Ecotopia

In this program, we examine the Fair Trade movement, which aims to pay workers in other countries a fair wage and to provide decent working and living conditions for them. We talking first with Adrienne Fitch-Frankel, who manages the Fair Trade program for Global Exchange in San Francisco, including the Cocoa Program.

Then we go local to talk with Liza Tedesco, the interim general manager of Chico Natural Foods about the Co-op’s program to provide Fair Trade food in the store. 

Listen to Ecotopia #19 Online Now!
To download the show as MP3, right click (Mac users control-click) and select “Download File As”

A Primer on Fair Trade and Free Trade

We begin by explaining the concept and practice of Fair Trade and to distinguish it from free trade, which is something altogether different and in many respects diametrically opposed to Fair Trade.

From TransFair USA, the organization that oversees the movement  comes this description of the origins of the Fair Trade movement:
The roots of Fair Trade can be traced back to projects initiated by churches in North America and Europe in the late 1940s. Their goal was to provide relief to refugees and other poverty stricken communities by selling their handicrafts to Northern markets. Compared to conventional trading structures, these Alternative Trade Organizations offered higher returns to producers in the developing world through direct trade and fair prices. In the US, organizations such as Ten Thousand Villages and SERRV have followed this model with Fair Trade handicrafts, and in 1986, Equal Exchange was formed to import Fair Trade coffee to the US market.  Five criteria must be met for goods to earn the Fair Trade Label:

·       Fair price [and a living wage for their product.]

·       Fair labor conditions: [ … including] freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.

·       Direct trade: […] eliminating unnecessary middlemen.

·       Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade […] workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.

·       Community development: Fair Trade [businesses invest …] in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.

·       Environmental sustainability: Harmful […] chemicals and G[enetically] M[odified] O[rganism]s are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable [production methods that protect workers’ health]  and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

http://www.transfairusa.org/       http://www.fairtrade.net/

From Global Ministries comes this even handed discussion of Fair Trade versus Free Trade:

Free trade agreements can be beneficial.  They provide access to one another’s markets and allow countries to concentrate on the production of goods they are best capable of producing.  According to Oxfam, a British based non-profit organization dealing with the issue of free trade, “participation in world trade has figured prominently in many of the most successful cases of poverty reduction-and compared with aid, it has far more potential to benefit the poor.” 

The drawbacks to free trade described by Global Ministries include:

Multinational companies are also taking advantage of highly exploitative employment practices in developing countries and using relaxed labor laws to their advantage while workers are being denied their rights and are forced to work long hours in hazardous conditions for very low pay.  The issue of patents is another concern.  Developed countries have been trying to protect their large pharmaceutical companies by introducing patent protections into free trade agreements. This would mean that generic brands of essential medicines would not be allowed to be sold and this could result in the doubling of costs of medicines.  This could result in devastating consequences for developing countries dealing with epidemic numbers of people infected with HIV/AIDS.[…]

[Additional free trade problems]  include the privatization of government services such as education, health care, water, environmental protection services, postal services, prisons and transportation.  This will mean that foreign corporations will be competing with local governments to provide basic services thus causing prices for essential services to become unaffordable to many. 

http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=2081

Our Interview with Adrienne Fitch-Frankel:

Adrienne Fitch-Frankel is Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Cocoa Campaigner. She also campaigns for conflict-free diamonds and was part of the Global Exchange-coordinated coalition for Sweatfree legislation in San Francisco. 

• Please tell us about your work with the Fair Trade Cocoa campaign at Global Exchange. More broadly, please also tell us a little about Global Exchange’s Fair Trade efforts and on-line store.

·         Why support Fair Trade? Who benefits?

·         Earlier in the program, we briefly reviewed the distinction between Fair Trade and free trade. What do you see as the major differences? What’s wrong with free trade’s efforts to reduce tariffs and open borders? Why do you support Fair Trade?

·         You have been involved in an extraordinary range of activities promoting democracy and human rights, protecting the environment, securing peace, and ending poverty. Who are your role models? What inspired you to become a global activist? 

·         You have been active in a number of local or domestic projects, including Sweatfree legislation in San Francisco. Can the principles of the Fair Trade movement be extended to include the U.S.?

·         A criticism of Fair Trade is that, to date, Fair Trade items are primarily luxury or boutique items: coffee, chocolate, crafts and gifts. For example, on the GX web site, one can Fair Trade buy sneakers, but you can’t get a lot of daily necessities like undies, kitchen or laundry soap, and chewing gum. Is there a chance that will change? Can Fair Trade come to rival Safeway or Target or WalMart in product variety and/or influence?

 Be sure to check out the Global Exchange web site for its Fair Trade campaign and Fair Trade store. The store is at http://store.gxonlinestore.org/, and the main site at Global  is  www.globalexchange.org/.

Our Inteview with Liza Tedesco:

Liza Tedesco is the interim general manager of Chico Natural Foods, the co-op, here in Chico. She also works with Equal Exchange, which supplies Fair Trade products all over the U.S.  Liza has been a speaker at the “This Way to Sustainability Conference” at Chico State and has collaborated with the Chico Peace and Justice Center a Fair Trade meeting for local women. 

• Chico Natural Foods is a major Fair Trade store here in town. What products do you carry?  Why do you choose to carry Fair Trade?
• How do the Fair Trade products get to Chico? Who is the supplier?  
• How do you balance the issue of the buy local movement with the Fair Trade movement?
• Fair Trade tries to eliminate the “middle man”—why is Equal Exchange not just another middle man? How do prices for Fair Trade compare to prices of other goods you might purchase? Is Fair Trade competitive?
• What kind of response do you have from customers about Fair Trade products? [Locally, coffee and chocolate seem to be the big items.] Do people want more? Could you supply a greater variety?
• As part of your work with Equal Exchange, you went to Peru and stayed at the home of coffee growers Carlos and Reyna Herrera. on their two-hectare coffee farm. Please tell us about that visit. What has Fair Trade meant to them? Did you visit any non-Fair Trade coffee farms in Peru, and if so, what was the difference?
• Please tell us about the “Local Women in Fair Trade” meeting in October. What was the purpose?  Who attended? What was accomplished?
• Chico has now been designated a Fair Trade Town, recognizing that the Co-Op, along with fifteen other businesses, sells Fair Trade goods.  What do you think this means for the people of Chico? 
• Putting on your prophesy hat, what do you predict as the future for Fair Trade, especially as we are in the midst of an economic downturn and a crisis in world food prices and availability? Can Fair Trade have a hand in solving those problems?

Do-It-Yourself: Taking Action on Fair Trade

•  Global Ministries recommends that you monitor the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of over 200 people who  negotiate directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, resolve disputes and participate in global trade policy organizations. They also meet with governments, business groups, legislators and public interest groups to gather input on trade issues and explain the president’s trade policy positions. You can urge that the Representative always negotiate for fair trade practices when negotiating on behalf of the United States so that all countries involved will benefit.  The contact information is listed on their web site, http://www.ustr.gov/, l and this is a good site to visit to inform yourself about the USA’s myriad and complex trade agreements. http://gbgm umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=2081

•  Learn more about the Free Trade Area of the Americas  You may find information by contacting the United States Trade Representative office or by contacting Oxfam America at 1-800-776-9326 or visiting their website at www.oxfamamerica.org.  You may also visit the official FTAA website at www.ftaa-alca.org/alca_e.asp. And you can learn Frequently asked questions, top ten reasons to oppose FTAA, alternatives, updates, and how to get involved.
www.globalexchange.org/ftaa

·         The next time you go shopping try to purchase products that have been traded fairly.  You can get a good idea about the range of products available at the Chico Peace and Justice Center Fair Trade store 526 Broadway, and CPJC can also give you a list of the sixteen area merchants who care Fair Trade goods.  http://www.chico-peace.org

Playlist  for Eco 19 Fair Trade

1. Koo Koo For Cocoa         2:26    The Hit Crew   Tribute To Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory 

2. Chocolate (Introduction) (Feat. Laure Sardin)           1:04    Juk Woo-Red Rain   Chocolate     

3. One More Cup Of Coffee           3:46    Bob Dylan     Desire                                   

4. The Coffee Song             2:53    Frank Sinatra            Ring-A-Ding Ding                           

5. Day-O (Banana Boat Song)      3:05    Harry Belafonte        Calypso                                

6. Weave Me the Sunshine           4:28    Peter, Paul And Mary          The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary

7. Yes We Have No Bananas        3:20    Banana Airlines       Banana Airlines Beste

 

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Tonight’s show is  optimistic!  But not in a frivolous way—we discuss intelligent optimism, and in the first half of the show, we talk with Jurriaan Kamp, cofounder and editor of Ode magazine—O-D-E—as in Beethoven’s “ode to joy,” which was our opening theme tonight.

Ode magazine is dedicated to intelligent optimism, and its latest issue identifies some optimists who are making a difference around the globe. We’ll talk with Jurriaan about who those people are and how his magazine identified them.

In the second part of the program, we talk with one of those people, Michelle Chan, who has been working in the world of global finance trying to get big business to take a deeper interest in the sustainability and moral value of the projects they invest in.

Listen to Ecotopia 18 Online Now!
 (To download, right click [control click Mac users] and select “Download File”.)

Some Optimistic Global News

From the Russian News Agency Novosti  comes word that:

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said there are grounds to be optimistic about relations between Russia and the United States.

Gorbachev, who recently held a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama and a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, [mehd-vyeh-def] said in an interview […] that the two former Cold War foes would look to tackle arms control and missile defense shield differences. “There are grounds for optimism so far,” he said. His statement echoes opinions by Russian officials that Obama is less determined to pursue his predecessor George Bush’s plans for a missile base in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. Moscow has fiercely opposed the plans as a security threat.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090202/119925467.html

From a Chinese news service RedNet, comes the headline: “Premier Wen ends EU tour with optimism.” Sharon Lee reports:

Premier Wen Jiabao sounded a note of optimism Monday in London and pointed to signs of economic recovery in China as indicating there is “light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the ongoing global financial crisis. [Along with disccusions about reviving the world economy, Premiere Wen [one] reported on some projects within China:The government has already pledged 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) over the next two years to help boost domestic [programs]. Work on projects including rebuilding the earthquake-hit southwest and improving road and rail links is under way. [,,,] Wen also said that he would unveil stimulus measures for shipbuilding and textiles when he returns home. […]

http://english.rednet.cn/c/2009/02/03/1700639.htm

From the Philippine Star, a report by Helen Flores finds that

A recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations showed that more Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve in the next 12 months despite the global economic crisis. […]  30 percent of Filipino adults expect their personal quality of life to improve in the next 12 months, an increase from 26 percent three months ago. […] 15 percent of respondents expect their personal quality of life to get worse, an improvement from 17 percent reported last September.

“This brings the Net Personal Optimism (percent Optimists minus percent Pessimists) back to fair +16 after being merely mediocre, ranging from +9 to -6, during the first three quarters of 2008,” the SWS declared. [,,,]  Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said Filipinos are inherently optimistic about their future. […] “Filipinos are a resilient people. Filipinos are an optimistic people,” Recto said. He said there is reason for Filipinos to be optimistic, considering that the Philippines has a young population compared to other countries. “So there’s no reason why the Philippines should not be among the top 10 in the world considering the resources available to us, the weather available to us,” Recto said.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=436995&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Our interview withJurriaan Kamp, editor of Ode Magazine— that calls itself the “magazine for intelligent optimists.”

• Please tell us about the concept of “intelligent optimism.”  What is it? Why is it “intelligent”?  What would be its opposite—foolish optimism? cockeyed optimism? pollyannism? intelligent pessimism?
• In the January-February issue, you talk about why you started this magazine in the Netherlands in 1995. Please tell us a little about Ode. How did you come up with the idea? How did you become a global publication?
• In that same issue, you highlight the stories of “25 intelligent optimists—people who are creating a better tomorrow today.”  How did you choose these folks? (Who were the judges?) How did you make your final selectiion?
• We’ll be talking with Michelle Chan, one of the twenty-five, a little later in the program. Could you tell us about some of the other people you’ve identified as being significant change makers?
• Who are your role models in life? Who inspired and you and inspires you?
• As we close, could you tell us about the online version of Ode and how people can become involved with the magazine?

Our interview with Michelle Chan, one of the 25 people identified by Ode magazine as an intelligent optimist who is making a difference:

• How did you learn that you’d been named an intelligent optimist?
• In a time when few people have kind things to say about the banking industry, you are optimistic that banking practices can be changed for the better. Please describe your work.
• Please tell us some of the specific agreements that you’ve encouraged banks to adopt?  How are those working out?
• In the article in Ode, you are pretty candid about your concerns for accountability.  And you suggest that in the current economy, banks may want to back off from their commitments. Yet you remain optimistic? How do you maintain your optimism when things get tough?
• How did you get into this area of activism? We understand that it came, in part, from your efforts to stop the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
• What are your best hopes for the future?
• How can people who see the value of this work become involved as supporters or activists?

Do-It-Yourself Intelligent Optimism

*From Ode Magazine is a feature called “Turning Words,” by James  Geary, author of The World in a Phrase and Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorisms.

“Dust is ubiquitous but hidden, until sunlight streams through a window to reveal that we are swimming in it. It swirls around and surrounds us like krill in an ocean current. We cannot escape it. It  falls like rain, incessantly, until it covers everything, like silt at the bottom of a like. The slightest movement stirs up whole galaxies of the stuff, spiral nebulae of hair follicles and skin flakes. We  move from day to day, from room to room, like comets, shredding shreds  and fragments in our wakes. “Whatever shines should be observed,” according to 19th-century astronomer William Herschel. When the light changes, though, the trail vanishes. Dust still swarms in secret onto every surface, but we can’t see it. Even what is nearest, most  prolific, is invisible unless properly lit.

http://www.odemagazine.com/

* From British author G. K. Chesterton on the case for Irrational Optimism:

Ratiional optimism leads to stagnation. It is irrational optimism that leads to reform. […]the more transcendental is your patriotism, the more practical are your politics.

http://irrationaloptimism.blogspot.com/

*An outlet for your optimism: log on to Volunteer Match for a listing of volunteer opportunities in the Sacramento Valley, the foothills, and beyond:

https://www.volunteermatch.org/

Playlist

1. Ode To Joy from Symphony No. 9 In D Minor, Op. 125           8:44    Philharmonia Chorus            Beethoven: The Greatest Moments Ever              

2  A Cockeyed Optimist       1:43    Mary Martin & Girls   South Pacific – Original Broadway Cast Recording                                   

3.  Here Comes The Sun     3:06    The Beatles   Abbey Road

4.  Joy To The World 3:16    Three Dog Night        Three Dog Night – The Complete Hits

5.  Weave Me the Sunshine 4:28    Peter, Paul And Mary           The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary     

6.  Siberian Sleighride         2:53    Don Byron      Bug Music     

7.   Gimme Shelter    4:33    The Rolling Stones    Let It Bleed

 

 

 

 

 

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Every place we’ve lived—including Connecticut, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, and Butte County, California—the locals have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather here, wait a minute.”

But what if you don’t like the weather and want to do something about it.  What if you have an extended drought and desperately need more water for wells and farm crops?  What if global warming is changing the climate so the weather has become too cold or too hot or too wet or too dry? Can we do anything about it?

This program takes a look at technology and the weather, including references to some science fiction popular culture materials that hold out positive and negative prospects for weather control.

Listen to Ecotopia 17 Online Now! (To download, right click [control click Mac users] and select “Download File”.)

Weather News:

From Capital Press “the west’s ag website” comes a story dated January 15 by Tim Hearden concerning cloud seeding in California:

“As drought conditions persist, some California utilities and water districts are stepping up their efforts to wring more water out of passing clouds. But not everyone thinks that’s such a good idea. Local residents and environmentalists are complaining about Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s plan to enhance storms over the Pit and McCloud river watersheds in Siskiyou and Shasta counties. The utility perches cloud-seeding generators on mountaintops, where they use prevailing winds to carry a silver iodide solution up into the clouds, said Paul Moreno, a PG&E spokesman in Chico.
‘For our projects, we get as much as 10 percent more snowfall precipitation,’ Moreno said. He added that the resulting water flows through hydroelectric plants and benefits downstream users, including agriculture. Critics say the practice may make drought in non-seeded areas more severe and contaminate soil and water with the salts used in the process. The environmental impacts from cloud seeding are poorly understood and understudied, asserts Angelina Cook, an environmental consultant from Mount Shasta. ‘PG&E kind of sprung this one on us,’ Cook said. ‘They just published a notice of intent about two weeks before the proposed start date. Luckily we saw the notice and raised concerns in time for them to back off.’”

http://www.capitalpress.info/print.asp?ArticleID=47922&SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616

From National Review, a national website of the Thailand Government comes an article published on January 15, 2009 authored by THARIT CHARUNGVAT. “VILLAGERS have said that miracles happen wherever the King treads. Arid land becomes fertile once again.”   

“To the uninitiated, it must be tempting to dismiss this approximate translation of a Thai radio spot as worshipful hyperbole. Yet to Thais, apart from the obvious affection towards their King, the statement contains a very real element of truth. For over half a century, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has applied his technical ingenuity and resources to improving the lives of his people, in particular farmers otherwise at the mercy of nature. His inventions have helped make droughts more bearable, water less polluted and innovation more widely appreciated.  What the Thai people have long known has again been given due recognition by the outside world. On January 14, Dr Francis Gurry, director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation presented the Wipo Global Leaders Award to His Majesty the King. Some of His Majesty’s best-known projects relate to artificial rain. Rain-making techniques invented by His Majesty, with such memorable names as “sandwich” and “super sandwich”, have brought welcome moisture to land parched by drought, and relief to thousands of farmers. The Royal Rain Project, as it is called, is one of the more than 4,000 royally-initiated development projects to date. Others include those pertaining to irrigation, farming, drought and flood alleviation, crop substitution, public health, distance learning and employment promotion.”

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/01/15/opinion/opinion_30093252.php

From Spoof, a British satire magazine, comes a January 9 headline: “Palin Sends Massive Cold Wave To [Chill] Inauguration”
“Governor Sarah Palin [used] HAARP technology to send a devastating cold wave to the Eastern Seaboard. HAARP STANDS for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program [which is used to]  analyze basic ionospheric properties and to assess the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for communications and surveillance purposes.  Governor Palin has the highest security rating of any governor in the United States. The governor felt disrespected by the mainstream media during the presidential campaign. She has access to the latest HAARP weather modification technology and plans to punish the Eastern Liberal Establishment severely. ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold.’ crowed Ms. Palin. ‘I plan to make the Blue States very, very blue. I hope their Starbucks espressos freeze in their throats!’”

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s5i46080

Films, Videos, Games, and Novels on Weather Manipulation

 Wikipedia’s listing of weather control in popular culture demonstrates how the idea of controlling the weather incites the imagination. In science fiction and fantasy film, television, fiction, and computer games, the controlling the weather is used for both good and evil.  For example, Star Trek portrays most advanced colonies and plants utilizing weather control as a matter of course. “For example, the planet Risa has its climate controlled to be a tropical paradise.” In one episode of the TV series Stargate, the “team discovers a weather control device on an alien planet, which is subsequently stolen and brought to earth, where experimenting with it wreaked havoc with the local weather. The device was later recaptured and returned to its original planet which had suffered phenomenal storms since it had been stolen.”

Here are other films and TV episodes Wikipedia cites as using weather control:

    * In the Disney Channel Original Movie, The Ultimate Christmas Present, two girls find a weather machine and make it snow in Los Angeles.

    * In the live action Justice League of America film, the villain is a terrorist who has a weather control device.

    * In Aliens, a colony sent to LV-426 by the Company utilized a fusion-powered terraforming atmosphere processor. In the first film, the planet’s climate was not yet suitable for human life.

    * In The Arrival, a race of aliens is found to be terraforming the Earth using hidden factories producing huge volumes of highly potent, engineered “super-greenhouse gases”.

    * In the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, the episode “Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X” includes Stone Warriors using a “weather satellite”, , , [which] creates a storm to level New York City, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles destroy it. The episode “Take Me to Your Leader” of the same series include Krang and the Shredder using a machine to reduce the Sun, creating cold weather on the Earth.

    * Storm (played by Halle Berry in the 2000 film and subsequent sequels), a member of the X-Men, can control the weather with her mind.

    * In Superman III, Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) changes the weather by hacking into a weather satellite.

    * In a Family Guy episode, Stewie builds a machine that can control the weather using only a satellite dish and a See ‘n Say.

    * In the film The Avengers Sir August de Wynter (Sean Connery) creates a satellite capable of controlling the weather.

    * Our Man Flint is a 1966 sci-fi action film which stars James Coburn as Derek Flint where a trio of mad scientists attempt to blackmail the world with a weather-control machine.

    * The cartoon miniseries G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra, showed the terrorist group Cobra in possession of a device called the Weather Dominator.

 

Wikipedia also describes Computer games using weather control:

* In Master Of Orion, it is possible to build a weather control building to change the planet’s environment.

    * In Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, the Allies can build the weather controller device superweapon, and direct thunderstorms to strike a selected location of the map every 10 game minutes.

    * In Tribunal, the player finds a machine under the city of Almalexia that can change the weather of the city at the will of its user.

    * In Phantasy Star II, a weather, irrigation and dam control system known as Climatrol has been constructed by Mother Brain to make the barren planet Motavia habitable for Palman occupation.

    * In the game Spore by Will Wright, players are able to use a spacecraft to modify planetary atmospheres – creating volcanoes to generate carbon dioxide, seeding plant life to create breathable air, or even using a “Genesis device” to make a planet habitable in one go. There is no actual controlling of weather, however.[20]

    * In “Earth 2150”, the Lunar Corporation are capable of building a weather control station for tactical weather control. The structure can be charged to cause storms, fog, and/or wind at targeted areas on the map.

Fiction has many instances in which weather control figures prominently. Wikipedia includes these:

 * Ben Bova’s The Weathermakers is the story of a government agency that controls the weather.

    * Sidney Sheldon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark is the story of a think tank that builds technology powerful enough to create hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis.

    * In Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, ecoterrorists plan to create a tsunami, calve an iceberg, and induce flash flooding and hurricanes.

*In Normand Lester’s science thriller Verglas, the 1998 icestorm that struck theMontréal area is an experiment by the Pentagon in the development of a climatic weapon that went wrong.

*In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the government controls the weather and keeps it from nowing, and confine rain to the farmland.

*In the book series Weather Warden by Rachel Caine, the Wardens are an association of people who have the ability to control the elements – earth, fire and weather. They manipulate these elements to stop natural disasters from devastating mankind.

* In Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber an openly known quality of the Jewel of Judgment is the ability to control the local weather.

    * In Frank Herbert’s Dune series, weather control is widespread, and is achieved with specialized satellites in orbit around a planet.

According to Wikipedia, comic books also feature weather control. For example:

   * DC Comics villain Weather Wizard could control the weather with a special kind of technology in the shape of a wand.

    * Marvel Comics heroes Thor and Storm could control weather; the former because he is the Norse god of thunder, the latter because she is a mutant whose powers specifically center around weather control.

    * In some of the Asterix comics, when the village bard Cacofonix sings, it starts to rain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_control#Weather_control_in_popular_culture

Play List

1. (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave        2:46    Martha & The Vandellas    

The Ultimate Collection: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas     

2. Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin’ All The Time)          5:17    Ella Fitzgerald         

The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books        

3. Both Sides Now (LP Version)   5:45    Joni Mitchell

Both Sides Now

4. Cloudbusting       5:09    Kate Bush    

Hounds Of Love                  

5. The Rape Of The World 7:08    Tracy Chapman      

New Beginning       

6. Weave Me the Sunshine           4:28    Peter, Paul And Mary         

 

 

 

 

 

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Tonight’s program is entitled “Hail to the Chief,” as we take a look at the promises and prospects of the Obama administration in bringing us closer to Ecotopia.

After a brief survey of media opinions on Obama’s prospects, we  talk with Barbara Vlamis of the Butte Environmental Council to find out what she thinks about environmental issues under Obama. We then go live to Washington D.C., where Sue Hilderbrand, Director of the Chico Peace and Justice Center, fills us in on the tone and feeling of the capital and tell us what she thinks are the hopes for a social Ecotopia under the new president.

Listen to Ecotopia 16 Online Now!
To download, right click [control click Mac users] and select “Download File”.

Opinions about Obama’s Prospects

From Mother Jones: The dimension of the problems the new President inherits is almost unfathomable, but  Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz gives a concise rundown of what he calls “The Seven Deadly Deficits”  Stiglitz writes:  “When George W. Bush assumed office, most of those disgruntled about the stolen election contented themselves with this thought: Given our system of checks and balances, given the gridlock in Washington, how much damage could be done? Now we know: far more than the worst pessimists could have imagined. From the war in Iraq to the collapse of the credit markets, the financial losses are difficult to fathom. And behind those losses lie even greater missed opportunities.”  Stiglitz writes of seven major shortfalls the Bush administration leaves behind: Deficits in Values, the Climate, Equality, Accountability, Trade, the Budget, Investment in the Infrastructure.  http://www.motherjones.com/

From the Washington Times:  Christina Bellantoni writes:   “President-elect Barack Obama said Americans will have to sacrifice to lift the nation from recession and acknowledged that some of his campaign promises may not be fulfilled because of what he described as a dire economic situation. In a wide-ranging interview on ABC’s ‘This Week’, Mr. Obama continued to sell his proposed economic stimulus package as ‘bold’ and insisted Congress must pass it by mid-February. …Mr. Obama also used a form of the word ‘tough’ three times to describe prospects for the package, then conceded: ‘I want to be realistic here — not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace that we had hoped’.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/11/obama-sees-campaign-promises-fade/

From the Scripps-Howard News Service: JOEL MATHIS comments:  “…[I]t’s perversely refreshing to hear Obama say that harder times are ahead. ‘Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better,’ he said in a recent radio address. Americans have often been asked to choose between an unjustly optimistic president or their own lying eyes. Obama’s grim realism is thus bracing, but welcome.”  But BEN BOYCHUCK in a counterpoint says: “Americans had better hope and pray that Barack Obama can put America on the right track — or at the very least insist that his policies do not make matters any worse than they already are. But when the new president promises $1 trillion deficits for ‘years to come,’ it’s tough not to experience a certain sinking feeling. Truth is, there isn’t much a president can do to help the U.S. economy. But he can do much to hurt it. He can encourage the Treasury to print more money, which spurs inflation and kills American savings and investment. He can cajole ever more reluctant foreign governments, such as China, to buy more American debt. He could raise taxes and call it ‘investment in the public good,’ even as the recession drags on for a year or two. He can also promote regulations and mandates that eliminate jobs, destroy industries and drive up the cost of living for all Americans. Obama’s enthusiasm for tax-subsidized ‘green jobs’ is a prescription for all of that, and more. Or he could keep the tax-and-regulate-and-spend impulses of a Democratic-controlled Congress in check. Seriously.” http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/40023

Our Conversation with Barbara Vlamis, Executive Director, Butte Environmental Council.

• We thought you might want to spend a little time talking about the key national/global priorities,  e.g., What of environmentalism under Obama. What about alternative energy?  “clean” coal?  signing international treaties? 
• Please  talk about BEC’s priorities and how the new administration might affect them. water? mining? watersheds? greenhouse gases? farm subsidies and supports? 
• Do you have grants in progress that might be affected by either the financial meltdown or prospective Obama programs?
• We’ve had several guests on the show say that California is a great market for private enterprise working on environmental projects: solar, clean water, clean air. Do you see reason for optimism here?

 Check out the Butte Environmental Council website to get a fuller sense of their important work for our community.  http://becnet.org

Our Conversation with Sue Hilderbrand, Director of the Peace and Justice Center, from the Inaugural Celebration

• Hi Sue. Where are you and what’s happening?
• Have you seen any beautiful people?  What are they wearing?
• Impressions of the day.
• Your take on prospects under Obama.

Check out the Chico Peace and Justice Center at www.chico-peace.org

Do-It-Yourself

We want to encourage you to point your browser to <Politifact.com>. This is sponsored by the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times and includes “The Obameter: Tracking Obama’s Campaign Promises.” PolitiFact has compiled a list of over 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. They rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once they  find action is completed, they rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken. As of inauguration day, the track record shows: 3 promises kept, 8 in the works, and 499 with no action. http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

Play List

1. Obama Song (feat. SoliLLaquists of Sound, Cherine Anderson & Anthony B) 4:09   Michael Franti         

2. Four Ruffles & Flourishes / Hail To the Chief  0:55    US Coast Guard Band

3. Revolution 1     4:16   The Beatles   The Beatles (White Album)                      

4. Take Care of This House     A White House Cantata  4:27  June Anderson    

5. Star Spangled Banner         3:47   Jimi Hendrix        Experience Hendrix: The Best Of Jimi Hendrix     

6. Being At War With Each Other     4:05   Carole King   The Living Room Tour

7. Weave Me the Sunshine      4:28   Peter, Paul And Mary    

 

 

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Our topic for this program is Eating Sustainably. Our guests are Dave Miller, baker extrodinaire of Miller’s Bake House in Yankee Hill and Francine Steulpnagel of Chico GRUB: Growing Resourcefully, Uniting Bellies. We also share some international news stories on food issues and include some do-it-yourself ways of increasing the sustainability of your diet.

Listen to Ecotopia 15 Online Now!
To download, right click [control click Mac users] and select “Download File”.

Global News:

• From “Sustainable Food Monitor” comes a description of “The Cordoba Declaration on the Right to Food,” launched on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal declaration of Human Rights as an outgrowth of a seminar on the world food crisis. “As a consequence of the 2007-2008 food crisis and its aftermath, a series of different initiatives have been promoted by governments and international organizations to tackle hunger and the unbalances created in the food system. Those initiatives pursue a common goal: to restructure the global agri-food system. To ensure that these initiatives will help to combat hunger, there should be a call on all States to place the right to food at the top of the political agenda regarding food and agriculture.” http://sustainablefoodmonitor.org/2008/12/12/the-cordoba-declaration-on-the-right-to-food/
• Writing for Food Production Daily, Sarah Hills reports of meat and poultry product checks for melamine, [an organic compound that is often combined with formaldehyde to produce melamine resin, a synthetic polymer which is fire resistant and heat tolerant and is widely used in household products and fireproofing applications.] The US launched this program following the deaths of four infants in China linked to consuming baby milk contaminated with the industrial chemical. US officials are to begin sample checks on processed meat and poultry products that are already on shop shelves for traces of melamine contamination.  The US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a general sampling plan to check those meat and poultry products that contain milk-derived ingredients such as non-fat dried milk, casein, whey, evaporated milk, and milk powder. The products it has chosen for sampling fall into five categories:
• Baby food; containing a significant amount of meat or poultry products.
• Cooked sausages; including hot dogs or frankfurters with and without cheese products.
• Breaded chicken; bite sized morsels or nuggets with and without cheese products. Examples include “Chicken and Cheese Nugget Shaped Patties”.
  •  Meat and poultry wrapped in dough and pizza (including calzones). Examples include products enrobed in a dough that are often identified with descriptive names such as “Pizza Snacks-Crust Filled with Cheese, Sausage and Sauce”.
  • Meatballs.

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Meat-and-poultry-product-checks-for-melamine

• From The London Telegraph comes the headline: Call for full ban on junk food adverts for children… “[The British Office of Communications], Ofcom, estimates the number of television advertisements for foods high in fat, salt or sugar seen by children has dropped by 34 per cent since 2005. Ofcom introduced a ban in April 2007 on manufacturers advertising junk food during programmes aimed at children. Campaigners, however, argue that children are still seeing many adverts for sweet breakfast cereals, salty snacks and burgers because companies are still allowed to advertise during programmes that are very popular with children, but predominantly watched by adults. These shows would include soap operas and talent programmes . . . . Richard Watts, coordinator of the Children’s Food campaign said: ‘Although we welcome this modest fall in children’s exposure to junk food advertising, Ofcom’s figures highlight just how far their rules fall short of what is needed. If we are serious about putting children’s health first, we must protect them from junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed, because children watch most TV in the early evening’.”  www.telegraph.co.uk/
• More and more consumers raise the question of whether American farmers can supply organic food to everyone. An interview from Acres USA with Mary-Howell and Klaas Martens, New York field and vegetable crop growers and organic feed suppliers, winners of the 2008 Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture, begins to answer the question of profitably and practicality of organic farming:
  • Mary-Howell Martens: We have tracked our costs very carefully on a computer program ever since the late ‘80s and early ’90s, before we were organic farmers, through our transition and now for more than 12 years farming organically. What we found is that our cost of production, our cost per bushel, has actually dropped as compared to what it was when we were farming conventionally. This year, with conventional input costs skyrocketing and the costs of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides going through the roof, organic farming is going to make even more economic sense because, except for petroleum, our input costs haven’t changed much while organic grain prices have risen significantly. Even if we weren’t getting a premium price for our organic grain, we’d still make more money farming organically.
  • Klaas  Martens: I think there’s another point we need to make here, and that’s how organic farmers are challenged by the statement that organic farming can’t feed the world with the population that we have now. I tell them categorically that’s a bunch of baloney, with one caveat: organic farming could definitely feed the world, but not on the diet that it has become accustomed to. We can’t have half of the Midwest planted to corn, and the other half planted to soybeans, and call that sustainable. But we could feed the world a much better diet with more diversity if we’d bring back the varied groups of crops that were once grown, perhaps also some new crops. We could feed the world with a more diverse crop mix that will also produce a healthy stable soil.”

http://attra.ncat.org/interviews/martens.html   [Reported in http://www.urbanagriculture-news.com/food-production.news]

Our Interview with Dave Miller

Dave Miller makes his bread in the foothills of Yankee Hill. The mission of his bake house is stated on his website: “The Mission: From the very beginning our intent has been to provide the best quality bread available. A bread that illustrates the full expression of the grain, and therefore gives you the most flavorful, pleasing, nutritious loaf possible.”

• Tell us a little about Miller’s Bakehouse What’s your philosophy of baking bread?
• Tell us something about your process of making bread. It seems you put a lot of emphasis on sustainable practices. What are some things you do to be sustainable? (“Some interesting features include our brick wood-fired oven,our Austrian grain mill where we grind our flour fresh between two massive granite stones, and the solar arrays outside the bakery which supply the majority of our power needs.  All of our organic wheat, rye, nuts and dried fruit are purchased directly from farmers in our region.”)
• How did you become interested in baking whole, sustainably created products?
• What makes your products healthy, better than we can get with more highly processed food?
• Tell us about your background. Where did you get your training? What’s your history in Chico?
• What value do you see in working through the Chico Farmer’s Market? Have you worked with other farmer’s markets?
• Aren’t you a part of the “Slow Foods” Chapter of Northern California? What do they do? Are there other ways you network with other food people? How?

Dave Miller of Miller’s Bakehouse in Yankee Hill is online at http://millersbakehouse.com.

Our Interview with Francine Stuelpnagel

We’ve been greatly impressed by an Chico organization called GRUB, for  Growing Resourcefully Uniting Bellies a non-profit that began under the Chico Food Network. They operate a CSA (community, supported, agriculture) and have a commitment to minimizing their community’s ecological footprint. According to their website:

“Food systems and industrial agriculture as they exist today are extremely wasteful, generating 20% of the carbon emissions for the whole country. By using organic practices & ensuring that the food we produce stays local we can minimize fossil fuel usage.”  Tonight we have with us Francine Stuelpnagel, part of the GRUB team and working on their community outreach program. Francine, tell us a little bit more about the work of GRUB.

• Who is GRUB? What does the core group consist of? How do you use volunteers?
• Where do you farm?
• Where does the food that you grow go?
• What are some of the practices of farming that you are most committed to?
• What does your community outreach consist of?
• How did you get interested in growing this way? And how did you become connected with GRUB?
• How can people become involved in GRUB?

www.grubchico.org

Do-It-Yourself Sustainable Eating

• The True Cost of Food is a project of the Sierra Club National Sustainable Consumption Committee.  “Their mission statement: “We, the consumers, through our food choices, can stop the practices that harm our health, our planet, and our quality of life.”  One of their topics is cooking:  “…[T]he cooking style that is kindest to the planet also yields the best-tasting food. Cooking sustainably means using fresh, in-season ingredients that have not traveled thousands of miles to your kitchen and preparing them simply so that their true flavor comes through. The sustainable kitchen includes a pantryful of unprocessed or lightly processed foods; the sustainable cook uses sustainably-raised foods from local suppliers.”  Several of their recipes are posted in the following section of the Ecotopia Web. http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/cooking.asp
• Also from the website of The True Cost of Food from the Sierra Club:  The Sierra Club argues we consumers can make a difference: “Most of the world’s problems can’t be fixed by individual action: disease, war, and poverty require concentrated efforts by policy makers and governments. But ONLY consumers can affect the way food is grown and transported; this is an area where our actions make a difference. If we buy food that’s grown sustainably supply will follow demand and it will become more available. When it becomes obvious that small farmers can make a decent living, more young people will be able to start farming.”  Some of their recommendations are to know how your food is grown and processed; to know your farmer; to eat seasonally and locally; to eat less meat, but when you do to buy grass-fed, free-range, or pastured meats; to shop at farmers’ markets, to join a CSA, and to ask restaurants, stores, and schools where they get their food.  http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/takeaction.asp
• Locally, you can learn more about the Chico Food Network, which fosters a “local food system that contributes to the long-term viability of farms in our region, provides Chico-area residents with fresh, healthy food choices, provides education regarding local food systems, and creates an awareness and interdependence between Chico consumers, food businesses, and local farmers.” Their projects include:
  • Gardeners’ Swap Meet Program
  • Coordination of Volunteers in School Gardens
  • Free Seeds for Education
  • In 2008 partnerships with three local nurseries led to the donation of over 500 vegetable Restaurant Partnerships
  • Grant Writing on behalf of school and community garden projects.
  • Supporting GRUB as a fiscal sponsor in 2008.

http://www.chicofoodnetwork.org/

• You can Learn more about the Slow Food Movement and how you can participate. “Slow Food USA seeks to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system. We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. We work to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat.”  The Slow Movement also supports the Terra Madre, an international project.that “grows, strengthens, organizes, and defends local cultures and products, and makes real the Slow Food concept of Good, Clean, and Fair quality. Good refers to the quality of food products and of their taste; Clean, to a production process that respects the natural environment; and Fair, in which there is dignity and appropriate economic return for the people who produce, including respect from those who consume.”  http://www.slowfoodusa.org/
• You can also  Look into supporting the local Chapter of the Slow Foods movement—covering the counties of Shasta, Tehama, and Butte, found at  http://slowfoodshastacascade.org/  Contact information for Chico, Red Bluff and Redding can be found on their website.
• In addition, you can  support The Chico Grange, whose mission is:    “To Promote Local Agriculture, Environmental Stewardship, and a Vibrant Community.”   http://chicogrange.org/

Recipes from the True Cost of Food Project

Basic Vegetable Quiche

From Swiss chard season (early summer) to winter squash season (late fall) this is always a hit at our pot-lucks. We have included two easy pastry recipes and have only tested this with homemade pastry in standard 9-inch glass or enamel pie plates. If you want to use commercial 9-inch frozen crusts, choose deep-dish and it will be just fine, but you may need to butter a custard cup or two to bake the excess filling because they are always smaller.

Makes 6 servings

Pastry for 9-inch single-crust pie, recipes follow

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped green or yellow onions

3 cups prepared vegetable, see Note

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half or whole milk

1 1/2 cups shredded Jarlsberg, Swiss, or your favorite cheese

Prepare pie crust. On a floured board, roll out pastry to make an 11-inch round; fit into a standard 9-inch pie plate. Fold edge over and flute.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in prepared vegetable and cook until hot through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, thyme, and black pepper. Beat eggs until frothy in a medium bowl; brush a little egg over the bottom of the pie crust. Beat the half-and-half into the remaining eggs. Layer half of the cheese, the vegetable mixture, and the remaining cheese into the pie crust. Pour the cream mixture over all.

Bake quiche until center appears set when pie plate is gently tapped, 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside 5 minutes before cutting.

Note: Almost any vegetable or mixture of vegetables can be used in a quiche. If you are using asparagus, broccoli, celery, eggplant, fresh corn, bell peppers, summer squash, mushrooms, or zucchini, they should be sliced, added to the skillet raw, and sautéed with the onions. Carrots, green or yellow beans, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, or winter squash should be parboiled and drained thoroughly before adding. Greens such as arugula, beet greens, collards, kale, mustard, spinach, Swiss chard, or turnip greens should be steamed, simmered or stir-fried until wilted, thoroughly drained, and coarsely chopped before adding.

Plain Pastry

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter

4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle water over flour a little at a time and mix until pastry forms a ball when lightly pressed. Flatten dough, wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes.

Easy Whole-wheat Pastry

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Combine flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in oil until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle water over flour a little at a time and mix until pastry forms a ball when lightly pressed. Flatten dough, wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes.

Basic Soufflé

The secret to a perfect soufflé is using high quality eggs and gently incorporating the beaten egg whites with the vegetable puree mixture. The variety of vegetable purees that may be used makes it possible to serve this spectacular dish any season of the year.

Makes 6 servings

3/4 cup vegetable puree, see below

6 large eggs

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/4 cup very finely chopped onion

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh dill, marjoram, oregano, or thyme, see Note

1/8 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Prepare vegetable puree. Separate eggs placing whites in a large bowl and yolks in small bowl. Gradually beat puree into yolks with wire whisk.

Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add onion and sauté until tender about 3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, your choice of herb, and the black pepper; gradually stir in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Fold yolk-vegetable puree mixture into thickened sauce along with 3 tablespoons of the cheese. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Measure and cut a 26-inch long piece of waxed paper. Fold paper in thirds lengthwise. Lightly grease one side. Fit paper, greased side in, around outside of 1 1/2-quart souffle dish with at least 2 inches above the top of dish. Tie tightly with string.

With electric mixer on high speed, beat whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold some of whites into vegetable mixture. Then fold mixture into remaining beaten whites. Gently spoon mixture into prepared souffle dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon cheese. Bake souffle 40 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and center does not shake when dish is gently tapped. Serve immediately.

Note: You can use asparagus, beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, peas, pumpkin, summer or winter squash, and greens such as chard, mustard, and spinach.

Basic Purees

Purees are colorful and comforting as a side dish (We like to pair two compatible flavors and swirl them in the serving bowl.) and are an essential first step to vegetable soufflés, cream soups and breads. Because they are simply made from fully cooked vegetables and seasonings, you really only need to know how much to cook and how long.

Makes 1 cup puree

Vegetables, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks, if necessary

1/2 teaspoon fresh or about 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme, oregano, basil, cilantro, or rosemary, optional

Salt and freshly milled black pepper, optional

Combine vegetable, water to cover and herbs in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling over high heat; reduce heat and cook, covered, until tender. Drain vegetable very well, reserving cooking liquid. Puree vegetable in a food processor or blender adding cooking liquid 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture is smooth and creamy, yet stiff enough to maintain a furrow when a spoon is pulled through the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Use puree as directed in recipe or prepare puree recipe in multiples and serve as a side dish, allowing about 3/4 cup puree per serving.

Basic Omelets and Frittatas

Omelet

There is nothing faster than an omelet for breakfast, lunch, or dinner when you are serving a small number of people. This recipe serves 1 but can be multiplied to serve more. We suggest using an 8- to 9-inch pan for a double recipe and a 10-inch pan for four. If serving more than that, you might want to go to a second pan or cook the omelets one at a time and keep them warm in a very low-temperature oven.

Makes 1 serving

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon milk, water, broth, or sour cream

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

2 teaspoons vegetable oil or butter

1/2 cup warm omelet filling, see below

Whisk together eggs, milk, and 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 7- or 8- inch omelet pan or heavy skillet over medium-high heat.

Pour in egg mixture, tilting pan to distribute egg evenly. As egg sets, push toward center of pan with an inverted spatula and swirl uncooked egg onto pan surface. When top surface has just set, fill, fold in half, and slide onto serving plate.

Omelet Fillings: To fill one single-serving omelet, combine about 3/4 cup of any chopped or thinly sliced hot cooked vegetable or mixture of vegetables with 3 tablespoons grated American, Blue, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Munster, or mozzarella cheese (or 1 tablespoon Parmesan), salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste, and 1/8 teaspoon dried basil, cilantro, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, or thyme. Cooked meat, poultry or fish can make up part of the 3/4 cup as well.

Frittata

This Italian-style omelet couldn’t be easier. Any cooked vegetable can be used and you can serve it right from the pan. Mix and match the cheese and herbs with the vegetables you have chosen.

Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 cups chopped or thinly sliced cooked vegetables

6 large eggs

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

1/4 cup grated Cheddar, Munster, or Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, cilantro, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, or thyme, optional

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy 9- or 10-inch skillet with broiler-proof handle over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add vegetables and cook, stirring, until hot.

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl; fold in hot vegetable mixture, cheeses, and herb, if using. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over very low heat. Pour in egg and vegetable mixture, spreading with spatula to distribute evenly. Cook, covered, until top surface has just set, 8 to 10 minutes.

Preheat boiler half way through cooking time. Broil frittata just until top surface browns. Cut into 6 wedges and serve.

Basic Gratins

The only thing that makes a casserole a gratin is the crisp, well-browned, broiled topping. You can use buttered bread crumbs, grated cheese, a mixture of the two, or nothing at all over layers of cooked vegetables. Almost any vegetable will make a delicious gratin and if you choose to add the cheese or a little meat, it can serve as a main dish.

Makes 4 main dish or 6 side dish servings

1 pound potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, or Jerusalem

artichokes, peeled, and thinly sliced

1 pound leafy greens, cabbage, zucchini, summer squash, fennel, Belgian endive, or cauliflower, rinsed, and sliced, or an additional pound of roots and tubers above

1/4 cup olive oil or butter

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, optional

2 cups milk, broth, or cooled vegetable cooking liquid

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar, Swiss, Munster, Monterey Jack or other cheese

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs or panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Cook root vegetables in salted water 5 to 7 minutes or until surface starts to look cooked. Drain; save and cool cooking liquid to use for sauce, if desired. Blanch the pound of more tender vegetables; drain thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 2-quart gratin or shallow baking dish. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic, if using, until it starts to brown, about 4 minutes. Whisk the milk into the flour in a small bowl. Whisk the mixture into the onion mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is bubbly and thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Layer half of root vegetables, 1/3 cup sauce, 1/4 cup cheese, half of the tender vegetables, 1/3 cup sauce, and 1/4 cup cheese. Repeat ending with 1 cup sauce and 1/2 cup cheese. Combine crumbs and remaining oil. If using butter, melt it before combining. Sprinkle over cheese.

Bake until root vegetables are tender and top is well browned, 35 to 40 minutes.

Basic Pizzas

There is almost no limit to what can go on top of a pizza–fresh or parboiled vegetables; meat, fish or poultry; and any kind of cheese you crave.

Makes 6 servings

Makes one 14-inch pizza or 6 individual pizzas

2 to 2 1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 package quick rising dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup very warm water (120° to 130°F)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups prepared vegetables, see Note (or part fully-cooked meat, poultry, or seafood)

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups shredded mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Munster, Cheddar, Fontina, Provolone, or crumbled goat cheese, or a mixture

Combine 2 cups flour, the yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and oil; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a board with the remaining 1/2 cup flour; knead until smooth adding any additional flour as needed. Oil bowl; return dough; let rise 30 to 45 minutes until double in volume.

Meanwhile, prepare vegetables.

Shape dough on lightly oiled pizza pan. Set aside 15 minutes. Place oven rack at lowest position. Preheat oven to 450°F.

Top dough with tomato sauce, vegetables, and cheese; bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crust has browned and cheese is bubbly.

Note: Asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, carrots, cooking greens, fresh peas, green beans, summer and winter squash and zucchini should be cut into bite-size pieces and parboiled until crisp-tender. Onions and mushrooms are best if sautéed. All should be well drained.

Text and recipes from Recipes from America’s Small Farms by Joanne Lamb Hayes and Lori Stein, copyright 2003 by Joanne Lamb Hayes and Lori Stein. Used by permission of Villard Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Playlist for Ecotopia #14

1.Food, Glorious Food (From ‘Oliver’)        3:49    Cast Of ‘Oliver’         

Lionel Bart’s Oliver   

2. Shortenin’ Bread                           2:03    Mississippi John Hurt          

The Library Of Congress Recordings

3. Chicken Soup With Rice (Album Version)         4:20    Carole King  

Really Rosie 

4. Home Cookin’                                           4:32    Linda Miles   

Home Cookin’                                  

5. Tacos, Enchiladas And Beans                2:52    Doris Day      

Golden Girl (The Columbia Recordings 1944-1966)

 

 

 

 

 

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