My Right Foot

My right foot on an April day,
A day not made for fools,
Feels the cold and moistened earth;
Looks out for sharpened tools.

My right foot, all the people know,
A foot not made for mules,
Feels the pulse of ground below
And plays by verdant rules.

Look What I Found!

"Look what I found!" Those may be Amy Crystle's favorite words. Pictured here inside a newly discovered Amish greenhouse in the Southern End of Lancaster County, she's beaming over her unexpected find.

Where can one make delightful discoveries, if not in Lancaster County? When one of those discoveries illuminates the transition path to sustainability, both environmentally and economically, Transition Lancaster wants to join the celebration!

This particular find came on a dirt road near Nottingham,PA at Pine Grove Greenhouses. Amy stopped by in between other farm visits to drop off a book on four season harvesting she'd promised to farmer Daniel. This topic is one of many she had discussed with a group of Amish farmers while advising them on organizing an organic or chemical- free co-op.

Even though Amy had first purchased blueberries from Daniel and his wife, Fanny, in 2006, she had never actually been to their farm and didn't know about the greenhouses. I had the rare privilege of celebrating this find first hand with Amy because she let me tag along on her usual Tuesday travels.

On Tuesdays she does pick ups of the food which goes into her Seasonal Food Bundles for the week; "The Flexible CSA" as she calls it. These weekly food bundles provide year-round seasonal produce from a mix of organic and chemical-free Lancaster County farms and farmers.

Once she gets her week's orders collected, she takes this produce to East Side Community Kitchen on Plum St. in Lancaster City, where she assembles the bundles. Then subscribers to Amy's service, known as Everday Local Food (www.everdaylocalfood.com), pick up their food at her home on W. Chestnut St. She also has a delivery option. In this way local growers have cash paying customers and Lancaster eaters have locally grown food all year round!

This win/win arrangement contributes to the rebuilding of a resilient Lancaster County food system; one we need to sustain us through the uncertainties of our rapidly changing world.

If you know of other Lancaster County examples of Transition activity, let me know. I'd love to write about it!

Only One Chance To Get This Right

On April 5th, I attended the Community Breakfast hosted by State Senator Llloyd Smucker (Rep.) at Calvary Fellowship Homes in Manheim Township. When a question regarding the Marcellus Shale gas drilling arose, Senator Smucker stated his belief that we need an extraction tax in place. "We only have one chance to get this right!" he proclaimed. While the senator's words were stated in the context of economics, I believe they are even more potent if applied to the health , safety and environmental questions surrounding Marcellus Shale drilling. When it comes to the protection of our water wells, rivers and underground aquifers as well as to our state lands and to all the natural resources which comprise our commonwealth; "We only have one chance to get this right!" Economics is more than jobs and more than an inflow of dollars into businesses , into land owners' pockets and into the coffers of government at all levels. Economics also includes the cost we pay when we sacrifice fragile and finite living assets like health, water, forests and land for short term benefits. Even 50 to 100 years of financial benefit is very little compared to those things. For a current cautionary tale, consider the multi-leveled tragedies in Japan. Consider the dislocated and disoriented population in Japan's northeast plus the millions more throughout the nation who now endure the rolling blackouts and now must question the safety of their food , air and water; and now face a likely reduction of future living standard because their national resources will be channeled into massive rebuilding efforts over a very long recovery period. How many of these suffering people would vote for a moratorium on the building of nuclear power plants in tsunami threatened areas if they could go back in time 30 years? But they had their one chance to get it right and now must make the best of a horror story. I don't suppose the potential consequences of fracking pose the same level of danger as nuclear meltdowns. But who really knows? We are already hearing many sad stories coming out of the Marcellus Shale regions, including the threat of radioactivity in our drinking water. Many Pennsylvanians believe the $3 million in political contributions to Pennsylvania lawmakers by the drilling industry since 2001 ( about 30% of which went to our current governor) and the $5 million they've spent on lobbying since 2006 has swung the gates open wide for the drills, trucks and fracking water to come pouring into our commonwealth. "When asked to put in place a temporary moratorium on drilling in public lands until a full study of the impact could be made, those who voted “no” had accepted an average of three times as much cash from gas interests than those who supported that reasonable measure." (http://www.marcellusmoney.org/candidate/corbett-tom) Maryland, our neighbor to the south, is proceeding much slower, hoping to learn from Pennsylvania's mistakes. "Maryland lawmakers listened to environmentalists and residents complain in hearings that Pennsylvania did not do enough to address environmental concerns. Pennsylvania facilities were not prepared at first to treat the volume of contaminated wastewater, they said, and some of it was trucked to water treatment facilities outside the state and released into waterways." ("Maryland May Put The Brakes On Fracking" www.post-gazette.com March 29,2011) Yes, Maryland is actually studying Pennsylvania's fracking experience to learn from our mistakes. Who have we learned from? Wyoming? Arkansas? Here's an excerpt from a March 8, 2011 Associated Press article with a Cheyenne , Wyoming dateline: "Folks who live near the gas fields in the western part of this outdoorsy state are complaining of watery eyes, shortness of breath and bloody noses because of ozone levels that have exceeded what people in L.A. and other major cities wheeze through on their worst pollution days. "The gas industry has drilled hundreds of wells in the basin (Upper Green River Basin) over the past decade and made the basin one of the top gas-producing areas in the U.S. "Ultimately it comes down to accountability," said Linda Baker, director of the Upper Green River Alliance. "It doesn't seem to me the companies are being very accountable to the residents here." High ozone, she said, gave her a constant nosebleed three days last week. " In Arkansas a recent increase in earthquakes led the oil and gas commission of that state to impose a moratorium until at least July on drilling new wells with fracking fluid. It is suspected that injecting millions of gallons of waste fracking fluid under the ground with such great pressure may be responsible for the increase in earthquakes. So the Arkansas Geological Survey is doing a thorough study before further wells can be drilled. It seems there is much yet to learn in Arkansas and in Maryland and in every other state, including Pennsylvania, about the long term consequences of fracking. I agree with a growing grassroots movement of people who just want a stop to the drilling until we see clear evidence that our government has as much concern for us and our grandchildren as it does for big business. After all, "We only have one chance to get this right!"

The No Waste Man part 2

This is a continuation of the 123 Jubilee post on The No Waste Man

Now that Davd Fraile manages the operations of Eastern Market he can blend together several projects, thus reducing waste in still another way! By combining the efforts of The Really Really Free Market, the Lancaster Skill Share Collective and other like minded community projects a synergy is produced, accelerating progress in reducing waste and creating community resources. Fraile's own efforts and that of many others will be maximized!

Way to go "No Waste Man"!

The rest of this article comes from the website www.historiceasternmarket.org, which announces:

" an ongoing series of free workshops on self-sufficiency and sustainability skills for the 2011 season. In partnership with local organizations such as The Lancaster Skill Share Collective, LIVE Green, Transition Lancaster and The Alley Garden, Eastern Market will offer weekly workshops on money and resource saving skills such as urban gardening, native tree planting, composting, food preservation, homemade baby food, bike maintenance, sewing, printmaking and more. We are currently scheduling workshops and are interested in hearing from anyone that has a skill to share. Please send all inquiries to lancasterskillshare@gmail.com

Really, Really Free Market

Beginning May 28th 2011, Eastern Market will be the proud host of Lancaster's Really, Really Free Market. Since 2007, The Really, Really Free Market has collected donations of clothing, appliances, kitchen items, books, movies, art supplies, tools, and many other useful goods from Lancaster residents. On the second Saturday of every month, volunteers have set up in Penn Square and distributed these items for free to city residents, offering items of need to neighbors while reducing waste and promoting environmental awareness. By providing storage space and a lively public venue for The Free Market, Eastern Market will allow this heretofore monthly event to begin taking place every week. To volunteer or donate, please contact lancasterfreemarket@gmail.com

The No Waste Man part 1

When David Fraile returned to Lancaster County in 2006 after studying at The New School in New York City, he wasted no time in helping to launch a series of projects for the common good.

I call David "The No Waste Man" because of the nature of those service projects.

First, he became involved in "The Lancaster Really Really Free Market" (LRRFM) at its beginning. Every 2nd Saturday for almost 5 years now, LRRFM sets up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Penn Square at the corner of King and Queen. Donated items such as clothing, CDs and computers are given away. Free! No waste!

In 2007 a group of Millersville University students began a local chapter of Food Not Bombs. Fraile joined in this endeavor within the first month and became very actively involved. For two and a half years, his efforts insured that it's weekly free meals would be served in Lancaster Square (across the street from Binn's Park) every Monday from 11 a.m. 2 p.m.

Lancaster Food Not Bombs collects organic food that is surplus or no longer sellable but yet is still usable. No waste! Volunteers pick up the donated food from several local retailers, prepare the meals, serve it and then clean up (Lancasterfnb.wordpress.com).

In November, 2009 Fraile began The Lancaster Skill Share Collective, dedicated to teaching a wide range of selfsuffiency skills in free community workshops. The collective's objectives are "to help our neighbors reduce waste, save money and adopt more labor conscious lifestyles" (thelancasterskillsharescollective.wordpress.com).

In late 2010 David Fraile attained a dream of his: to direct a nonprofit organization. He has taken over as manager of Lancaster's Eastern Market. Through this position, he plans to continue addressing community need by reducing waste and creating shared community resources (historiceasternmarket.org). See "The No Waste Man" Part 2 for Fraile's partnership plan between The Lancaster Skill Share Collective, Lancaster Really Really Free Market and Eastern Market.

The Right Path Part 2

(This is a continuation of the last post at 123 Jubilee)

When the stand space next to Green Circle Organics became available in early 2011, Laura knew it was time to expand. Things had gotten congested with the products she had added in the past year.

Now there's space for a larger refrigerated unit to display the locally produced cheeses, eggs, milk and meats.

What else may be in the future for Green Circle?
"I would love to have more canned goods to sell ... from people who are preserving local organic produce from their gardens or farms.
I would love to have homemade locally sourced tomato sauce and salsa throughout the winter or chow chow, kim chee and sauerkrauts or the like," Laura hopes.

Looking at community possibilities, Laura applauds those who contribute. " There are so many people in the community doing such good work for their neighbors." But ever the pioneer, she observes "I would love to see a composting project started at market! There is so much unsellable produce that just gets tossed in the trash out of a sheer lack of anywhere to go with it.
Much of what is still edible gets generously donated to those in need. But I'm talking about the produce I wouldn't feel comfortable donating.

"I think this could be a good business opportunity for someone as well. The composted finished product could then be resold to home gardeners.
"Mostly though I would like the amount of trash reduced at market. The Central Market Trust is working on this issue so we'll see what transpires in the coming year. Composting, though an ambitious project, just makes sense at market!"

AMBITIOUS PROJECTS

Talking with Laura Stauffer inspired me to consider the idea of ambitious projects. She mentioned the possibility of a composting business for someone. That might just be the right path for one of my readers: if not composting, then starting some other small business which serves the common good.

What ideas do you have? I'd like to hear them.

Ambitious projects which serve the common good could also be educational in nature. What could you teach someone? For some the right path may be an artistic endeavor such as music or sculpture. Maybe it's organizing people to help each other or to get to know each other. For instance, does your neighborhood need someone to organize a block party or a neighborhood watch?

Tell someone what you see or think. Talking together is often how things begin!

Remember, when Laura heard that a Central Market stand was coming up for sale, she decided to take the risk. Now Green Circle Organics is 8 years old!

It could be your turn to get started on the right path!

"Why not?"

The Right Path, part 1

"Your life takes you directions you don't expect." So says Laura Stauffer, owner of Green Circle Organics at Lancaster's Central Market.

Life seemed to prepare Laura for her role as a Lancaster pioneer in the marketing of organic produce. In late 2002, a friend of a friend told her that a business at the market was coming up for sale. Laura, who then worked at Rhubarb's Market, had already done organic farming in upstate New York.

"I really wanted to be in business for myself and it fit in with my past experiences and my interests" she explains. So Laura bought the business, becoming one of the 1st retailers of organic produce in Lancaster County. Later when Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative formed, Green Circle Organics became their 1st retail account in the county.

This March 9th Green Circle will celebrate it's 8 year anniversary!

I asked Laura what advice she would give to others wanting to start a local business.

Here's what she advises:

" It definitely had it's challenges, but if you're on the right path things just kind of happen. Take that leap. For me, at the time, getting a small business loan and doing things on my own was a big deal ! Now I'm so glad I did it! I say take that risk. As long as it's a calculated risk, I think 'Why not?'

If you're doing something good for the community and you believe in what you're doing and you treat people well and you stand behind your product, it'll work."

Next: Some of Laura's hopes for future