Here is a round-up Year of Plenty book items for this week: Mother Nature Network is featuring an excerpt from Year of Plenty on the front page of their site today. Beliefnet has a slide show on "Becoming a Family of Plenty" that shares some…
A few weeks ago I wrote a post highlighting the book, Superbug by Maryn Mckenna. The book tracks the emergence of antibiotic-resistant MRSA and claims that the heavy use of antibiotics in industrial animal agriculture has contributed to the rise of these resistant strains of…
Here's the scoop from Gary and So at Rocky Ridge Ranch about the upcoming season of CSA offerings. They are my favorites. Go here for more background on CSA programs. Just a reminder to let you know we are taking new applications for the CSA…
Bolivia lawmakers are taking an interesting approach toward environmental protections. They are working to pass what they call the "Law of Mother Earth." There are 11 rights that the legislation will formalize into law. The Guardian UK reports: They include: the right to life and…
The AP has a nice piece of reporting on the emergence of "local" as the newest hot commodity in food labeling and marketing. The No. 2 official at the Agriculture Department recently got a real-life lesson in the loose definition of the trendiest word in…
I'll be at Auntie's Bookstore tomorrow, April 2 at 2pm. Along with signing books, I'll speak on the Mezzanine about the process of writing the book, and offer some thoughts about the importance of telling the story of our experiences in the Inland Northwest. Second…
We had a great work day today at the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden in the west valley of Spokane. As you can see from the picture even the little guys were putting their muscles into preparing the soil for a new growing season. We added…
There are still 5 days to enter this cool contest at Sunset Magazine. Here's the description at their One-Block Feast blog: THE CONTEST The One-Block Feast, our book based on this blog, gives you everything you need to grow a summer feast. It includes planting…
I'll be at this event on Saturday signing books and enjoying the conversation. Here are the details: The Faith and Environment Network’s annual Called to Care event will take place on Earth Hour Day, Saturday, March 26, 2011, beginning at 4 pm at the Cathedral…
Here's the report from last night's meeting of the Spokane Valley City Council regarding keeping backyard chickens: Tonight the City of Spokane Valley unamously passed a Motion to Approve the raising of chickens by the residents of City of Spokane Valley! In a nutshell, this…
image: Manure Lagoon at a swine CAFO In conversations about agriculture and health, I think the issues raised in the book, Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA by Maryn Mckenna, need to be front and center, especially as it relates to CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding…
In a recent post I pointed out the growing popularity of CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) programs where consumers sign up with a farmer to receive a weekly "subscription" of food, usually a box of seasonal vegetables and fruits. They have grown in popularity because they…
Several folks have asked me where to buy a copy of Year of Plenty in the Spokane area. I just got word from Sun People Dry Goods that they have a bunch of copies that just arrived. They are located on Browne and 2nd Ave…
There is a proposed law working its way through the Florida legislature, that would make it illegal to photograph or film farms without the permission of the farmer. The proposed law, that would take effect in July, reads: A person who enters onto a farm…
We've been making progress in the Spokane area when it comes to chicken laws. The City of Spokane Valley looks set to approve new laws allowing chickens in residential neighborhoods. The new ordinance will have it's final reading on March 22 and based on the…
At least that's what Jeffrey Sanders claims in a recent Op-Ed at the Seattle Times. The roots of the contemporary food movement in the Northwest run far deeper than Seattle's hastily tilled parking-strip gardens. The movement is more geographically dispersed and firmly established than most…
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an innovation in food selling and buying that has finally broken into the mainstream. These kinds of programs that usually involve a consumer signing up with a local farmer to get a weekly box of seasonal vegetables. In some cases…
Amazon has officially changed their page and the book is no longer on Pre-order status. I checked my copy that I ordered on Amazon and they said it should get here by March 4. I think it started shipping from the central warehouse of the…
(Warning: In this post I will reveal a key detail of the movie "Unknown," but not THE key plot twist. I don't think my revelation will ruin the movie for you but if you want to play it safe you might want to skip this…
Jonathan Merritt's book, Green Like God, is next up on my list of 28 books on Christian approaches to the environment, food, and simple living. (Looks like I'm going to need more than 28 days but I'll get there.) Merritt is a Southern Baptist, the…
The Daily Beast has run the numbers and Spokane has cracked the top ten on the dubious list of most fast-food saturated cities in the country. The Daily Beast asked independent data collector AggData to compile the total number of fast-food locations of the nation’s…
The folks at The Economist have created this handy map to show the changes in Body Mass Index in countries around the world over the last few decades (males over 20 yrs old). Click on the 1998 and 2008 in the top right corner to…
I came across this amazing collection of photos, Earth from Above, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, a French photographer, journalist, and environmentalist. The whole collection is worth taking some time to scan through. I was most struck by the images that portray such a diversity of the…
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