Here's an interesting article on the idea of "slow money", or a system of investments that stay local in your own community:What if the money you invested stayed within 50 miles of where you currently live and was committed to local merchants and growers who…
Angela Pizelo from the Liberty Lake Farmers Market and board member for the Washington State Farmers Market Association reports:Rep. Scott White (46th District, North Seattle) is spearheading legislation that provides a property tax exemption for church property loaned or rented to non-profit organizations that conduct…
The Belgrade, Montana town council has shut down the efforts of residents to allow for backyard chickens. The objections are kind of hilarious.Menicucci also said Clark was concerned over procedural issues involving “stray chickens.” Under city ordinance, dogs require licensing and strays are taken to…
I'm a long time fan of Despair.com and couldn't resist posting these pics. If you've ever blogged or Twittered or facebooked you just might spit your coffee all over the keyboard. Go here for the lowdown on the growth in web authors. Can there be…
Two posts from recent months are deserving of some follow up. One post was on the recycling habits and sustainability sensitivities of Christians in the U.S. In the post I suggested that Christians were, for some reason, not as engaged with issues of sustainability as…
I'll be speaking at the Food and Faith Forum on November 14. Should be a good event. The Spokesman has the scoop. To register, contact Felicia Reilly at (509) 294-3944 or at faithandenvironment(at)gmail.com.
Here is an interesting web site (waterfootprint.org) that helps us understand the relationship between our water usage and the products we consume. Here are some examples of the water used to bring certain items to market.Hamburger = 634 gallons of water2lb of Industrial Beef =…
Angela Pizelo from the Liberty Lake Farmers Market and board member for the Washington State Farmers Market Association reports:Rep. Scott White (46th District, North Seattle) is spearheading legislation that provides a property tax exemption for church property loaned or rented to non-profit organizations that conduct…
Whatever is foreseen in JoyMust be lived out from day to dayVision held open in the darkBy our ten thousand days of work.Harvest will fill the barn; for thatThe hand must ache, the face must sweat.And yet no leaf or grain is filledBy work of…
I recently visited family in the outskirts of Sacramento and came across a housing development called "The Vineyard." The entrance sign sports standard McMansion housing development cursive font but instead of traditional landscaping, there are rows of grape vines surrounding the sign. I was a…
Heard this on NPR this morning about a law that goes into effect today requiring San Francisco residents to compost food waste. We started composting most of our food waste a couple of years ago and it's amazing how much it reduces the amount of…
Earlier this year Michael Pollan gave a shout out to his blog readers for their best "food rules." His 20 favorites are listed here. Here are my faves from his list:"You don't get fat from food you pray over." (In other words, gathering around a…
(NSFFFH stands for Not Safe for Fast Food Habits.)The New York Times has a must-read article profiling a woman who was paralyzed by a nasty burger induced e-coli infection. While the woman's story is compelling, the reporting on the burger making business is what makes…
One of the cowgirls from the Cowgirl Co-op located on the "Back of the Bluff" as they call it, stopped by the Millwood Market last night to chat. They've got some big dreams including a community canning kitchen, local food and products store and mercantile,…
Joel Salatin of Omnivore's Dilemma and Food Inc. fame is profiled in the November edition of The American Conservative. Mr. Salatin and his 500 acre Polyface Farm in Virginia is one of the centerpieces of Michael Pollan's reporting on sustainable alternatives to the massive industrial…
In genetically altered crops news, a Judge has put a halt to the propagation of sugar beets that have been genetically altered to withstand a dosing of Roundup herbicide. The AP report states:U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in San Francisco found the U.S. Department of…
This chart is fascinating in so many different ways. It takes the reported occupations of the U.S. labor force between 1850 and the year 2000, and brings the data to life through this image. I love the image because it clearly shows the dramatic changes…
When we started our year-long experiment in January of 2008, seeking to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade, I can honestly say we didn't know about all the other similar experiments working there way into the cultural mainstream. We hadn't read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"…
Last year in our quest for local food we took on the surprisingly challenging task of sourcing milk that comes from Inland Northwest farmers and cows. We visited the Inland Northwest Dairy site on Francis near Division, we talked to grocery stores and finally got…
There was a recent conversation on Andrew Sullivan's blog about atheists, Christians and the environment that caught my attention and I think a response is in order.The instigator for the discussion was a statement by the Pope that centered around Christians and the environment. His…
One fun annual tradition we started a couple of years ago is to enter items in the Spokane County Fair, mostly veggies from the garden. I remember visting the Puyallup fair growing up, and walking through the displays of animals and agriculture and eating a…
One lesson of creating a huge vegetable garden where we once mowed the lawn, is that while mowing and fertilizing and watering took work, it could essentially be done by one person. It doesn't take a division of household labor to keep a lawn. While…
We gathered a freshly laid egg from Cheesy, the brown egg pictured below, and an egg from our neighbor that they recently purchased at Yoke's, and set out to make an observational comparison. They are both the same size, the brown shell doesn't make a…
This is a little far afield from my usual blogging fair but I couldn't resist the idea of beating David Blaine to the scoop on a local Spokane restaurant shake-up. Nancy and I headed out to McGlade's Bistro and Wine Bar for an anniversary desert.…
A few weeks ago a friend emailed and explained that as a teacher she needed to do some field trips to maintain her credential and visits to farms counted toward this requirement. She wondered if it would be OK to visit our house to see…
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