[OKC] urban farming . volatile oil

[Shauna Struby]

Two stories, one from the NY Times magazine yesterday on an amazing urban
farmer in Milwaukee, Wis., named Will Allen, and the other, one of the top
stories in today's NY Times, on how unprecedented oil price volatility is
hampering economic recovery. Both illustrate the challenges we face, but in
the urban farming piece we also catch a glimpse of the potential for one
positive-change model for our food system. And, I think it's hopeful knowing
there are projects with elements of Allen's work in cities and towns
throughout Oklahoma. 

 

The piece on oil price volatility illustrates once again the need for
grass-roots localization and making our communities more resilient and less
vulnerable to oil prices, supply and demand. 

 

Swings in Price of Oil Hobble Forecasting

By Jad Mouawad

NY Times

The extreme volatility that has gripped oil markets for the last 18 months
has shown no signs of slowing down, with oil prices more than doubling since
the beginning of the year despite an exceptionally weak economy.

Highlights: 

.         "To call this extreme volatility might be an understatement," said
Laura Wright, the chief financial officer at
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/southwest_airlines_co
mpany/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Southwest Airlines, a company that has
sought to insure itself against volatile prices by buying long-term oil
contracts. "Over the past 15 to 18 months, this has been unprecedented. I
don't think it can be easily rationalized."

.         But to Jeroen van der Veer, who retired as chief executive officer
of
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/shell_royal_dutch_plc
/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Royal Dutch Shell last week, prices are
increasingly dictated by long-term assessments of supply and demand, rather
than current market fundamentals. He advised taking a long-term view of the
market. 

.         "Oil has never been very stable," Mr. van der Veer said. "If you
look at history, you have to expect more volatility." 

Complete article here ::: http://bit.ly/17MnBy 

Street Farmer 

By Elizabeth Royte

NY Times Magazine

 

Will Allen, a farmer of Bunyonesque proportions, ascended a berm of wood
chips and brewer's mash and gently probed it with a pitchfork. "Look at
this," he said, pleased with the treasure he unearthed. A writhing mass of
red worms dangled from his tines. He bent over, raked another section with
his fingers and palmed a few beauties. 

 

And a few highlights: 

 

.         With seeds planted at quadruple density and nearly every inch of
space maximized to generate exceptional bounty, Growing Power is an
agricultural Mumbai, a supercity of upward-thrusting tendrils and duct-taped
infrastructure.

.         If inside the greenhouse was Eden, outdoors was, as Allen
explained on a drive through the neighborhood, "a food desert." Scanning the
liquor stores in the strip malls, he noted: "From the housing project, it's
more than three miles to the Pick'n Save. That's a long way to go for
groceries if you don't have a car or can't carry stuff. And the quality of
the produce can be poor." Fast-food joints and convenience stores selling
highly processed, high-calorie foods, on the other hand, were locally
abundant. "It's a form of redlining," Allen said. "We've got to change the
system so everyone has safe, equitable access to healthy food."

.         Allen, too, has achieved a certain momentum for his efforts to
bring the good-food movement to the inner city. In the last several years,
he has become a darling of the foundation world. In 2005, he received a
$100,000
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/ford_fo
undation/index.html?inline=nyt-org> Ford Foundation leadership grant. In
2008, the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/macarth
ur_john_d_and_catherine_t_foundation/index.html?inline=nyt-org> MacArthur
Foundation honored Allen with a $500,000 "genius" award. And in May, the
Kellogg Foundation gave Allen $400,000 to create jobs in urban agriculture. 

.         "We need 50 million more people growing food," Allen told them,
"on porches, in pots, in side yards." The reasons are simple: as oil prices
rise, cities expand and housing developments replace farmland, the ability
to grow more food in less space becomes ever more important. As Allen can't
help reminding us, with a mischievous smile, "Chicago has 77,000 vacant
lots." (NOTE: This made me wonder many how vacate lots Oklahoma City, Tulsa,
Edmond, Norman, Stillwater, Shawnee, Broken Arrow, Bartlesville, Tahlequah,
Woodward, Clinton, etc. have?)

.         "Not everyone can grow food," Allen acknowledged. But he offers
other ways of engaging with the soil: "You bring 30 people out here, bring
the kids and give them good food," he said, "and picking up those rocks is a
community event." 

.         This nondogmatic approach may be one of Allen's most appealing
qualities. His essential view is that people do the best they can: if they
don't have any better food choices than KFC, well, O.K. But let's work on
changing that. If they don't know what to do with okra, Growing Power stands
ready to help.

.         If there's no place in the food movement for low- and
middle-income people of all races, says Tom Philpott, food editor of
Grist.org and co-founder of the North Carolina-based Maverick Farms, "we've
got big problems, because the critics will be proven right - that this is a
consumption club for people who've traveled to Europe and tasted fine food."


.         . Growing Power isn't self-sufficient. But neither is industrial
agriculture, which relies on price supports and government subsidies.
Moreover, industrial farming incurs costs that are paid by society as a
whole: the health costs of eating highly processed foods, for example, or
water pollution. Nor can Growing Power be compared to other small farms,
because it provides so many intangible social benefits to those it reaches.
"It's not operated as a farm," said Ian Marvy, executive director of
Brooklyn's Added Value farm, which shares many of Growing Power's core
values but produces less food. "It has a social, ecological and economic
bottom line." That said, Marvy says that anyone can replicate Allen's
technical systems - the worm composting and aquaponics - for relatively
little money. 

.         Allen predicts that because of high unemployment and the recent
food scares, 10 million people will plant gardens for the first time this
year. But two million of them will eventually drop out, he said, when the
potato bugs arrive or the rain doesn't cooperate. Still, he was sanguine.
"The experience will introduce those folks to what a tomato really tastes
like, so next time they'll buy one at their greenmarket. And when we talk
about farm-worker rights, we'll have more advocates for them."

 

Complete article here: http://bit.ly/yenMk

 

Shauna, OKC

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