Hey everyone! Earth Week is next week and there are some really exciting events happening! Check out the schedule!
April 15, 2010
February 10, 2010
Good morning all. I found this article in the New York Times about a High School in Brooklyn that offers a class called Food, Land and You. They also have community gardens which are funded by the New York chapter of Slow Foods. Wouldn’t it be awesome if one day we could get a class like that offered at Denton High School?? Here’s the link. Enjoy!
February 3, 2010
In Slow Foods, it is one of our goals to encourage ourselves and others to be more aware of where our food comes from. This involves among many things: trying to shop for locally grown and or organic produce; choosing not to eat meat that is sold from industrial farms whose animals are full of synthetic hormones and maintained in unclean living conditions; and developing healthy, creative and balanced ways of eating. As college students we are more often than not incapable of growing our own produce or raising our own animals for our meat and dairy consumption. We can make better purchasing decisions but there is a difference between changing one’s life through shopping choices and changing one’s life through taking an active role in the growth of one’s food. Even though we might choose to shop for locally grown produce and search for free range meat, we are still largely disconnected from the processes that bring our food from the fields to our plates.
Over the winter break, I had an opportunity to meet and spend time with a family who have decided personally take part in growing and raising the food they cook and consume. The Wouts, a family of eight, live on forty acres of farmland in Navarro County. They moved to this location around ten years ago with three of the six children they now have. Before beginning their sustainable lifestyle, they had no experience with this type of living. Mrs. Wout told me that if her and Mr. Wout had known when they first met that they would end up living this way they, “would have shot each other.” At first, I took this response to mean that they were not satisfied with their current style of living. Mrs. Wout assured me, however, that they are very happy, it is just not what they would have imagined for themselves as young, bar-hopping adults living between Dallas and Austin.
Upon entering the Wout farm by their long, winding driveway, one would not think that it could be home to such an abundance of sustainable activities. The simple homestead consists of a two story house which the family built themselves, a small barn and two chicken coups. They have cattle, sheep, chickens and bees which they use to harvest milk, eggs and honey. From the milk, Mrs. Wout makes her own yogurt, cheese and butter. During the spring, summer and fall months they have a garden which provides the majority of their produce. Most of the energy for their house comes from the solar panels they have set up a few feet from their house.
One of the reasons they chose to adopt this lifestyle was the health problems encountered by their children. Their fourth child was born with holes in his heart which Mrs. Wout attributes to the fact that she was vegetarian during her pregnancy. Their first few years were spent in a travel trailer while they built their house as they had the money to pay for it.
While this lifestyle provides the Wouts with security in knowing that most of their food is hormone and pesticide free, it is quite demanding as well. There is always work to be done and certain tasks can’t be ignored. One such task is the milking of their cow which must be done twice a day. Their cow can produce up to nine gallons of milk a day! There is also the feeding of the animals and collections of the chicken’s eggs. Not to mention the mending of farm equipment and making of dairy products. Needless to say, traveling is a venture not often undertaken and laziness out of the question. Despite being integrated and tied to their homestead in such a way, Mrs. Wout says that she hopes to be living like this for the rest of their lives.
Although they have cows, they have not yet begun butchering them because Mr. Wout needs to build equipment with which they can handle this type of slaughter. This is on the to do list. They do, however, butcher their own chickens five times a year. One of these butchering events just happened to be on the day I visited their farm. This was an interesting operation to say the least. While Mom, Dad and the children old enough to help participated in the butchering, I observed and asked questions. I was struck by the comfortable way in which the children engaged in the activity.
I was not willing to take part in reaching inside the freshly dead chickens and pulling out their entrails but the children were more than happy to do so in my stead. I talked with Mom and Dad during the process while avoiding chicken guts that occasionally flew through the air. The children took pleasure in pointing out the various organs and other body parts of the chickens for me. For this family of home-schoolers, I think their dissection credit for biology is more than earned.
I guess to some this comfort with dead animals might seem odd but I saw it as being more healthy than running away in fear from the meat they were going to eat. These children were able to take pride in their knowledge of the animals they were to consume and how to prepare them. One of the daughters proudly announced to me that although she was only ten, she already knew how to “eviscerate” the chickens.
This experience for me was intriguing, yet eye opening. I have, for some time now, had a romantic idea of living on a self-sufficient farm. The tranquility, the relationship with nature and animals, the participation in growing my own food, all seemed like great reasons to forgo city life at some point and engage in this type of living. While it is amazing, I did not realize how much one is tied down by a farm. As a lover of travel and change, this was one obvious aspect I overlooked in idealizing this lifestyle.
This is not to say that I have completely nixed the possibility of farm living, only that I am not so sure I would want to make the switch from city life, to farm life anytime in the near future. One must consider the costs and realities that it entails. Animals are not cheap and neither is farm land or building a house. If one is to be committed to this way of life, there will be limited adventures outside of the farm and a work load that never ends.
However, I think the tranquility of this lifestyle is hard to match. Who wouldn’t enjoy watching the sun set over your fields every evening with your children running happily around the yard. The Wout home felt bathed in serenity despite holding six children. Like anything, it is a tradeoff in which sacrifices must be made. For me, this experience opened my eyes to some of those sacrifices and forced me to add a little reality to my romantic notion of sustainable living.
January 25, 2010
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break! School is back in session which means Slow Food UNT is back as well, with even more exciting events to look forward to. Due to our increased size, we’re working on finding a new place to hold potlucks. We do however, have a tentative date set for the first one which is February 7th. Spring semester is going to bring a lot of opportunities for us with farmers markets re-opening, the beginning of the Denton Community Market, and the return of warmth and sunshine allowing for the kick off our own home gardens. I’m personally excited about the February potluck, which in the spirit of Valentine’s Day will focus on Fair Trade chocolate.
A great way for you to go ahead and get involved right away would be to check out Slow Food’s “Time For Lunch” campaign. Congress is currently revising the Child Nutrition Act which comes up for re-authorization every five years. Public schools are currently only budgeted to pay around a $1 a meal for school lunches. Schools try to stretch the money as much as they can, but that amount simply isn’t enough to provide a nutritious meal that kids need. Slow Food is campaigning to increase the budget by $1 a meal and advocating the creation of Farm-to-School programs. This is a really important campaign and a great way to get involved on a national level. Check out the website:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/
If anyone has any ideas they would like to suggest for events, books or movies they would like to add to the blog, or general questions or concerns such as how to get involved, please don’t hesitate to email us at our new email address: UNT@slowfoodusa.org
See you soon!
November 23, 2009
Check this out! www.betterworldshopper.org
From the website:
the.idea
voting with your wallet
the.website
BETTER WORLD SHOPPER is a site dedicated to providing people with a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of every company on the planet AND making it available in practical forms that individuals can use in their everyday lives. Coming out of more than 5 years of intensive research, this work is based on a comprehensive database of over 1000 companies and utilizes 25+ reliable sources of data to cover everything from the environment to human rights, community development to animal protection.
5 key.issues
HUMAN RIGHTS: sweatshops, 3rd world community exploitation, international health issues, divestment, child labor, code of conduct.
THE ENVIRONMENT: global warming, rainforest destruction, pollution, recycling, renewable energy, greenwashing, toxic waste, eco-innovations, illegal dumping, sustainable farming.
ANIMAL PROTECTION: factory farming, animal testing, humane treatment, wild animal habitat.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: family farms, local business support, volunteer efforts, sustainable growth, philanthropic donations, nonprofit alliances, establishing foundations.
SOCIAL JUSTICE : fair wages, fatalities, union busting efforts, health & safety records, discrimination based on: race, gender, age, ability, religion, sexuality, ethnicity.
*You can also purchase a pocket book to take with you when you go shopping.
November 11, 2009
What a TERRIFIC DAY for meeting new people!
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Not only was it a lovely day on UNT’s campus with the trees raining their gold leaves in the crisp fall air, but it was a day full of exciting tabling outside of the Union. If you were one of those wonderful people that we had the pleasure of meeting, please, come to our next potluck supper on the 22nd of November. Check back soon under our events so that you can tell your friends and family where it will be held. We hope to see your smilng faces again!
November 3, 2009
Processed food linked to Depression
Posted by Emily Moore under Uncategorized | Tags: http://www.udoerasmus.com/pyramid/pyr_proc/pyramid_proc_text.htm |Leave a Comment
According to British research carried out on 3,486 people, local fresh foods had a positive impact on the mental health of the participants. Half of the people tested ate mostly fresh local foods, and they had 26 percent lower risk of depression. The other half ate mostly fried processed foods which resulted in a 58 percent higher risk of developing depression. The link above is to a food pyramid that shows the importance of fresh, local, in season foods. Get HAPPY! EAT SLOW!
October 19, 2009
This Saturday, October 24th we will be supporting 350 and the International Day of Climate Change by gathering as many people as possible and carpooling to the Coppell Farmers Market to support local production within a 350 mile radius from Denton.
What is 350?
350.org is an international campaign to raise awareness about global warming. Its focus is on the number 350—as in parts per million—the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmostphere. But 350 is more than just a number: it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.
350.org was created after 2007’s Step It Up campaign, which hosted over 2,000 rallies nationwide addressing the need for legislation that would cut 80% of carbon emissions by 2050. It has the support of more than 100 countries and is characterized by the lively visual petitions it uses to advocate for better climate change policy.
How can buying locally help?
The concept of “food miles” and the carbon footprint of food is becoming more widely known. The basic concept is: as we have increasingly globalized our food supply, we use more petroleum flying food all over the world. Locally produced food doesn’t bring this problem, and it also provides many additional benefits. So what is local food, and why is it so great? Instead of going to the supermarket and buying food that comes from another country, your money helps support your local community, where it stays within the local tax base, and provides local jobs. All while helping to stop climate change.
To learn more about food production and it’s contribution to climate change, check out this pdf.
Representing the number 350, photographs will be taken around the world to petition for global climate change. For our “lively visual petition”, we will assemble all the local produce we purchase in the grass to spell out 350 and then capture it with an aerial photograph. 
We will be meeting at the Environmental Science Building at 8:00am Saturday morning to carpool to Coppell, TX. RSVP on the facebook group if you can attend or e-mail kristinlrn@yahoo.com. Extra drivers will most likely be need. Spread the word and invite others to join in supporting local food and climate change.
www.350.org
October 16, 2009
The 5th annual Eat Local Challenge has been taking place this month. From the website:
Each year, we locavores take part in a month-long challenge that focuses on eating locally. This year, as in the past, the level of your eat local challenge is up to you. You can choose to try and eat locally the entire month, or you can introduce it to your family in a gradual way. Many communities take time this month to celebrate eating locally on town level — a move that I have found to be particularly exciting, as it’s a new phenomenon in the past couple years.
Each week has a theme, the last one (Oct. 10-16th) being “Personal Challenges”. The theme for the next week is one which I really think we can apply to our campus community.
Week Three (October 17 – 23): Friends and Family
Let’s take this week to move eating locally out to our families. Can we convince our kids to take local apples to school instead of out-of-season blueberries? Can we ask our spouses to eat locally this week?
So I say in honor of week three try making a locally sourced dinner with your roommates, or plan a unique date to take your boyfriend or girlfriend to a local farm for a tour.
