Jeanne Nolan, the founder of The Organic Gardener Ltd., has designed and cultivated more than 650 farms and food gardens in and around Chicago—in downtown parks, public school yards and inner-city shelters, on restaurant rooftops, townhouse terraces and suburban estates, even in the mayor’s back yard. Nolan, also the designer of and project manager for The Edible Gardens at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo—is part of a nationwide initiative urging us to change the way we think about our food. Jeanne Nolan will come to the Oak Park Public Library on Wednesday, April 2, at 7 p.m. to talk about her book, FROM THE GROUND UP: A Food Grower's Education in Life, Love and the Movement That's Changing the Nation. An engaging blend of how-to, manifesto and memoir, Nolan shows us that it has never been easier to grow the vegetables we eat, regardless of whether we make our home on a rural farm, in a city, or in the suburbs. At a time when more Americans than ever before are cooking healthy food from scratch, Nolan is taking the movement to the next level and teaching and inspiring us to grow healthy food. The program is free and open to the public. The Book Table will have books for sale and signing.
Green Living: Warm Up Your Winter by Eating Local
Win, Win! Eat Local and Heal the Planet. In his book Deep Economy, environmentalist Bill McKibben points to the resettling of America's farms as one of the keys to invigorating strong local economies that will heal the planet. That process is well underway as young farmers are increasingly returning to the land. Organizations like Family Farmed and The Land Connection are supporting them. And films like Growing Cities and Urban Roots--two documentaries featured in next month's One Earth Film Festival--are chronicling the rise of urban agriculture.
Today, it's getting easier to participate in the local eating culture that's being created. By doing so, you'll promote not only your own health, you'll be supporting local jobs and reducing the amount of fossil fuel used to ship your food around the world.
So how do northern Illinoisians eat local in the middle of winter? Here are some ideas:
Seek out local farmers markets: Even in the deep of winter, local organizations are holding indoor farmers markets. Dominican University in River Forest is sponsoring a mini-market on February 18 at 6 p.m. Stay for a film screening of Growing Cities from 7 to 8 p.m. After the film, find inspiration by meeting local farmers who are building Chicago’s urban agriculture and community garden movement. Local congregations are also hosting Winter Farmers Markets including Euclid Ave United Methodist, on February 15th and West Suburban Temple, on April 6th (see calendar for details).
Subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA): Tomato Mountain Farm delivers to Chicago and surrounding suburbs biweekly in the winter. Think hoop-house-grown spinach, fresh-from-the-farm eggs, jarred tomato sauce, frozen berries and sturdy root vegetables. Most CSAs are accepting applications for spring or summer subscriptions. Sign up now to ensure your spot. See The Local Beet's CSA listings.
Grow herbs in a sunny window: A few packs of seeds, soil, and a sunny window, and you've got pesto in a few weeks! And think...planting season is just a few months away.
Support local food artisans: What do you get when you take handmade sausage from Big Guys and add fresh baked bread from Red Hen? Lunch, local style!
Enjoy a meal out: Chefs are experimenting with the tastes of heirloom foods and sustainably grown meats...the results are amazing! In Oak Park, try Eyrie, which presents seasonally inspired cuisine made from ingredients from local farmers and vendors. Marion Street Cheese Market also focuses on sustainability. And some restaurants in the Chicago area feature a farm to table concept.
Eat seasonally: Eating what the local climate produces now (or, more strictly, last fall and stored through winter) challenges your cooking skills. And this time of year, when the wind howls and the snow piles up, seasonal recipes are as warm and comforting as you'd hope. Think rich, sweet caramelized onions. Creamy potato soup. Maple-glazed squash.
Join the Sugar Beet Co-op: Oak Park and the surrounding communities will enjoy a new local eating resource in 2015 when the Sugar Beet Co-op moves into its new space. In the meantime, the Co-op is looking for members. Consider supporting this exciting effort! www.sugarbeetcoop.com
Learn more about eating local at Green Community Connection's Food Page.
Community Profile: Mindy Agnew, Sustainable Communities Advocate
Interview by Laurie Casey
In January, Oak Park, IL's Percy Julian Middle School successfully launched a "zero waste" lunch program for its sixth graders. For several weeks, school administrators, custodians, community members and students helped more than 300 sixth graders decide where to place their lunch discards among three bins (recycle, compost, landfill). A small group of sixth grade volunteers are now answering any lingering questions from their classmates about what goes where. The Julian implementation team is awaiting the results of an audit to find out how much waste the program is diverting from the landfill, and they expect the school will have lower waste hauling bills.
"This effort is a powerful example of sustainable community development in action," says Oak Park resident Mindy Agnew, a key parent volunteer who helped plan the roll-out. "The district, the custodians, the parents...we wouldn't be able to do this without their help. And what better audience than the best change agents I've come across, our students?"
Agnew, chairperson of Lincoln Elementary School's green committee and a member of an Oak Park parent collaborative called the Zero Waste Schools Group, is a passionate sustainability champion.
"The path to zero waste is not difficult. It's a different way of taking out the trash. It's that simple," says Agnew. "Waste is a big issue and a good one to start on. But there are so many sustainability topics: renewable energy, energy efficiency, toxins, to name a few."
In 2013 Agnew quit her full-time job as a senior vice president at Citi to pursue a career in sustainable community development. She is now earning a Master's degree in sustainable management at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She is embarking on a variety of sustainability projects, including helping the city of Chicago write a new composting ordinance.
She sees the path to zero waste as a process that takes time. Ideas need to percolate within a community before they take hold. Agnew looks at the school setting as an effective starting place.
Agnew has been involved in District 97's zero waste efforts since 2008, when the Zero Waste Schools Group, with the help of Seven Generations Ahead, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote the development of ecologically sustainable and healthy communities, received grant funding to implement sustainability measures in District 97 schools. According to Agnew, the schools used the grant money to install energy- and water-efficient dishwashers, purchase reusable lunchroom trays and silverware or add hand dryers in bathrooms.
"The grants required that we implement some sort of composting program in the school. So I was inspired to become a Master Composter. It's my favorite title! I'm crazy for worms!" says Agnew, who has brought her expertise on worm bins to science teachers and scout troops in Oak Park and beyond.
Here are the steps Agnew took to waste less in her life:
1. Implement a simple source separation process in your home. Use a three bin system: compost, recycle, landfill. "Don't buy new bins; use containers you have or reusable bags. A lot of packaging can be recycled. If it's soiled paper, it can be composted, as long as it's not plastic or foil lined," says Agnew.
2. If you have a yard, begin backyard composting. It's simple, and dramatically reduces the amount of landfill trash your family produces.
3. Join Oak Park's curbside CompostAble program (http://www.oak-park.us/village-services/refuse-recycling/compostable-program). "One of the fantastic benefits is that it makes you more aware of packaging when you are at the grocery store. We save money on groceries because we're cooking smaller meals and buying more in bulk," says Agnew. If you live outside of Oak Park, encourage your town to investigate a curbside pick up program.
4. Start growing your own food. Agnew began with simple with containers of herbs. "Each year we added something. We grew peppers, green beans, cucumbers. Grow it, eat what you use. What's left over, compost," says Agnew.
5. Take it outside and get involved in the community. Want to do more? Each District 97 school has a green committee and a liaison to the Zero Waste Schools Group. Ask around to find those contacts. And if you are in River Forest District 90, each school has a Green4Good committee. Green4Good will present the 3rd annual Recycling Extravaganza on May 3, 2014 in River Forest. To volunteer for the recycling extravaganza or find out more about Green4Good please contact Julie Moller at julie@4moller.com. Or, volunteer with Seven Generations Ahead (www.sevengenerationsahead.org), a key partner in local zero waste efforts.
For more information, visit these pages: Green Community Connection's Waste Page. Seven Generations Ahead Zero Waste Page. EPA's Municipal Waste Page.
Connect to Action: Volunteer with the One Earth Film Festival
It's here! The One Earth Film Festival is our Biggest. Most. Exciting. Event. Ever! And we need you! Consider giving a few hours of your time the weekend of the festival--March 7-9 --or on select dates for our seven pre-fest screening events starting Feb 18. We are actively recruiting volunteers to sign up for these jobs:
- Registration/Greeter Volunteer
- Event Set-Up Volunteer
- Event Clean-Up Volunteer
- Zero Waste Support
Volunteering for the One Earth Film Festival offers many benefits. It's quick. It's fun. It's easy! You'll also...
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Get to work with an amazing, energetic group of people
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See amazing environmental documentary films that will inspire and change you
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Be able to engage with the community in thought-provoking discussions
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Bring home practical advice that you can use right away
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Receive your very own One Earth Film Festival t-shirt
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Be invited to our fabulous Volunteer Celebration on Wednesday, March 19
And did we say that volunteering is quick, fun and easy?
It's simple to sign up:visit our Sign Up Genius page.
We also highly recommend that volunteers attend the Volunteer Orientation Session at 2:30-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 23, at Oak Park’s Maze Library Branch Meeting Room.
For more information, please contact Amy O'Rourke at amy.t.orourke@gmail.com or visit our volunteer page.
Green Living: Deepening our Resolve in 2014
Going green, developing a sustainable lifestyle and a resilient community is a journey. Following are green New Year’s resolutions from a few Green Community Connections members. Let’s help each other and hold each other accountable! Pam: Welcoming life back to this little outpost on the earth we share with all beings by planting more natives, eliminating lawn, and educating myself on how the choices I make impact the health of the soil, water, and ecosystem.
Laurie: To get out more in the evenings with my family. I hope we will attend a few school concerts or plays, explore the library or simply enjoy a walk under the stars.
Dick: Take out our lawn and put in a native garden...why grow a lawn when one could have native habitat with deep roots protecting our soil and water. I would also like to get to zero carbon - I need to drastically reduce with my energy use - by putting solar on my roof, my congregation's roof, and push Oak Park solar.
Continue reading this article to see more resolutions - and to add your own!
Sally: I'd like to spend more time in nature – to care for myself and learn from and about natural systems. I also want to reduce my use of fossil fuel-based energy: increase our home energy efficiency, seriously consider solar, bicycle more, and drive less. (Become fossil-fuel free in 10 years!) Additionally, I want to develop my political voice (and not just through signing online petitions) – get out, demonstrate, lobby, get arrested?!
Katie: I'm trying to live by example at work. Our office recently switched from brewed coffee to Keurig, wasting hundreds of pieces of plastic, probably every day. They also insist on plastic cutlery, and styrofoam in the kitchen. I've brought my own french press, as well as utensils and dishes to use during the day. It may seem like a small move, but someone asks me about it in the kitchen, and have the opportunity to explain why I made the choice. I've also made an intention to put my health first. Might not seem related to environmentalism, but the way I see it, the only way I'll be able to make changes, and be a voice for change, is to be my best, healthiest self.
Ana: Get outside! Everyday if possible, get out to walk to dog, breath the air, clear my mind, observe wildlife, bring my kids -- even if for just a few minutes a day. To get me "unstuck," or to get me inspired. What a difference it can make! Also, to get further down my list of urban homesteading skill-building: get better at canning & preserving, build a solar oven, try more permaculture projects like planting a fruit tree guild & learning more about how to build food forests.
Add Your Resolutions
Whether you’re a believer in small steps or one who likes to dream big, we invite you to share your green New Year’s resolution(s). We can root for one another and perhaps make some connections to provide practical support for one another! Add a comment to this post and/or on our Facebook page to let us know your plans for the new year - and the new you.
Consider attending the Active Hope workshop we are holding beginning Monday, January 13! it is a chance to gain strength from others with similar commitments.
Connect to Action: Congregation Green Teams Make a Difference
Green Teams associated with 20+ congregations in the Oak Park and River Forest areas are making a difference in their faith communities, in their facilities, in their community and
in state policies that promote sustainability. If you are looking for a place to get involved and make a difference locally, often your own congregation is a great place to start!
If your congregation has a green team, consider joining it; if not, consider starting one. You will find start-up ideas and resources in the GreenFaith Start-up Kit and GreenFaith Sustainability Resources.
Continue reading to find out how Oak Park and River Forest congregations are taking action to care for the earth.Green Teams are:
- Conducting zero waste events and reduced waste sent to the landfill to near zero!
- Planting congregation vegetable gardens and donating the food to the food pantry.
- Landscaping with native plants that reduce flooding and support the natural water cycle.
- Installing renewable energy sources including geothermal and solar in their facilities. (Note that grants have been received to help congregations afford these capital expenses.)
- Making their facilities more energy efficient: using energy audits to guide the work and working to “seal the envelope,” and install energy efficient appliances.
- Traveling to Springfield to advocate for environmental legislation at the state level.
The Interfaith Green Network is a network of area congregations who through sharing sustainability practices, projects and dialogue is working to build a vibrant vision and role for congregations in caring for Planet Earth. Twenty-two congregations have participated in the Network to date.
James Babcock of First United Church of Oak Park, Mac Robinet of St.Edmund Parish, and Dick Alton of Euclid Ave United Methodist Church make up the leadership team for the Interfaith Green Network. A high priority of the network is helping congregations to form and strengthen green teams. For help getting a green team started at your congregation or getting your congregation engaged in the Interfaith Green Network, please contact Dick Alton, Richard.Alton@gmail.com or 773-344-7172.
See also related article about upcoming Interfaith Green Network Forum on Priorities for 2014.
One Earth Film Profile: Harmony, a new way of looking at our world
by Gloria Araya
If I had to pick one word to describe the film Harmony, it would be HOPE. I loved this film so much that I watched it twice, and I am going to watch it again. This film inspired me, and it filled me with creative energy.
The film addresses current issues of Earth erosion, pollution, energy waste, deforestation, lack of effective urban planning, and more. It also addresses issues of hopelessness among the community, it addresses the dangers of globalization, the effects of industrialized agriculture, as well as how industrialization has fragmented communities.
Continue reading about this film, an official selection of One Earth Film Festival 2014. Harmony will screen at Euclid Ave UMC in Oak Park at noon on 3/9.
Harmony's superb script offers a well thought-out analysis of the problems faced today in reference to the exploitation of natural resources while offering creative solutions inspired by how nature operates. Education, innovation, empowering women, giving voice to those who have no voice, establishing programs that can transform lives and at the same time can be replicated are at the core of this film. One of the most inspiring aspects of this film is the introduction of new, transformative concepts that have the power to revolutionize the way we use natural resources today (e.g., the way Germany recycles waste and Kenya's work on healing-restoring landscape).
The aspect that touched me the most was how the film took into account the importance of ancient wisdom, showing that by enhancing it through science and technology, we may be able to use it to explain natural phenomena and universal patterns in nature. We may then find solutions to urgent environmental issues affecting the Earth, humanity, and the livelihood of every species on Earth.
This film is a call to action! It offers innovative ideas on how to use nature as inspiration and emphasizes the importance of collaboration in search of ideas for a new economy with the power to create a paradigm shift. The production quality of this film is as superb as the script. I would not be surprised if this film is considered as one of the highlights of the 2014 One Earth Film Festival!
Interfaith Green Network Hosts Forum on PlanItGreen Priorities for 2014
PlanItGreen is the ten-year sustainability plan for the Villages of Oak Park and River Forest. The plan engages all levels of the community in reducing their environmental footprint and advances common sustainability objectives. The Plan has goals, targets, and strategies in each of nine sustainability topic areas including energy, waste, transportation, water, food, education, community development, open space and ecosystems, and green economy.
On Thursday, January 23, 7:00pm, at the Oak Park Main Library Veterans Room, the Interfaith Green Network will host a presentation by Gary Cuneen of Seven Generations Ahead. Gary will present a report card of PlanItGreen's activity highlights, challenges and strategy snapshots. The report card illuminates trends, highlights successes and shortcomings and proposes future priorities, strategies and resource allocations needed to achieve the 10-year plan’s goals by 2020.
Congregational representatives will also explore ways that they can be involved in moving the plan forward in 2014. All congregations are invited to participate. RSVP for the upcoming forum on January 23rd: Richard Alton ( richard.alton@gmail.com)
The Interfaith Green Network is a network of congregations who through sharing sustainability practices, projects and dialogue works to build a vibrant vision and role of congregations in caring for Planet Earth. Twenty-two area congregations have participated in the Network. For the last 3 years the Network has worked to help congregations support PlanItGreen.
See related article at http://www.greencommunityconnections.org/2012-oak-park-river-forest-sustainability-report-card/.
One Earth Film Festival brings messages of hope for the planet
With two successful festivals to their credit, organizers of the One Earth Film Festival have higher expectations coming into the third year. They’re intent on bringing the most compelling environmental films to more viewers in more locations throughout Chicagoland in 2014. As in past years, festival films must fit five main areas (energy, food, water, transportation and waste/recycling) and more than a dozen topic categories, such as architecture/sustainable building, environmental advocacy, climate change, and social justice. The film review team pays special attention to selections deemed appropriate for children. Every chosen film is intended to “educate, raise awareness and inspire the adoption of solution-oriented sustainable actions."
Read more about the selection process and meet some of the film review team.
The film selection process
For the 15 members of the film team, the process started this past fall as they began compiling a masterlist of nearly 200, aiming to get that list down to about 30 feature and short-length films for the festival in March 2014. Each team member then created a “watchlist” of up to eight films that they would view all the way through and complete a Film Report Card on each. The watchlist list was further reduced to a “go-list” of the reviewers’ top films.
All films on the go-list required a second - and sometimes third - reviewer to vet them. A final film selection meeting identified about 45 films. The final festival line-up will be officially announced in late December/early January.
The results are worth the work
In the end, after all the films have been screened at the festival and their messages absorbed, members of the selection team are hoping something meaningful happens.
We asked our film reviewers to share some thoughts on the 2014 festival and film selection process. Here’s what several said:
Q: How would you describe your experience selecting films for One Earth Film Fest 2014?
Jo Ellen Siddens, Restoration Ecologist/Marine Diver, resident of Downers Grove: "As a second year member of the Film Selection Team, I have been willingly drawn from outside the immediate Green Community Connections community into the Film Fest's exciting early years of development. The intense passion and great camaraderie shared among team members at this "grass roots" level is inspiring. I am convinced that the One Earth Film Festival is on the path to becoming the Chicago area nexus for screening critical environmental messages."
Gloria Araya, Associate Director The Foundation for Human Potential, resident of Chicago: "Watching films I consider to have negative messages makes me turn around and to focus more and more on what’s positive out there, and how to find ways to bring it out into light. There is so much focus on what’s wrong around us, and yet, there is so much to be thankful and grateful for. It is in the presence of beauty, and how this beauty makes people feel that they/we “fall in love”. It is my humble opinion that if the focus of the festival is more and more on what is good out there, and how to do more of that, instead of focusing on what’s so wrong, One Earth Film Festival may become then a path to take where everyone who attends the festival may start to fall in love with this beautiful place call Earth, and then true change will start to take place in the hearts, and minds of people."
Q: What compelling messages are you seeing in One Earth film possibilities that you are reviewing currently?
Cassandra West, founder of SeedingChicago.com/New Media Access, resident of Oak Park: “One of the messages coming through in film after film is that the Earth's destiny is in our hands. We all have some measure of power to combat climate change, improve the air, water and soil. Everything we need to do hinges on changing our desires and scaling back our wants. The Earth, as she always has, will supply all of our needs. Many of the films we’re selecting inform us of the destruction we’ve wrought and the ways to bring us back into harmony and balance with the planet.”
Ginger Vanderveer, owner of Northside Valley Eco-Vacation Villas, resident of Oak Park: “I am looking for films that uplift the human spirit. I want attendees to get excited about our community of 'greenies' that build 'One Earth'. I imagine our filmgoers running out the door (after a screening) to work on the topic that most touched their hearts. As I screen the films I send notes back and forth to various other screeners based on what I know of their passion. In turn, I get notes from my fellow screeners when they see something that they believe I would love to view. This type of camaraderie uplifts my human spirit. I am excited to work within my community and to run out and try some of the solutions portrayed on the films.”
Q: What film are you "rooting for" to make it to the final program? Why?
Sally Stovall, co-founder of Green Community Connections, resident of Oak Park: “I'm rooting for ‘Harmony’ for lots of reasons, but primarily, this is a very strong film that gets at the root of the transformation that will be needed to find our way through this crisis, i.e., changing our way of thinking to live more in harmony with the natural systems.”
Cheryl Munoz, co-founder of Sugar Beet Co-Op, resident of Oak Park: “My favorite film selection is “OMG GMO” for the simple reason that it made me happy. A documentary about GMOs is not supposed to be endearing and funny and lovable! The storyteller, in this case is fun-loving dad Jeremy Seiffert, and he pulled me in right away with his charm and earnest hopes for his two young boys. As a mother of two young kids, I connected right away with him and trusted that he was going to tell me a good story... and he did. Jeremy and his young family set out on a road trip to learn more about Genetically Modified Foods. Along the way he meets with farmers, scientists and others who are impacted by industrial agriculture. Sure, I felt outraged by the lack of information regarding GMOs and looming safety concerns and how corporate greed trumps the common good, but I was ultimately cheered on by Jeremy, his family and the people he met along his journey that are working to label and restrict the use of GM foods. The message is hopeful.”
Community Profile: Christine Fisher, One Earth Film Festival Volunteer
Thinking about making a New Year's resolution? Christine Fisher, owner of Three Queens Organic Gallery, has a suggestion: join her and volunteer with the One Earth Film Festival.
"Come be a part of this," says Fisher, an Oak Park resident who is back for a second year to help out. "This is the time of year we think about making a better, healthier, more sustainable future. You don't have to go far. It's right here in Oak Park."
The One Earth Film Festival, to be held March 7-9, 2014, will showcase dozens of solutions-oriented environmental films. Fisher is on the film committee, which finds, watches, reviews and recommends films that meet the festival's mission. This is no easy task: the team identified 157 films for evaluation this year.
A Volunteer's Experience
"When I'm watching a film, I need to be sure it's promoting sustainability and encouraging people to think in different ways," says Fisher, who owns a 200-acre farm in Westby, Wisconsin with her family. At her farm, shown at left, Three Queens maple syrup is harvested and produced. Fisher sells the syrup at area farmers markets and at her gallery, Three Queens Organic Gallery, in the Oak Park Arts District. Fisher, a theater major and documentary film lover, donates 15 percent of sales back to the Westby-area arts community.
As a film reviewer for the One Earth Film Festival, Fisher also recommends screening venues and brainstorms ideas for facilitators and resource persons to lead post-film discussion sessions that will engage attendees--who will come from all around the city and suburbs--about the issues facing our planet.
"The film festival is three days of inspiration, enlightenment and sharing of ideas," says Fisher. "It's the only environmental film festival in the Midwest."
The film committee has just held its fourth meeting to decide on the final screening list. Fisher and the other volunteer screeners came to the meeting prepared to advocate for their favorite films. The process has been rewarding and fun for Fisher. "It's exciting to be on this team. I really like being around people who share the same goals," says Fisher.
Her involvement with the film festival began last year in a more limited capacity. She reviewed a few films and volunteered at one of the screenings during the festival. "I had so much fun. I mentioned to Ana Garcia Doyle, a festival planning committee member, that I'd like to be involved from the beginning next time," says Fisher. "We started in September this year. It's a lot of work!"
Join the Team
The One Earth Film Festival needs more volunteers to help with marketing, sponsorship, venues, events, logistics, and volunteer coordination. Visit oneearthfilmfest.org to learn how you can get involved.
"Even if you can't volunteer this year, come see a film," says Fisher. "We hear a lot of scary things about the environment, but there is a lot of good out there as well. These films are selected to show that there are solutions, and we can all work together."