. It was also dry and this time I remembered to keep drinking water. I felt good, at ease, comfortable. My friend is an excellent guide, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the land. He kept orienting me, pointing out a mountain or other land formation from various angles, so I always knew where I was, or felt like I did.    Late one afternoon we turned off the main highway and down to the San Juan River, the only river to come through that area. There was a boat launch ahead of us and I remember thinking how strange ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=430 Susan Dixon Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:11:21GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=428 When the hydrofracking issue began taking off in Upstate New York, opponents were accused of being NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard. At first I was indignant: we were far more high-minded than that. Hydrofracking is objectively and inherently dangerous, destructive, and disrespectful. Also it is ugly and loud and invasive and no, I did not want to see the beautiful Finger Lakes turned into a drilling field, but my objections were certainly on moral and ethical grounds. The more I thought about it, though, the more I wondered: what is wrong with not wanting something like that in one’s back yard? I love the Finger Lakes. I love Upstate New York. What is wrong with wanting to protect this beautiful land? The problem, of course, is in wanting the benefits of oil and gas drilling but being willing for someone else to bear the burden. Rather than feeling we have to accept whatever the oil drilling corporations want ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=428 Susan Dixon Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:05:37GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=422 “But if there is one lesson above all from this disaster, it is that business cannot continue as usual. The economic interests of the oil industry cannot be allowed to trump the long-term health of the gulf and the jobs and the lives that depend on it.” (What the Gulf Can’t Afford, NYTimes, June 26, 2010) How do we decide – as a people, as a nation, as Christians – what trumps what? One of the most exhausting aspects of the crisis we are embedded in now is listening to people with an ax to grind, people with an economic agenda, people with political aspirations, people on the Gulf Coast whose way of life is threatened, people who can't bear to see animals suffer, people who fear for the future of the Gulf, people anywhere else who know on a gut level that their way of life is threatened, all making their points as forcefully and with as much ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=422 Susan Dixon Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:38:47GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=414 The Farmer’s market moves outdoors this week. This is a moment-to-celebrate for most of my chic-foodie peers: the outdoor market is in a beautiful park in the center of the most suburban part of the city. There are babies and dogs and music: it’s really lovely.  The whole thing has the air of a festival, a weekly celebration of affluent folks buying delicious, beautiful food. I kind of hate it. The wintertime farmer’s market is different. Located in the sprawling high-ceilinged hallways of an old mill building in an industrial city, it’s a very different kind of beautiful. And yes, there is music, and often babies, but the is feeling more “day at the market” than “cocktail party in the park.” It pulls a wider variety of venders (the winter market is the only market in the state from October-June), driving up variety and driving down prices. There’s always a long line at the turn-your-food-stamps-into-farmer’s-market-cash table. In short, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=414 LiZ Richards Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:15:39GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=407 A few weeks ago Greg-our-interim-rector invited me to lunch and told me that he thought that I was called to the priesthood. What followed was one of those world-shaking conversations, the ones that make you say "Am I missing something big? Is he right? Am I on the right path?" The sensation of being told by a priest that God just might be calling you to do something is new and scary. Also exciting and flattering, but mostly new and scary. It packs significantly more punch than the time the director of the summer camp I worked for told me that I was destined to be a counselor. I'm fairly confident that my life makes sense that it is. I am sure (though less sure than I was before the conversation with Greg) that I am called to make an impact on the world as an urban education reformer, as a non-preachy lead-by-example locovore, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=407 LiZ Richards Mon, 24 May 2010 18:39:23GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=403 When I was in college, my tree-huggery-ist roommate (that is to say, the greatest tree-hugger of us all, which is saying something when you’re talking about Vassar College students!), told us all that we should stop drinking our hot beverages out of plastic travel mugs, because there was something in the plastic that reacted badly with the heat and releasing some icky chemical. Considering the (limited) research at that time about BPA in plastic, and the fact that all our travel mugs were plastic-lined and we were cheap college students, we ignored her. Now, some 5 years later I’m finally listening to her and to the research and I’m purging plastic from my kitchen.   It’s harder than it seems, this plastic-less revolution. Some things were straightforward: the Nalgene water bottle that was proven to be leeching icky stuff into my drinking water, that got recycled. Other things are harder: finding a ceramic single-coffee-filter holder to use to ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=403 LiZ Richards Tue, 11 May 2010 10:53:51GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=397 This was a Spring Cleaning Sunday: I swept, vacuumed, mopped, and dirtied all of my clean rags. I hauled out my hippy-dippy earth-friendly cleaning products and gave my apartment the sort of scrubbing that it hasn’t had all winter. I even deemed the weather warm enough to take my house plants outside and put them on the stoop, where they get more sun than they ever would on my windowsill. Among my houseplants is one that is growing (quite happily, I might note) in a glass ice bucket, the ice bucket that held my first foray into urban gardening. It was two summers ago that I got a tomato plant from my CSA and planted it in an ice bucket, and attempted --poorly-- to get something to grow on my concrete patio. I did a lot wrong: the plant didn’t have enough sun, got too much water (no drainage in an ice bucket), and it produced one measly tomato. Still, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=397 LiZ Richards Mon, 03 May 2010 11:54:50GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=393 One of the things that I love about Rhode Island is its small scale. Only 40 miles by 60 miles, roughly, nothing in this state is ever too far away for a day trip. When I miss my local CSA pickup, it’s a 30 minute trip to the farm. The city newspaper reviews restaurants statewide; the best that each and every community has to offer is accessible to every person in the state. Nothing is more than an hour away. The small scale changes your perceptions of distance, of course. Whereas in New York I’d think nothing of a 25 minute drive to get to Trader Joe’s (a trip I’d be known to make weekly), the comparable trip in RI seems a long distance, and is only undertaken monthly. I suppose this helps to shrink one’s carbon footprint, but if you’re not careful, it also shrinks your perception of the world. When every single thing in the city of Providence ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=393 LiZ Richards Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:10:58GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=434 After being away for three weeks, it was a joy to return to my garden.  I wasn't quite prepared for the 20 pounds of green beans that needed to be harvested and dealt with, but it is clear that heat and rain have been had in plenty.  The past few days I have been spending lots of time "cultivating" and the compost piles are growing ever higher.  There has been an unbelievable amount of purslane this year, which I have been eating in salads and even juiced yesterday morning (slimy, but satisfying).   And has anyone gone to pick blueberries yet?  Sunday afternoon I went to Grisamore with visiting relatives and we had a great time.    http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=434 Stephanie Ortolano Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:25:53GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=425 I'm writing from Cincinnati, Ohio, on the first leg of our "Summer Vacation" which will continue on to Montana and Idaho (and numerous stops in between!).  This morning, while getting ready for church, I was musing about the hymns in every hymnal I've ever perused, you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones in the section entitled "National Songs" or "Patriotic Tunes".  The hymns that I would (almost) never choose for a regular Sunday service because the language is always seems to cross the church-state line for me.  When I go to church, I want to sing about the Kingdom of God, a place so much more vast than a "mother country".  Even so, I started humming the Battle Hymn of the Republic in my head while dressing the girls and getting breakfast ready. So imagine my surprise when the sermon at Mount Washington Presbyterian, my husband's family church, was about these hymns (it is the ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=425 Stephanie Ortolano Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:13:42GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=415   Last week I was doing some grocery shopping and I was skeptically eying some California broccoli.  I knew I wanted a green addition to that night's dinner, but was I ready to eat all those miles?  Luckily, there was still local asparagus which somehow I had missed on my first pass and I grabbed a few big handfuls.  Why do I make it such an emotional decision to select fresh vegetables?  I don't get quite as worked up over things like, say, olive oil or rice.  Although I do try to be intentional with those products as well.  I was very interested in checking this site for food rating, which goes beyond just food and considers "health", "environment" and "society".  (It's still in Beta and I had more than a few internal errors while checking it out, but I think the concept is great.) I am ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=415 Stephanie Ortolano Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:19:08GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=399 This may be a shock to all the Greenblade foodies I know, but today was the first time I have eaten stinging nettle.  Last summer, I thought I had identified a few plants in the area we call "The Puddle", but at that point it was too late to enjoy the tender leaves of spring.  A few weeks ago, I was able to identify the plant up close with a friend as she snipped nettle shoots at her house, so I felt confident in how to identify the plant.  Yesterday, I scoped out the spot again and found that the few plants had expanded to a handful.  This was inspired by the discovery of two clumps of garlic mustard hidden among the Egyptian mint.  (The first ones ever - which were yanked out after dinner and cleaned, roots and leaves put into the fridge for the next day.)  This morning, after dropping Sabina off at school, Josephine and I had ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=399 Stephanie Ortolano Tue, 04 May 2010 19:42:09GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=389  This is in part a response to Andrew's latest post.  For those of you with televisions, or access to one, PBS is going to be airing Food, Inc.  I saw this movie with my parents and Sabina and thought it brought up a lot of great issues.  All of us got something different out of it and some interesting conversations were sparked.  What a great opportunity for that person who may not get your Greenblade-y ways to see that these issues we care about are not limited to our small community in Central New York.  Watching a film together definitely gives you some common images and concepts to share in a different way than reading the same book. Pictures of the garden coming soon...  Peas and radishes are sprouted, along with tiny chard and carrots.  Rhubarb leaves are looking healthy, though it will be a few weeks before the first pie!  The garlic bed is glorious, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=389 Stephanie Ortolano Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:49:50GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=433 Getting one pantry started was just the beginning for Sara Miles.  Rather than congratulate herself and continue on in the same routine, she continues to challenge herself in these chapters.  She starts delivering food to shut-ins for another pantry, she attends a conference with members from her church, she receives an unsolicited grant which she uses to help another pantry start nearby, and she starts cooking for the volunteers before the weekly pantry distribution.  My first reaction was to think, "Of course, these are natural outgrowths of her initial urge to feed."  But then I thought, "Where does she find the time?"   From the beginning, we know that she has an unconventional job, but you almost wonder if she is doing any other work at all beside "church" these days.  How does she pay her bills?  When does she do her own grocery shopping?  When does she spend time with her partner and child?  Of course, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=433 Stephanie Ortolano Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:58:25GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=431 The "meat " of Sara's story continues in these chapters as she begins organizing and developing  the food pantry at St. Gregory's church.  As I delved into these chapters, I began thinking about my own congregation, a conglomeration of wonderful people who reach out to receive communion every week, but like those at St. Gregory's afraid to step beyond what is comfortable. But Sara's story would not be inspirational if it were not for the struggle and the persistance with which she persued her call to feed the people of the area.  As I read through her journey of commitee meetings and board meetings and all the resistance she encountered from the congregation along the way, I found myself not only wanting to cheer her on, but also bean her on the head as well.  While there is no doubt trying to get something new started in an already developed organization can be taxing at best, ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=431 Craig Swan Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:57:40GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=429 These chapters are, for me, the core of this book. Sara begins her journey as a Christian and as an Episcopalian at St. Gregory of Nyssa,  a famously un-typical Episcopal church. There the founders have opened up worship, "reclaiming the ancient Middle Eastern roots of the liturgy." The result is a setting where the wind of the Holy Spirit blows freely, ready to knock over someone like Sara who, blessedly for the rest of us, is articulate enough to be able to describe the experience. In the chapters we are discussing this week she takes us along for the ride. Her journey happens within a particular community but within the context of her particular life, with the particular attachments, relationships, and history she brings. It is all going to mean that what begins to happen in chapter 10 makes perfect sense. Just as Gregory of Nyssa celebrates the Eucharist within a living, breathing community, the experience of the ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=429 Susan Dixon Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:32:31GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=427 My first impression was somewhat less positive than Stephanie’s, though I started to come around in the end. The problem is that Take This Bread has a pretty awful cover.  It features a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a large cross etched into it, and then this graphic is haloed by a gush from Anne Lamott: “*The* most amazing book!”  Hokey design and superlative blurbs make me suspicious, and I wonder if I would have gone further if I’d been browsing in a bookstore rather than reading for this discussion group. Also a little cringe-worthy is that Miles begins the Prologue with two pages breathlessly describing how her conversion to a progressive liturgical tradition inspired her to found a bunch of urban programs to feed the needy.  This would have been fine if we’d already gone through the whole story and seen where she came from and how this vocation ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=427 Andrew Chignell Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:57:22GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=426 I'll admit: I was hooked before I even finished the Prologue.  Sara Miles' "spiritual memoir" in full of themes that are so real and vivid that I felt like she was writing this directly to me.  Of course we know what the ending will be - a food pantry is established in a relatively unlikely place and someone shares her conversion story.  However, the journey, the interactions, the beauty and the ugliness that all intertwine are the surprises.  Miles weaves in the relevant political background, as well as those lines from the Bible that influenced her, and provides inspiration for us to make these connections as well. The first five chapters give us an introduction into the life of the author before the day that she set foot into a church.  These chapters give us some insight into the "food and bodies" that were important to her and how she is now able to think about these ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=426 Stephanie Ortolano Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:27:59GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=423 The UN, not known for being a radically progressive organization, delivered a report recently that was hardly noticed in the American press, but got some good coverage in (of course) The Guardian.  The reasons for recommending a global move towards a vegan diet are not new, but to see them articulated by a cosmopolitan body that aims to speak for and to the entire civilized world is striking.  Add to that the fascinating and disturbing article in today's Times about the collapse of Atlantic bluefin tuna (exacerbated by the Gulf oil spill) and my enthusiasm for animal protein alternatives is renewed.  Last night, a Quorn fillet sauteed over a campground fire tasted just like (what else?) smoked chicken. http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=423 Andrew Chignell Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:28:32GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=419 I rarely cook and am coming to terms with that fact (see previous post).  One of the things I thought I could celebrate about this is that I never waste food.  Instead of over-shopping every Sunday afternoon and then tossing most of the unused items out on Saturday before starting the cycle again, I now (or at least during the school year) keep a minimalist refrigerator: condiments, alcohol, ice, a few frozen goods, just in case I have to fire up the microwave and cook something on a midwinter's evening when Thai Express isn't delivering.  When I go out or order in, I make a point of finishing everything I'm served, or wrapping it up and finishing it later. Thanks to Jonathan Bloom's blog and this recent coverage at Slate, I realize that I'm *still* indirectly contributing to massive foodwaste by patronizing most restaurants, even if I consume everything on my plate. ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=419 Andrew Chignell Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:15:10GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=418 When I am completely honest with myself, I recognize that what prevents me from "eating justly" is a lack of time or, perhaps even more honestly, an unwillingness to spend whatever time I do have on the quotidian chores of shopping, cooking, and cleaning.  Look at how long it takes this vegan athlete to make his healthy morning smoothie!  His example, and that of various other very impressive vegetarian/vegan athletes and moms, refutes the misconception that animal protein is necessary for health, vigor, strength, or reproductive success.  But watching him make the smoothie confirms my conception that being a vegan -- or just eating in a localist, plant-focused, co-op-centric, CSA, greenblady fashion -- is incredibly time-consuming.  Cooking is hard work, conscientious shopping takes ages, compassionate eating is of slow food, washing dishes is tedious, and gardening, while attractive in some utopian way, is always not quite ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=418 Andrew Chignell Sat, 12 Jun 2010 14:39:41GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=411 This comes as no surprise, but at least it is getting some positive coverage in mainstream media and one of the perpetrators has been arrested.  Note that the head of Mercy For Animals (a heroic person whom I met recently at an event in Grand Rapids) is following the recent trend of calling animals "individuals."  That term connotes a lot of the same things that "persons" does in ordinary language, but without raising as many eyebrows ("Wait... but you don't think cows are *persons* right?").  There is also a brief exchange with Gene Bauer, head of Sanctuary Farm in our neighboring Watkins Glen.  Click here for a petition if you're interested. Disturbing in its own right: The CNN announcer seems genuinely concerned (even gasping here and there) all the way up until her inane moral at the end of her piece ("Humans and animals: same ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=411 Andrew Chignell Sat, 29 May 2010 17:32:48GMT http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=408 I went to the Mall the other day.  Someone had given me a gift card for Sears, and I needed my tires changed, and Sears has an Auto Care store.  But it is at the Mall.  So while I waited the two hours to have the tires changed, I sat in the Food Court and split my time between paper-grading and people-watching.  It was lunchtime: shoppers and workers were ranging through the Food Court looking for nourishment.  There are some good choices at our Mall: a better-than-average Asian place and a sub shop as well as a mom-and-pop barbecue place and a local burrito stand offering lots of vegetables and some fresh-squeezed juices. After enjoying a first-rate veggie burrito, I was surprised to observe that the most popular choice -- among shoppers and workers alike -- was the chain store: Arby's.  People would typically gaze uninspired and unsure at the various unfamiliar offerings ... http://www.greenblade.org/index.php?action=blogs&blog_id=408 Andrew Chignell Sat, 22 May 2010 22:15:32GMT