Cheap food is not cheap to produce, and easy to throw away
July 28, 2010
This post is a direct steal from “>Oregonlive.com….
Published: Friday, July 09, 2010, 6:10 AM Updated: Friday, July 09, 2010, 1:06 PM
Ben Pittman-Polletta, The Oregonian 
ARKASHA STEVENSON, The OregonianBlanchet House is able to serve over 800 meals a day to homeless and hungry Portlanders with salvaged — but safe and still edible — food delivered by Urban Gleaners. It’s one small way to halt the growing food-waste stream. “Bananas everywhere,” John Campaine says as he steers his white van to the back door of a Northwest Portland restaurant. “There’s way too much bread and too many bananas in this world.”
Every morning before most people roll out of bed, Campaine picks up what he calls “heinous quantities” of still-edible but imperfect food for Urban Gleaners, a nonprofit that each month gathers some 40,000 pounds of discarded food from the city’s restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias and caterers and delivers it to the hungry.
It’s only a trickle in the swelling river of U.S. food waste.
A new study from the National Institutes of Health says that a whopping 40 percent of what farmers grow ends up in the garbage. That number has increased, too: in 1974, just 30 percent ended up as food waste.
This stinking overabundance, says the study, damages our planet and our health.
The food we toss consumes 4 percent of all U.S. oil and more than 25 percent of our fresh water. Food rotting in landfills produces methane, a potent climate-changing gas. Not to mention the energy spent first delivering, then hauling away uneaten food.
And the marketing of excess food helps drive the obesity epidemic. The increase in waste parallels a 26 percent increase in food available to each American between 1974 and 2003, the years of the study. That translates to 800 extra calories of food available per person per day, even as our population has grown.
Farmers coax their fields with the enthusiastic use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. But while rivers and streams fill with farm runoff, hunger accelerates everywhere, including in Oregon, the second-hungriest state in the union.
The NIH study raises questions about our food production and distribution systems. Do we produce too much food? The wrong kind of food? Or do we deliver it to the wrong places?
Or is it all three?
The NIH scientists set out to examine the roles inactivity and overeating play in obesity. In particular, they wanted to determine if overeating alone could account for an average American adult’s weight gain of 20 pounds between 1974 and 2003. Assuming unchanging activity, they calculated how much a person would have to eat to put on that weight.
“We were wondering if there was enough food in the food supply to account for that,” says Kevin D. Hall, the leader of the NIH team, “and there was more than enough. In fact, it was much higher and it was going up at a faster rate.”
Daily food available increased from around 3,100 calories in 1974 to around 3,900 calories in 2003. Only 300 of these daily calories account for the average weight gain.
That left 500 calories, which led NIH scientists to their “push” hypothesis: excess food pushes its way onto plates, the little bit more that people eat makes them overweight, and the rest goes in the trash or gets wasted along the way.
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture measures food waste differently than the NIH group. Applying “loss factors” to food availability data, they reduce the amount of food available based on its type and the way it is produced, distributed and processed. Loss factors were last estimated in 1974, so the USDA figures remain at 30 percent.
The conclusions of the NIH study, and the push hypothesis, are supported by a recent paper by researchers affiliated with the World Health Organization. That study predicted the average weight if all the food claimed unwasted by the USDA was eaten. It found the average American would be 5 pounds heavier than he already is.
This year, the USDA is finishing three initiatives to measure food loss — at the farm, retail and consumer levels. The USDA’s more detailed data relies on interviews and self-reports, but reporting on food use changes behavior, so accurate estimation is difficult.
Such difficulties have made food waste understudied. Until the USDA reports are published, the study by Hall’s team contains the most up-to-date information on food waste at the national level.
The research that does exist — with data from the late ’90s or earlier — suggests about 60 percent of food waste is due to consumers, coming from restaurants and households. When it comes to meat, Americans clean their plates. In restaurants, grains and other starchy side dishes get left behind. At home, individuals throw out large quantities of single food items — again uneaten carbohydrates, along with imperfect or spoiled dairy products and vegetables.
In part, consumer waste reflects a mix of media messages. Weight-conscious eaters feel empowered by leaving something on their plates. Shoppers buy more than they need, ignoring what’s already in their pantries. Simultaneously told to eat healthy and bombarded with unhealthy products, Americans fill up on meat and processed foods while their fruits and vegetables spoil.
Ever-cheaper food is also easier to throw away. Consumers can afford to be picky, insisting on perfect-looking produce and throwing out food they fear may be old or bad. Which partly explains the bananas.
“We got all these cases of bananas from Zupan’s that had mistakenly been put in the refrigerator,” says Urban Gleaners founder Tracy Oseran. “If you put bananas in the refrigerator they turn black. But they were perfectly fine. There are those kinds of things over and over again.”
Of course, the hungry don’t have the luxury to throw out black bananas or let vegetables rot, says Jacque Grieve, director of St. Vincent de Paul’s Food Recovery Network. St. Vincent de Paul serves food to 100 teens every Friday in Molalla. The one thing they ask for? “Green salad,” says Grieve. The organization gets about 6 to 12 pounds of it a week. “It’s never enough,” she says.
According to Oseran, the uneven distribution of food needs to be solved. “From where I stand, it’s hard for me to imagine that people could go hungry in this country,” she says. “If we could just redistribute it, there would be plenty for everybody to eat.”
And composting — at home or by the city such as the curbside composting that Portland is testing — may help reduce some environmental impact instead of it being buried in landfills.
Ultimately, though, stemming the tide of food waste may require rethinking the production model. “Unless we address something at the source, why we’re producing so many calories and pushing them through the supply chain, then we’re just gonna increase the food waste,” says Hall. He believes this will involve changes to Depression-era federal policies aimed at feeding a booming population.
“Agricultural subsidy programs have changed farm policy so that it basically rewards overproduction,” he says. “We’ve kind of overshot.”
The food industry will also have to change. “They’re out there to produce profits, and the way to make profits is by producing a lot of cheap food and getting people to buy it as much as possible,” says Jeffery Sobel, a scientist at Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences. Left to its own devices, the industry makes too many items no one needs to eat — cheap, high-calorie foods like the thousands of new food products introduced each year, and like the pastries, bread and the plentiful bananas that John Campaine collects.
As he will tell you, the “push” is being felt by Portland’s neediest.
“We joke that Portland has the fattest homeless people in the country,” Campaine says, working his way through a breakfast of biscuits and eggs at Blanchet House in Northwest Portland, a nonprofit that houses and feeds the homeless and one of the many organizations that receives food from Urban Gleaners. “When guys first come to the House, they have to be careful. A lot of them end up putting on weight.”
– Ben Pittman-Polletta
© 2010 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.
THE TRANSITION MOVEMENT
July 23, 2010
Why Transition?
We are living in an age of unprecedented change, with a number of crises converging. Climate change, global economic instability, overpopulation, erosion of community, declining biodiversity, and resource wars, have all stemmed from the availability of cheap, non-renewable fossil fuels. Global oil, gas and coal production is predicted to irreversibly decline in the next 10 to 20 years, and severe climate changes are already taking effect around the world. The coming shocks are likely to be catastrophic if we do not prepare. As Richard Heinberg states:
Our central survival task for the decades ahead, as individuals and as a
species, must be to make a transition away from the use of fossil fuels –
and to do this as peacefully, equitably, and intelligently as possible”.
The Transition movement represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people and communities to take the far-reaching actions that are required to mitigate the effects of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. Furthermore, these relocalization efforts are designed to result in a life that is more fulfilling, more socially connected and more equitable than the one we have today.
The Transition model is based on a loose set of real world principles and practices that have been built up over time through experimentation and observation of communities as they drive forward to reduce carbon emissions and build community resilience. Underpinning the model is a recognition of the following:
- Peak Oil, Climate Change and the Economic Crisis require urgent action
- Adaptation to a world with less oil is inevitable
- It is better to plan and be prepared, than be taken by surprise
- Industrial society has lost the resilience to be able to cope with shocks to its systems
- We have to act together and we have to act now
- We must negotiate our way down from the “peak” using all our skill, ingenuity and intelligence
- Using our creativity and cooperation to unleash the collective genius within our local communities will lead to a more abundant, connected and healthier future for all.
The Transition Movement believes that is up to us in our local communities to step into a leadership position on this situation. We need to start working now to mitigate the interrelated effects of peak oil, climate change, and the economic crisis, before it is too late. Together we can make a difference.
Check out this video put together by Ben Zolno on ‘Why Transition?
Front Page News
July 15, 2010
NOW & THEN FILM SERIES PRESENTS!
In Willits – Thursday, November 19th, 7pm
Little Lake Grange Film Night
What Would Jesus Buy?
- 2007PG 91 minutes
Taking on rampant American consumerism with a focus on Christmas shopping, the Rev. Billy (Bill Talen) and the Church of Stop Shopping go on a cross-country journey to save citizens from the Shopocalypse in this hilarious documentary produced by Morgan Spurlock.
Reminding shoppers of the true meaning of Christmas, Reverend Billy exorcises demons at Wal-Mart’s headquarters and preaches his message at the Mall of America and Disneyland.
Cast: Bill Talen
Director: Rob VanAlkemade
PLUS – a Heartening Film of the true nature of Gifting that makes a difference in people’s lives…
Heifer International “12 Stones” documentary
See this sample – a Five-minute short of 22-minute Heifer International “12 Stones” documentary produced by Sandy Smolen.
“12 Stones” illustrates the heart of Heifer’s work: Passing on the Gift, through the transformation of a community of women in Nepal, from helplessness to hope
Join us for movies, discussion, fair trade chocolate & Organic Popcorn. Suggested Donation $5
Garden Carrot Ginger Soup!
July 14, 2010
Today we had a cool afternoon Garden Party in our Gazebo…sweet shady location -
eating cold carrot soup, fresh salads with iced tea, fruit & cookies!
(Here are some views of our food & garden)
You can enjoy a 3 minute garden party yourself – A trip to the Local Produce market & a recipe for Carrot Ginger Soup in 25 minutes – now, how easy is that? There are lost of ways to make carrot soup – raw, complex, avocado based, chicken stock based…well, I usually make up my own using what I have on hand.
Check out this video on Youtube- the 3 minutes is fun & will give you an idea for dinner!…oh, yes - I substitute raw goat milk for the cream because that is even more local for me…or try coconut milk if you are a vegan – maybe not local, but very good for you & tasty too!
Buy some carrots at your local market or grow some! 
Ginger…well, that is actually possible to grow in a greenhouse or potted plant…but, might be one of those “trade items” we will have to import…enjoy the flavors, good tasting & good for ya!
THE FIRST SHEAF
July 1, 2010
THE FIRST SHEAF
Ever since primitive man learned to cultivate his own crops, harvest festivals — thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful and abundant harvest — have been carried out throughout the world.
The celebration of harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times, when the success of crops governed the lives of the people. Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their gods of fertility to ensure a good harvest the following year. Corn dollies (symbolizing the goddess of the grain) were traditionally made from the last ears of wheat to be cut. (Referral link)
Today we cut the first sheaf of the harvest, and in fact – it is the first grain to be harvested in Mendocino County in any great amount in almost 60 years! As the Chaplain of our Grange, I carried a sickle into the field & cut this first sheaf with prayers & thanks for abundance, and with hope that it will continue on into the future cycles – as we sow the seeds of the harvested sheaf once again in the sacred circle of life.
We of the Grange honor this time of the yearly cycle as the bountiful harvest of CERES. The Roman Cereal Goddess Ceres is the giver of life.
I wrote a play using the initiation liturgy of the Grange (Refer to the Manual of Subordinate Granges), and some of it follows here…
We filmed some film footage today in the vineyard- with the intention that a short film about Grange, the reverence for grain & the cycles of agriculture will be made.
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Ceres: Grass is the basis of agriculture. Without it the Earth would be arid, barren waste. It is emblematic of man’s transitory state upon the earth, and of a brighter and more glorious truth. (page 21)
Lecturer: Ceres offers the grain that holds all of humankind in our agricultural ways – from the first ancient wild grasses that were cultivated into bold and heavy grains that can feed many from one field. Ceres lives in the sheaf of wheat, the bundle of corn, the drying rice on the roofs of dwellings. Her gift offers our lives stability – thusly have humans settled in one place with no need to roam nomadically, looking for foods in the wilderness. Ceres represents the first harvests of late summer – as our life cycle turns to Adulthood, both symbolized by the Sickle and the Ripened Grain. We are both Harvester and Gleaner. Secure in our abundance we can begin to practice CHARITY.
Ceres: I am the giver of life, the seed becomes the sheaf, becomes the bread and the feast, from which the seed is saved for planting again. I am all of the cycle in one.
From The Grange Manual: To live in the country and enjoy all its pleasures, we should love rural life. To love the country is to take interest in all that belongs to it – its occupations, its culture, its improvement. To gather the flocks around us and feed them from our hands, to make the birds our friends and too call them by their names, to rove the verdant fields with a higher pleasure than we could have in regal courts and high towers, to inhale the air of the morning as if it were the sweet breath of infancy, to brush the dew from the glittering fields as if our paths were strewn with diamonds, to perceive this glorious temple all distinct with the presence of Divinity, and to feel, amid all this – the heart swelling with and adoration and a holy joy absolutely incapable of utterance. This it is to love the country, and to make it not the home of the body only, but of the soul. These teachings would make any home the brightest and happiest on Earth.
Ceres: Be as a grain of wheat. Begin in innocence in the darkness of your inner thoughts; allow the cultivation of knowledge and then the ripening of wisdom to guide your harvest. Share these grains of wisdom with all you meet. Teach this to the next generation of seeds that they may continue the cycle of diligent labor and reward.
Master: The SICKLE is an ancient and honorable tool. It speaks of peace and prosperity, and is the harbinger of joy. It is used not merely to reap the golden grain of the sheaf, but – in the field of mind and heart and soul – to gather every precious stalk, every opening flower, and every desirable fruit. Thus it is a reminder of honest employment, diligent labor – teaching the present lesson of prosperity and peace, and a prophecy of future plenty and rejoicing. (Grange Manual – page 44, paraphrased)
Lecturer: As we begin the harvest of grains – the rustling corn is waving as ripe and ready for the reapers and gleaners – may we feel as well the attendant lessons. We must reap for the mind as well as for the body, and from the abundance of our harvest, in good deeds and kind words, dispense CHARITY. The grain is ripe and ready for the harvest. It is, however, important that the best of intelligent and skillful labors be employed. Gather only the good seed, both for feasting and for planting in the next cycle. Our associations in life are the fields in which we reap. Use judgment, and while you glean let your example be such that others may profit by it. Cultivate an observing mind; perceive the beauty that everywhere abounds.
Pomona: The harvest time of your life consists not only of that which you take from the seeds planted for your own use – the ripe grains that fall into your hands, but also is a time of CHARITY – sharing the harvest with those in need around you. As flowers and vines have covered the rough paces in nature, so I charge you, cover the faults and failings of others with the mantle of CHARITY. Speak well of others, rather than dwell on their shortcomings. Gather up the sheaves of their virtues, and pass by their faults, just as you gather the good seed, and leave the rest. Such are the great aims, labors and rewards of the planting, the cultivation and the harvest of life. (Paraphrased from page 43)
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Note: This wheat is being grown in between the rows of grapes in the Vineyards of the Frey Family Winery. 
The standard 8 feet of row space is most of the land use in a vineyard ,and by planting down the center of this space with vegetables & grains, they hope to see a fuller overall usage of acreage, and a reduction of pests & weeds. I wish them the best of success with this innovation and with luck – the future will see many more California vineyards growing grains!
Harvest festivals in ancient cultures
- The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honour of Min, the god of vegetation and fertility. The festival of Min was held in the spring, the Egyptians’ harvest season. After a grand parade, a great feast was held with music, dancing and sports.
- The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival on the 15th day of the eighth month. The day was believed to be the birthday of the Moon and special Moon cakes stamped with the face of a rabbit (perceived to be the face of the moon) were baked.
- The ancient Greeks worshiped Demeter as their goddess of all grains. Demeter’s daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Demeter, the source of all growth and life, withdrew her powers from the Earth during her time of grief. Demeter’s refusal to eat or feed the world until the other gods resolved her conflict with Hades over Persephone brought on winter, and no plants or grains could grow. Because Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds given to her by Hades, she was condemned by the gods to spend half of the year in the underworld and half of the year on earth with Demeter. Every year, when Persephone is in the underworld there is winter, and when she is on the Earth, there is spring and summer.
- The Romans celebrated the Cerelia festival, where offerings of the first fruit of the harvest were dedicated to Ceres (Demeter in Greek). Some believe the festival was held in October, others say that it took place in April, to coincide with the arrival of spring.
P.S. I also hope to obtain some grain for baking into loaves of bread for our annual Harvest Dinner at the Little Lake Grange.
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