GULP Food Group Notes

From CFI

GULP Food and Health Combination Meeting Notes from the 5/2/06 General Meeting:

At our last meeting the Food and Health Group worked together as it is our common goal to promote more vegetable and healing herb gardens. Gardens in the works include the demonstration Medicine Chest Garden to be located at the home of Leeya, Ruth and Star as well as the demonstration vegetable garden being planned on the land owned by Jeff Taylor located in Redwood Valley. This garden will be managed with the expertise of Adam Gaska and may be the site of future gardening training sessions.

Another project initiated by Adam Gaska is his Germplasm inventory of vegetable seeds being saved and breeds of animals being raised by local farmers and gardeners. Sumo Burnstad has offered to guide in the design of a county wide relational database to store this information. It could be an online and available resource. Sumo also envisions a self diagnostic expert system of medicinal herbs.

Ann Oliver encouraged the participation of GULP in the Redwood Valley Community Market which is held at Lions Park in RV on Sunday’s from July though October. GULP could have a table there and also schedule demonstrations such as how to build worm bins, solar dehydrators, etc, or even offer medicinal herb start up kits.

GULP would like to encourage more community gardens within the Ukiah City limits and realizes that a representative to the UVAP planning meetings is vital. Miles Gordon will be recruited for this role. It was suggested to outreach via a classified ad to seek out vegetable gardeners within the city who would be willing to share their techniques for gardening in small areas and from this develop a garden tour map.

Finally, we got excited about having a facilitated visioning session about the possibility of the Masonite property becoming a demonstration project for economic localization. Local inventors and creative thinkers along with newly identified potential big money investors would be invited to attend.

Pea Pod Seattle was suggested as a site to Google.

4/1/06, Cliff Paulin: Report on Meeting of Food Group, 3/30/06. The food group met at the Mendocino Environmental Center this past Thursday evening. Present was Mac Magruder, Adam Gaska, Leeya Thompson, Jenny Burnstad, and Cliff Paulin.

Discussion covered the creation of a survey and database to catalog the germplasm (genetic stock) of seeds, fruit wood, and animals in the county. The idea is to eventually have a searchable database of local available germplasm so that people interested in raising particular food items will have a reference for where to get local starts. Adam brought the beginnings of the survey form, and Cliff is adding additional questions to gain more insight into our local food economy and is researching online survey forms.

People interested in the germplasm project should check out the following books on the subject:

Seed to Seed: Suzanne Ashworth

Breed Your own Vegetable Varieties: Carol Deppe

The Complete Book of Plant Propagation: Graham Clarke and Alan Toogood

Principles of Plant Breeding: Robert W. Allard

Discussion also covered problems and issues that Mac Magruder percieves in the local meat production arena. Particularly acute are the processing and distribution of his products. Currenty he is required to take cattle to Petaluma or the central valley for processing. The facility in Petaluma, which is the closest to Mendocino County, is likely closing in the next few years. This will create yet another obsticle to local food production. The creation of a mobile meat procession truck was discussed. Similar efforts have been undertaken in Washington. To read a story about their success check out: http://www.skagitbusinesspulse.com/articles/2005/03/06/news/news07.txt

GULP General Meeting at the Ukiah Players Theater on February 21, 2006 Following is a transcription of what the working groups had on their collaboratively produced notes pages at the end of the February 21, 2006 GULP meeting.

AGENDA

  • Check-in
  • Info Share
  • Working Groups

1) Short Term Goals 2) Long Term Goals 3) Collaboration

  • Draft Timeline
  • Individual Action


MOBILITY

Short Term Goals

  • If you have diesel –use Biodeisel
  • Can convert to Veggie Oil
  • Use ethanol in reg. gas cars/propane/plasma gas
  • Coordinate production of fuels (Biofuels)
  • Individual commitment to ride bike

1) Promote “Bike to Work” Day 2) Community Bikes Program 3) Bike Repair Day – free tune up or classes to educate

  • Find out status of using rails
  • Stress conservation (fuel)
  • Safe bicycle parking/storage (bike racks in city)
  • City sponsored biker insurance
  • Committee to research resources for info to group

Long Term Goals

  • Bike/Ped trails – South end to North End Potter/Redwood Valley
  • Rails-to-trails or use rails (Ukiah Valley local transport)
  • Manufacturing fuels
  • Segments of city “car free”
  • Construction of ethanol stills for local use farming 55 acres/per still

Timeline (short term goals)

  • Resource/Committee Research Info (perhaps committee within GULP)
  • Put out call on Wed.
  • Bike

1) 1-2 month info gather re: trails – city map of existing paths – how to create more and where – cost – who owns land 2) 2 month – create a plan for city owned bikes 3) Plan for summer bike promo 4) Ask Spencer B. to announce at Summer Park Prog.

  • Work with city to make walk/Ukiah on School St. (Perkins to Clay) Standley?
  • Idea: 9-6 - no cars
  • Summer Parks Program – Special Parking
  • City – Bike racks

1) What will it take? 2) Sponsored bike racks 3) What space? 4) By June?


FOOD

Short Term Goals

  • Create a list of people willing to support a CSA (a list of current farmers)
  • Create a list of gardeners/farmers skilled to run a CSA
  • Get a list of properties to lease for farms
  • Promote local CSAs
  • Develop community markets
  • Calculate acreage needed to feed population
  • Investigate industrial hem growing
  • Teach basic gardening to locals – Victory Gardens
  • ID vacant lots
  • Create a water inventory

Long Term Goals

  • Increase number of CSAs
  • Increase community gardens
  • Conversion of vineyard land to food production
  • Increase locally produced dry goods
  • Farmer’s Mkt year-round
  • Local meat processing
  • Long-term food storage
  • Regional sustainable planning

Collaborators

  • Farm link
  • Mormon Church
  • Mariposa Inst. Of Biodynamic Ag.
  • Mendocino Organics
  • Farm Bureau
  • Mendocino Organic Network
  • Livepower community farm (CSA)
  • Mendo College
  • Co-op
  • Tom Palley (Round Valley farmer)
  • 4H
  • FFA
  • Organic wine growers
  • Fred Marshall

Timeline

  • CSA through our promotion – 2-3 months
  • Inventory of:

1) Farmable land (MON, farm link) – 5 mo – 1 yr 2) Willing farmers (Biodynamic farms Assoc., UCSC) – 6 mo.

  • Calculate acres – 3 months
  • Inventory of what could be grown for region – 3 months.
  • Teaching gardening – ongoing

1) Leavons 2) Ukiah HS 3) MCC?

  • Farmers Market – solicitfarmers@market


OUTREACH

Short Term Goals

  • Know your neighbor party
  • Use talking points for every group
  • Neighborhood art stroll
  • City repair project speaker
  • Wise elder group
  • “Turn on Teachers” – create educational materials package to go to schools.
  • ”Another Voice” – new UDJ regular column
  • CFI website – community bulletin board
  • Neighborhood disaster preparedness
  • Visit Elks, Lions, Garden Club and other service orgs.
  • What can we do to bring Native Americans, Latinos, Thai, African Americans and other members of the community into group?

Long Term Goals

  • Small neighborhood community networks (circles within circles)
  • Resource exchanges – CFI website (barter as outside resources become scarce)
  • Celebration at Ukiah H.S.
  • Is there an environmental club at Ukiah H.S. to invite to these meetings?
  • Kate M. – Talking points performance
  • CD or documentary about solutions – biodiesel; alternative solutions; alternative energy; food; transportation; health
  • Find out neighbor’s skills and resources
  • Take talking points to groups
  • Need talking points committee

1) What are community resources? 2) In emergencies, where do lock key children go for help?


BUSINESS

Goals

  • Infiltrate open county boards
  • Living wage
  • Local currency/smartcard/debit card
  • Alternative Chamber of Commerce (with conscience)/sustainable
  • Boycott chains
  • Local business promotions
  • Educate about loan ripoffs
  • Local business lending
  • Local venture capital (especially for local power)
  • Multiplier effect of dollars
  • Monetary leakage – mortgage, box stores, credit cards
  • Vocational training
  • Brain drain (find ways to stop)
  • Certify local business
  • ID local input needs
  • Research co-op talents/resources
  • Local resource directory
  • Inventory local natural resources/look at how to control them (esp. water)

Collaborators

  • High School
  • College
  • LSNC
  • West CD
  • Main Street program
  • Apollo Alliance (US)/Apollo Project (CA)
  • Co-op America
  • Ukiah co-op
  • Networked local businesses

Initial Activities – Two Top Projects

  • Local credit union

1) Find area expert 2) Investigate existing credit unions 3) Check out Santa Cruz as a model (work with co-op America) 4) Invite Bill Leland to meeting

  • Alternative Chamber of Commerce/local directory
  • Meet with Chamber of Commerce
  • Alternative “Phone Book” – ID businesses and other resources


CIVIC ACTION

Short Term Goals

  • Board of Sups “Halt on Development” until plan is in place
  • Mobilize and support emergency ordinance
  • Need to find good consultants to help craft plans
  • Interest-based negotiations
  • Green building (platform of what community could do)
  • Subsidizing small, local farms (local government grants, e.g., green house funding)

Long Term Goals

  • Good consultants to help with planning
  • Charettes
  • Green building
  • Formula business ordinance
  • Strengthen downtown businesses
  • Study of patterns of development of city and neighborhoods)
  • Story collection to reflect community back onto itself

Collaborations

  • Develop broad-based support via “cells”
  • Adopt an opinion leader – bring them “on board” with us
  • Planning department
  • Civic action as component of other GULP discussions
  • Process for mingling the renegades with the right wingers – break down exclusivity
  • UDJ

Timeline

  • Within next two months to a year:

1) Network of sustainability efforts around Country 2) City/County co-planning of the Ukiah Valley

  • Authentic community planning process for Ukiah Valley Area Plan (new and sustainable that people understand) – input from good consultants and citizens asking questions
  • Teaching decision makers (and everyone) a common negotiating process (development of a shared leadership)
  • Start an energy group and set energy goals
  • Green building platform
  • Develop GULP policy recommendations
  • Question: where is the energy component?
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