"Environmental Crisis on your Plate" Cont'd

We had a very informative meeting with the Dearborn Sustainability Roundtable on Feb 15th. Thank you to everyone who came to the program. We had a potluck too, with soup, bread, appetizers, fruit, salad and dessert - YUM! Everything was excellent and we had a lot of people attending.

Kathleen Gapa and Mary Bugeia started the meeting with a brief overview of the League of Women Voters. The League's record for environmental causes showed the significant progress that has been made in the last century by grassroots advocacy, and yet there continues to be a battle to protect our natural resources and public health. What a strange era we are in now as hard-won environmental protections are under attack. We need to move forward on new fronts as we've learned in these round tables, yet we find ourselves also holding the line for protections that should be a given. For example, clean air is not an optional preference, it is a necessity. We should be able to focus solely on healthy sustainable foods, but find that even in the 21st century clean water and air are being jeopardized by misguided policy makers.

Lynna Kaucheck, of Food and Water Watch www.fwwatch.org spoke at this event as well. Not only does Ms Kaucheck work with that organization, but she also serves on the Ferndale Environmental Sustainablity Commission. Since Dearborn is in the early stages of sustainability as a city-wide policy, we can learn a lot from Ferndale's example. If you'd like to learn more about Dearborn's activities, visit their website.

The keynote speaker for this 3-part series has been HFCC Professor Lourdes Lore, a highly credentialed and interesting speaker. We are thankful that she has shared her expertise and vast knowledge with us in the series "Environmental Crisis on your Plate." The problems with our food supply would be overwhelming if we didn't have suggested ways to tackle the issues. Katie Hetrick, reporter for the Dearborn Press & Guide, has written a great article on this particular evening, Dinner bell is call to action at roundtable.

We expect to post handouts from Professor Lore's presentations so that those who miss any of the series can still review the resources she provided. Don't miss the third and last installment, “Who Really Controls Our Food Supply?" which will be on March 23, 2011 from 6-8pm at HFCC SME building. We will reserve time for the audience to ask questions, discuss solutions, make plans and network to wrap up this winter long focus on Sustainable Food.

written by

Mary Ann Baier and Jennifer Dunn

Sustainability Potluck and Presentation

On Dec 1st, Dearborn's Sierra Club Cool Cities hosted an eye-opening presentation and a great-tasting dinner. The curious and concerned gathered at the SME Bldg, north of HFCC, to hear from several speakers and continue the conversation about having a sustainable climate, healthy food, and green cities.

Maureen McIlrath opened the evening with an inspiring slide show presentation showing the progress in the Going Green Foundations community garden. The promise of abundant produce from this urban farm has already begun, but their ambitious plans include fruit and nut trees, herb and healing gardens, and gardens for seniors and children. The idea of an organic garden at Crowley Park in Dearborn's west side grew into a vision for a fully organic urban food source. This will benefit

the community, our school children as well as for those who work the soil- tending the plants and contributing to the cause. If you have an interest in helping or just want to know more, visit their website, Going Green Foundation.

After some members of the audience went back for seconds and others went for dessert, HFCC Professor Lourdes Lore delivered the first of a 3-part series "Climate Change: A Crisis on Your Plate". This broad topic was fine-tuned for this evening's short presentation, but a handout with links and summaries assured us that we could learn more as time allowed.

While climate change is a global issue, Professor Lore focused our attention on local CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) with a map of lower Michigan. Factory farming causes numerous problems for the environment and food safety, as well as offending those who care about the health and living conditions of livestock. Learn more at this informative site, www.NoCAFOs.org and www.factoryfarmmap.org.

Another prominent point made in this presentation was the environmental cost of transporting food across the nation and across the globe. Being an informed consumer and purchasing locally means we can support food producers with sustainable practices. Professor Lore wants us to think differently about the value of healthy food compared to cheaply made food that has costly consequences. She suggested getting involved in community supported agriculture farms (CSAs). An audience member cited Calder Dairy as a sustainable local dairy farm which still delivers milk, eggs and other dairy products in the Dearborn area. Although it isn't an organic farm, it is a small locally owned farm (you can visit and see how the animals are living). Another participant spoke of the opportunity to purchase locally grown organic produce from a partnership out of Ann Arbor. Find out more at www.locavorious.com. Purchasing foods locally, reducing meat and buying from earth-friendly producers will reduce the stress on our environment. "Vote with your fork," says 3votesaday.org, which offers several ideas and helpful resources. If you want to be notified of the Winter 2011 schedule, friend us on facebook or send us your contact information via email.

The evening closed with a briefing on the Michigan Good Food Charter by Kathryn Colasanti of MSU. Michigan Good Food Charter outlines a vision for the food system in Michigan and 25 agenda priorities. Ms. Colasanti highlighted the primary goals (as the definition of good food) that can be accomplished as these priorities are put into effect.

Good Food is:

• Healthy - It provides nourishment and enables people to thrive
• Green - It was produced in a manner that is environmentally sustainable
• Fair - No one along the production line was exploited for its creation
• Affordable - All people have access to it

Would you like to get find out more about this 10 year plan or even get involved in implementing these ideas in your own life and in your community? Click here to learn more about it and begin telling others. As the general public, business community, governmental leaders and non-governmental agencies gain awareness, progress can be made.

The Next Hot Topic is FOOD!

Ater a busy election season, LWVDDH will move on to emphasize our hottest topics. November is all about FOOD! As usual, we study up on the facts and talk it over first. So will you join us for movie night on Thursday, Nov 18th?

We'll begin with light refreshments at 6:30 and an introduction to our topic. Then we'll watch Food, Inc. (Find out more at http://www.foodincmovie.com/) From 8:30 to 9 we will review the highlights and our priorities. Be a part of our grassroots group and you'll be reminded that doing something important can also be lots of fun.

Our office is located at 120 Military at Cherry Hill, inside Christ Episcopal Church. They generously make room for us to host public events. We'll be on the 2nd floor waiting for you!

Then on Wednesday, Dec 1st some of us will go to Sustainable Food Potluck, sponsored by Cool Cities Dearborn and Sierra Club. This will be at UM Dearborn from 6pm to 8pm.

------------
Thursday Nov 18th 6:30-9pm Food Inc Movie Night, LWVDDH office at 120 Military

Wednesday Dec 1st 6 - 8pm Sustainable Food Potluck, UM Dearborn off of Hubbard Dr