3. Select Michigan Products

Select Michigan FreshBack in the 70's and 80's, my wife and I lived an organic lifestyle. We subscribed to Mother Earth News and practiced organic gardening and living methods from the magazine. I would double dig our small garden, and we spent hours working together. We dried our own food, made organic baby foods, canned, picked rose hips for tea, and made our own jams and preserves. In the late 80's we stopped receiving the magazine when they switched to a new glossy print version. Now that information is available on the Internet, I've come back to the magazine. The organic lifestyle is not for everyone. And, for those of you that don't know, I've become morbidly obese since getting away from that lifestyle. (more about that another time)

In "No Impact Man" we learned that Colin Beavan was purchasing all food within 250 mile of Manhattan. Select MichiganPurchasing food locally in Michigan is considerably easier. The food is fresher and not only will decrease your carbon imprint, it will also improve the economy. Michigan has a thriving Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), organic, and farm produce program. There are over 100 places listed on the State of Michigan website.

Not sure when or what to buy? Here's some information on Michigan Produce Seasons. From the State website, there is also a list of Michigan Farm Markets and U-Picks. FoodRoutes.org is also a good source for organic and non-organic locally produced food.

Select Michigan OrganicLook for the three seals scattered on this page to verify you are purchasing a certified Michigan product. These seals were found on the State of Michigan Department of Agriculture website. Every purchase, brings the State that much further from the "Giant Sucking Sound" of spiraling unemployment and decreasing home values.

Do you have a source not in this article? Please include a link with your comments

 

4. Nature and Nurture LLC, a local organic landscape gardening business is looking to fill two full time positions and one part-time position.

 

Job Description:

 

Landscape maintenance including: weeding, mulching, pruning, spring and fall cleanups, and more. Landscape installation including: planting perennials and trees, working with rocks, tree/shrub/weed removal, and more. Rainy day work may include computer work and cleaning/organizing trucks, tools, and office space.

 

 

Minimum Qualifications:

 

a.. Interest in organic gardening, landscaping, and/or ecological restoration b.. Strong and in good physical condition c.. Self-motivated and reliable d.. Willingness to perform assigned tasks

 

Additional Qualifications:

 

a.. Experience doing strenuous physical labor

 

b.. 2 year commitment

 

c.. Ability to identify common garden weeds

 

d.. Landscaping, gardening, or farming experience

 

e.. Office organizational skills.

 

f.. Basic computer (PC) skills.

 

Please send a resume (email is fine) with a cover letter and 3 references:

 

Nature and Nurture, LLC

 

114 8th St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103

 

(734) 929-0802

 

[log in to unmask]

 

www.natureandnurture.org

 

 

5. Nature and Nurture LLC, a local organic landscape gardening business is looking to fill two full time positions and one part-time position.

 

Lots of tricky raw milk info to make sense out of.

First, I’ll start with the hot info, about settlement discussions in the case of Family Farms Cooperative and Richard Hebron, reported in today’s Ann Arbor News (and commented on by several readers following my most recent posting).

I have been following this situation since shortly after the sting operation last Oct. 13, and in the last few weeks, I have been in frequent contact with several of the principal players. They had asked me to hold off on writing anything because the case has been moving through several sensitive stages, and they didn’t want a possible settlement to be compromised by publicity.

The article in the Ann Arbor paper has put the whole matter in the public forum, though, and it may actually be misleading in certain respects. So, I’ll try to set the record straight as much as I can, without compromising the discussions currently ongoing.

First, my sense of the situation is that the settlement talks are moving more smoothly than the Ann Arbor article lets on. I am led to believe that the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) has indicated a willingness to drop some of its original demands, though I’m not sure which ones they are. But they’re enough to give all parties hope that a reasonable agreement can be struck.

Second, it’s important to understand that the reason settlement talks are being held at all is that county prosecutors in Cass and Washtenaw counties have been reluctant to file criminal charges against Richard Hebron. They have essentially put the onus on the MDA to come to a settlement and get them out from under the embarrassment of having to go after a hard-working and honest farmer.

Third, it appears that cow-share agreements are not targeted by the MDA, and thus will continue to be permitted.

Finally, it’s necessary to remember that even if a reasonable settlement is arrived at between MDA and FFC/Hebron, there is still that prickly little matter of the federal Food and Drug Administration’s warning letter to David Hochstetler, the Indiana farmer who supplies FFC with its raw milk. That letter warns Hochstetler against interstate shipments of raw milk. FFC has been in discussions with the FDA about the warning letter, and has submitted extensive legal arguments requesting that the federal agency re-consider. The FDA isn’t known for its swift responses (it took three months to reply to Michigan Sen. Carl Levin’s questions about the Hebron case), so it could be a while before we know what’s happening. My point here is that a satisfactory settlement in Michigan doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending in this case.

* * *

I suspected there were enough mathematicians among readers to make sense of the debate in Maryland about sickness from raw milk, and I was right (see my most recent posting). The comments helped open my eyes about how figures can be twisted and turned. I can appreciate Melissa Herzog’s viewpoint, though as I’ve stated before, and as Ken reiterates, it’s dangerous to make policy based on a few dramatic situations. I also appreciate that there are weaknesses in the data extrapolated by the author of the Maryland article, but unfortunately, data about the number of raw milk drinkers is difficult to come by, as is reliable information about the number of confirmed illnesses.

I think what opened my eyes, though, is the fact a lot of people are definitely drinking raw milk in California, with few serious problems. Yes, the serious problems have been very serious, as we’ve learned on this blog. It’s also important to keep in mind that large-scale consumption of raw milk is a recent phenomenon (since pasteurization took hold in the early and middle twentieth century). That’s all the more reason to keep learning from the experiences of Organic Pastures and other farmers.

6.  Market Farm Forms

by Marcie Rosenzwieg

www.Back40Books.com

 

NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN! And just in time for this season. Market Farm Forms by

Marcie Rosenzweig. Contains computer spreadsheet templates for planning and

organizing information on diversified market farms. This software program will

help you in planning crops and budgets, order seed and soil amendments, grow

transplants, project yields and income, and then track what really happens

against your projections. Works on PC or Mac.   Exclusively available from

Back 40.  University purchase orders o.k.  We have a long list of customer who

have been begging us to make this available again and Marcie is now able to

provide us with a limited stock.  Orders received now will be shipped by the

end of this month.  Quantity discounts available for class use.

 

Herman Beck-Chenoweth

Resilience Research Farm

 HYPERLINK "http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/fingerlakespermaculture" Herm.NaturesPace at earthlink.net

www.Back40Books.com

www.Free-RangePoultry.com

Ph: 573.858.3559

 

 

 

 

Vicki Morrone

Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist

Michigan State University

C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems

303 Natural Resources Bldg.

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-353-3542

517-282-3557 (cell)

517-353-3834 (fax)

http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/

http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/

 

If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html