The Call of the Sandhill Cranes

Did you see them the other day at about 2:30 PM, the hundreds of birds in and out of formation, flying over Dunwoody? You may have thought they were geese, but if you had a neighbor like Alan of the Appalachian Trail, like I do, and if you walked out to check the mail and ran into Alan raking at precisely the moment the birds were flying overhead, you would have discovered that they are actually sandhill cranes, and you would have stood and craned your neck upward watching them with him and listening to their most-definitely-not-geese warble as it grew louder until it overtook the skies as they flew by.

You may have even seen them moments later, as my friend Richard of the Worms did, when they dropped out of formation into an odd circle, as if they were having an impromptu meeting to double-check the directions to Florida. And then you may have Googled sandhill cranes, as Richard and I did, obsessive researchers that we are, and discovered that during migration they dip down into these circles to check the winds in search of a good thermal heading the direction in which they are going (which, for now, is south).

And, intrigued by all this, you may have gotten to thinking about thermals and energy and putting the power of nature to work for you, as I did, and you may have even found yourself late last night reading through the government strategic policy report from Alachua County, Florida (where Gainseville is), over which the sandhill cranes may have flown yesterday (the video above shows them leaving Gainseville this past February for their northern migration). And you may have discovered that in Alachua County, the government is fully embracing the challenges and opportunities of:

* Enery, water, business development, and conservation
* Waste
* Local food production and processing
* Land use and transportation
* Legislative items related to sustainability
* And even ways to invite and engage the public

And you may have logged off, and nodded off, and dreamed about a similar document right here in Dunwoody, while hearing the fading call of the sandhill cranes in your not-too-distant memory.

Children Are Not For Sale (No Matter How Nice the Playground)

Chick-fil-A Night. Dominoes Night. Pizza Hut Reading Program. The long laundry list of processed junk in the Boxtop Rewards program. Oh, dear, oh dear. I know education funding keeps getting cut, cut, cut, but please be aware that these companies are dying to get in our schools and get access to our children. I worked at Turner for four years and served as a sales promotion liaison between the national ad sales team and various Turner departments, including Turner Educational Services, which distributed CNN Newsroom to schools nationwide. Not a day passed that some advertiser didn't beg us to let them get in front of those kids. I don't know about you, but my child is not for sale to the highest bidder.

This announcement came this morning in the weekly enews blast from one of our area elementary schools:

My Coke Rewards for Schools Program

Let's work together to bring more resources to our school. For over 80 years, Coca-Cola® has been supporting schools and providing resources which open doors for students. The My Coke Rewards for Schools program is a new way Coca-Cola is refreshing a longstanding commitment to education which gives schools the things they need to provide students with a well-rounded education. Schools can collect points donated by My Coke Rewards members and redeem them for a variety of rewards including playground equipment, creative supplies, classroom materials and more. Points are earned by entering codes found on packages from any of the twelve participating Coca-Cola products including Coca-Cola, Sprite, POWERade, Dasani, and Minute Maid.

Vanderlyn is now registered with the My Coke Rewards for Schools program and it is so easy for you to donate and help Vanderlyn earn points:

1) Register to become a member at www.mycokerewards.com
2) Look for codes on specially marked packages of your favorite Coca-Cola products
3) Enter codes and collect points at www.mycokerewards.com, then select your Vanderlyn to donate your points

Together we can help our students learn and grow by turning My Coke Rewards points into rewards. Please start donating your points today!

Is this how we help our students learn and grow? In all honesty, is it? And haven't parent groups around the country been working to reverse this trend? Do you realize how slippery a slope this is? I know the intention behind the inclusion of this program is positive, and I would like to ask anyone involved to at least keep communications of it outside the school environment.

Here are a couple letters I've written in the past on this topic, to the previous principal. I would have simply gone to the new principal this morning about this issue but a memo came home last week that indicated something like a five-prong protocol for how to approach the principal. Frankly, blogging is easier.

(September 27, 2002)

The enclosed New York Times article (from this past Tuesday, September 24, 2002) outlines the insidious ways that fast food and junk food marketers try to get into schools and advertise their products to a captive and impressionable audience. I ripped it out with the intention of sending it to you with a thank you note for keeping Vanderlyn a “safe zone” from marketers for children, especially marketers of products detrimental to their health. However, an item in this week’s Viking Views newsletter raises concerns for me. The item indicates that representatives from Coca Cola will be reading to many Vanderlyn classes on a day specifically designated as Coke Reading Day. These representatives of the soda manufacturer will also be leaving behind a number of books.

I believe that relationships with marketers such as Coca Cola may represent a “slippery slope” for Vanderlyn and am respectfully requesting complete assurance that representatives from Coca Cola will not be distributing any coupons or samples, or any other materials or merchandise that contain logos or advertise their products. If you would be so kind as to contact me via e-mail at freshbakedcopy@mindspring.com, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your continued commitment to the sanctity of a non-commercial environment for our children during school hours.

(November 18, 2004)

I am writing is response to the Chick-fil-A coupon for free ice cream that my daughter brought home in her VIP today. As I have voiced on previous occasions, I am opposed to the insidious ways that fast food and junk food marketers try to get into schools and advertise their products to a captive and impressionable audience.

I have let go on the Vanderlyn nights at Chick-fil-A and KFC since they occur after school hours. However, the Chick-fil-A logo sponsorship on the monthly character cards, the sales of Chick-fil-A cheesecakes promoted at school, and now this coupon distributed during school hours leads me to conclude that we are crossing the line on a slippery and dangerous slope.

At a time when America is faced with a burgeoning obesity epidemic and an unprecedented acceleration in traditionally adult-onset diseases in our nation’s children, we as parents and educators must be more vigilant about protecting the sanctity of a non-commercial environment during the school hours.

Let's just give it some thought, folks. If we do decide to continue moving forward with these kinds of relationships, then please preserve the sanctity of a commercial-free learning environment (which children are required by law to attend, unless they are being homeschooled) and keep the promotion of these programs restricted to outside-of-school communications only.

For the record, the playground from which the above photo was taken was funded completely without sponsor dollars. It can be done.

Oh, and by the way, here's a little more "food for thought" about Coke in inappropriate environments. If you're ever in the "Room 15" to which I refer, please let me know if anything has changed!

Thoughts While Raking

If we ever needed a reminder of how connected we truly are, the leaves would do it! Nothing like raking all your leaves and finding all your neighbors' leaves on your lawn the next morning because they hadn't raked yet. Or seeing a sea of leaves in the gutter (okay, the leaves in the photo are from my tree!), ready to pour into the water system. Or realizing you even have to rake (I hadn't really thought of this when I canceled my lawn service back in April!).

So out there I went, raking away, piling the leaves in a large garbage can and using my highly sophisticated shredding system (my younger daughter jumping in the can as if she were crushing grapes, while I held the sides) so I could add the leaves to my compost pile).

As I raked, the gentle scrape of the metal tines dragging across the crunching leaves, I thought about how easy it is to make a difference, not only by raking your leaves but by showing up. By simply showing up.

There had been a thread on John Heneghan's blog a couple weeks ago that sort of stuck with me. A few people made comments about the lack of women involved in the leadership of our soon-to-be-city, and someone wrote in to say that if the women wanted to change things, they should get out from behind their computers and get to the City Council meetings. Wait--let me make sure I quote this accurately . . .

In response to the announcement of two male Dunwoody City Manager finalists:

Ilovemykids said...

I'm glad to see so many women involved in the City of Dunwoody.


Thaddeus Osbourne Dabell said...

Seriously, what did you expect? The lineage of this city draws heavily on DHA and the transitory CfD and DY! Who was the last female president of DHA? How many Task Forces were headed by women? We've hit the ground running with a good old boy network derived directly from the less formal power structure previously in place. Furthermore, they're not accustomed to operating in the open and don't appear inclined to change.

DunwoodyParent said...

ilovemykids,

How many women were prohibited from running a Task Force? How many women were told not to solicit for City Manager? Only one woman that ran for a seat on Dunwoody Council ran a decent campaign, and she won!(I listened to all the women that ran for office many times and only the one that won presented herself as though she could do the job, in my opinion, won her race).

If you women are so disenfranchised from this City process then step up away from the keyboard and go do something. It's mostly men in the audience at the Council meetings. The City will need many people to serve on committees. I suggest women of Dunwoody show up at every meeting and get involved. Sign up for the public comment at the beginning of each meeting if you have something meaningful to contribute. Don't just sit back and complain because you feel left out. This City council is not coming to your house to ask for your involvement.

It's been well documented that the Council would soon select a city manager. If there is a qualified female in the area then she should have taken the initiative to put her name in the hat by contacting the mayor or council members. If there was a qualified female who took these steps but was left out, then I'll consider these 'left out' comments as legitimate. As Sarah Palin has shown us, it is possible to be a woman, a mother, and a leader. I'd love to have a 'Sarah' running Dunwoody.

Now, this of course made me curious, especially because I had not yet attended a City Council meeting myself. It was shortly thereafter that John included the announcement of this Dunwoody Chamblee Parents Council's meeting:

"What's Happening Under the Gold Dome" Education Issues 2009

Our guest speakers are:

*House of Representative, Stephanie S. Benfield
*Senate Chair of the Education Committee, Dan Weber
*Education Advisor to the Lt. Governor, Irene Munn.
Also, other hot topics like funding, charters, small learning communities, funding lawsuit, curriculum, state-wide high stakes testing, and the dropout rate.

I went to this meeting, at 9 AM on a Wednesday morning. It was very informative and contained areas of controversy that spurred intelligent, action-oriented conversation. Oh, and it was attended about 70 percent by women and included a wide diversity of ethnicities.

For comparison purposes, I attended this week's Dunwoody City Council meeting, which was a work session. I found it equally informative, with thoughtful questions from many of the council members. The big difference? There were about 50 men, 6 women--Adrian Bonser, Page Olson (whom I had never met but knew her name because she spoke during the meeting), myself, and three other women whom I do not know. Ethnic diversity? Let's not go there.

I called Page the next day because Page mentioned something about that red roof that is planned for the 4th/5th grade academy. The community apparently doesn't like that and wants a more muted color. I asked Page if consideration was being given to the increased energy efficiency of a lighter colored roof, as supported by the Atlanta Regional Commission and coolroofs.org, or if the change was being requested on purely aesthetic grounds. When I told Page I had been at the same two meetings as she had been in the last week, she remembered me from the City Council meeting, not the other one.

And therein lies the opportunity, fellow Dunwoody citizens (especially women and folks of various enthnicities). If you attend City Council meetings, you will get noticed. You will get remembered. And, most importantly, you will have the opportunity to have your voice heard. Every single citizen can, if he or she wants, speak for three minutes during the Open Comments section of the meeting. Just sign in to do this when you arrive (I didn't intend to speak, but there was no clear indicator that this was protocol, nor was there any signage directing citizens to the meeting location when you enter the church).

Yes, I know the weekly City Council meetings are held during dinner time on a school night. And yes, I agree attending 7 PM meetings on a regular basis is not a sustainable family decision. And yes, I know we elected very capable City Council members to represent us, and therefore we can enjoy our family time knowing we are in good hands (and, if you're anything like me, fall fast asleep with a book on your face because 4:30 AM comes awfully early!) .

BUT . . .

Here's the thing. All of us here in Dunwoody have a unique and exciting opportunity to take a front-row seat during the formation of a brand new city. It is a fascinating process and I invite you to be a visible part of it, even if, like me, you aim for just once a month.

To the City Council, I do have a few thoughts:

* Please remember that the faces that make up those Monday meetings do not necessarily accurately reflect the demographic breakdown of the city that you serve (Councilman Shortal did a great job of mentioning part of his district and their desire not to be left out).

* Also, please realize that there are many experienced, hard-working dedicated women AND men in this city making a difference each and every day who simply cannot attend those meetings. We have a community with a lot of young families and dual-career households, struggling and juggling to meet myriad responsibilities. If you want to engage them more fully (in particular, for specific committees), be prepared to see more 9 AM or lunchtime meetings, and to consider the following suggestion seriously.

* Perhaps, moving forward, you might want to consider more inclusive "conduits to conversation", such as using technology tools to transcend the confinements of space, time, traffic and other family responsibilites. We all know that John does an amazing job with updating the city on his personal blog, but I also want to draw your attention to a wonderful weekly enewsletter that Georgia State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield sends out to her constituents. She also conducts numerous ongoing polls on her website, which gives folks a chance to weigh in on a variety of issues. These are robust, proactive ways of serving those she was elected to represent with timely information, and giving citizens more opportunities to be fully engaged with the process.

Just thoughts while raking.

Bike Riding Into a Changing World

This is my neighbor Stacey. I was flying down my hill on my bike, feeling like a kid again, when there she was, on her daughter's bike. And it hit me clear as day. You can't ever recapture that feeling of being a kid on a bike again if you weren't a kid on a bike! And look around our neighborhoods--do you see swarms of kids flying down hills on bikes? I don't. Not like when we were kids.

And so, it caught my eye at the excellent Enviro Expo this past weekend at the Atlanta Mart downtown (to which I carpooled with Judy of Sustainable Peachtree Corners) when I rounded the corner that housed the "bike-riding" booths.

I had a conversation with a gentleman at Georgia Bikes.org about the difference between being a cyclist and being a bike rider. I'm a bike rider. I ride from point A to point B, for fun and transportation. I don't ever see myself wearing lycra, but that doesn't mean I don't benefit from being able to take my bike out of my garage and go places easily and cheaply. My bike relationship is pretty basic.

And that's the point. Bike riding is pretty basic. And if your kids are not bike riders (or cyclists), they are going to be at a distinct disadvantage in a changing world. Colleges are now offering students free bikes and other incentives to leave their cars at home. No matter what happens (or doesn't) in Atlanta and Dunwoody regarding bike-friendly infrastructure development, chances are your children are going to move to a city that is more bike-friendly. Chances are their employers are going to offer commute alternatives that reward them for riding their bikes to work. And chances are they are going to be left out if they never learned to ride as a kid. Not to mention the joys of "remembering that first freedom" that they won't experience.

That's not saying you can't learn to ride as an adult. In fact, Robyn Elliott, of Bicycle Tours of Atlanta, told me that she just taught a class of five adult women how to ride bikes for the first time. It's just that there's a window during which it is easier to learn to ride. By the time your kids are 10, it's harder. The bikes they would need to ride are larger. Peer pressure works against falling on your face in the gutter. And our hills and aggressive car traffic don't make it a joy ride.

So, here's the thing. Robyn offers classes for all levels of bike riders. She will come to your neighborhood and teach a class. Your kids will learn how to make sharp lefts and rights, how to quickly avoid a rock or other debris in the road, what all the rules of the road are, how to use hand signals, how to scan (that means look backwards while riding forward without going into a tree!) and other skills outlined in the League of American Bicyclists curriculum.

I like Robyn. I think our community could benefit from her knowledge and experience. In fact, I asked her if she would do an intro thing to bike safety and skills at Sustainable U (along with the numerous other folks, most right here in Dunwoody, who have offered to teach their amazing sustainability skills--thank you! You'll hear specifics about all that by mid-January, by the way, once we have schedules and presenters locked in). In the meantime, check out Robyn's website at www.biketoursatl.com. And start thinking of bike riding as more than a pasttime and more of a priority life skill. Be honest--how strong a bike rider is your child? Is he or she properly equipped for a bike-riding future?

"Dunwoody Grows" Local Foodshed Center?

Dunwoody Grows! from Pattie Baker on Vimeo.

I know there are issues of ownership with Brook Run Park. I know I'm just a nobody, in the power scheme of what goes on in this soon-to-be-city. But I do have an idea. Click the arrow by the video to view. And then try this link, too.

I have already received "high level" response to this video:

* My teenage daughter said, "Your voice sounds so nice." She then paused a minute and added, "Why can't it always sound that way?"

* My husband said, "A video of a fence? Did you really need video for this?"

Hey, I try.

Oh, and for those who still think food security is a waste of time about which to worry, you might be interested in this.

Next steps? As with most things I do, I'm still figuring it all out. I did meet a greenhouse farmer who supplies organic lettuce (and other) plugs to Atlanta-area organic farmers the other day when I was down at Farmer D's new store (it's on Briarcliff by Lavista). And I did get some great advice from Alice at Georgia Organics. And there is a grant that could pay to get this thing going . . .

Any other thoughts or interest?

Capital Growth: A Quick Look at London

(Photo credit: James Porter)

So London is on a tear--tearing up abandoned lots and front lawns and other unproductive spaces to embrace its recently-announced goal of 2,012 new food-growing spaces by the year 2012.

The program, called Capital Growth, aims to transform London into a green and productive city with thriving communities and delicious fresh food. According to the Capital Growth website:

In recent years there has been a tremendous upsurge of interest in food growing. This is in response to concerns about food prices, food miles and the environment. It is also because people want better access to good, healthy and affordable food, and to enjoy cultivating beautiful green spaces and meeting local people.

Four new food-growing spaces are already up and running: an apartment complex, a large personal garden being repurposed for community use, a prison, and a school. London residents have embraced these opportunities enthusiastically and are actively looking for developing, oh, 2,008 more.

I wrote to the contact person given at the Capital Gorwth website, someone named Seb, and asked why people in London embrace gardening so enthusiastically, if they ever encounter hesitation, and if so, how to overcome it. Here is the response I received:

Good question! If you're ever in London maybe we can sit down for a few hours to discuss the possibilities, as there could be many reasons!

I'm not sure I can put my finger on it myself - could be the Dig For Victory movement during WWII, could be the fact that we are an island, could be the fact that there are far fewer newspapers and media publications in the UK so it is easier to promote movements on a national scale, could be the massive interest we have in tv programmes that focus on gardening etc. etc. etc.

I haven't come across much hesitation myself. People tend to buy in to the fact that food growing is always a good idea; they just might need convincing that they have time in their lives to do it. My advice would be to start very small.

I run a project called Food Up Front (www.foodupfront.org) and we started with the idea that people could grow a box of salad to get started and this then acts as a stepping stone once they realise the benefits in growing something for themselves. If a person wants to run a marathon they wouldn't want to start with a 20 mile run so why should they be expected to start with a large piece of land when it comes to food growing? Starting with something like this could help with getting people out of their homes and in to a community garden.

Good advice, Seb. Epsecially since lettuce is my very favorite thing to grow. It's easy to grow, I can harvest it every single day or two (a leaf from each plant), growing it myself saves a ton (about $350 a season, I estimate), and it contains a life-force that disappears within a very short time of harvesting. If you have never had lettuce straight from the garden, you have never experienced this. It is almost impossible to go back to store-bought lettuce after growing your own.

And speaking of food security (yet again!), are you following the latest China import story? As of this week, the FDA is stopping all Chinese food imports that contain any form of milk (which include milk powder, with all its different names) because the melamine thing has spread throughout the entire Chinese food supply. Currently being stopped are: milk, yogurt, frozen desserts, biscuits, chocolates and cookies. The media is not communicating the brand names yet (but you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolie on our country's headline news!) but I invite you to stay tuned on this story. It affects many, many products on our supermarket shelves right now. You may be surprised to find out how many food product ingredients come from China.

As for "the Dunwoody gardening opportunity," stay tuned for that as well. Things are brewing . . . perhaps something quite unique that you might not have even imagined.

And London, we'll be watching to see what great things develop as part of your Capital Growth!

"The Neighborhood Demands It"

This is a small sampling of what I got in my farm box yesterday (for 25 bucks) from Charlotte of Riverview Farms (the largest certified organic farm in Georgia), all grown within 100 miles of here. The latest statistics I see (mentioned in Sharon Astyk's book, Depletion and Abundance) are that it takes a minimum of an acre a person to feed each person (that's for a vegetarian diet--it is almost double for a meat-based diet). That means that if we wanted to have true food security in our community, we'd have to allocate 40,000 acres to growing food.

Ain't gonna' happen, Pattie. Give it up. Go back to home gardening, where ten 4' x 5' raised beds can meet an awful lot of a family's fresh produce needs. And I already have ten, which I am continually working to improve.

Yet . . .

As I was interviewing Katrell from Dr. Bombay's the other night, I asked her about sustainability initiatives at her store and she answered every question as if, of course, they do these things.

"The neighborhood demands it," she told me.

The neighborhood demands it. The neighborhood demands it. Those words rang in my head all night. I couldn't really imagine a neighborhood that demands these things. Yet, there it was, just a handful of miles away from us here in Dunwoody.

The next day, Katrell sent me an email inviting me to come check out their land trust. Here is what she told me:

Our community bought about 15 acres within the Candler Park/ Lake Claire area from the government when Marta was diverted into a different location. The whole community owns this land trust and it is our job to keep it up. On our land trust we have:

* Community organic garden plots

* Tons of beautiful exotic plants

* Blueberry fields

* Tree climbing ropes and classes

* Some emu, goats and chickens

* Playground for the kids

* Picnic tables

* Summer camp

* An amphitheater for anyone in the community to use for plays, music, community gatherings

* A kitchen for cooking out or hosting fundraisers

* Large man-made pond

* Koi ponds and water garden

* Rain barrels

* Recycling recycling recycling--everyone takes landscaping items that they are not using and drops them off for people who need them. Anyone can go get stone, pine straw, bricks, mulch for their yard if they need it

* A community bulletin board for trading things

Yikes. I can't believe this.

But then, I fell upon a community garden in Buckhead at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. Here's what I found out about it:

The Blue Heron Nature Preserve protects and restores land along and near Nancy Creek. We also aim to focus community attention, involvement and education on the preservation and improvement of local greenspace and wetland habitat, accessibility, creek bank stabilization, and water quality along Nancy Creek.

The Preserve was founded in 2001, when a local school teacher, the North Buckhead Civic Association and a local developer worked together to set aside seven acres of floodplain along Nancy Creek, at Rickenbacker Drive near Roswell Road.

Local residents, community groups, businesses and students then joined together to help restore the land to its original state, removing invasive plants, planting native trees, and attempting to stabilize the stream bank.

More recently, through the City of Atlanta, two large pieces of land nearby have been added to the Preserve. The first is a nine-acre wetland off Emma Lane and Lakemoore Drive, and the second is the five-acre former sewer tunnel construction site on Roswell Road. Finally in 2007, the 5-acre "architect's site" at 4055 Roswell Road was purchased by the City, bringing Blue Heron holdings to about 25 acres.

As a community-based effort, the Preserve will continue to grow and provide a place of natural beauty for the community and health of our local environment. In 2006, we started a community garden, with 32 plots open to the community. Future plans call for education programs, continued community outreach, acquiring greenspace, building trails and a new pavilion at the community garden site.

And finally, as good things come in threes, I got an email from Stephanie Van Parys, the director of the Oakhurst Community Garden in Decatur. She listed exactly what things at the garden cost (as part of a fundraising campaign to encourage donations). Here goes:

Your gift of . . .

$50 could cover the supplies for five rain barrels made by the Decatur High School Exceptional Students program.

$100 could add a complete beehive to the Garden.

$250 could feed the chickens for an entire year.

$500 could host an international intern for the summer.

$750 could purchase all the plants needed to restore the Wylde Woods with native flowers, shrubs, and trees.

$1,500 could support the entire cost of offering sustainable lifestyle classes for one of the Growings On 12-week sessions.

$2,000 could cover the cost of the Boys and Girls club program that reaches 10 youth for 12 weeks

Oh, my. So much is going on so close to here (to find out more about the Oakhurst Community Garden or to donate, click here). Berkeley Lake in Norcross has a community garden, and another one elsewhere in the city is planned for 2009. And I even connected with Scott Hamilton Kennedy, a director in LA who just released a movie called The Garden. On the movie's website, it says:

From the ashes of the L.A. riots arose a lush 14-acre community garden, the largest of its kind in the United States. Now bulldozers threaten its future. If everyone told you to give up, would you?

Wait 'til you see what happens there! Scott is sending me a copy of the film to view (it is being screened in L.A. right now) and I will surely write much more about it in the near future. Here's the trailer.

And so, I'm not sure if Dunwoody will ever rally around a community garden or a city-wide strategy to increase our food security. It takes work, and who wants more work? But methinks we may one day end up as one of the only communities without one.

I, for one, love this stuff and find it fun and exciting. In fact, I just signed up for an organic FARMING course through Georgia Organics at Cane Creek Farm, which consists of seven full Saturdays, every other week starting January 31, 2009 (and my counterpart at Sustainable Alpharetta signed up as well!). If you had told me 19 years ago when I moved from Manhattan to Atlanta to become a sales promotion manager at CNN that I would one day be taking an organic farming course in Forsyth County, Georgia, I wouldn't have believed you. I guess stranger things have happened.

I have no idea where I'm going with this, but as a writer I know I need to know as much about this trend toward community sustainability as possible. Also, I think I could be of help, if not here, elsewhere. And besides, my garden could be better. :)

I guess my question to us would be, "What does our neighborhood demand?"

Oh, and as usual, all this research got me curious . . . what new things are other cities doing? Check back each Friday as I profile cities small and large around the world and their headline-making new steps toward increased food security. Tomorrow we're going to London!