Kaw Permaculture Collaborative - Principles of Permaculture and Sustainable Living

The Kaw Permaculture Collaborative and the Kansas Permaculture Institute are proud to present their first full course in the Principles of Permaculture and Sustainable Living:

Introduction to Permaculture Ethics,
Principles and Design

With Steve Moring of Vajra Farm

The course consists of a series of 16, three hour sessions with lectures, video screenings and field work to be held every second week beginning *February 10th from 6 -- 9 pm at the East Lawrence Recreation Center.*

"As a community we are entering a period of energy depletion and the resulting decline in our global economy. Learn how the sustainability movement known as Permaculture promises to create an ecologically sound and economically viable system which neither pollutes nor exploits our planet."

This course consists of 48 hours of lecture leading to a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Kansas Permaculture Institute, Inc. Lecture topics include food security, permaculture ethics, ecological principles, system design, sustainable soils, food production, food forests, earth works and construction of human habitats.

A second course is our Permaculture Practicum that will consist of four, six hour field work internship program. The Practicum will begin June 12 and go to July 24, 2010, and will be held at Vajra Farm near Oskaloosa, Prairie Lovesong Farm near Tonganoxie, and Chestnut Charlie's Nut Tree Farm, North of Lawrence. The Practicum's 24 hours of field work that will culminate in fulfilling the requirement of 72 hours of instruction for a certificate in permaculture design.

For more information on course content, meeting times and locations go to websites: http://groups.google.com/group/kpc-dev/web/kpc-event-postings or http://kawpermaculture.wordpress.com,

or To register: Please contact Steve Moring at 785-691-7305
or by e-mail to smoring (@) grasshoppernet.com

The Politics of Agriculture in Washington Have Been Substantially Reshuffled

Note: Please remember this, folks...

Political action is embedded in everyday happenings, and a vote for change can take many forms. Whether you write-in, call-in, send e-mail or just talk to your neighbors about political change, YOU VOTE EVERY TIME YOU MAKE A PURCHASE. Tell your local store managers that you want to see more local products for sale.

##

From: The German Marshall Fund of the United States

http://www.gmfus.org/publications/article.cfm?parent_type=P&id=781

The Farm Bill and Beyond

Dan Morgan

January 13, 2010

More than a year after the U.S. Congress enacted a new multi-year farm bill (the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008), the politics of agriculture in Washington have been substantially reshuffled. Proposed climate change legislation has confronted the farm bloc with issues that received scant attention in the farm bill itself. At the same time, the congressional energy committees and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-not the traditional guardians of agriculture-have taken the lead in shaping climate and biofuels policies that could have long-term impacts on farmers. At the White House, President Obama has proposed cutting some key subsidies, and he has signaled interest in aligning himself-at least symbolically-with a grass roots movement that supports "sustainable agriculture" and "healthy foods." These developments have moved long-standing tensions over agriculture policy to center stage.

This paper by agricultural commentator and former GMF Transatlantic Fellow Dan Morgan examines these tensions in the context of the 2008 farm bill, with a view to setting the stage for the next phase of the debate in the United States and Europe over climate, energy, farm subsidies, food safety, trade, and agricultural aid to farmers in developing countries.

##

Source: Download File, Format: PDF, Size: 565 KB

http://www.gmfus.org//doc/GMF7378_Farmbill_011210_Final.pdf

See also:

Prodding the Liberal Agenda With a Pitchfork (August, 2009) http://www.gmfus.org/publications/article.cfm?id=638 ** Excerpt: In the case of the food safety bill passed by the House on Thursday, Peterson worked behind the scenes to limit new FDA powers to make farmers keep records to help trace food-borne illnesses. And in regulating small growers and organic farmers, the FDA will now have to consider the impact the new rules will have on them. All this shows that the Agracrats are a force to be reckoned with. When the Obama administration proposed phasing out a principal farm subsidy over three years for all except the smallest farmers, Peterson pronounced it "dead on arrival," then said, "We might cremate it." Spoken like a true Agracrat. ##