ThinkLady

You are not alone: learning more and growing community

Part 4 of wake-up calls, insurance and having a plan

This is the final post in a four-part series started in March on resiliency and emergency planning. Part 1 covered waking up to our vulnerabilities; Part 2 explored responding versus reacting; Part 3, sobering up, covered a few, very basic food and water storage strategies.

In this post, Part 4, the focus is on resources for learning more and opportunities for connecting with others doing the same work.

If you have time, doing your own emergency planning and research will uncover a host of resources to help tailor a plan that’s most suited to your unique situation. A variety of books, blogs and websites offer plenty of information but sifting through them can take time, energy and patience. At the outset if you would rather cut-to-the-chase, here are few resources to serve as a portal.

• Get a Kit – FEMA’s emergency planning guide & check lists
• www.72hours.org – The City of San Francisco’s very comprehensive emergency planning guide
• A Simple Plan -- A post by my dear friend and blogger, Christine Patton, a.k.a. Peak Oil Hausfrau, on short and long-term planning. Plenty of additional info on her blog, about everything from backyard gardening to cooking with a solar oven. She’s one of the most prepared people I know.
• “Surviving the Apocalypse in the Suburbs: The Thrivalist’s Guide to Life Without Oil” by Wendy Brown. Personable, down-to-earth, easy to read, full of useful info and resources and mostly geared to longer-term planning.
• “Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens,” by Kathy Harrison, another book with a practical, down-to-earth approach.
• “The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-to-Basics Guide,” by John Seymour. Although geared toward longer term self-reliant living for those on small farms, it may seem like this book doesn’t have much to offer urban dwellers. Guess again -- this book offers a compendium of how-tos on a range of subjects, from soap-making to composting and is full of beautiful illustrations and graphics. A great resource for the home library and even if you never do any of these things – fun to read and browse.

Organizations providing a portal for actually meeting other people doing the same things, working on the same issues, providing ways and means of sharing knowledge and building community:

• Transition OKC (TOKC) –  a local Oklahoma City group working on these types of issues, sharing info, and networking (I volunteer with this group). TOKC offers an ongoing slate of free or low-cost workshops, films, presentations and events focused on helping people and communities in OKC become more prepared and resilient in the face of climate change, peak oil and economic instability. We like to have fun while we’re doing this work. We collaborate and partner with other groups, businesses, and organizations, serve as a catalyst and connector, and we organize practical projects, often with an emphasis on localization, a strategy that a growing number of leaders around the world believe will help offset many of the challenges we face. We eat a lot of potluck meals together (a lot). We are part of the vibrant Transition movement, which has more than 300 initiatives around the world. My friend and fellow Transitioner, Christine Patton and I started TOKC in Jan. 2009; it’s a program of Sustainable OKC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
• Oklahoma Sustainability Network -- a statewide nonprofit networking resource with a wonderful listserv and multiple chapters involved in an array of sustainable endeavors.
• Transition US – a nonprofit organization that provides inspiration, encouragement, support, networking and training for Transition initiatives in the U.S. There are now 90 Transition initiatives across the U.S. -- take a look at the map on their website and seen if there’s one near you, or if you’re interested in starting one in your community, school, or town, they can help.
• Transition Network -- the international hub for the Transition movement. You can sort through Transition initiatives from all over the world here and browse loads of ideas and resources.

More books. If you’re into reading, dive into this big fat list of recommended books. Every book on this list is part of our personal library, guiding our family as we work on our own resiliency planning.

Again this is just a starting place. You may have a whole different set of resources you’ve found that work for you (good on you if you do) and if you’re up for sharing, please feel free to do so. What websites, books, blogs do you recommend for resiliency and emergency preparedness planning?

Technorati Tags: awareness,books,change,climate change,community,emergency planning,home,hope,peak oil,partnerships,resilience,sustainability,transition okc,transition movement

Full-scale Permaculture course comes to Oklahoma

I’ve been working with Transition OKC (TOKC) as a volunteer co-chair and co-founder for going on three years now. The Transition model is deeply rooted in the Permaculture design system, and although I am still very much a beginner when it comes to understanding Permaculture’s beautiful principles and how to implement them, no matter how often I read about them, and see them in action, I never fail to be inspired.

So it is with great excitement I write about this Permaculture Course TOKC, which is a program of Sustainable OKC, has organized. And full disclosure – I’m selfishly really looking forward to taking the course myself!

A full-scale Permaculture Design Course, all 72-hours of it, is now open for enrollment, and will take place in Oklahoma City and at Turtle Rock Farm near Red Rock this fall. The course will be taught by Scott Pittman, of the Permaculture Institute of Santa Fe, with guest teaching by Oklahoma City permaculturist, Bob Waldrop.

The course will take place from Aug.–Nov. 2011 and is designed around two long weekends (Thurs.-Sun.) and two weekend-only sessions (Sat.-Sun.), for a full 12 days of instruction. This means working people will miss only four work days total (calculated on a regular work week being M-F). Classes are generally 9 a.m.–5 p.m. This is a certificate-level class.

A $300 deposit is required to reserve a spot in the class and a short questionnaire/essay is also required, to be submitted at the time of deposit payment. The Permaculture Institute is handling registration via their website – dates of the classes, registration, course syllabus, essay outline and other details are available.

Permaculture design offers an array of solutions for growing and designing resilient, healthy and sustainable communities, and compliments fields such as biomimicry which emulate natural models. Or as Bob put it in a recent article about Permaculture in the Oklahoma Gazette,

“It [permaculture] is the art and science of designing sustainable human habitations and systems that care for people, care for the planet and have a care for the future.”

Some long-range planners, analysts, designers, sustainability advocates and environmentalists believe Permaculture has the potential to guide humanity through many of the challenges we face, such as economic instability, volatile energy supplies and prices, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. As an affirmation of this concept, last year the U.S. Army sent several members of Oklahoma's National Guard through a specially designed Permaculture Course at the Permaculture Institute in Santa Fe prior to deployment to Afghanistan. You can read more about that inspiring effort here.

Transition OKC received a grant from the City of Oklahoma City Office of Sustainability which lowers the full fee for the class to $750 (a very nice discount from the usual $900 or $1,000) so we’re very blessed. Big shout out to Transition OKC team member Randy Marks for obtaining the grant. Lodging and meals are not included in the tuition and are the responsibility of course participants.

The first session will take place at Turtle Rock Farm Retreat near Billings, Okla., about an hour and half north of OKC. This is a working farm, Platinum certified with Oklahoma Tourism’s ECO program, and part of the Oklahoma Agritourism program as well. They serve as a center for sustainability, spirituality and healing, and are located on the beautiful, rolling Oklahoma prairie. Grounds include a labyrinth, a recently completed straw-bale hermitage and lake. The farm has alpacas, honey bees, gardens, chickens, wheat and cattle.

• Meals – Bring your own lunch.
• Lodging. Participants are responsible for their own lodging.
• Turtle Rock offers a limited number of accommodations on a first come, first serve basis. Accommodations include a 100-year-old farmhouse overlooking the prairie and a brick rambler overlooking a lake. Some rooms include double beds so if you’re willing to share a bed with someone, more spaces are available. If you stay at Turtle Rock, a continental breakfast is provided. More details on Turtle Rock’s website or contact them directly if you have questions. You’re also welcome to camp out on the farm and utilize their bathroom facilities. They may also have a teepee available for camping. Please bear in mind it will be Aug. – likely very hot.
• Perry and Ponca City are about 20-25 minutes away (Perry is south of the farm, Ponca City is north) and both offer lodging and eateries, with Ponca City being the larger town. Both offer the usual hotel/motel chain lodging as well as locally owned B&Bs and inns. TravelOK.com offers great information on lodging and dining for both towns. Just go to the website and enter the town/city name in the search line, you’ll get info on the offerings in both categories – just click through to see what appeals to you.

Please feel free to share this info with others.

Here’s to happy Oklahoma permaculturing!

Technorati Tags: biomimicry,change,community,design,ecology,environment,future,hope,green living,gardening,inspiration,nature,species,sustainability,resilience,permaculture

Join the local evolution

I’ve been working hard with my Sustainable OKC and Transition OKC peeps on this very cool event called “EVOLVE” for the last two-three months. Along with Marcy Roberts, I’m co-chairing Oklahoma City’s first Local Food Challenge which is part of the EVOLVE art exhibition and fundraiser. (See all the details below.)

At some point in this process it occurred to me how funny it might seem if someone from 100 years ago were to drop in and hear about a “local food challenge” since back then the bulk of everyone’s food was local. It’d probably seem crazy to them that we now pick tomatoes before they’re ripe and ship them 2,000 miles, especially given such tomatoes tend to taste like mushy cardboard. (Not that I eat a lot of cardboard – I’m just kind of guessing).

But I digress. The contestants shown below are now emailing us the names of their dishes, and the ingredients and where they come from. One of the criteria they’ll be judged by is how many local ingredients they use. As a result my taste buds are pumped and ready to taste it all.

We’ll also have a nice range of homemade desserts, including my mother’s legendary sour cream pound cake and chocolate chip cookies, food that would be totally suitable for the Goddess of Butter, Chocolate and All Things Sweet. Yes, my mother’s food is that good.

If you’re in Oklahoma City, hope you’ll EVOLVE and join us for local food, local art, local fun!

EVOLVE DETAILS

Six Oklahoma City chefs, restaurants and caterers are creating tasty local food as part of Sustainable OKC's EVOLVE juried art exhibition and fundraiser at Oklahoma City’s first juried Local Food Challenge this Saturday, April 23, 7 p.m. at Individual Artists of Oklahoma (IAO), 706 W. Sheridan on historic film row in downtown Oklahoma City.

The Local Food Challenge is organized by Transition OKC, a program of Sustainable OKC. The art exhibition will explore sustainability, resilience and community and proceeds from the event will benefit Sustainable OKC and IAO.

Food Challenge contestants will be judged by a panel of food industry professionals as they compete for a $500 juried prize. Guests enjoying the art exhibition will also have the opportunity to sample the local food creations and vote for the contestant they feel deserves the People's Choice award via raffle tickets.

Follow the EVOLVE / Local Food Challenge on Facebook, buy $25 tickets (or individual sponsorships!) online at Sustainable OKC’s website here or at IAO, 706 W. Sheridan, or at the door the night of the event.

It’s all about local art – local food – local fun!

Art exhibition jurors (awarding a $500 grand prize to the winning piece)

• Randy Marks, Groundwork
• Stephen Kovash, Istvan Gallery

Local Food Challenge contestants

• 105Degrees
• Chef Kurt Fleischfresser
• Chef Kamala Gamble
• Prairie Gypsies
• Chef Ryan Parrott
• The Wedge Pizzeria

Local Food Challenge Jurors

• Gail Vines, Flip’s Wine Bar & Trattoria
• Chef Jonathon Stranger, Ludivine
• Linda Trippe, The Lady Chef

+ YOU vote for the People's Choice Award

$1 raffle ticket = 1 vote / vote as many times as you like

Music

thespyfm.com

Tickets

• $25 @ the door or online @ www.sustainableokc.org 
• or at IAO, 706 W. Sheridan, Oklahoma City
• or at the door the night of the event

Technorati Tags: change,community,events,food and drink,locavores,sustainable okc,transition okc

One local food meal = one step toward reducing foreign oil dependence

A couple of weeks ago Transition OKC helped host a Local Food Meet and Greet. The Meet and Greet provided a host of folks passionate about growing a local food system the opportunity to network and get to know each other better. It was enthusiastically and well-attended, with more than 110 people coming on a sunny Saturday afternoon to IAO Gallery in Oklahoma City to nosh on locally produced food, wine and do a little “speed meeting.”

The event was organized by the “Going Locavore Group,” a loosely organized and growing grassroots coalition (or alliance) of several Oklahoma City organizations focused on catalyzing and transitioning our food system to a healthier, more sustainable and resilient one – and one strategy for doing so is to localize it. The team organizing the event was for the most part all-volunteer, and although we were scrambling up until the last minute to put all the details in place – we pulled it off – a total team effort if there ever was one. If you have any interest in networking with this group, or want more info, email us at localfoodokc@gmail.com. 

As one of the volunteers working on this event, part of my task was to put together a slide show about the reasons for transitioning to eating local food, and to provide a high-level overview of some of the initiatives in other states focused on growing regional and local food systems. As we researched, we discovered coalitions in New York City and Vermont have aggressive strategic plans for regional and localized food sheds and the body of work on this topic is growing exponentially -- encouraging.

Above you’ll find one of the slides from the presentation and I’ll be sharing more of these in the coming days. Eventually will put the whole presentation online here at ThinkLady and at other sites such as Sustainable OKC’s blog  Fresh Greens and Transition OKC so if it is useful in any way to other local food efforts, it’s available for anyone to use and adapt.

In the meantime, given the high price of gas these days, the fact the era of cheap, easy-to-produce oil is over, and the growing production decline in one of the U.S.’s major suppliers of oil – Mexico -- thought this slide might be a good one to start with. It illustrates one way we can begin to reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports. Ebullient and grateful hat tip to Barbara Kingsolver and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, for helping us imagine a different way of eating in the world.

Imagine abundant local food. Imagine the jobs it will create and the ways it will strengthen our local economy. Envision the health it will bring to our school kids, our communities, the resilience it will give our communities. Imagine how much we can reduce our country’s oil addiction if we eat not just one, but two local food meals a week, three, five, etc. Imagine. And then try it. I think you’ll like it.

If you’d like info on how to get started eating locally head over to Transition OKC’s website where we have a page full of local food resources.

Technorati Tags: Community,local food,localization,locavores,conservation,resilience,peak oil,transition,sustainability

Please, just call me Ed

I'm voting for Ed because when I met him, he firmly shook my hand, took the time to look me in the eye and said, "Please, just call me Ed, just like you would any of your friends." He had me with "please" on that one!

As we talked, he was in no hurry to move to the next person waiting to speak with him. He was cordial, he patiently listened and responded to what I said (rather than using campaign talking points or speaking in vague generalities), and I watched him take that kind of time, pay that kind of personal attention, to each person he spoke with.

I'm voting for Ed Shadid, candidate for Ward 2 councilman in Oklahoma City, because he's pledged to bring openness, accountability and transparency to the MAPS projects and to push for all the projects the people voted for (not just for those the Chamber of Commerce wants). Ed believes in innovation and has great ideas for continuing the momentum in OKC in a way that benefits all of us.

I'm voting for Ed because he's an advocate for healthy, sustainable and resilient communities, for a strong local economy grounded in encouraging and supporting lots of local entrepreneurs and small and mid-sized businesses, and keeping more of our money here, in our community, where it can circulate and provide more and better paying jobs.

I'm voting for Ed because he's pledged to be an advocate for neighborhoods, for health, for senior citizens, for school kids, and because he's accessible. I've seen him out and about in our neighborhoods, making the rounds at all kinds of events, talking one-on-one to everyday people versus hobnobbing at high-dollar fundraisers.

I'm voting for Ed because he is not a professional bank lobbyist like his opponent Charlie Swinton, who I've yet to meet or see anywhere but on a cheesy billboard and in those disgusting mailers that have made me sick to my stomach with their hateful vitriol.

I'm voting for Ed because Swinton's very profession, bank lobbyist, means his loyalty and first responsibility is to the banking industry. This is deeply concerning to me, and in my opinion carries immense potential for numerous conflicts of interest.

I'm voting for Ed because while I appreciate all the good that the Chamber of Commerce, Chesapeake, Devon and Sandridge do for our community and am supportive of them in many ways, I don't feel that gives them the right to run our city and call the shots behind closed doors. I think we need at least one city councilman who will openly question the maneuvering of these power players in a civil, logical and fact-based manner. From what I've seen and heard from Ed, he's has the courage and wisdom to do just that.

I'm voting for Ed because he accepted no money from the Political Action Committees (PACs) that are making a sham of democracy. A half a million dollars spent on city council races is ridiculously wasteful. One in four children in Oklahoma are going to bed hungry every day -- what would have happened if these same cowardly PAC donors hiding behind a nonprofit organization set up to launder dollars for them instead spent that money on reducing childhood hunger? This is an opportunity to resoundingly repudiate the notion that he/she/it who spends the most money buys the office, to take back our democracy at the most local level from the insidious poison of money and the hideously undemocratic influence of special interests.

I'm voting for Ed because our democracy was founded on "we the people." That's not "we the people with a lot of money and power," but "we the people" with no regard for how much money any of us have. "We the people" is working families just barely scraping by. It's the just-out-of-college young adults who can't find decent jobs, and lonely seniors who can no longer drive and have no safe place to walk or a grocery store to walk to. It's moms and dads working multiple minimum-wage jobs just to make ends meet. It's people living in neighborhoods with bars on their windows and doors where it takes 45 minutes or more for the police to respond to an incident.

“We the people” is kids who go to schools without working kitchens, where the lunch menu is high-fat, high-sodium, processed foods; kids who -- unless we change the school food system -- are far more likely to become the first generation to die at a younger age than their parents. It's the poor, the tired, the huddled masses yearning to get a decent, well-rounded education, make a living wage, take care of themselves and their families, be happy. “We the people” is me, you, us.

I'm voting for Ed because for the first time in a very long time someone tore down my wall of cynicism and dared me to believe that not only will my voice be heard, but that it matters.

You matter! Please consider voting for Ed Shadid for Oklahoma City Ward 2 councilman tomorrow, Tuesday, April 5th.

Technorati Tags: Community,change,politics,democracy,freedom,hope