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California and the Future of Food, Wine and Community |
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Michael R. Dimock’s Blog
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Nov. 17, 2008
I recently had the opportunity to give the keynote presentation to the 4th Annual Sustainable Ag Expo in Monterey California, November 12, 2008, entitled "California and the Future of Food, Wine and Community." The Expo is produced by the Central Coast Vineyard Technical Team. 2500 growers of wine grapes and other crops mainly from the central coast gather to study sustainable farming practices and related issues.
Please continue reading for the full text of the remarks.
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AG Kawamura on CA Ag and Urban Rural Roundtable |
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Related News
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Nov. 6, 2008
A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of CA Department of Food and Agriculture's recent e-newsletter features an article on the ROC sponsered Urban/Rural Ag Roundtable - find out more here...
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Recent Staff Changes at Roots of Change |
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Michael R. Dimock’s Blog
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Nov. 6, 2008
Roots of Change staff is evolving. We recently hired Tiffany Nurrenbern  to be Network Coordinator. Many of you will meet her because her focus will be to serve the growing Changemakers Network as web master and more. Tiffany has an impressive background in political campaign work in Southern California, new media, and academic excellence. She attended UCLA for her Master’s work and before that UCSC, where she majored in history. She was a recent volunteer at Slow Food Nation, working both Changemakers Day and gathering endorsements for the Declaration. She is articulate, focused, and lightening smart. We know you will like her!
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Fall Update From Michael Dimock |
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Michael R. Dimock’s Blog
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Nov. 3, 2008
Fall is usually a good time for sober reflection. More so this year, given the context in which we find ourselves. Together we face a very dramatic election, framed by a dramatic financial crisis, brought about by a dramatic collapse of faith in our nation’s ability to fulfill its debt obligations. As the noted economist Herman Daly wrote for the on-line publication, The Oil Drum this month,
“Can the economy grow fast enough in real terms to redeem the massive increase in debt? In a word, no…. The population of “negative pigs” (debt) can grow without limit since it is merely a number; the population of positive pigs (real wealth) faces severe physical constraints…. The problem is not too little liquidity, but too many negative pigs growing too fast relative to the limited number of positive pigs whose growth is constrained by their digestive tracts, their gestation period, and places to put pigpens…. US growth in real wealth is constrained by increasing scarcity of natural resources both at the source end (oil depletion), and the sink end (absorptive capacity of the atmosphere CO2). Further, spatial displacement of old stuff to make room for new stuff is increasingly costly as the world becomes more full, and increasing inequality of distribution of income prevents most people from buying much of the new stuff—except on credit (more debt)..."
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The Rules of the Game Need to Change |
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Voices from the Field
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By Jim Cochren, ROC Stewardship Council
Nov. 2, 2008
During much of human history, you could ask the average person what the world would look like two years hence, and they would be able to give you a fairly accurate picture. They would be using the ‘rules’ that underlie their society at that time to predict ‘more of the same.’ Whatever group was ‘in power’ would likely still be ‘in power,’ whatever they would be eating probably wouldn’t change much---what was true yesterday would most likely be true tomorrow. In our era, the march of housing across farmland would proceed predictably, the proliferation of shopping malls filled with products from around the world would continue, people would have jobs doing more or less the same thing, and so forth. Sure, technologies would speed up the process from time to time, but the direction was predictable.
We embarked on our journey to create a sustainable food system in California during one of these periods of social stability. The immediate past was reliably the prologue to the near future. For many Californians, the system looked to be working just fine. It was a hard sell to convince people that they might have to give up some of the ‘benefits’ of the system (a big house, big car, a big Wal-Mart, and a Big Mac) in exchange for a more ‘sustainable’ society, whatever that was. Why talk about changing the rules when things were going so well?
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No Farms, No Food! Slow or Otherwise |
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Voices from the Field
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Nov. 3, 2008
By Constance Washburn, Education Director at Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT)
Every single minute of every day, America loses two acres of the farmland that sustains us. This adds up to over 6 million acres a year – an area the size of Maryland. We are losing our most fertile and productive land the fastest. The farms closest to our cities produce the majority of our fresh food — 63 percent of our dairy products and 86 percent of fruits and vegetables. Saving these farms and saving our connections to the land are essential for a healthy future for our children and ourselves. Changemakers working to create a sustainable food system that is “good, clean, and fair” need to thoroughly understand the national crisis of farmland loss and how that affects California – as well as have access to and understanding of the tools available to save the farms in their communities.
A panel of experts on farmland preservation came together at ROC’s Changemakers Day on August 29 for a conversation about the different ways communities can work together to save farmland and rangeland. They also discussed the need to save the land-based farming and ranching businesses as well as the need to reconnect our communities to the land and the sources of our food. While there are some success stories, we need to act fast before 6 million more acres of fertile soil are paved over and lost.
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Opening Remarks For First 2008 ROC Action Fellows Retreat |
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Michael R. Dimock’s Blog
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Center for Land Based Learning, Winters, California
October 14, 2008
On behalf of Roots of Change, its staff, funders, and Stewardship Council, I want to welcome you all, the second annual class of Roots of Change Fellows. We are excited and enthused by you and we are focused on providing you an environment and experience that will enrich your lives and your work and the future of California. We appreciate your commitment to the food system and to this Fellowship. I know you all signed a contract and to me that says a great deal about your commitment.
You are in important investment in the Roots of Change world. We see you as people with a future, people integral to the needs of the State as it pertains to food and community. We believe in you based on your demonstrated abilities, your expertise and focus. We believe in you because you are diverse in perspective, culture, age, and geography. We are investing in you because we feel that you are a key to the State’s future food security, health, and wealth. We want you on our team and we want to be on your team. Most of all, we want to form a very big team that will ensure a sustainable food system by the year 2030.
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