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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Year of Plenty

Friday Linkorama

A veggie garden in front of New York's City Hall?

It's not just farmers and consumers who are in a tizzy over Michael Pollan;

But there is another cultural divide coming to the fore in our society, this one between farmer and farmer. The best current example of this phenomenon is the flare up of opposition to Michael Pollan’s books criticizing industrial grain farms and animal factories. Agribusiness has suddenly realized it can no longer just ignore the opposition. A large scale corn and soybean farmer, Blake Hurst, went online with something he called the “Omnivore’s Delusion” to blast Pollan’s “Ominivore’s Dillema.” The crap really hit the fan. Industrial farm supporters and pastoral farm supporters went at each other on the Internet like a couple of tomcats, the former labeled sneeringly as factory food producers and the latter called, even more sneeringly, “agri-intellectuals.” Fast farming vs. fake farming.

Are Spokane's locavores Spokavores or Spocavores? At least I haven't heard anyone say Spocalvore...yet.

Atkinson elementary in Portland is feeding their kids locally grown Rutabagas. It's been awhile since I reminded the readers of the blog that our family had a Grand Champion Rutabaga at the Spokane County Fair a couple years back. It's kind of the Oscar or Grammy of root crops.

If you don't have enough anxiety in your life and want to get freaked out about farm raised salmon go here.

A friend of a friend has a new book out on the intersections of environment and faith. Tending to Eden by Scott Sabin. Scott is the Exec. Director of Plant With Purpose, a Christian mission agency that focuses on enviormental/land issues for impoverished people in small villages. They're doing amazing stuff in Haiti. Our church has been planting trees with this organization instead of buying Poinsettias for Christmas and Easter Lilies for Easter. Go here to plant a tree in Haiti.

Speaking of books, there may be a Year of Plenty book in the not too distant future. More on that later.

Have a great weekend.



Year of Plenty

The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle the experiences of his family as they sought to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. In 2009 and beyond the blog will continue to report on these relationships and practices, all through the eyes of a family with young children. Craig manages the Millwood Farmers' Market, is a Master Food Preserver and Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church. Craig can be reached at goody2230@gmail.com