Anyone going to Toronto or Kingston in December?

I'm looking to see if anyone is heading to Toronto, Peterborough or preferably Kingston way in the next couple of weeks. I need my snow tires brought down from Manitoulin. Thanks! Sophie Edwards 4elements (at) manitoulin.net

to Sudbury Sunday evening or Monday morning

reposting from a Comment: I travel between sudbury and manitoulin every weekend. Usually leave sudbury Friday night at 5 (can be flexible) and return to Sudbury Sunday evening or Monday morning (need to be at work downtown Sudbury for 8:30). I would be more than happy to pay for gas for anyone who is going back and forth and can give me a ride. I am a non-smoker and will only ride in a smoke free car. email me anytime if you're interested: maryjo.gordon@ontario.ca

Moving to Resilient Manitoulin

I've changed the name of this blog back to its original name, and from now on it will be used for its original purpose (see the header above). For most of 2009 it was called ‘Manitoulin Uprising’, and was all about enhancing the resilience of our community. But now there's a new blog called ‘Resilient Manitoulin’ (click on the name to go there) which will serve that purpose. I recommend that you check it out and bookmark it; everything that would have been posted here (except ridesharing notes) will from now on be posted at Resilient Manitoulin. The most useful items posted on this blog in recent months will also be moved over there, but i'll leave them here until they are moved.

Innovative food production and land use

The article below, from the Worldwatch Institute, relates food production methods to climate change in a way that helps to place the efforts of Manitoulin food producers in their global context. (Also, for food consumers, Yes! Magazine has a nice feature on 8 Ways to Join the Local Food Movement.)

Washington, D.C. — Innovations in food production and land use that are ready to be scaled-up today could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to roughly 25 percent of global fossil fuel emissions and present the best opportunity to remove greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, according to a new report by the Worldwatch Institute and Ecoagriculture Partners. As the price of carbon rises with new caps on emissions and expanding markets for carbon offsets, the contribution of land-based, or ‘terrestrial,’ carbon to climate change mitigation efforts could increase even further.

‘The science and policy communities in Europe and beyond have focused most of their attention to date on improving energy efficiency and scaling up renewables,’ said Ecoagriculture Partners' Sara Scherr, co-author of Mitigating Climate Change Through Food and Land Use with Sajal Sthapit. ‘While these initiatives are integral in the transition to a low-carbon economy, any strategy that seeks to mitigate global climate change without reducing emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land uses is doomed to fail.’

More than 30 percent of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are linked to agriculture and land use, rivaling the combined emissions of the transportation and industry sectors. The report outlines five major strategies for reducing and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions through farming and land use:

1. Enriching soil carbon. Soil, the third largest carbon pool on Earth's surface, can be managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing tillage, cutting use of nitrogen fertilizers, and preventing erosion. Soils can store a vast amount of additional carbon by building up organic matter and by burying carbon in the form of biochar (biomass burned in a low-oxygen environment).
2. Farming with perennials. Two-thirds of all arable land is used to grow annual grains, but there is large potential to substitute these with perennial trees, shrubs, palms, and grasses that produce food, livestock feed, and fuel. These perennials maintain and develop their roots and branches over many years, storing carbon in the vegetation and soil.
3. Climate-friendly livestock production. Livestock accounts for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land use. Innovations such as rotational grazing, manure management, methane capture for biogas production, and improved feeds and feed additives can reduce livestock-related emissions.
4. Protecting natural habitat. Deforestation, land clearing, and forest and grassland fires are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Incentives are needed to encourage farmers, ranchers, and foresters to maintain natural forest and grassland habitats through product certification, payments for climate services, securing tenure rights, and community fire control.
5. Restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands. Restoring vegetation on vast areas of degraded land can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while making land productive again, protecting critical watersheds, and alleviating rural poverty.

Authors wanted! (No special skills necessary.)

You don't have to be an experienced blogger or a computer geek to post on this Manitoulin community blog. Just send an email message to gnox -at- xplornet (dot) com saying you'd like to be an author here, and the administrator will send you an ‘invitation’. This will include a link that you can click on, which will take you to a Google page (since Google is the provider of this free blog space).

The next step is to create a Google ID (if you don't already have one), which is also free and easy to do. Click on the link you will see for creating a Google ID. This will open a page where you enter your existing email address, and create a password (for your future security as a user of this service. Make a note of the password so you don't forget it – you will need to ‘sign in’ with it in order to post messages on the blog. That way you never have to enter your email address again, and it remains hidden from the public.)

After confirming your email and password, you will need to enter a code which is presented on the page in a distorted but legible form. (This is another security measure, designed to exclude automatic spamming machines, which can't translate these pictures into letters or numbers.) Then you have to click on the box which says that you accept the terms of use of this service; and finally, click the ‘submit’ button.

If you've done all this successfully, you should be taken to a ‘Dashboard’ page, where you can enter the name that will show on the blog as the author of your posts. Most people simply use the name they ordinarily go by, but you can use whatever you want (i use ‘gnox’). By the way, once you have this password-protected ID, you can use it to post comments on this or any blog hosted by Google, or start a new blog yourself, without having to go through the security filter again.

You can bookmark your Dashboard page and use it when you want to post something on the blog. You can also ‘Sign in’ from the blog site itself, or click on the ‘New Post’ button which appears in the blog window if you are already signed in. This opens a box that you can type your message into (or copy-and-paste it into, if you already have the text on your computer). This entry page is pretty self-explanatory, but there's also a ‘Help’ button if you need it.

I look forward to having a wider range of authors here! Besides, once you're an author, you can more easily use this space as a ride board, which was in fact its original intention back in 2007. But i'll explain that in a later post.

One last technical tip. You might wonder why i give my contact address as gnox -at- xplornet (dot) com rather than the usual format with the ‘@’ symbol and real dot. This is a disguise to elude machines programmed to collect addresses from the Internet by recognizing the normal email address format. If you put your address on the Internet in that normal format, eventually you will get more and more spam sent to that address. The format disguise works pretty well at avoiding spam; hence i don't have to use any of those spam filters which often block a lot of legitimate email along with the spam.

New vegetarian eatery

The trend toward vegetarianism is part of the transition toward a healthier, more sustainable way of living, and Islanders now have a new source for vegetarian treats: The Island Chill, located next to the Rock Island Mini-Golf at the corner where Hwy. 540 in Kagawong turns toward Gore Bay. Starting next week, it will be open Sunday—Friday, 11:30 am to 7:30 pm (closed Saturdays); 282-8215.

The Island Chill offers a casual, friendly atmosphere, with a charming outdoor patio and menu options that are light & satisfying, and bursting with fresh flavours. We never deep-fry and we have cholesterol-free options. Our food is prepared on-site using only the best ingredients! We may be small – but we're big on taste!

Farmers' Markets in full swing now

The season for local produce was somewhat delayed by the cool spring, but has finally arrived! All of us Islanders who care about food quality (and food security) should be supporting the Farmers' Markets in Gore Bay every Friday morning, Mindemoya Saturday morning, or Little Current Tuesday afternoon. For exact times see the Manitoulin Farmers' Market Association website.

Also check out the brand new website of local producers Chuc and Linda Willson: Our Garden.

next Transition Town meeting: July 12

from Heather Thoma:

Thank you to all of you who attended the introductory Transition Town meeting in June, a lot of positive energy and ideas were generated, taking several pieces further after our various winter discussions.

The next Transition Town meeting for our region will be on Sunday July 12, at 5:30 pm, at Café in the Woods. The plan is to start with some discussion for maybe an hour, then break for a potluck, and continue after dinner to finish by 9 pm.

I will summarize the notes from the chart that evolved during the last meeting and send them out before this next meeting, to all who attended in June, and to anyone else who would like them.

Rough goals for this next meeting so far include:

1. clarifying an overall vision;
2. clarifying some initial priority areas for education and/or activity;
3. determining what extent of coordination is best suited and how it will be carried out, and by whom;
4. determining whether ‘Transition Towns’ or some other name/title is most appropriate for the direction/needs of our communities (if in fact any name is appropriate or needed).

This is probably more than enough to start us off, but any other ideas for this, or future, meetings are welcome.

Feel free to pass this info on to others who would like to be engaged in this process. Please RSVP (interwovenness -at- yahoo (dot) com) whether you will be attending, and also if you would like to participate but aren't able to attend this particular meeting.

Here is a brief summary of the intent of Transition Towns, and a few website resources:

Transition Towns are

focused on reducing our community-wide dependency on fossil fuels while increasing local resilience and self-sufficiency in food, water, energy and all other aspects of life, while encouraging community building and wellness. Transition Towns are made possible by regular people in the community taking action towards positive change, and are shaped and guided by all who are able to participate, in whatever capacity they can.

We seek to create as well as to connect, building a new model of grass roots transformation while helping to bring existing groups and individuals together to work towards a common goal of local resiliance in the face of a fragile food and energy system that we recognize as being threatened by economic, political and natural forces.

Links:

1. Transition Towns
2. Transition Guelph
3. Transition Town Peterborough

July 10-12: Kagawong Park Centre transformed into giant book store

Kagawong – It’s a feast for readers of all ages. It’s the biggest book store Manitoulin has ever seen. For three days, July 10-12, the Kagawong Park Centre will be transformed into a gigantic book store with over seventy writers represented in a diverse showcase of Northern Ontario literary talent. Book lovers will have an opportunity to meet publishers and to hear poets, novelists, short story writers and essayists share readings from their works.

Sudbury based Your Scrivener Press, a pioneer in Northern Ontario book publishing, will be participating in the unique event sponsored by the Manitoulin Writers’ Circle. Publications by Manitoulin/North Shore poet Charlie Smith and by former Expositor editor Diane Sims will be available for purchase. In addition, internationally renowned writer and broadcaster Bruce Meyer will launch his latest collection of poetry entitled Mesopotamia. Other Your Scrivener authors include Colin Hayward, Roger Nash, Sean Costello, Richard DeMeulles, Peter McEwen, George Case and Monique Chenier.

Mystery writer Linda Kennedy of Sudbury is sure to be a big hit with her parrot companion at the book fair. Kennedy has penned a series featuring our fine feathered friends including Bird Watching, Love Birds and Birds of a Feather.

Karen Trenouth, also of Sudbury, will present her intriguing take on the Jack the Ripper tales in Epiphany of the Whitechapel Murders. Visitors can also pick up Mamma Mia! Good Italian Girls Talk Back by Rosanna Battigelli of the Sudbury Writers’ Guild.

Readers will identify with many of the antics and foibles of family life in Blair Sterling’s collection of stories. The Blind River author’s memoirs are called Spittin’, Scratchin’ and Adjustin’ and Other Stories of Family Fun. Espanola author George Bois also joins the line-up.

Robert and Valerie Nielsen of Stoney Creek will travel to Manitoulin to share works published by Potlatch Publications. Titles include Green Light, James Parsons and his Magnificent Month of Adventures, Athlete’s Foot or How I Failed at Sports, Canadian Children’s Annual, Never Leave Your Head Uncovered – A Canadian Nurse in World War Two, One Man’s War and a selection of Potlatch humour.

Also joining the festivities will be George Straatman, owner of Amberdias Publishing of Timmins. He will be marketing The Converging and Mark of the Demon. Parry Sound’s Julie Boucher will bring her mystery Driftwood’s Secret and a children’s story entitled Small Fry on the Magnetawan. And Manhattan’s irrepressible Bonnie Kogos will offer a sneak preview of her upcoming book about Manitoulin and Manhattan.

Perhaps the prize for longest distance travelled to reach the Northern Book Fair should go to Gail Anderson-Dargatz. She has driven to Manitoulin with her family from Sorrento, British Columbia. The internationally acclaimed author is best known for A Rhinestone Button published in 2002, A Recipe For Bees which was a finalist for the Giller Prize in 1998 and The Cure For Death By Lightning, also a Giller finalist in 1996.

Manitoulin will be well-represented at the book fair as well with Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute, Vincente Belenson, Ted Smith, Ann Beam, Anong Beam, Marion Seabrook, Linda Willson, Buck Longhurst, Betty Eley, Merdick McFarlane, Dylon Whyte, Jack Whyte, Dave Lawson, Bill Caesar, Kate Thompson and Sheila McDermid.

The Northern Book Fair is just one component of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Manitoulin Writers’ Retreat in Kagawong. The fair runs Friday 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Everyone welcome.

More on the Transition Town movement

A general description, from Peterborough, ON which was Canada's first TT:

The Transition Town movement is focused on reducing our community-wide dependency on fossil fuels while increasing local resilience and self-sufficiency in food, water, energy and all other aspects of life, while encouraging community building and wellness. Transition towns are made possible by regular people in the community taking action towards positive change, and is shaped and guided by all who are able to participate, in whatever capacity they can.

We seek to create as well as to connect, building a new model of grass roots transformation while helping to bring existing groups and individuals together to work towards a common goal of local resiliance in the face of a fragile food and energy system that we recognize as being threatened by economic, political and natural forces.

Another introductory description can be found at Guelph's Transition site.

Transition Manitoulin: Saturday, June 6

Pardon the lack of activity here lately – a symptom of my personal energy shortage, i guess.

The main relevant event so far in this cold month of May has been the opening of the Farmers' Markets for the season. There are some changes from past years – the Saturday morning market in Mindemoya is not in the Arena this year because of construction going on there, and the Little Current market is now on Tuesday afternoon. I hope to post a more complete schedule here when i have all the information together.

Meanwhile, a potentially major event in the Transition movement on the Island is coming up on Saturday, June 6th. Sally Ludiwig and Chris Mills are coming up from Transition Guelph to give a presentation, starting at 5:30 pm followed by a question-and-answer session. The evening will also include a potluck dinner and time for informal conversation. It's expected that it will conclude by about 9 pm. It's all happening at the Ski Club/Café in the Woods on Hwy 540 between Little Current and Honora Bay. Anyone interested is welcome to come (the venue will hold about 80 people). This will be a good chance to hear what's happening in an Ontario community where the transition has begun to self-organize.

More details coming soon, i think …

Spiritual transformation

In order to make the transition to a better society (here on the Island or anywhere), we need good information about what's happening and what's possible. But even more than that, we need some inspiration. Living into a better world is a spiritual enterprise.

Recently we've come across two DVDs that work very well for stimulating conversation on the spiritual side of things. One (that's the title!) was discovered by Heather and Paul of Loonsong Garden. Here a small group of first-time filmmakers embark on a quest for the meaning of life, taking a set of 20 questions to a wide variety of people and capturing the best responses with their video camera. The central idea that comes across is (as the title suggests) the unity of the human race; but the diversity is also celebrated here.

The same goes for Beyond Our Differences, though this is a more professional, beautifully shot and tightly edited film (bigger budget, no doubt). It was first shown on PBS at the end of 2008. Here the focus is more specifically on religion, sharply criticizing the fundamentalist versions of it, but mostly showing how the major religious traditions can and do motivate people to amazing works of service to their fellow humans. Core values of love, compassion and social justice are found in sacred Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist writings, and we see activists from all these traditions working toward a better world in their various ways.

There's also spiritual motivation beyond religion. Another DVD now in our resource library shows how the arts can be a means of salvation. Born into Brothels chronicles the work of photographer Zana Briski, who met the children of prostitutes in Calcutta and knew she had to do something to help them escape the situation they were born into. Taking her cue from their interest in her camera, she gave them all cameras and taught them the basics of photography. The results are amazing and incredibly moving. This film won an Oscar for best documentary of 2004, and the DVD we have is loaded with extras following up what happened to the kids later. (The title above links to Kids with Cameras, the foundation set up by Briski to continue the work.)

Electric car uprising?

Here's a transition idea that could make a difference on Manitoulin, although it's not coming from here. New York Times columnist David Pogue has recently published reports about ‘Better Place, a radical, overarching plan to replace the world's gas cars with electric ones – really, really quickly. The nutty thing is, it just might work; the streetside charging outlets for these cars are already under construction in six countries and two U.S. states.’ His column of March 19, in the form of an interview with Better Place chief executive Shai Agassi, explains how it's supposed to work. And near the end, Agassi mentions that the province of Ontario is interested. To me, that's an encouraging sign. If we the Canadian taxpayers are going to bail out Ontario's auto industry, we should at least make sure that the money will be put to better use than continuing production of the same old gas-guzzlers. Use the link above to read about a better alternative.

From phantom wealth to real wealth

Anyone who's aware of what's behind the current financial ‘meltdown’, as explained for instance in Chris Martenson's Crash Course, knows that all the government bailouts and ‘stimulus packages’ can only make it worse in the long run, by trying to preserve the status quo (i.e. the bad habits which got our society into this mess in the first place). So what can be done to actually improve the situation? This blog is all about what we can do at the local level, but eventually even national governments will have to get with the program, if they're going to survive at all. David Korten's new book, Agenda for a New Economy, explains how the U.S. and other governments could actually do something useful to turn the situation around. Back in January i posted about the release of Korten's book, with a link to the excerpt on the Yes Magazine website. Now that i've read the whole thing, i think it's a welcome addition to our resource library, especially as a follow-up to Korten's earlier book, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (2006). Korten frames the crucial economic conflict of our time in terms of phantom wealth vs. real wealth, symbolized by Wall Street and Main Street respectively. Wall Street represents the most extreme and toxic development of ‘Empire’, the organized crime syndicate of predatory greed which has dominated civilization for five thousand years. Both of Korten's books bring a global perspective to the transition which is now under way. In another post i mentioned the Transition Culture website. I should have also given a link to The Transition Handbook, by Rob Hopkins, which shows how the move ‘from oil dependency to local resilience’ can be accomplished by rebuilding local community. Hopkins is among the leaders of this kind of transition as it's unfolding in the UK. Heather and Paul at Loonsong have copies of this book for the use of those active in making the transition here on Manitoulin. This book offers a handle on the localization movement which is complementary – and necessary – to the shift ‘from phantom wealth to real wealth’ of which David Korten writes.

Kids Can Grow Too

Ice Lake — Students from Lakeview School and Manitoulin Secondary School began a pilot project last year with the Manitoulin Farmers Market growers. They grew bedding plants from seed and then brought them to sell at the Market Tuesdays in Little Current. The project, known as Kids Can Grow Too, was so successful that the Manitoulin Farmers' Market Association (MFMA) is expanding it to three other schools in Little Current, Mindemoya and Gore Bay this year. “Several of our members worked very closely with the schools to get the pilot project off the ground,” says Chuc Willson of the MFMA. “The kids have shown a genuine interest in the whole growing process and we as an organization had a great time working with them in the schools and having them at our Market Tuesday in Little Current. It is so vital for kids to learn about the earth and to appreciate the life cycles in this way and also to learn about our market system. They are our future market customers, and perhaps even our future vendors,” adds Willson. “We were able to fund the pilot project with financial backing from FedNor, but this year we are on our own,” adds Willson. “Members of MFMA are donating seeds, peat pots, and their expertise and we are happy to have the sponsorship of the Manitoulin Heart Health Coalition who are purchasing soil, trays and cell packs this year for the program. We have asked local Lion's Clubs to help as well. Last year we discovered that grow table units were a must for the plants to develop healthy root systems so we are looking to purchase a unit for each of the four elementary schools,” says Willson. “We have come up with an idea to encourage sponsorship from the public for this,” he goes on to explain. “We will display an honour roll at the markets with the names of those who make a donation, and I am so anxious to get on an honour roll for the first time in my life, that I will be the first to donate $50,” he quips. “We are looking for $2400. Our fund is up to $850 already just among our membership, the Gore Bay Lion's Club and Lakeview school who will be purchasing the unit on their own. So we are putting out the challenge and hopefully many will be proud to get their names added to our honour roll at the market. Also, Lee Valley have offered to give us a 15% discount on the units” he adds. If you are interested in making a donation, cheques can be sent payable to Manitoulin Farmers' Markets Association, c/o Chuc Willson, 600 Robertson Road, RR 1, Gore Bay ON POP 1HO. The Manitoulin Farmers' Market Association assists with the development and expansion of farmers' markets, as an alternative marketing opportunity for locally grown and produced goods in the District of Manitoulin. Markets are held in Little Current on Tuesdays, Gore Bay on Fridays and Mindemoya on Saturdays from the May long weekend to Thanksgiving. For more information, please visit the Manitoulin Farmers' Market website. Contact: Chuc Willson Manitoulin Farmers' Market Association (705) 282-0274

Remembering Jim Murray

I would like to dedicate this year's postings on Manitoulin Uprising to the memory of Jim Murray (1942–2009). Jim was a true pioneer of the Manitoulin Uprising, having lived off the grid here with his wife Mame and their sons for 30 years. His friend Helke Ferrie describes him as ‘a shaman disguised as an alternative energy engineer who installed solar and wind sourced systems.’ Jim raised the level of psychic energy in every gathering that was blessed with his presence. He had a keen awareness of juice, as he called it – i can't quite explain what that is (organic electricity, perhaps?), but Jim was adept at finding and sharing it with all of us who knew him. Now we'll have to do it without him. Jim died on February 16 after a year-long battle with mesothelioma, a deadly cancer caused exclusively by exposure to asbestos. Thanks to information provided by Helke Ferrie, my first act in remembrance of Jim's life was to write the Prime Minister's office protesting the Canadian government's shameful and deceitful support for the asbestos industry. Here's the letter i sent:

I am writing in regards to your government's continuing support for the chrysotile asbestos industry despite the fact that ‘all forms of asbestos fibres, including chrysotile, are carcinogenic,’ as the Auditor General of Canada has acknowledged. That support has included grants to the Chrysotile Institute, whose sole function is apparently to promote asbestos use by hiding the clear scientific consensus that the substance is lethal. In February 2008, your government announced another grant of $750,000 to the Chrysotile Institute for the next three years. I would like to know whether this grant continues under the current budget. Since the World Health Organization (among many others) has called for a total ban on all forms of asbestos, Canada's efforts to support this dying industry are bad enough. But even worse is Canada's efforts to suppress basic information about its lethal nature. Canada has ratified the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, which protects human health and the environment by controlling international trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides. The Convention's expert scientific body recommends inlcuding chrysotile asbestos among the hazardous chemicals requiring prior informed consent before being exported. Canada, which exports 95% of its chrysotile asbestos to developing countries, has so far blocked this recommendation. These appalling facts came to my attention with the recent death of a good friend of mesothelioma, which is caused exclusively by asbestos. When he worked with the substance decades ago, its lethal effects were virtually unknown. This is certainly not the case now, and for Canada to prevent potential users from knowing the risk involved in using it amounts to a crime against humanity. I sincerely hope that your government will reverse this unconscionable policy, and stop wasting taxpayers' money on support for an industry which should be allowed to die rather than being subsidized to kill more human beings.

For more information on this, visit the Ban Asbestos Canada website, or read the recent editorial published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). As soon as i hear of other ways to remember and celebrate Jim's life, i'll post the notice here.

The 11th Hour: Saturday March 7

The 11th Hour is a film which assembles testimony from some leading innovators on dealing with emerging threats to the planetary life support system. Ken and Connie Mackenzie are hosting this film on Saturday, March 7 as one of our Manitoulin Movies that Matter gatherings. Potluck at 5 pm, followed by the film and conversation. This is one of the DVDs in the Manitoulin Uprising resource library. (Click any of those links for more information.)

Think globally, eat locally

The movement toward building a locally based economy is, oddly enough, a global one. It's a decentralized network of self-organizing communities sharing information about how to live more satisfying lives. Bill McKibben's book Deep Economy is all about this movement. By combining local stories with global statistics in a friendly and personal style, McKibben has written an excellent introduction to it. He makes it clear that localization addresses the urgent problems of climate change, peak oil and environmental degradation – but an even deeper motive for rejecting rampant globalization is that it has failed to make us happy. It has undermined healthy communities, the real source of human happiness. The more connected people are with their neighbours, when it comes to basics like food, the happier they are. There's a big difference between food and information in this respect. Information can be moved nowadays at little or no cost, and it doesn't degrade in transit. Food, on the other hand, is not likely to be either healthy or tasty if it's travelled a thousand miles to your table. The industrial food system has already proved to be a bad habit in most respects, and it can't survive the escalation of energy costs. But the more immediate reason why so many are switching to local food is that it's better food in every way. You can taste it! Chuc and Linda Willson have on DVD a good documentary, called simply Good Food, about the local food movement in the northwestern U.S. It shows what can be accomplished when organic farmers, food retailers and restaurants work together with local consumers. We have the beginnings of such a movement on Manitoulin, and this film offers a lot of ideas on how it could grow. Another localization movement has to do with housing – that is, designing and building dwellings which reduce dependence on power grids and other centralized services. On one of our recent movie nights on Manitoulin, a small group of us had a very stimulating conversation about this kind of localization. It was sparked by a film called Garbage Warrior, which isn't really about garbage or war – it's about one renegade architect's crusade to create highly unconventional, affordable and sustainable housing. It's also a portrait of an artist who's also a social activist and has to battle with government bureaucrats for the right to experiment with new design concepts. We have this lively, entertaining film on DVD and would be happy to loan it out. You may not agree with all the ideas in it, but it's very likely to get you thinking outside the box when it comes to housing. Another resource i've recently come across is the Transition Culture website. The question explored here is how best to make the transition to a post-oil, post-growth economy, while building healthier communities in the process. I would recommend having a look – it's free! All the books and DVDs mentioned above can also be borrowed at no cost, but you might have to wait your turn.

Local food first

Pam and i have been reading Bill McKibben's Deep Economy – which i highly recommend for those who are looking forward to life ‘after growth’. That's the title of his first chapter; the second is about the local food movement, which is well under way all over the world. And none too soon either, since the global food system is especially vulnerable in its heavy reliance on oil and ground water – both of which are drying up – and on ecologically unsustainable practices. (It's a major contributor to climate change, too.) The system is also artificially propped up by subsidies to the corporations who profit from their near-monopoly control of both ‘inputs’ and marketing. Besides, industrial food was never very good (though cheap and plentiful), and the move toward local food is one of the most visible signs of the Manitoulin Uprising. The Farmer's Markets have been growing for several years now, providing food lovers with access to local organic produce. Then there's Loonsong Garden, the Community Shared Agriculture project started several years ago by Paul Salanki and Heather Thoma. Along with several other local food growers, some with many years of experience, this is a start toward a made-on-Manitoulin food system that could outlast the industrial food system. But there's still a long way to go before we Islanders will be ready to kick the industrial-food addiction. I expect that local food will be a major topic on this blog in the coming year. There's so much to say that i hardly know where to start … suggestions are welcome, and contributions from others even more so! Just click the ‘comment’ button below and write us a note, if you want to volunteer (or just comment).

Political action and the New Economy

Although i'd like to keep the focus of this blog as local as possible, it would be unrealistic to ignore the bigger picture which is the context of what's happening on Manitoulin. So the question arises of political action directed toward the provincial and federal levels of government: what can it contribute toward improving the conditions of life here? Regarding provincial politics: Here's a link to the NDP's new 5 point Economic Stimulus Plan. Linda Willson, who forwarded this link, comments as follows:

You can see that the NDP is coming up with solutions to the economic problems while the conservatives are tossing women out of caucus to make room for their leader, John Tory to capture a seat in Parliament and the Liberals continue to carry on with the same old same old habits of inaction.

I have reviewed the NDP newsletter that outlines the background and platform of those running for the leadership of the party – Howard Hampton and Shelly Martel will be sadly missed. Peter Tabuns is the only one talking about the environment and though Andrea Horwath is good, she does not have environment or rural issues on her radar.

If people want to take part in our democratic process, for a small sum (the cost of a magazine subscription) they can join a party and have a vote in the decision making.

For those who prefer to take part in the process without joining a political party, there are other means. For instance, i hear from the David Suzuki Foundation that:

Over the past few months, thousands of Ontarians like you have successfully helped to support a strong ban on these needless toxic chemicals. But now some industry lobby groups are trying to water down these rules.

This message came with a link that makes it easy to send a letter to your MPP (in our case, Mike Brown) urging him to resist the industry lobby's efforts. The Suzuki Foundation website also facilitates nonpartisan political action at the federal level. For instance, another message i received a few days ago reads:

Before the politicos decide what to do with your money on January 27 (budget day on Parliament Hill), tell them you want the emphasis on “eco” in Canada's economy. We've made it easy for you to write to Jim Flaherty – our federal Minister of Finance – and give him a piece of your mind.

Again, links on the website (and in e-mail messages to subscribers) make this very easy to do. It's easy to be cynical about the real effect of writing to politicians, but it's even easier to say that they will never change course until their constituents demand government support for something other than the corporate status quo. Personally, i have yet to see any political party or elected leader – including Barack Obama – propose a plan that really deals with the crisis (or engages with the opportunity) which humanity is now facing. The real challenge can be stated fairly simply. The entire global economy, with its insistent and totally unrealistic demand for constant ‘growth’, is fueled by cheap oil. Now the cheap oil is running out, and we have to use the little that is left to make the transition to other energy sources, and break our addiction to overproduction, overconsumption and ‘growth’. All the bailouts and ‘stimulus packages’ we have seen so far amount to expensive subsidies for the very habits we need to kick. Trying to restore economic growth is just a way of dragging our feet, because ‘growth’ is the problem, not the solution. For a much better (and only slightly longer) explanation of what a realistic solution would look like, check this excerpt from David Korten's new book, Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth . It's ‘the speech President Obama should deliver … but won't’. David Korten is also one of the people behind YES! Magazine.

Spirit matters and movies

The previous post here emphasized paying attention to the global context. But there's another context to everything we do, which is (strictly speaking) neither global nor local: it is spiritual. The Uprising here is all about living a better life, not just surviving or carrying on the same old self-destructive routine a little longer. But how do we recognize a better life when we see one (or imagine) one? This is not a scientific question, at least not in the usual sense of ‘science’: it's an aesthetic or spiritual question. So in addition to resources informing us about the state of the world, we will pay attention in this space to some resources which can help to orient us towards the deeper sources of inspiration and motivation. One example is a film called The Dhamma Brothers, which John Hawke and Deb Wilson showed at one of our Movies that Matter nights a week ago. It's about the ‘first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana retreat, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. ‘The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility who enter into this arduous and intensive program.’ If you missed the movie night you might be able to borrow this thought- and practice-provoking DVD from John – contact gnox (at) xplornet -dot- com.

Global context and the Crash Course

The Manitoulin Uprising, or recreation of life on the Island, is happening in a global context of ecological, economic and social situations. We can't understand what's going on here if we don't have some understanding of that context. Part of the mission of this blog is to keep readers informed about some resources for learning what's happening elsewhere on the planet. We maintain an ever-growing resource list of websites, books and DVDs on the gnusystems home page. For instance – the best resource we've found for getting a grip on the broader economic situation, especially here on Turtle Island (‘North America’), is Chris Martenson's Crash Course. You can view each of its 22 chapters online, if you have a reasonably fast Internet connection, but we at gnusystems also have a DVD version you can borrow and view on a regular DVD player (or computer). Either way, it's provided free to users (though once you've seen it, you may wish to donate to the cause of disseminating it further). The Crash Course is not the only resource for understanding the current economic situation, but we think it's a good summary of the basics everyone needs to know in order to make sound economic decisions in these times. And although it is not difficult to understand, it is not something you can learn about through the news offered by the mainstream media. That's why the 3 hours or so you will spend taking the Crash Course could change your life.

Happy New Island

In the coming year, we hope to report and promote the rising of a better way of life on Manitoulin Island. Some of these reports will delve into the details and circumstances of emerging practices here; others will point to resources for learning about the larger context (the state of the planet), or about new ways of living emerging elsewhere, which we could adopt or adapt to our life here. But first we should acknowledge where it's all coming from – the Manitou or spirit behind it all. We live here because it is a sacred place. This doesn't mean that other places are not sacred; indeed some ways of connecting with other people and other places are sacred too. All i mean by ‘sacred’ (or ‘spirit’) here is a sense of connection – if you like other words better, use them instead. The point is that this place is a Manitou and not a mere commodity for us to own or use up. Think of it rather as using us to express itself. Let us become the Manitou's mode of recreation. We love this place because it is far from the hustle of urban life. It's more attuned with the rhythms of nature. As a relatively remote island (insula, in Latin), we are relatively insulated from many of the global systems which are now collapsing. For instance, the ongoing financial ‘meltdown’ may not be so catastrophic here because we never had much of that kind of wealth in the first place. But we are only relatively insulated. Food prices are rising here too – inevitably so, as you can see if you have an eye on the global economy. But we also have another eye, which can see this as an opportunity to become more connected with local food sources. This is one of many ways for the Manitou to recreate itself. In short, we need to keep two eyes open: one for the Manitou and one for the world. One for the spirit animating us all, and one for the information we need to recreate ourselves. This blog is intended to serve the purpose of keeping both eyes open. As always, feel free to comment, suggest resources or future directions, etc.