More Photos on Facebook!

I have created an album on my Facebook page that includes more of the photos taken for this project! And there will be more to come.

Posted by Ally at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

How to find the Arb... for the Day of Fun!

For those of you less familiar with the Arboretum, here is a map and directions to the Reader Center at the Washington Heights enterance, where we will be set up.

Nichols Arboretum
Reader Center
1610 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI

From the Diag, head towards the CCRB using the bridge path that crosses over the road. Keep heading past the dorms, and accross the street. Turn right onto Washington Heights, and walk on down the sidewalk, past the dorm on your left and the parking lot on the right, and you'll see the big white house which is the Reader Center (and lots of trees)! The map shows the way as if you were driving.

The U-M SOUTHBOUND NORTH CAMPUS & NORTHWOOD lines have a drop off point on Observatory, near the Mosher-Jordan dorms, which gets you quite close to the enterance. If you are taking the AATA bus into town, then line 1U and 2 run past Washington Heights. Other lines may pass by the Reader Center enterance - call AATA to find out details.

See you soon!

Julie

Posted by Julie at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)

Community Farm of Ann Arbor

I had the pleasure of getting a tour of the Community Farm of Ann Arbor on the fourth of this month. Community Farm, now celebrating two decades of serving Ann Arbor, is truly the vision of successful non-corporate farm.

Anne and Paul (featured below) use what’s known as biodynamic techniques to farm. Instead of chemical applications or large farm equipment, Anne and Paul depend on the vast diversity of their farm produce and soil enriched with fantastic compost from their two cows and other small livestock to nourish their plants and create a balanced system. Combined with the other important input - a lot of human attention and care - the farm fosters some fantastic produce and lots of life. (That's Ally on the far left with Anne of Community Farm on the far right at a local food event on U-M Campus, Jan 2007)

Community Farm is named such because it is run as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), in which individuals or families support the farm by purchasing a share of the harvest before the season starts. Ann and Paul use that money to fund several interns and whatever the farm requires (seeds, building materials, etc.). In addition to getting a food share, the CSA share owners have plenty of opportunities to experience the farm, from working hands-on in the fields to visiting the animals that form an integral part of the operation. Lots of families use this opportunity to teach their kids about nature and farming.

They make a conscious choice to use natural materials such as wood seed starter boxes instead of plastic – both for their ability to better balance moisture and air for growth, as well as the fact that wood will break down into harmless substances, whereas plastic will go to waste or take millennia to degrade.

Community Farm welcomes volunteers, and it’s a short drive to just outside Dexter. They've got a great rope swing in the barn, and the cows are a comedy in themselves. Get out there this summer and see sustainable faming in action!

Community Farm of Ann Arbor

Posted by Julie at 12:31 PM | Comments (1)

Super Dooper Free Fun Event

Eat This Michigan will be sponsoring a day of fun at the Arb. There will be free snacks from the People's Food Co-op. Bring frisbees, footballs, guitars, and anything else you want to bring. Learn about local and organic foods...

This event is from 1 p.m. till dusk

for more information check out the facebook event:
Posted by Earl at 07:41 PM | Comments (0)

Don't Be Misled by Marketing!

There are lots of articles online about consumers being misled by marketing—and unfortunately this can still occur even if you are an informed consumer. Large-scale companies and even the USDA have been known to mislead even the most informed consumers. (Scary!) Here are a few examples:

• Consumers Outraged by Bogus Organic Labels
• Assault on Organic Standards

USDA Organic

This is the government’s label for a product containing at least 95% organic ingredients (stands for U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Over 70% organic

This label may read as “made with organic tomatoes and spices� on the front

Under 70% organic

This label may read as Organic tomatoes and spices but contain a larger amount of non-organic ingredients.

Organic, not certified

This label is made for producers who receive less than $5,000 for their products. They still follow USDA guidelines but do not get the privilege of the seal.

Natural

Natural products do not contain artificial flavors or preservatives. This definition has often been blurred—the word “natural� seems to be stuck on anything these days!

Free-Range

Livestock are raised with direct access to outdoors

Grass-Fed

Livestock are raised in a “managed pasture� where they eat grass instead of the corn & grain, which is harmful to their digestive systems. Sometimes “grass-fed� means that the cows are given grass to eat only a couple of weeks before being milked.

Biodynamic

Completely organic but certified by Stellar*

*There are more certifiers to trust than just the USDA label. To learn which ones to trust, look at the web resources below!

Perry, Luddene, and Schultz, Dan. A Field Guide to Buying Organic. Bantam Dell, New York, NY, 2005, p. 16-21

Label Resources:

http://www.eco-labels.org/home.cfm If you are ever unsure about a label, this is a great website to find your information. You can type in the label, the type of food, or the certifier that will take you to the label you weren’t sure about (the category list helps). The label Report Card is also really great—it will tell you how meaningful it is, if it’s publicly available, etc. The site also contains the latest stories about food standards.

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/07-20/food-labels-article.htm This website has an article about the large variety of food labels—most of them I had never seen before! It shows you the large varieties of food today.

http://www.innvista.com/health/foods/organics/labeling.htm I’m not sure how reliable this website is, but it offers interesting ways to double-check your food. An example would be by looking at the number of your organic produce. It also details the difference between “100% organic�, “certified organic�, and “made with organic ingredients�.

http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html This is a great ranking of organic dairy companies. Dairy is a very tricky industry to rely on because definitions are often blurred to benefit the companies’ interests rather than the consumers.

Posted by Ally at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

Honest Ade: My New Fave!

I tried a new drink today! Honest Ade, a variety of drinks from the company Honest Tea, is the newest drink to hit the shelves of the retail dining store in my residence hall. Although it’s completely new to me, the company has been around for almost ten years, emphasizing their “honesty� in business and their organic, fair trade, and other quality standards. The drink itself was Pomegranate Blue, a 10% juice blend of pomegranate and blueberry. It was super refreshing—lightly sweet and cold.

I decided to research this company’s “honest� tea. Everything on the web about the company is positive. Reading through the company website, I was pleasantly shocked to find that Honest Tea has a flavor called “First Nation Peppermint�. Wow, two topics I am always interested to hear about: Native American culture and herbs. Apparently Honest Tea works with a small herbal business called I'tchik Herb that is run out of the Crow reservation in Montana. There, Honest Tea has created more jobs (thus improving an unemployment rate of 67%) by developing the land to grow more of the peppermint plants that are indigenous to that area. How cool! Drinking peppermint tea is a tradition in the Crow community, and Honest Tea uses both the peppermint and the tea recipe from their community for its product.

If you decide to try one of Honest Tea’s drinks (and I hope you do), try the First Nation Peppermint! Honest Tea also works with other economically underprivileged communities—visit the Honest Tea website for more information.

Posted by Ally at 10:26 PM | Comments (1)