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Join Our List
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Vol.
II, Issue 2
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Jan. 17, 2008
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Welcome to our sixth "News Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow"
newsletter. We strive to bring you important, timely information about
urban agriculture, energy issues, sustainable practices, and more.
In this issue, you will find articles on wheat theft, peak oil,
Venezuela keeping its asphalt, the growth of urban gardening,
geothermal energy, and more.
The beauty of Troy Gardens, and our organization called Friends of Troy
Gardens, is that we not only provide an opportunity for people to grow
their own food locally in our community gardens or purchase locally
produced food from our organic farm, but we also educate children and
adults about how to grow food and eat nutritionally.
As always, please consider a membership or an individual or continuous monthly gift. Our programs only
exist, because of your generosity. So please give generously.
For Our Future,
Bob Gragson, Editor
Executive Director
Friends of Troy Gardens
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WHEAT
THEFT
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 A Result
of Soaring Grain Prices
Using land to
grow crops to produce ethanol is increasing the cost of food and
generating other problems:
"Across the Midwest, farmers are benefiting from the recent run-up
in commodity prices.
"The price of corn has doubled in the last year. Soybeans are up
more than 50 percent, and wheat is trading at three times what it was
two years ago.
"But this boom has also brought problems to the prairie.
"In western Kansas police are investigating almost a dozen
incidents where thieves using tractor trailers stole wheat from grain
elevators.
"The thieves hit at least four grain elevators near the western
Kansas town of Syracuse and made off with more than $50,000 worth of
raw wheat. . . .
"Terry Bertholf, attorney for insurer Kansas Farmers Service
Association, said wheat elevators are often unmanned [sic] at this time
of year. He said the thieves knew how to operate the augers to offload
the grain, and then they drove the wheat to other grain elevators in
the area and resold it. . . .
"With a tractor trailer load of wheat fetching as much as $5,000,
this crime is far more lucrative. Just last year wheat was selling at
$3 a bushel, but now it's selling at $10 a bushel and is harder to come
by. . . " (Beaubien, 2008).
Read the complete article and listen to an audio clip
. . .
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SIMMONS
THINKS PEAK OIL REACHED
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 Data
Appears to Indicate May 2005
Here
are some excerpts from Doug Casey's interview with well-known Houston
energy investment banker Matt Simmons. Having poured over 200 technical
papers full of data, Matt wrote Twilight in the Desert in
2005 and not only detailed the challenges facing the petroleum industry
with extracting oil from old fields, but also strongly indicating that
Saudi Arabia would soon reach peak oil production. He claimed that when
that happened, we would be facing a vast and drastic oil shortage.
(Simmons, 2005). Now in this interview, he suspects we reached peak oil
production 2½ years ago.
Matt Simmons:
"My opinion is that it's increasingly likely that
we actually set an all-time record in May 2005 of 74,252,000 barrels
per day. And for the first three months of 2007, we're almost a million
barrels per day behind that, and we're dropping fast. If that record
still holds a year from now, I'll bet someone ten-to-one that we set
peak oil in May 2005 and it's now past tense. . . .
"The IEA [International Energy Agency] mid-term
report that came out July 9, 2007, claim[ed] that oil demand will
outstrip production causing a supply crunch in 2010 that will worsen
until 2012. . . .
"Well, if I had to bet, I would bet somebody about
four-to-one that [Saudi Arabia is] producing every barrel that they can
produce. The idea that no one wants their oil is really stupid. And
they're also going to spend close to $70 billion on some unbelievably
hairy projects" (Casey, 2008).
Read the complete interview . . .
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VENEZUELA
KEEPS ITS ASPHALT
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 No
Venezuelan Asphalt to U.S.
Here is just
one thing among many that we will be facing with oil depletion:
"President Hugo Chavez ordered a halt to Venezuela's asphalt
exports, which go largely to the U.S., to improve his country's roads.
"'In the biggest U.S. cities, there are highways completely paved
with our asphalt,' said Chavez, whose nation remains the fourth-largest
oil supplier to the U.S.
"'Why do we have to export asphalt if the highways of Venezuela
don't work?' he said on his Sunday television program. 'If we didn't
have resources, I'd understand, but we do.'
"Venezuela produces 27,000 barrels of asphalt a day, exporting
about 63 percent, or 17,000 barrels, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez
said.
"Most goes to the U.S. through Houston-based Citgo Petroleum
Corp., an arm of Venezuela's state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela
SA." (Rueda, 2008)
Read the complete article . . .
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WHY WE
ALL WILL BE GARDENERS
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 Urban Agriculture on the Move
"No
longer predominantly retirees or experienced 'green thumbs', today's
city gardeners run the gamut from global warming activists to young
trendsetters. . . .
"It's an increasingly fashionable hobby and the trend is being
driven by the power of urban agriculture to deliver on so many of our
21st century needs: healthy food, 'buy local and organic', 'slow food'.
Agricultural sociologist Henk de Zeeuw sees the movement in North
America, Europe and Australia as a result of 'concerns about the
quality of industrially produced food or social and ecological
concerns'. . . .
"Today, cities consume much more than they produce: they cover
just 2% of the Earth's surface, but consume 75% of its resources. As
more of the world's population moves to cities- nearly 80% of the
world's population will live in urban centers by mid-century-,
traditional farms won't sustain us. . . .
"It's not all hypothesis. Currently, some of the largest cities in
Europe and North America have extensive urban gardens:
- Almost
10% of Greater London is farmland, cultivated by 30,000 urban
gardeners.
- In
Berlin, 15% of the city's land is used for agriculture. While the
city has 80,000 allotment gardens, all are being used and there is
a waiting list of 14,000 residents.
- Montreal
has North America's largest community garden network with 8,000
18-square-meter city-owned plots, providing mostly organic fruits
and vegetables for personal consumption. . . .
"City governments have begun to give weight to the
movement. Cities like Chicago, Tokyo and Atlanta now mandate that a
percentage of all new buildings have roof gardens. In Vancouver's new
downtown neighborhood Southeast False Creek, developers are required to
include 'edible landscaping' and productive food garden spaces for
rooftops and balconies. . . .
"From a financial standpoint, it makes sense to plant, or raise,
your own food. For every $1 invested, community gardeners receive about
$6 worth of vegetables. In 1991, the average urban garden produced
about $160 worth of produce." (Dirksen & Boullosa, n.d.)
Read this entire excellent article . . .
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GEOTHERMAL
ENERGY
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 State of
Geothermal Technologies
"The
Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) has released the second part of its
two reports assessing the status and effectiveness of geothermal energy
technologies in use around the world.
"The report details a variety of new and under-used technologies
that could revolutionize the industry as binary technology did decades
ago. The report, called The State of Geothermal Technology Part II: Surface
Technology, examines everything from power plant basics and efficiencies
to advanced technologies for enhanced geothermal systems. In November
of last year GEA released Part I of the report, which focused on subsurface
technology. . . .
"The report details a variety of new and under-used technologies
that could revolutionize the industry . . . . There are also many new
surface technologies that could bring about small-scale changes, but
are equally important.
"According to the report, incremental technology improvements
might prove most valuable in the near term. Incremental improvements
can be commercially implemented more quickly than larger, more
revolutionary advances, and can be incorporated into existing designs
with comparatively lower risk.
"The report discusses new technologies . . . [and] features a
section on non-traditional systems" ("The state of
geothermal," 2008).
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OUR
INTERNET STORE
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 Books,
DVDs, & CDs - Memberships
& Gifts
- Buy
from Us
- Support
Our Programs
Our Internet store makes it easier for you to support
our programs. Whether you are near or far, buying from our Internet
store makes sense. With your purchases and donations, you help support
a nationally-recognized model for local multi-use sustainable land
development.
For a limited time, our newsletter readers can receive a
20% discount on all books in our bookstore. Simply enter the word BOOKS
for the coupon code at checkout.
For more information about our program, be sure to read the end of this
newsletter. Also, be sure to visit our informational website that describes our
programs in detail and our Internet store which boasts an extensive
list of resources for local community food production and food
security.
Thanks for your interest, and thanks for your support!
Be sure to visit our Internet store. . . .
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NEW TROY
GARDENS CD
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 Be
Inspired, Support Our Programs
Troy Gardens
inspires us. If we are writers, the gardens become our muse. If we are
musicians, the land brings us new songs. The newly released CD, Troy Gardens Journal,
contains spoken excerpts from our board member Marge Pitts' collection
of essays by the same name, enhanced by six original songs written and
performed by Maury Smith, who also produced the project.
The CD's 12 tracks mark the passage of the seasons at Troy Gardens, and
cast a glance back to the project's organizational beginning. These
stories and songs offer a nourishing taste of hope. In these times when
"the big garden" that is our world seems to be bleak and
getting bleaker, we celebrate the solace and strength found in
relationships, in community, and in our "little gardens" at
Troy.
The Troy Gardens Journal CD is available now.
Proceeds will help support the work of Friends of Troy Gardens.
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GOODSEARCH
& GOODSHOP
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 1 Cent to Us for Each Browse
Did you know
you can make a donation to Friends of Troy Gardens every time you
browse or buy products online?
You may already be using the exciting new Internet search engine called
GoodSearch. If you do, every time you search the
Internet, Friends of Troy Gardens or other non-profit, school or
charity of your choice earns a penny. Friends of Troy Gardens is
already earning money through this innovative cost-free method of
fundraising. If you are not already using GoodSearch, just go to www.GoodSearch.com to find out how.
And now you can also use GoodShop.com, a new online shopping mall which
donates a percentage of each purchase to your favorite cause. Although
here at Friends of Troy Gardens we don't recommend shopping as therapy
or entertainment, we all need things from time to time, and often
online shopping is more ecological than a trip to the store. So the
next time you need something online, look for it first through the
GoodShop.com mall.
More than 100 great stores offer travel, clothing, electronics and more
through GoodShop, so that every time you place an order, you'll be
supporting us. Target, Macy's, Travelocity, Best Buy, Nordstrom,
Staples and over one hundred other retailers will donate a percentage
of each purchase you make to Friends of Troy Gardens!
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Friends
of Troy Gardens as the charity you want to
support.
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PIERCE'S
MARKET CARD
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 Shop
& Money Comes to Us
Friends of Troy Gardens is now listed as a
charitable organization with the Pierce's Community Foundation.
If you live in an area where there is a Pierce's Market, please
sign up for a Pierce's Market Card selecting Friends of Troy Gardens as
your "charity of choice." Use your card each time you visit a
Pierce's Market and a portion of your purchase will come our way at no
extra cost to you. In the third quarter of this year, an organization
in Baraboo, Wisconsin, received about $2,000 from the foundation as a
result of its supporters signing up and using the Pierce's Market Club
card.
You can sign up by going to Pierce's Market Club Card Application page,
completing the form, and selecting Friends of Troy Gardens (Charity
Group Code #1275) in the "Choose a Charitable Group"
section.
Pierce's Markets have been a long-time supporter of Friends of Troy
Gardens. In 2005, they donated a large truck to us that is often used
in support of our farm, community gardening, and education programs.
So if you live in or near Madison, Baraboo, Muscoda, or Portage,
Wisconsin, please sign up for your Pierce's Market Club Card and designate
Friends of Troy Gardens (Charity Group Code #1275) today!
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MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
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 Your Support Is Important
It
is your generosity that makes Friends of Troy Gardens work for all of
us. Your gift will enable us to add more educational
offerings, educate 600 school children at Troy Gardens and in
public and private schools and expand our children's education program,
provide sponsorships to low-income individuals and general support to
our gardeners in our 330 community garden plots, continue restoration
of five acres of prairie and forest, further develop and increase
production at our organic farm and CSA with 110 household-members, and
more.
- $50
provides a low-income gardener a garden plot for a season,
- $100
provides a service-learning opportunity for an at-risk youth,
- $150
provides a low-income child hands-on participation in our Kids
Gardening Program,
- $250
provides a free workshop for 25 community members in our Natural
Areas Restoration Program,
- $430
provides a low-income household a CSA share from our farm for a
season, and
- $1,000
provides a low-income teen participation in our eight-week Farm
and Field Program or a 150-hour educational training opportunity
for a college student.
Please support our work and our vast array of programs
with a one-time or monthly donation, a gift to our endowment fund, or by becoming a member. You will be helping educate thousands of
people each year with the skills necessary to make a sustainable future
a reality.
You can make your contribution online, or mail it to Friends of Troy Gardens, 3601
Memorial Dr., Bldg. 14, Rm. 171, Madison, WI 53704. Thank you for your
support.
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GREEN
JOBS
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 Job
Search Sites for You
For
environmental positions throughout the world, the following are some
good websites for your review:
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Friends of Troy Gardens, is a 501(c)(3)
charitable nonprofit organization, in Madison, Wisconsin. On 26-acres
of urban property, we integrate community gardens, an organic farm, and
restored prairie and woodlands. (On an adjacent five acres is
mixed-income green-built co-housing developed by the Madison Area
Community Land Trust.) Altogether, Troy Gardens is a unique,
nationally-recognized model for sustainable multi-purpose land use.
Friends of Troy Gardens' environmental
education programs include a nationally recognized leadership program
for teenagers and an award-winning children's garden. Local residents
care for 330 family garden plots in our Community Gardens. Volunteer
stewards restore and maintain native tall grass prairie and maple
woodlands in the natural areas. Each growing season, 110 households
pick up weekly bags of fresh organic vegetables from our Community Farm
(CSA).
Be sure to visit the Friends of Troy Gardens Web Store.
References:
Beaubien, J. (2008). Soaring grain prices prompt wheat thefts. NPR
(January 16, 2008). Retrieved January 16, 2008, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17984534.
Casey, P. (2008). Peak oil & beyond. GoldSeek.com. Retrieved
January 11, 2008, from http://news.goldseek.com/DougCasey/1199918337.php.
Dirksen, K. & Boullosa, N. (n.d.) Why we all will be gardeners. FairCompanies
Sustainable News. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from http://www.faircompanies.com/main.aspx?uc=notampl&id=331&sec=1
Rueda, J. (2008). Chavez suspends asphalt exports. Associated Press
(January 14, 2008). Retrieved January 16, 2008, from http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080114/venezuela_asphalt.html?.v=1.
Simmons, M. R. (2005). Twilight in the desert: The coming Saudi oil
shock and the world economy. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ.
The state of geothermal energy technologies: Part 2." (2008).
RenewableEnergyAccess.com (January 11, 2008). Retrieved January 16,
2008, from http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/infocus/story?id=51095.
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