Slow Food® Utah

NON–GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGO) – NATIONAL & GLOBAL

Listing various organizations in the United States and Globally that include community resource, cooking instruction, cooperatives, food museums, and social action. All with a theme or aspect relating to food or Slow Food issues.

SECTIONS:  United States  |  Global

• 100–Mile Diet

  

  "When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically traveled at least 1,500 miles–call it ’the SUV diet.’

  On the first day of spring, 2005, Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon chose to confront this unsettling statistic with a simple experiment. For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

  Since then, James and Alisa have gotten up–close–and–personal with issues ranging from the family–farm crisis to the environmental value of organic pears shipped across the globe. They’ve reconsidered vegetarianism and sunk their hands into community gardening. They’ve eaten a lot of potatoes. Their 100–Mile Diet struck a deeper chord than anyone could have predicted. Within weeks, reprints of their blog at thetyee.ca had appeared on sites across the internet. Then came the media, from BBC Worldwide to Utne magazine. Dozens of individuals and grassroots groups have since launched their own 100–Mile Diet adventures. The need now is clear: a locus where 100–milers can get the information they need to try their own lifestyle experiments, and to exchange ideas and develop campaigns. That locus will be here at 100MileDiet.org — turning an idea into a movement."

  Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, 100–Mile Diet, are publishing a new book titled "Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally" ("The 100–Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating") that will be available April 24, 2007. Please visit the Slow Food Utah Books page for more on the book.

  Several interviews and radio pieces are available at Deconstructing Dinner including "100–Mile Diet / Local Food Strategies" recorded January 11, 2007.

  (Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.)

• Bioneers

  

  The Bioneers Website offers a tremendous variety of information and means to interaction through online forums, writings of critical thinkers, radio broadcasts, conferences, and more. Here you can read about The Bioneers, the Annual Bioneers Conference, find links to germane (to Slow Food) writings, and learn where to hear the Bioneers radio broadcasts.

  The Bioneers:  "What is Bioneers? Bioneers is a forum for connecting the environment, health, social justice, and spirit within a broad progressive framework. The Collective Heritage Institute, aka Bioneers, was founded in 1990, when Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons assembled Bioneers for the First Annual Bioneers Conference, a gathering of scientific and social innovators who have demonstrated visionary and practical models for restoring the Earth and communities."

  "Bioneers was conceived to conduct programs in the conservation of biological and cultural diversity, traditional farming practices, and environmental restoration. Our vision of environment encompasses the natural landscape, cultivated landscape, biodiversity, cultural diversity, watersheds, community economics, and spirituality. Bioneers seeks to unite nature, culture and spirit in an Earth–honoring vision, and create economic models founded in social justice."

• Bioneers Writings Germane to Slow Food — See the "Bioneers" in Slow Food Utah’s Articles – General Interest section.
• The Bioneers Buzz is a monthly electronic newsletter featuring updates from the Bioneers network.
• Bioneers: Annual Conference:

  "Each October in San Rafael, CA, the Bioneers come together as a group of leading social and scientific innovators to share stories, present model solutions and network with each other. The San Rafael event has reached its maximum capacity with nearly 3,400 “biological pioneers” attending from all over the world.

  Beaming Bioneers – Local Bioneers Conferences via Satellite: Launched in 2002, Beaming Bioneers provides access to the restorative solutions and stories of the Bioneers, while providing a platform for local networking and organizing. The Fourth Annual Bioneers Utah Conference will be in October, 2007.

  (So, yes Utahns can participate locally!  Terry Tempest Williams, 2004 Bioneers national presenter and Utah native says of the Utah Bioneers Conference "A gathering of inspiration and innovation ...Bioneers is creating a community of social change.")

  Utah Partner Beaming Bioneers Sites: The main Utah location is in Logan. Contact: James Goodwin, Utah State University, 435.757.2352. Satellite locations in Brigham City and Vernal.

  (Check for information on the 2007 Bioneers Utah Conference which will be updated as details are solidified.:-)

• Bioneers: Events Calendar
• Bioneers: Food and Farming

  All over the world, rapidly growing, diverse, local and ecologically based food and farming movements are offering proven, healthy and sustainable alternatives to corporate/industrial agriculture and the global food system.

• Bioneers: Radio Broadcasts

  "Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature" radio broadcasts can be heard Thursdays from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. on KRCL–91FM (Listener’s Community Radio of Utah). "The Radio Series, Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature, features interviews and dynamic presentations from the Bioneers Conference archives. Each year, Bioneers provides thirteen half-hour programs free to public radio stations across the country (heard in more than 200 cities in the US) and around the world."

• Deconstructing Dinner series from the Bioneers.
• The Bioneers Youth Initiative integrates young people into the Bioneers network, building year-round connectivity among young activists.

  (Bioneers Offices Located in Lamy, New Mexico and San Francisco, California.)

   

• Center for Ecoliteracy

  (CEL) "Dedicated to education for sustainable living." Focusing on topics including: Center for Ecoliteracy Book on Education for Sustainable Living, CEL Wellness Policy Guide with Slow Food USA and the Chez Panisse Foundation, and Rethinking School Lunch.

  (Located in Berkeley, California.)

• Center for Food Safety

  

  "The Center for Food Safety (CFS) is a non–profit public interest and environmental advocacy membership organization established in 1997 by its sister organization, International Center for Technology Assessment, for the purpose of challenging harmful food production technologies and promoting sustainable alternatives. CFS combines multiple tools and strategies in pursuing its goals, including litigation and legal petitions for rulemaking, legal support for various sustainable agriculture and food safety constituencies, as well as public education, grassroots organizing and media outreach."

  (Located in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA.)

• Center for Sustainable Environments – Northern Arizona University (CSE)

  

  "CSE is a national leader in university–based "sustainability science." CSE focuses our programs on addressing two critical issues challenging the survival of humanity and other species on this planet:

  1. Reducing the impacts of food production, transport and processing on biodiversity, food security, water and energy consumption; and

  2. Reducing the ecological impacts of energy use, water use and waste production associated with building, communities and transportation systems.

  The Center does this work in collaboration with many organizations through a range of formal and informal relationships."

• The Center for Sustainable Environments’ (CSE) Renewing America’s Food Traditions — RAFT

  (Located in Flagstaff, Arizona.)

• Chef’s Collaborative

  "A national network of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable cuisine by celebrating the joys of local, seasonal, and artisanal cooking. Chefs Collaborative works with chefs and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply. The Collaborative inspires action by translating information about our food into tools for making knowledgeable purchasing decisions. Through these actions, our members embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies."

  (Located in Boston, Massachusetts.)

• Chez Panisse Foundation

  

  "In 1996, Alice Waters, pioneering cook, restaurateur and food activist, created the Chez Panisse Foundation in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. The Foundation supports an educational program that uses food to nurture, educate and empower youth.

  Our Vision: The Foundation envisions a nationwide public school curriculum at all levels that includes hands-on experiences in school kitchens, gardens, and lunchrooms. This curriculum will inspire students to choose healthy food and help them understand the impact of their choices on their health, the health of their communities, and the planet.

  In addition, we envision public school systems providing delicious, healthy, freshly prepared meals for all of their students as a regular part of each school day-in lunchrooms that appeal to all the senses and are ecologically designed. To create real change in students’ eating habits, we must rethink their education and experiences with food, beginning with their experiences in school.

  The Challenge: Our mass consumer culture has created an unprecedented crisis of diet related disease among our nation’s youth. The fast-food industry dominates school lunch programs, serving highly processed high-fat foods. The shared family meal, where children have traditionally been nourished, is now a rare experience for most kids. According to the Centers for Disease Control, as a result of diabetes and obesity, this generation may be the first to die younger than its parents.

  Not only are children eating unhealthy food, they are absorbing the values that go with it: the notions that food should be fast, cheap and easy; that abundance is permanent; that it doesn’t matter where food comes from; and that it’s ok to waste. While we did not begin our work with the obesity epidemic in mind, comprehensive programs such as ours are an effective way to reach children, especially those at greatest risk.

  Our Work: Over the past ten years, we have worked to establish groundbreaking models in the Berkeley Unified School District: the Edible Schoolyard and the School Lunch Initiative."

  Learn more about the work of the Chez Panisse Foundation.

  (Located in Berkeley, California.)

• Community Alliance with Family Farmers

  

  "The Community Alliance with Family Farmers ("CAFF") is building a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and promotes social justice. Today’s Community Alliance with Family Farmers is the result of efforts by both farmers and urban activists working together for more than 25 years. Our mission is to build a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and promotes social justice. More highlights of our pioneering and successful work."

  (Located in Davis, California.)

  Featured Projects:

• "Online Local Food Guide" — Hungry for local food? Find fresh tomatoes, juicy strawberries or locally made bread in your area by searching our online local food guide – brought to you by the "Buy Fresh, Buy Local Campaign." Search the Online Local Food Guide. Get listed in the Online Local Food Guide."
• "Farmscaping for Wildlife and Conservation — CAFF has been increasing farm biodiversity with native plant hedgerow projects in the Central Coast, North Coast and San Joaquin Valley regions since 2001."
• "Sustainable Cotton Project — Cotton is one of the most chemical–intensive crops in the world. The Sustainable Cotton Project helps California cotton farmers transition from chemically–dependent to more biologically sound farming practices."
• "Growers Collaborative — Comprised of family–owned and operated farms practicing sustainable agriculture, Growers Collaborative is a virtual farmers’ market selling seasonal fruits and vegetables directly to institutions in Ventura, Los Angeles, and the Central Coast."

• Partners:

• FoodRoutes.org asks "Where Does Your Food Come From?" Navigate to the listing for FoodRoutes on the Slow Food Utah Website.
• Deconstructing Dinner

  

  "Produced and recorded in the studios of Kootenay Co–op Radio in Nelson, British Columbia, Deconstructing Dinner has been designed to dispense and discuss current food issues. The program assists listeners in making more educated choices when purchasing food either for the kitchen or at food–service establishments.

  Deconstructing Dinner reports on current issues throughout the world of food, with a primary focus on local, regional and provincial issues. The show is not restricted to only current affairs, but probes into the processes and actions to which we have all become so accustomed throughout our daily routine, and "deconstructs" them to achieve a more discriminating awareness."

  "Behind the creation of Deconstructing Dinner is Nelson resident Jon Steinman. Jon currently sits on the board of both the Nelson Food Cupboard Society, a community food bank that addresses local food security; and the Kootenay Co–op Natural Food Store. Jon is a member of the BC Food Systems Network, Food Secure Canada, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. His experience has most recently led him to become involved in the creation of Community Food Matters — a coalition of Nelson–area residents who are inspired to foster a more food–secure community."

  (Based in Nelson, British Columbia.)

• Deconstructing Dinner series from the Bioneers.
• Listen to the most recent shows broadcast by Deconstructing Dinner.
• Deconstructing Dinner presents "100–Mile Diet / Local Food Strategies"
• EarthSave International

  "Leading a global movement of people from all walks of life who are taking concrete steps to promote healthy and life–sustaining food choices. EarthSave supplies information, support and practical programs to those who have learned that their food choices impact environmental and human health. EarthSave supports individuals in making food choices that promote health, reduce health care costs, and provide greater independence from the medical system, raises awareness of the ecological destruction linked to the production of ’food animals,’ and advocates and promote a delicious, planet–friendly diet."

  (Based in New York City, New York.)

• (The) Ecological Farming Association ("Eco–Farm")

  

  "Eco–Farm supports a vision for our food system where strengthening soils, protecting air and water, encouraging diverse ecosystems and economies, and honoring rural life are all part of producing healthful food. Our innovative programs bring together growers, consumers, educators, activists, and industry related businesses to exchange the latest advances in sustainable food production and marketing. Eco-Farm’s education programs have reached more than 50,000 participants since 1980."

  The Ecological Farming Association (EFA) is a non–profit educational organization that advances ecologically sound and economically viable agriculture. EFA can be traced back to 1981, when a group of California farmers sought alternatives to fossil fuel and chemically intensive farming methods. What began as a single gathering of a few farmers has grown into a series of education programs spanning over two decades.

  EFA’s education programs have reached more than 50,000 participants during 25 years. Through consistent quality of programs, EFA has developed a far reaching network of people and businesses committed to sustainable agriculture. Our programs bring together a diversity of stakeholders in California food production to promote grassroots leadership and regional solutions to decrease the negative impacts of industrial agriculture on environmental and community health.

  EFA Mission: The Ecological Farming Association is dedicated to the development of ecologically-based food systems, both domestically and throughout the world by: * Educating farmers, the agriculture industry, and other stewards of the land about practical and economically viable techniques of ecological agriculture. * Informing consumers and policy makers about ecological food production and its connection to the health of people and communities. * Promoting alliances between individuals and organizations who share our vision of a transformed global food system.

  (Located in Watsonville, California.)

  

• 27th Annual Eco–Farm Conference, January 24–27, 2007. Pacific Grove, California.
• Eco–Farm Resources (Links)
• Organic Matters Annual Newsletter focusing on hot issues in sustainable agriculture and our year of programs.
• Ecogastronomy Initiative

  Ecogastronomy is for people who want to make the most of their time with family and friends and learn how to maximize the impact of their consumer dollar for social, political and environmental change. The mission of the Ecogastronomy Initiative is to mobilize consumers, food producers and decision makers to make responsible, delicious food choices that foster better health, ecological sustainability and a humane, diverse global society. Mobilize citizens to stand up against the industrialization, standardization and McDonaldization of the food supply and the resulting threat to human health, food diversity, ethnic traditions, and cultural identity.

  (Based in Victor, Idaho.)

• EcoTrust

  "Ecotrust was created in 1991 by a small group of diverse people who sought to bring some of the good ideas emerging around sustainability back to the rain forests of home. We set out to characterize this region and articulate a more enduring strategy for its prosperity. These efforts are predicated on the notion, gaining an ever wider currency, that economic and ecological systems are mutually interdependent. To this relationship Ecotrust and others have sought to add a third "e" — social equity — to ensure that economic development awards benefits to all the region’s citizens. Economy, ecology, equity: the triple bottom line."

  See About EcoTrust along with the recently published book "Renewing Salmon Nation’s Food Traditions" for further information. (The book is also listed in the Slow Food Utah Books section.)

• "Five integrated program areas, supported by our sophisticated toolkit, define and guide our efforts to build Salmon Nation:
• Citizenship: Ecotrust works to articulate the idea of Salmon Nation, to promote a sense of place and stewardship among the citizens of the region.
• Fisheries: Ecotrust seeks full public disclosure of the status of Pacific salmon as well as fundamental institutional changes in the way fisheries, marine ecosystems and watersheds are managed.
• Food & Farms: By promoting the seasonal products of local farmers and striving to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture on healthy watersheds, Ecotrust is fostering a regional food system in the Pacific Northwest.
• Forestry: Ecotrust is working to develop landscape–scale examples of ecological forest management that sustain biodiversity and provide more reliable opportunities for forest dependent communities.
• Native Programs: Continuously strengthening over a decade of close relationships, Ecotrust both draws guidance from and provides assistance to the Native American and First Nation communities of Salmon Nation."

  (Located in Portland, Oregon.)

• Farm and Food Policy Project

  

  "A diverse alliance of family farm, sustainable agriculture, rural, public health, anti–hunger, environmental, faith–based, and other groups is forming to inform the 2007 Farm Bill. The cross–sector approach of the Farm and Food Policy Project (FFPP) reflects a commitment to policy reforms that address the full spectrum of public needs addressed by this critical piece of legislation.

  This broad and growing alliance believes that by working together, it can make real progress toward supporting family farms and local communities, improving health and nutrition, ending hunger, and increasing biodiversity and improving the quality of our soil, water and air."

• Report: "Seeking Balance in U.S. Farm and Food Policy"

• "The report outlines innovations that would make real progress toward creating opportunities for young and beginning farmers, expanding new agricultural markets and value–added enterprises, helping more farmers move to organic production to meet increasing demand, reducing hunger and soaring rates of obesity; encouraging local food production and access to healthy food choices, promoting entrepreneurship and economic development in rural communities; providing incentives for more environmentally friendly farming systems; fostering cooperative conservation partnerships; and providing increased support for socially disadvantaged farmers and farm workers. Developed under the auspices of the Farm and Food Policy Project, the report has been endorsed by more than 350 organizations across the country." (From the January 22, 2007 Press Release.)

  "All people want what’s best for their children and for future generations. All community members — whether rural, suburban, or urban — want strong local economies and the ability to buy healthy and affordable food. All Americans, whether farmers or not, recognize that agriculture is vital to the nation and must remain productive, profitable, and sustainable.

  But what we want from our food system and what our national food and farm policies deliver are increasingly out of balance. This is especially true for the "Farm Bill" — which Congress will renew in 2007 — and which addresses such critical issues as agricultural production, food and nutrition assistance, rural development, renewable energy, equity, and conservation policies. These public policies need to result in better management of the farm and food system that serves us all." (From the Report.)

• Coordinating Council & Participating Organizations:

  Endorsed in Utah, as of March 1, 2007, by: Association for the Tree of Life, Northern Utah Organic Group, Taylor Farm Organics, and Utahns Against Hunger.  Full list of endorsements from across the United States. (PDF Document)

• (Project Coordinator located in Washington, D.C.)

• (The) Food Museum Online

  

  "The FOOD Museum is committed to connecting people of all ages with the essential subject of food. The FOOD Museum celebrates food, and through its collections, educational programs, publications and website engages people in an exploration of what we eat and how we eat it, where it came from, how it has evolved, what its impact is on the world, and what its future may be. The FOOD Museum is committed to the identification and preservation of sites and artifacts associated with our rapidly disappearing local and global food heritage. The FOOD Museum has been putting up actual exhibits for over 25 years, from small galleries in Brussels and Washington to major exhibitions at the Smithsonian and Ottawa’s National Museum of Science. "

  (Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• FoodPolitics.com is the homepage for Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H.

  

  "Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, in the department that she chaired from 1988 through 2003. Her degrees include a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on analysis of the scientific, social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the development, implementation, and acceptance of federal dietary guidance policies."

  
  
• Marion Nestle is the author of several books that are listed separately in the Books section of the Slow Food Utah Website. (The links below will take you to the book listings within the Slow Food Utah Website.)
• “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health” (University of California Press, 2002) and,
• “Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism” (University of California Press, 2003).
• Marion Nestle is co-editor of “Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Food and Nutrition” (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2004).
• "Her latest book, “What to Eat” (North Point Press, a Division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux), was published in May 2006."
• Also of interest is a Bioneers Interview with Marion Nestle.
• Marion Nestle — Paulette Goddard Professor, New York University.

  (FoodPolitics.com is located in New York, New York.)

• FoodRoutes.org asks "Where Does Your Food Come From?"

  

  "The FoodRoutes Web site is a project of FoodRoutes Network (FRN). FRN is a national nonprofit organization that provides communications tools, technical support, networking and information resources to organizations nationwide that are working to rebuild local, community-based food systems. FRN is dedicated to reintroducing Americans to their food — the seeds it grows from, the farmers who produce it, and the routes that carry it from the fields to their tables.

  

• FoodRoutes Home Page.
• FoodRoutes Links — "Here you’ll find a large list of links to sites related to food and farming issues. Choose a category below to see links on a particular topic."
• FoodRoutes Network Mission
• FoodRoutes Partners
• FoodRoutes ToolBox

  Looking for cost-effective, targeted way to launch a Buy Local campaign? FoodRoutes’ "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" Toolbox provides a set of tools to help your organization develop a strong campaign to promote locally grown and produced food in your area.

  (Located in Arnot, Pennsylvania.)

• Free Range Graphics

  

  "Creativity with a conscience. Top–notch communications strategy, web, print, and Flash design for positive social change. We know we could be using our talents to sell cheeseburgers or sneakers, but we feel that an inherent part of creativity is the creation of something positive and meaningful. That’s why we concentrate on offering top–quality design and publicity services to companies and organizations whose vision goes beyond turning the world into a strip mall. And while our clients range from world–wide activists like Amnesty International to independent stores trying to survive in an age of franchises, they all share our belief that a life’s work should create, not corrupt. Services include graphic design for print and web, campaign concepting and strategy. We also provide back–end web services like database management and custom–built web applications."

  (Free Range Studios — www.freerangestudios.com — 1605 Connecticut Avenue, Fourth Floor, Washington DC 20009.  Tel: 202–234–5613  Email: info@freerangegraphics.com — Affiliated with "The MEATRIX II: Revolting." See the section below on Sustainable Table or the Slow Food Utah "Books and Movies" section for details.)

  (Located in Washington, D.C.)

• GoodSearch

  

  Search the internet with Goodsearch.com, powered by Yahoo! Search.

  GoodSearch is a new search engine that donates half its revenue to the charities and schools its users designate.

  (Find out all the details at About GoodSearch.)

  Use GoodSearch just as you would any search engine. Each search gives one cent ($.01) to your designated choice. (Of course, we hope that you will select Slow Food USA.) Just 5,000 people designating Slow Food USA (35% of our Slow Food USA members), and then searching once per day, will raise over $18,000 per year without anyone spending a dime!

  To get started, go to www.goodsearch.com – then under "I’m supporting" type in "Slow Food USA".

  (You will be given the option of "Slow Food USA (Brookline, NY)" which is the location of Slow Food USA’s national office.)

  Slow Food USA has benefited thus far from 6,000 searches done in the last few months of 2006.

  Help Slow Food make that 600,000 in 2007!

  (Located in Los Angeles, California.)

• Institute for Local Self–Reliance

  "The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) is a small organization with a remarkable track record for breaking new ground in promoting sustainable communities. Every year since its founding ILSR has researched the feasibility of communities generating a significant amount of wealth from local resources and has worked with the increasing numbers of communities interested in moving in that direction. In the initial years ILSR focused on their surrounding Washington, D.C. neighborhood, Adams Morgan. Later ILSR widened its lens to examine cities, and then regions. ILSR became a national organization and worked with state and national governments. Yet their work continued to be informed by projects in communities and connections to grassroots organizations, small businesses, farmers and local governments. Among numerous other projects, ILSR tracked the dollar flows of a neighborhood franchise--MacDonald’s--in a study that remains a classic. ILSR found that of the $750,000 spent there almost two-thirds left not only the neighborhood but the metropolitan area. Contrary to conventional wisdom, ILSR insisted that every time a fast food restaurant opened the number of jobs in the local economy actually declined.

  In its first 19 years, ILSR has been remarkably focused. From their first brochure to the first issue of their newsletter, "Self-Reliance," to the last chapters of Neighborhood Power and Self-Reliant Cities to the present, ILSR has elaborated a vision of ecological and locally controlled economies. In 1982 via a full page ad in Mother Jones ILSR announced their vision of a dual economy in which products are made locally from local resources while information travels freely around the planet. They called this dual economy, "A Global Village and a Globe of Villages." In June 1993, in an article in the Utne Reader ILSR laid out the framework for a North American Free Trade Agreement that would be equitable and environmentally sound and which would promote a sense of community. On the verge of the organization’s 20th birthday, ILSR won’t rest on its laurels. Indeed, as their age indicates, they may just be achieving maturity. The vision has become fuller and more sophisticated, informed not only by their research but by their experience in building businesses and developing policies in dozens of communities."

  (Located in Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, Minnesota.)

• (The) Land Institute

  

  "The Land Institute has worked for over 20 years on the problem of agriculture. Our purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops. We have researched, published in refereed scientific journals, given hundreds of public presentations here and abroad, and hosted countless intellectuals and scientists... Our strategy now is to collaborate with public institutions in order to direct more research in the direction of Natural Systems Agriculture... Important questions have been answered and crucial principles explored to the point that we feel comfortable in saying that we have demonstrated the scientific feasibility of our proposal for a Natural Systems Agriculture. Because this work deals with basic biological questions and principles, the implications are applicable worldwide. If Natural Systems Agriculture were fully adopted, we could one day see the end of agricultural scientists from industrialized societies delivering agronomic methods and technologies from their fossil fuel-intensive infrastructures into developing countries and thereby saddling them with brittle economies."

  The Land Institute’s "Prairie Writers Circle": "Initiated in 2001, the Prairie Writers Circle brings together writers in Kansas and nationally who produce op–ed commentary for newspapers large and small to encourage wider public awareness of ecological and sustainability issues important to the Land Institute’s mission. A thread that runs through much of the Circle’s work is the need for sustainability in agriculture and community. Topic examples: industrial agriculture and the problems it poses, water quality, climate change, energy efficiency, land use, habitat preservation, biotechnology, environmental politics, and the relationship between the environment and human health. The Circle’s essays have appeared in such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, the Atlanta Journal–Constitution and the Des Moines Register." [And, The Salt Lake Tribune.]

  (Located in Salina, Kansas.)

• Local Harvest.

  

  "Local Harvest is a national organization with information about products grown and sold locally. LocalHarvest was founded in 1998, and is now the number one informational resource for the Buy Local movement and the top place on the Internet where people find information on direct marketing family farms. We now have about 9000 members, and are growing by about 8 new members every day. Through our servers, our website and those of our partners serve about one and a half million page views per month to the public interested in buying food from family farms. LocalHarvest is located in Santa Cruz, California, and was founded by Guillermo Payet, a software engineer and activist dedicated to generating positive social change through the Internet."

• "Local Harvest maintains a definitive and reliable "living" public nationwide directory of small farms, farmers markets, and other local food sources.
• The Local Harvest search engine helps people find products from family farms, local sources of sustainably grown food, and encourages them to establish direct contact with small farms in their local area.
• The Local Harvest online store helps small farms develop markets for some of their products beyond their local area."
• Map and List of Participants in Utah
• Local Harvest — Utah Farmers Markets

  (Located in Santa Cruz, California.)

• NAFDMA

  

  "North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association" is a trade association dedicated to nurturing the farm direct marketing industry. Its actions are driven by those whose daily lives are dedicated to this way of life. Its members support their family farms by selling millions of dollars worth of farm–grown produce directly to consumers at farm stands, farmers’ markets, pick–your–own farms, consumer–supported agriculture, agritourism venues, and other ever–growing innovations in direct producer–to–consumer agricultural marketing methods. Here at our Web site, you can find lots of information."

• "Why family farms? Food security. Farmland preservation. Quality of life. Locally grown foods. Taste. Quality. Freshness. These are all great reasons to support family farms. How about also the preservation of farmers?"
• Organic Consumers Association

  

  The OCA "is a grassroots non–profit public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, corporate accountability, and environmental sustainability. OCA is the only organization in the U.S. focused exclusively on the views and interests of the nation’s estimated ten million organic consumers. The Organic Consumers Association is a public interest organization dedicated to building a healthy, safe, and sustainable system of food production and consumption. OCA is a global clearinghouse for information and grassroots technical assistance."

  (Based in Finland, Minnesota.)

• Organic Kitchen®

  Organic Kitchen® is a "gateway to a world of information about organic foods" and products, "free of chemicals and pesticides." Organic Kitchen® is an organic foods and products, research and marketing company..., that explores the Internet to provide links to Web sites they think will be of interest, with the hope that it will be "the start of a useful, content rich (and pesticide–free) environment of information about organic foods." They provide information and links on topics such as: "Cooking, Farms, Foods A–Z, Gardening, Living, Markets, Restaurants, and Vineyards."

  (Located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

• Post Carbon Institute

  

  "The mission of Post Carbon Institute is to assist communities in the effort to Relocalize and adapt to an energy constrained world.

  Post Carbon Institute is a think, action and education tank offering research, project tools, education and information to implement proactive strategies to adapt to an energy constrained world. The development of Post Carbon Institute came out of concern for the environmental, social, political and economic ramifications of global over-reliance on cheap energy."

  What is Relocalization?

  "Our main response to these concerns is the strategy of Relocalization, which aims to build societies based on the local production of food, energy and goods, and the local development of currency, governance and culture. The main goals of Relocalization are to increase community energy security, to strengthen local economies, and to dramatically improve environmental conditions and social equity. The aim of Relocalization is to develop exemplary community actions that can be used locally and as working models for other communities when the effects of energy decline become more intense.

  Relocalization is the re–claiming of our socio–cultural and economic systems so that each locality operates well within its regional ecological boundaries. Relocalization is a strategy that moves one step further than the strategy of Localization, which primarily aims to increase the local production of goods and services in order to fight the detrimental effects of globalization. Relocalization supports the production of local goods and services while also making a firm commitment to reducing consumption and improving environmental and social conditions. In this way, communities begin to develop a greater degree of economic self–reliance and stronger sense of community."

  The Post Carbon Institute works "in partnership with: Community Groups, Governments, Business, and Public and Private Organizations."

  (Post Carbon Institute is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.)

  Post Carbon Institute Initiatives include:

• Global Public Media

  

  "Public Service Broadcasting for a Post Carbon World."

  See the various articles on the topic of Food. Other food related topics include: Deconstructing Dinner, Fisheries, Food, Food Security, Local Food, Sustainable Growing, and Water. See Topic Listings for full details.

• Local Energy Farms

  

  "Reliable Renewable Energy for a Post Carbon World."

  "Post Carbon Institute has launched the Local Energy Farm Demonstration Project in collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. This project, part of our Relocalization Strategy, aims to dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate community dependence on fossil fuels for energy, which would ensure that after the oil (and gas) peak, public provisioning systems delivering electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, food and many other essential services would continue. Local renewable energy systems would also dramatically reduce the CO2 production in communities helping them to meet their Kyoto commitments and to improve local environmental conditions."

• The Oil Depletion Protocol

  

  "A Plan for a Sensible Energy Future."

  "The Oil Depletion Protocol is an international agreement that will enable nations of the world to cooperatively reduce their dependence on oil. It was proposed by Dr. Colin Campbell, a prominent petroleum geologist and founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO), in 1996. By agreeing to reduce oil imports and exports by a specified amount each year, about 2.6 percent, signatory nations will help mitigate the negative consequences of an over-reliance on cheap oil and help prepare for a global decline in the world’s oil supply."

• Relocalization Network

  

  The Relocalization Network was created in 2003 as one of the first initiatives of Post Carbon Institute.

• Post Carbon Salt Lake is part of the the Relocalization Network. "The Relocalization Network supports Local Post Carbon Groups as they work to develop and implement the strategy of Relocalization in their communities. The Relocalization Network Coordinators support the Network by providing on–line communication tools, developing valuable resources, facilitating meaningful and useful connections between Local Groups and cultivating a sense of working together globally on local responses.
• Rural Roots

  

  "Established in 1997, Rural Roots is a regional, 501(c)3 nonprofit food and farming organization. As a community of small-acreage and family farmers, ranchers, market gardeners, chefs, educators, consumers, and others."

  What Rural Roots does:

  "Build on the opportunities and tackle the challenges facing small-acreage and family farmers, ranchers, and market gardeners;"

  "Enhance the economic viability of small-acreage farms and communities in the Inland Northwest;"

  "Encourage the production and consumption of sustainably produced local foods;"

  "Create connections between sustainable producers, consumers, and other regional food and agricultural organizations."

  Publication: "Fresh from the Field" – Rural Roots’s Guide to Sustainable Grown Local Food. "Each of the farms, ranches and businesses listed in "Fresh from the Field" and "More Fresh from the Field" are dedicated to bringing you fresh, local products that are produced using sustainable methods." (These publications are in PDF format, well laid-out and current, published in 2006.)

  "Rural Roots — Serving the Inland Northwest — All of Idaho and the easternmost counties of Washington and Oregon." (Included here for several reasons: Of general interest to Slow Food Utah folks, and examples of projects that could be done in Utah...:-)

  (Located in Moscow, Idaho.)

• Seed Savers Exchange

  

  

  "Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations. When people grow and save seeds, they join an ancient tradition as stewards, nurturing our diverse, fragile, genetic and cultural heritage.

  Our organization is saving the world’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity. Few gardeners comprehend the true scope of their garden heritage or how much is in immediate danger of being lost forever.

  Heritage Farm, SSE’s scenic 890–acre headquarters near Decorah, Iowa, is a living museum of historic varieties. Amish carpenters have constructed an inspirational meeting area in the barn’s cathedral–like loft, and also a complex of offices and seed storage facilities that feature a magnificent oak post-and-beam frame. This unique educational center is designed to maintain and display collections of endangered food crops. Each summer an estimated 5,000 visitors tour Heritage Farm’s organic Preservation Gardens, Historic Orchard, and Ancient White Park cattle."

  (Located in Decorah, Iowa.)

• Slow Movement / Footprint Choices

  

  "Our mission is to make available information, resources, services and networking opportunities for everyone interested in exploring ecologically sustainable ways of thinking, living and interacting in our world community. We do this through educating individuals and families to integrate sustainable living methods into their lives. Through the information, resources and services we provide we encourage you to adopt personal sustainable development. We believe that it is by the actions of individuals and families that change happens. Therefore we strongly support the ethos of SIMBY — Start In My Back Yard. Not only does SIMBY create change, in and of itself, it also provides a model for others to create change."

  Our focus is not a narrow focus on the standard areas common to talk of sustainable living. Our focus is much broader and covers all topics that contribute to sustainable living. For example, we discuss issues related to our need for a healthy body, such as nutrition, lifestyle, non–toxic products for use in the home, garden and industry, along side issues related to social connection with family, people, food, and all of nature, and issues related to the physical environment such as fossil and alternative fuels and energy sources, transport alternatives, urban planning, and the IT industry."

  "Slow Movement" sections include: Slow... Slow Travel, Slow Cities, Slow Food, Slow Schools, Slow Books, Slow Living, and Slow Money.

  "Who we are: Footprint Choices is a family run enterprise that is dedicated to supporting social and environmental responsibility. With 12 family members spanning three generations, we are committed to working together to make a difference — to the community, the planet and to the health of all beings that inhabit the earth. We also believe that enjoying ourselves shouldn’t be an after–hours activity. We all share a common ethos and we each bring to Footprint Choices a range of qualifications, skills and experiences. Together we represent the views and experiences of three generations who have grown up in three distinct time periods each with its own issues for sustainable living."

• Slow Movement – Slow Food
• Contact Slow Movement/Footprint Choices.

  (Located in Australia.)

• Southwest Marketing Network

  

  Helping "Southwestern producers and communities develop new and improved markets and enterprises and to rebuild local food systems."

  "The goal of the Southwest Marketing Network is to ensure that new, existing, and prospective farmers in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah — especially small–scale, alternative and minority producers — have access to the latest technical, financial and marketing information, as well as personal contacts with successful farm marketers as a means to improving their profitability, viability, and bottom line.

  The Network is based on the belief that once farmers and ranchers see successful examples of local marketing in the region, they can make it work in their communities. The Network website serves to highlight those successes and point to resources available to help with marketing and business planning issues."

  (Located in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.)

• Sustainable Table

  

  

  "Sustainable Table celebrates the joy of food and eating. Serving up healthy food choices. Working to educate consumers and promote sustainable food. Sustainable Table is a new way to learn about healthy food for you and your family. Sustainable Table is a consumer campaign developed by the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE). It was launched to help fill in the gaps in the sustainable food movement, and to help direct consumers to the leading organizations who are working on the issue. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by all the problems surrounding our food supply.

  Be sure to check out Sustainable Table’s Eat Well Guide,  Sustainable Kitchen,  The Meatrix I II and II.5,  and Get Involved.

• Sustainable Table also created "The MEATRIX I"  AND  "The MEATRIX II: Revolting" series in conjunction with Free Range Graphics (mentioned above and on the Slow Food Utah "Books and Movies" page). In conjunction with this effort is a whole host of information, with a major focus on factory–farming and big–agribusiness:
• Some suggestions about what you can do regarding the issues discussed in "The Meatrix".
• The Meatrix 360" Interactive "Now that The Meatrix movies have introduced you to the problems with factory farming, it’s time to learn more. A good way to start is to explore The Meatrix 360" Interactive feature. Simply roll your cursor over objects on a factory farm and the surrounding area to learn about what’s happening in rural America. Click on the objects to learn more in–depth information about a particular topic."
• Issues Pages "If you want to jump right in, click on any of the topics in the Issues Pages to learn more."
• The Meatrix List of Organizations provides links to many of the very best organizations on the subject.
• The Parlour "If you still have questions, or would like to discuss what you’ve read, please visit The Parlour, our community forum where people come together to network, discuss the issues and share information."
• You can contact the folks at The Meatrix at info@themeatrix.com.  "Together, we really can change our food system and bring healthier, more sustainable food to consumers."
• Below is a List of rBGH–free dairy products available in Utah, many produced in Utah, compiled by the Eat Well Guide. Click on them to obtain a copy. (This will allow you to download a ZIP file, that contains the three images below. See "Site Notes" for software that will de–compress ZIP files.)

(Sustainable Table — www.sustainabletable.org — 215 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10016.  Tel: 212–726–9161  Email: info@sustainabletable.org — Affiliated with "The MEATRIX II: Revolting." See the Slow Food Utah "Books and Movies" section for details on these films.)

(Located in New York, New York.)

• TomatoFest®

  

  "TomatoFest® — We’re feeding the world with Heirloom Tomatoes."

  Gary Ibsen & Dagma Lacey

  "TomatoFest® is your destination for finding the best tasting heirloom tomato seeds from around the world. Our mission is to find what are considered to be the most favored heirloom tomato varieties from many different regions and family farms, to grow and harvest these tomato seeds and share them with other gardeners. Our intention is to feed the world and sustain these precious heirloom tomato seed varieties so they may remain an available food source.

  Our heirloom tomato seed selection originates from many different climates to assure you a selection that will be suited to your garden. We are diligent about including the origin, and family and plant history with each tomato description. These heirloom tomato seeds are our legacy.

  As we acquire additional information about any variety we will include it. The amount of information we have about any tomato varies from variety to variety. Some varieties have little or no historical information. We encourage you to contact us with additional comments regarding the history, personal experience, growing or tasting notes of any variety listed, or with information about varieties we haven’t included. If you discover an error in any variety description please bring it to our attention. It is our primary interest to provide you useful and accurate information.

  All tomato varieties listed are open–pollinated and most are heirloom tomato varieties. All packs have 30–40 seeds unless otherwise noted.

  Gary Ibsen’s (aka "The Tomato Man") passion for growing organic tomatoes led to developing the hugely successful TomatoFest®; writing "The Great Tomato Book," a new nationally distributed, gardening/cookbook; and creating an extensive marketplace for his organically grown, vine"ripened, heirloom tomatoes and organic tomato seed business."

  (TomatoFest® is Wasatch Community Gardens’ Grateful Tomato Garden Seed Sponsor.)

  TomatoFest® is located in Carmel, California.

Index of Non–Governmental Organizations Outside of the United States

— Agropolis–Museum: Food and Agricultures of the World | University of Gastronomic Sciences —

• Agropolis–Museum: Food and Agricultures of the World
• V i r t u a l   E x h i b i t i o n s
• World’s Food — Discover the astounding itinerary of the world’s foods from the field to the dish. Compare their nutritional functions, histories, production, transformation, consumption, and the cultural traditions to which they are attached.
• History of Food and Agriculture — From his origin, man struggled endlessly to get food. But the forms of this quest have greatly changed...
• Farmers and Farming over the World — On a worldwide scale, farming shows a great diversity, and farmers are nonetheless different.
• The "Banquet de l’Humanité" — Although some people would say that "we are all in the same boat", the "Banquet de l’Humanité" is here to show that each one eats according to one’s income, food resources and cultural background.
• The Story Behind the Agropolis:

  "Agropolis, located in the South of France at Montpellier in the Languedoc–Roussillon Region, is a confederation gathered together under a unique name. The confederation is made up of the three universities, the Science Research Institutes, and the institutions for higher education so–called "Ecoles Nationales Supérieures". All of them deal with similar topics such as ecology, agriculture, agronomy, food and nutrition. The scientific community of this Agropolis complex includes 2500 research and teaching people, which means it is one of the largest agro–food research complex in Europe. More than 50% of these research teams work in Less Developed Countries (LDC). In this way the Agropolis scientific community contributes to the struggle against food shortage on a worldwide scale.

  In 1986, the Agropolis board of Administration decided to create a science center, the Agropolis–Museum, to be a cultural link between the scientific research community and the public. It was to be an educational center where scientific and educational material would be at the disposal of the public. Exhibitions on agro–food topics on a world–scale are presented to the public to help understand problems related to food production. This museum aims to reach the largest public by offering several levels of interpretation.

  Agropolis–Museum was also created as a place to collect and conserve museographical documents on agriculture and food at a worldwide scale, to create a world–wide collection on these topics. The main National Research Institutes of Agropolis such as CIHEAM, CIRAD, CNEARC, INRA and IRD (ex ORSTOM) represent a unique network to collect documents and set up exhibitions.

  The museum aims to present the historical struggle of man to get enough food to satisfy his appetite ; to show how this struggle goes on endlessly and how scientific research can help on this ongoing struggle. The project is organized into three main sections : the Orientation room, the Thematic room and the Prospective room. Each exhibition is divided into sub–sections.

  The central idea developed in the Museum is the notion of food–systems which are used to answer the question man put from his origin : What can be eaten tomorrow ? The food–system represents the way man organized society to get and eat food. The question is always the same but the answers document the History, Geography and the socio–cultural background associated with food. The idea of food–systems is explained in the museum through examples collected from all over the world where the Agropolis scientific community is working."

  (Located in Montpellier, FRANCE. [Southern, France.])

• University of Gastronomic Sciences

  

  "The University of Gastronomic Sciences, a truly unique academic institution, was founded by Slow Food in conjunction with the regional authorities of Emilia–Romagna and Piedmont. The objective is to create an international research and training center, working to renew farming methods, protect biodiversity and maintain an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science. The University was officially founded on January 27, 2003, with the establishment of a Scientific Committee. On September 25, 2003, the Association of Friends of the University of Gastronomic Sciences was created. The University of Gastronomic Sciences is a private university modeled on other prestigious Italian institutions. Its teaching activities are supported by an independent non–profit association (the Association of Friends of the University of Gastronomic Sciences) that oversees organizational and financial matters."

  University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, 9, Fr. Pollenzo — 12060 Bra (Cuneo), Italy.

  Send E–mail to request further information.

  (Located in Bra, Italy.)