ALL THE DIRT: Reflections on Organic Farming

Beautiful book!
"All the Dirt is much more than just another dry, nuts-and-bolts, hands-in-the-dirt how-to. It demonstrates that farming can be done successfully, in co-operation with others, all while paying the bills." —Michael Ableman, farmer, author, and co-director of Vancouver's SOLEfood

I met Robin Tunnicliffe, organic farmer/co-author and super-nice lady when she presented a reading here in Winnipeg during her cross-Canada ALL THE DIRT promotional tour
http://dmsmcagardens.blogspot.com/2012/01/all-dirt-reflections-on-successful.html
buy here: http://www.amazon.ca/All-Dirt-Reflections-Organic-Farming/dp/1927129125

Oneota Film Festival, Decorah, Iowa

Such a treat to participate in the Oneota Film Festival http://oneotafilmfestival.com/film-lineup/ and to discover Decorah, Iowa, a gorgeous community along the Upper Iowa River, where Bald Eagles keep an eye on things, our Canada Geese over-winter, public art matches the natural beauty of the landscape, and the friendly citizens celebrate the fresh snow & their heritage on x-country skis & garbed in Norwegian sweaters.
The festival took place over 3 days at Luther College, featured a great lineup of films & programming with a focus on Social Justice & the Environment and was very well attended by an engaged audience. 'And This Is My Garden' screened twice, both times to capacity, lovely audience laughed in all the right places and lavished positive feed-back.
The following are some films we managed to see during the festival and would like to recommend:
Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story [watch online] http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/6434/Troubled-Waters--A-Mississippi-River-Story/VmtkMFJrOVdRbEpRVkRBOStF
Last Mountain Farmers in the Carpathians http://oneotafilmfestival.com/last-mountain-farmers-in-the-carpathians/
MissRepresentation http://oneotafilmfestival.com/miss-representation/
Greater Good http://oneotafilmfestival.com/the-greater-good/
Driftless http://oneotafilmfestival.com/driftless/

Thank you, Oneota Film Festival!

My Subversive [Gardening] Plot

Growing your own, chemical-free food has multiple benefits and it is a political act! Roger Doiron - Kitchen Gardeners International - TED-talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/roger_doiron_my_subversive_garden_plot.html

http://kitchengardeners.org/

Happy Holidays!

Oneota Film Festival, Decorah, Iowa

And This Is My Garden has been selected to be a part of the 2012 Oneota Film Festival, January 20-22, 2012 in Decorah, Iowa, at Luther College

http://www.oneotafilmfestival.org/

Oneota Film Festival| January 20-22, 2012

Food Literacy, School & Society

On Nov. 30 Eleanor Woitowicz took part in a screening and presentation of And This Is My Garden to students of School & Society course, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba. The Mel Johnson School Gardening Project was presented earlier as a case study "illustrating real sustainability projects that school and students are engaged with".

CWB & Corporate Takeover of Food

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) branded high-quality Canadian Wheat & Barley on the World Market, negotiated best grain prices for farmers and has been instrumental in blocking GM Wheat from entering Canada. All sales profits - minus operating costs - were returned to farmers, not to share-holders.

My parents were grain farmers for 35 years and they appreciate the multiple benefits of the CWB. For the past few months my time and energy has gone towards supporting democratic process & farmers' rights to determine the future of their farmer-owned & directed single-desk CBW. The passing of Bill C-18 - the dismantling of the CWB - is an affront to Democracy. Bill C-18 "Farmers' Marketing Freedom Act" means in actuality that marketing control will pass from farmers to multi-national grain traders, whose mandate it is to buy at the lowest price. Farmers will go from being price-setters to becoming price-takers. Family Farms will disappear at an even faster rate & Corporate Farming will further expand.
Food Literacy is now more important than ever. Growing our own food sustainably connects us to the natural cycles & it can be a political act!