The workout she did was called IntenSati. A little bit like spinning without the bike or zumba with a lot more yelling. Look it up.

Then I saw this post by Jessica Earley about Dance Therapy:

When I saw both of these, I was also reminded of a reference in a Daniel Pink book to Laughing Clubs or Laughter Yoga. It works. Don’t believe me?

Clinical research on Laughter Yoga methods, conducted at the University of Graz in Austria; Bangalore, India; and in the United States has proved that Laughter lowers the level of stress hormones (epinephrine, cortisol, etc) in the blood. It fosters a positive and hopeful attitude. It is less likely for a person to succumb to stress and feelings of depression and helplessness, if one is able to laugh away the troubles.

The article is an interview with Barry Eastbrook, the author of a book on the subject called Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit.

Here are some choice quotes from “Strange Fruit: An interview with Barry Eastbrook on the high cost of cheap tomatoes” by Megan Peck, Orlando Weekly, July 28:

they inject methyl bromide, which is a fumigant which kills every living organism in the soil – every germ, every bug, every bacteria. [...] After a couple of weeks, when the soil is sterile – dead – they then poke holes in the plastic and put seedlings in.

There is also a fair deal about the immigration status, living conditions, and low wages of the workers who pick the fruit, at one point claiming that “it’s abject slavery”:

Our governor, Rick Scott, ran on a hard-line anti-immigration stance. He’s since taken heat for backing down. Might this have anything to do with agriculture companies and migrant workers?

He may have taken a look across the border at what’s happening in Georgia. Florida’s agricultural sector is huge. [In Georgia] you have a situation where they had enacted one of these crazy laws, and right now there’s $300 million lost so far, with crops rotting in the fields because the workers simply – well, they are nothing if not migrant.

Is there anything we can do to get around this evil?

The closer your tomato is raised to your kitchen counter, the better it’s going to be. It’s not as easy in Florida, but there are small farms … [or] grow your own tomatoes. When fresh, good tomatoes are available, make pasta sauces and freeze them.

For more information, read the full interview, or pick up a copy of Barry’s book.

A house that can fit on a flat bed trailer. Now for sale!

See also: The Small House Book by Jay Shafer, the man who designs and builds these tiny houses.

Have you got better ideas? Better links? Better videos? Books? Let me know.

Thanks to *faircompanies, who made many of these awesome and inspirational videos.

YouTube is a wealth of resources, here are a few:

• A good explanation of why you might want to compost. Here is an example of the Kitchen Compost Keeper she mentions in the video.
  
• A good in-depth discussion about making compost
  
• 100% Recycled Composter
  
• Repurposed Wine Barrel with skateboard wheel platform
  
• Repurposed 50 Gallon Drum
  
• Composting for Dummies
  

1. Newspaper, wood and string, suitable for starting a woodburning stove or fireplace.
   
2. Char cloth, for the rustic campers – I first saw this made by a crazy man in a top hat, and he was using old underwear as the fabric.
3. pine cones dipped in wax, not a bad idea for something more crafty and decorative, in this case fitting a holiday / winter theme.
4. Last but not least, something to put out your fire, a fire extinguisher made from vinegar, water and baking soda in a repurposed soda bottle.
   

The Blue Line PowerCost Monitor can save you money on electricity and save the Rock-afire Explosion from extinction! As the distributor of these monitors, I am using the proceeds of the sales of these monitors to finance the creation of new shows. Those who buy one of these from Creative Engineering, Inc. will also be given access to a private website showing lots of behind the scenes footage never before seen as well as other benefits. If saving money on electricity and saving the Rock-afire Explosion are worthy of your interest, please give me a call or send a note to me at aaron.fechter@gte.net

I wonder if much/any of it was salvageable – this video doesn’t mention that at all.

Oil’d from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

A year ago, a massive oil spill began in the Gulf. The entire country was glued to the news until the well was capped, and then we forgot about it.

As the year anniversary was fast approaching I became curious, just how much oil was that exactly? Where would it have gone? What I found was shocking.

So in an effort to further our discussion on oil dependency I created this short animation. I’ve spent all of my free time in the last month putting this together to help illustrate just how dependent we truly are on oil.

Designed, animated and written by Chris Harmon

Voice Talent: Kim Estes

Music: Billy Perez & Todd Stambaugh

Special Thanks to Daye Rogers and Christy Kurtz

Sources:

Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/

U.S. Energy Information Administration
http://www.eia.doe.gov/

http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_04_23.html

Rubber Manufacturers Association
http://www.rma.org/about_rma/rubber_faqs/

http://www.carbonify.com/carbon-calculator.htm

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2010_fotw617.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDPE

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_one_gallon_of_crude_oil_weigh

http://www.icis.com/v2/chemicals/9076455/propylene/uses.html

http://volunteerguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/used-tires.htm

http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/plastic-bottle-recycling-facts/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

I’m glad to see a book whose mission is conservation that is not a hippie call-to-action rag – that would only be read by one kind of audience. With any luck, the late emphasis on “buy local”, and “slow money” will end up getting books like this – made in Florida, about Florida – some much needed attention and have the after-effect of opening some minds in the process.

According to the Weekly’s Katie Westfall in her article “Nature’s Edge”:

“At some point, every reasonable adult has to ask that question: How do we keep these things functioning the way they were always meant to function?” Belleville asks during a phone interview. In “What if the Shaman is a Snail,” he examines how the tiny mollusks are a barometer for water health. He tells us there are some snail species that congregate around certain springs in Florida that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. Belleville has his own collection of goldenhorn marissa snails that he’s found during his travels, and he watches them in his home aquarium to see what they do. By the end of the essay, we learn that the little guys have a tough time outrunning the pollution that spills out of storm drains or the pesticides and fertilizers that seep into their domain. We’re told that “future Floridians will pay for the contemporary sins of our water-sucking developers and their political toadies.”

Yes. More of that. Floridians need to learn when to “eat their vegetables” like good little citizens of Earth.

I guess Belleville has been at this longer than me, because he (correctly) points out that my hope of people gainins new perspective is not a one-step process:

“Regardless of how well a person writes or describes a place, I don’t think that in itself ­- that narrative, that ability to describe a place – is not going to change a person’s mind,” Bellville says. “I think what it can do, in the best of worlds, is to have that person want to go outside and want to have ?an experience.”

I have been on a nighttime bio-luminescent kayak tour in Titusville, one of the places mentioned in the Weekly article. It is one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen in Florida, and I tell as many people as I can about it. It’s difficult to put into words, and even more difficult to capture on film or video, so I’m glad I can now refer them to this book.

Colle Davis, the inventor of Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems, majored in the field of Renewable Natural Resources in 1972, at the University of California at Davis, and he’s been refining Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems for the past 37 years.

After a career as a successful entrepreneur, businessman and consultant, Colle has always made the time to continue his research to reduce the chronic problems of tank sediment, and he discovered a new pumping system that solved all the clogging problems in the fish tank and made it possible for the system to automatically remove the sediments from the fish tank without clogging the pump to grow healthier fish and vegetables. This new system made it possible to fully automate the farm using his own unique engineering, so that anyone, anywhere, could raise their own food.

Visit EcoFactory for the original American Clay story, then register or subscribe!

1. Winter Park Harvest Festival
   This website exists right now to promote an event, happening November 20th in “Central Park’s West Meadow”, whatever that means. Already, the site has loaded up with some great how-to articles for growing your own food and announcing some smaller events leading up to the festival.
2. A Local Folkus
   Started in 2007, this locally-sourced blog is written by John Rife, who is now taking an active role in advancing the Slow Food and Slow Money movements here in Central Florida. He is well-known for taking massive continent-spanning road trips in his camper named Kodi, along with his wife and his dog. Now John talks about heritage, local markets, gardening, and local events, with lots more road-tripping thrown in. Subscribe and enjoy!
3. The Good Garden
   I recently met author Sarah Kinbar through a local gathering called Florida Creatives Happy Hour, and it turns out we shared a former employer. Sarah has years of experience with traditional print magazines, and now she is stamping out daily posts on her site about growing food and fun things you can do with the things you’ve grown – lots of fun recipes and personal stories. Sarah also works with a team of contributors to make sure there is a “fresh” post every day!
4. Edible Orlando Magazine
   Apparently, this website is also available in dead tree form… This brand new magazine produced locally about the great culinary escapades and I believe it is very focused on the Slow Food movement. As of this writing, all their content is locked inside the digital edition in the sidebar, but the full magazine’s content is available there. The site is part of a network called Edible Communities, which also produces a healthy number of podcasts in addition to almost 60 regional magazines.
5. The Thin Chef
   This blog is a weekly entry by “thin” Katie Farmand, who happens to be one of the editors of the Edible Orlando mag above. She makes no promises about being a diet blog: In her own words, “Not low-calorie, or low-fat, but food that is real, whole, and fuels your body.” Still, there are some fun-looking recipes here, and it’s worth checking out.

Like I said, these are certainly not the only 5 sites about food in Orlando, or even about this particular subject. At the same time, I hope you have learned something, and will continue to learn by checking out these sites!

Some links via: Anjali Fluker, Orlando Business Journal

sad fact: over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute globally.
gut-wrenching fact: marine wildlife mistake plastic bags for food and die.
frustrating fact: supermarkets and politicians will take years to sort it out.
happy fact: making morsbags will help, with immediate effect.Fnd out more about Morsbags, spread the word and make a bag of your own. You can meet other Morsbaggers in our forums

It’s all about having a group of friends around to chat whilst simultaneously making shopping bags out of old duvet covers, curtains, fabrics from charity shops, etc, to distribute en masse to shoppers to help protect marine wildlife.

Morsbags are fully recycled, fun and easy to make (see our pattern), washable, portable, foldable, unique, cheap, biodegradable and reusable.

When enough morsbags have been made, pods hand them out to happy and surprised shoppers heading into their local supermarket. Hurrah!

On a similar note, a recent book read of mine had a chapter on raising chickens, not only for producing eggs, but as pets. There’s a great (sad) story involving some local predators as well, and the construction of an automatic chicken coop door.

The book is called Made by Hand, and it’s authored by the editor of Make Magazine, Mark Fraunfelder. In addition to the dozen or so other chapters about Mark’s journey toward self-reliance and connecting with his surroundings, he talks about tutoring his daughter, moving to the South Pacific and some other great stories that can’t be missed.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) is working with a team of interns and volunteers to explore the legal needs of a growing urban agriculture movement. We are developing an online Urban Agriculture Legal Resource Library, and designing resources and presentations that explore legal issues that relate to urban agriculture, including: land acquisition, zoning, property taxes, land covenants, health codes, building codes, nuisance laws, land conservation tools, and so on.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) facilitates the growth of sustainable, localized, and just economies, through legal research, professional training, resource development, and education about practices such as:

· Cooperatives
· Community-supported enterprises
· Barter
· Sharing
· Local currencies
· Intentional communities, ecovillages, cohousing
· Affordable housing and limited equity housing
· Urban agriculture
· Community-based renewable energy
· Community land trusts
· Social enterprise
· Microlending
· Local investing
· Co-op banks/credit unions

From Orlando homeowner battles HOA, wants roof to reflect energy-saving ethic:

She said she understands that her neighbors denied the request because no one else has a white roof.

But “until you get one white roof, you can’t have two. Until you have two, you wouldn’t have three,” Piper said. “If we did all the roofs at one time, with $100 of savings a year on each one and 100 homes, that’s $10,000 … for electricity that is just wasted now.”

From “Betting on the Farm” by Lindy T. Shepherd:

But Florida Hospital’s Paradis deliberately partnered with an entity outside of the hospital’s insular system, rather than re-create the project within the hospital system. “I’m big enough to do the whole thing,” says Paradis of the hospital’s resources, “but I’m choosing to talk to (Homegrown Co-op), because (those) guys are so passionate – I call Michael and Emily ‘community passionaries.’”

They will also be opening a retail store sometime in the Fall, according to the article. On Orange Avenue, on one end of the “Antique Row” along Lake Ivanhoe. Orlando has sorely needed something like this for a long time, and now thanks to a generous matching grant program from Florida Hospital, it can become a reality, despite a rough economic climate.

The Weekly article says Homegrown will not be selling pork products because of Florida Hospital’s involvement. That’s a small price to pay for such a huge leg-up in your third year of existence. I honestly can’t wait for the retail store to open, and for Orlando to become a bit more self-sustaining.

The Fair Trade Project is holding a poker run–bike style! Registration is only $5 and will start at 2:30pm at Austin’s. The 10+ mile ride will start at 4 and take you to local stores that sell fair trade: Chamberlin’s Natural Foods, Enzian Theater, Ten Thousand Villages, Whole Foods and Austin’s. You’ll pick up a playing card at each stop to complete your poker hand.

We’ll have great prizes from each stop for the person with the best hand, plus additional prizes, including great stuff from local bike shops. After we give out the prizes at 6:30, we’ll have a free show featuring local music.

Even if you don’t participate in the ride, we hope you’ll join us for the show. See you there!

Read more from The Fair Trade Project Facebook Page:

The Fair Trade Project seeks to help disadvantaged producers receive a just price for their goods while building relationships and encouraging social and environmental responsibility. When people are paid a fair price for what they produce, they can pull themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty.

You can make a difference simply by buying fair trade products.

I get a weekly deliver of a fruit and vegetable basket from a local farm. I describe how i am going to use forever bags to store the produce. Do a search in your local area for the same service.

Do you have CSA in your area? Are you a subscriber? How much of your weekly food for meals is actually grown locally?

Download Eco Footprint Special: 350.org
ecofactory_350.mp3
Length: 3:04

Gabe LeBlanc of EcoFactory left me this message about the event being held on 10/24/09 to raise awareness about the level of Carbon in the air. More info can be found at http://350.org and http://ecofactory.com

Gabe is offering free beer to the first 350 people to arrive at Orlando Brewing at 3:50 PM on October 24th. Gabe is doing awesome stuff in our community, and I recommend everyone go and support him, or find a similar event in your area.

• Hand-made food
• It was all grown locally
• Community
• Deliciousness
• Someone made a video about it!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Preserve Them! from OrganicNation on Vimeo.

From Organic Nation.tv – A Quick Tutorial On How To Preserve Lemons (Video):

We caught up with blogger/foodie/activist Rachel Weidinger, who also happens to be an expert preserver, at her Homegrown Village booth at MakerFaire 2009 in San Mateo, California. She showed us how to preserve fresh lemons with salt so they will last a year and taste delicious added to omelets, hummus, salads and pasta:

Special thanks to Homegrown.org and FarmAid for putting on this great event! You can fiind more tips from Rachel on her blog AKitchenOfHerOwn.com or follow her on Twitter @Rachelannyes.

-Dorothee