Permaculture Out West

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Well, a whole year has gone by, and POW is officially a year old. As part of the birthday celebrations, we’re going to have our very first Annual General meeting to elect people for roles of Convenor, Secretary, Treasurer, Events Co-ordinator and Fund raiser. Don’t feel that you could do any of these roles –  the people in these roles at the moment have never done these roles before. You learn as you go along, and maybe help improve it by seeing the role in a different way.

The meeting will be held at De’s home, 28 Fontein St West Footscray, starting at 6.30pm. So, feel welcome to come along and maybe even throw your name into the ring for one of the roles. We’re more than happy to join new members up on the night.

There will be a cake!

The POW Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 25th August 2010 at 28 Fontein St West Footscray.

The elections will be held for the following roles:

CONVENOR – Description

• receive and answer emails addressed to admin@pow.org.au
• receive and respond to correspondence, written and electronic, or forward to someone else to handle where appropriate
• Arrange venues for meetings
• Keep PcM up to date with goings on with POW

SECRETARY – description

Generally administer the organisation’s affairs – unless delegated to someone else, including -

• Maintain hard copy files of correspondence, including copies of emails that are pertinent to POW decisions (any correspondence listed on POW agendas)
• Maintain hard copy records of the Minutes of all Committee and General Meetings and of Annual Reports and forward copies of minutes to PcM Secretary.
• In consultation with Office Bearers prepare and circulate agendas in advance of POW Executive and General Meetings
• Keep minutes of POW Executive and General Meetings, circulate drafts to participants for comment and final versions to be uploaded POW Website
• Receive and process applications for admission to membership and of renewals
• Provide lists of applications for membership for the agendas for Executive meetings
• Maintain a Register of Members of POW
• Maintain contact with external groups that have similar interests to POW
• Arrange the exchange of newsletters with external groups, by email or post
• Forward to the Events Coordinator the details of events proposed by other groups that are of potential interest to PcM members (Events Co-ordinator forwards to PcM)
• Receive and answer emails addressed to info@pow.org.au
• Receive and answer emails addressed to membership@pow.org.au

TREASURER – description

• Maintain hard copy records of all financial transactions
• Prepare periodic and annual financial reports and annual financial statement for lodgement with Consumer Affairs
• Pay accounts
• Prepare and maintain a budget for the management of the organisation’s finances
• Process and bank subscription fees
• Maintain records of rebates due to POW from PcM (e.g. memberships etc)

FUNDRAISER – description

• Work with Treasurer
• Co ordinate ways of raising funds and present them to the POW meetings

EVENTS / PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR – description

• Liaise with all branches of PcM to coordinate the holding of events
• Maintain a Calendar of events and forward to the PIE Editor periodically for publication
• Maintain lists of equipment held by branches of PcM and coordinate its use for events
• Maintain stocks of publicity material (banners, posters, brochures) for use at public events

Find out about the health of our waterways from a panel of experts with information on:
     ·         How to build your very own raingarden
     ·         The impact of pollution on wildlife
     ·         EPA Enforcement
     ·         Industry’s initiatives to protect the environment with Toyota
     ·         Water bug sampling with Healthy Waterways Waterwatch
You can also get up close and personal with some of our local wildlife with Wild Action Zoo and there will be craft activities to entertain the kids.

Healthy Waterways Waterwatch program is running this event as part of the Drain Spotters project being run across the west in 2010.

When:             2:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Sunday July 25
Where:           Footscray Boat Social Club Hall, Maribyrnong Boulevard, Footscray.  Melway 42 D2
Please book to assist us with catering.  For more information or to book, please contact Sam Harrison: sam.harrison@melbournewater.com.au Phone 9235 7037

for Mums, Dads, Bubs and Toddlers!

Come along to the Maidstone Community Centre Garden (Yardley St, Maidstone) on Monday the 19th of July, 9:30am – 11:30am for a bit of ‘Playblitzing’.

A Playblitz is just a collection of Mums, Dads, Bubs and Preschoolers doing a bit of working bee style community gardening.

We will have kids activities on the day, chooks to cuddle, a seed raising workshop, songs and lots of fun….text De on 04300 160 96 or just come along.

We’re having a permablitz on Saturday the 3rd July from 10am. We will be building a chicken coup, potting fruit trees, building garden boxes and making a big mandala vegie patch. A scrumptious lunch will be provided as well as morning and afternoon tea.

There will most likely be a dance off and some music so wear old clothes with your dancing shoes and bring and instrument as well as any gardening gear you have around. There will be plenty to learn about garden design, chickens, community bonding and blitzing.

The permablitz gurus will be teaching any one interested how to run their own blitz so it’s a particularly useful for anyone wanting to learn the ropes. Please call 0411 355 910 if you would like to come. Hope to see you there!

The next Permaculture Convergence is just around the corner.

We’d love you to be a part of this great event.

Visit www.apc10.org and read about our programmed highlights.

For rent: 190 Bush Inn Road, Wattle Flat

Available mid August
Spacious three bedroom mudbrick and stone solar powered house on a 20 acre block with established orchard and vegetable garden. Located on the fringe of the Creswick Forest, just 15 minutes from Ballarat in Victoria and 25 minutes from Daylesford. Open plan living/dining/kitchen, study, bathroom and ensuite, hydronic heating and self contained caboose. Prefer to lease furnished. $270 per week, negotiable in exchange for maintenance/caretaking role.
For more information and a flyer about the property, please contact Lisa on 0438 029 676.

http://feralfruitmelbourne.wordpress.com/

Feral fruit trees are fruit trees growing in or overhanging public spaces that are accessible to the urban hunter-gatherer. This website seeks to promote localized food gathering in cities where food is being obtained from increasingly distant sources. The current system of food delivery into urban centres poses unnecessary strain upon both the economy and the environment due to transportation costs. Feral fruit tree harvesting transforms our current food distribution system into a more sustainable alternative and promotes a consciousness of the ecology within our urban environments. Urban hunter-gatherers can also enjoy the benefit of fresh fruit that is often organic and not to mention free.

Digest No #108, Friday 11th June 2010

1. WA Dept of Ag moves to biotech and Murdoch University – investigation needed
2. Why is Coles involved in Monsanto’s GM canola photo competition?
3. GM boosterism rampant– signs the technology is about to collapse?
4. Techno optimism and photo of the 12 year old MacDonald’s hamburger
5. Inspirational US farmer, Joel Salatin, shows how to have a thriving local food system
6. Labelling confusion – MADGE questioned
7. Take action, events and inspirations

1. WA Dept of Ag moves to biotech and Murdoch University – investigation needed

Now the ban has been lifted biotech is sweeping into the state’s agricultural sector. 150 jobs will be lost in the Department of Agriculture and Food (WADAF) amidst allegations that dissenters are fired.

The Department has also relocated from South Perth to Murdoch University and appears to have become a biotechnology centre. Associated organisations to the university include: Grain Biotech Australia, NemGenix Pty Ltd, Spirogene Ltd and Saturn Biotech.

NemGenix has received grants from our Federal Government and is also partnered by Dow Agrosciences. It is developing GM wheat, barley and sugarcane. Spirogene develops GM vaccines for animals. The WA government will build two facilities “in Katanning and Merredin, to test new varieties of GM crops supplied by biotechnology companies.” The WA government is boosting funding to biotechnology by $9 million.

Here are the WA governments media releases on the issue:

State Budget 2010-11: Funding injection for grains innovation

State Budget 2010-11: Investment in agriculture increased

Interestingly WA canola breeder whistleblower Patrick Fels says the WADAF has grown too close to the multinational biotech companies. He alleges the trials last year were shonky, that AgSeed used publicly owned varieties but did not pay royalties to the Department for their use and that senior management behaved improperly in terminating the Departments canola breeding programme . He said “A ‘boys club’ of senior agricultural bureaucrats is acting against the wishes of West Australians by ending crop breeding programs, divesting public-owned genetic assets to the private sector and handing market power over to GM corporations.” Mr Fels was sacked last year. Agseed is a division of Monsanto. Monsanto owns the GM Roundup Ready canola that was released this year in WA. Monsanto’s share price in January was $86. It had dropped to $49 yesterday before Monsanto announced a $1B share buyback scheme. GM is failing for all the obvious reasons, yet Australia is jumping on board.

GM canola was approved in WA this year despite strong and well-informed opposition both in Parliament and the general public. Any cool examination of the evidence would suggest caution over GM as is shown in this excellent overview of GM by Greens MP Giz Watson.

Also the WA government has reneged on a promise to have a register of GM farms. Instead organic farmers received a letter asking them to notify their neighbours of their organic status.

In summary weeks after the decision to allow GM canola:

• the State’s agriculture department sacks 150 staff,
• moves to a university that promotes biotech and
• promotes only biotech breeding
• uses $9 million of taxpayers’ money
• broke the promise of a register of GM canola sites

The links between governments, universities and biotech companies seem to make them one body with three heads. Where is the oversight and regulation?

These actions are especially suspicious as GM breeding is less successful than non-GM breeding. Ten years of trying to develop a GM potato with blight resistance is still at the experimental stage while non-GM breeding has produced several varieties of potatoes already on the market. This article shows why GM breeding is a risky and unproductive enterprise.

Maybe there needs to be a Royal Commission into what is happening in WA’s agriculture sector?

2. Why is Coles involved in Monsanto’s GM canola photo competition?

Coles Myer vouchers are prizes in a photo competition being run by Monsanto for GM canola farmers.

Coles says that its own branded products do NOT contain GM. GM canola is likely to be used as an animal feed and products from animals fed GM (milk, meat, fish, eggs, honey) do not have to be labelled. Why are Coles part of this promotion? Tell them what you think.

This short extract from the TV show Hungry Beast shows how Coles and Woolies together control 70% of the grocery market. They use this power to squeeze out rivals and dominate farmers.

3. GM boosterism rampant– signs the technology is about to collapse

There has been a noted increase in stories about how GM is the way of the future. They come from:

• Professor Moloney the new director of Rothamsted research station in the UK.
• Dr Per Pinstrup-Andersen, professor of food, nutrition and public policy at Cornell University in the US.
• Here is Dr Per Pinstrup-Andersen again on Margaret Throsby. He is a supporter of the private sector and the green revolution.
• Dr Pedro Sanchez promoting “millennium villages” in Malawi
• Forum at Adelaide University. GM crops were seen as part of the mix to feed the world.

Once again fears are fanned that people will starve without GM and new technologies. This ignores the fact that the biggest research effort ever done into how to feed the world did not see a role for GM. Instead it showed agro ecological farming can nourish the world and restore economies and land. The world already grows enough food to make everyone fat. It is just that selling biofuels and animal feed is more profitable than feeding poor people.

Additionally the policies of the IMF and World Bank from the 1980’s have meant many countries were forbidden to support their farmers and instead were encouraged to earn export income. Now there is a sustained push to bring a new green revolution to Africa. MADGE reported on this last year, with special reference to Pedro Sanchez and his Millenium villages that are not the great success story he promotes.

Australia is not the only country awash with this propaganda:

• A US survey show people would accept GM wheat if it was produced sustainably using less land and pesticides. Since no GM crop in 14 years has been shown to fulfil these criteria, while other methods of growing have, why ask the question?
• Scandal has erupted in the UK as 2 members of the Food Standards Agency steering group have resigned over its bias towards GM.
• Professor Brian Wynne resigned over its “failure of institutional integrity” as he claimed the half a million pound consultation exercise into GM foods is “rigged”. Dr Helen Wallace resigned over FSA’s links to agribusiness saying its debates are “no more than a PR exercise on behalf of GM companies.” Hear Professor Brian Wynne interviewed on the BBC.

Sooner or later the discovery will be made that the GM emperor is wearing no clothes.

4. Techno optimism and the 12 year old MacDonald’s hamburger

There is an outbreak of techno-optimism as shown by this kitchen without pots and pans.

There are also plans to extend the shelf life of food through the use of nanopackaging.

This may be unnecessary as this photo of a 12 year old MacDonald’s hamburger still looks as good as new.

The European environment committee seems to want to spoil the techno-optimists party by suggesting that products containing nanotechnology already on the market should be removed until safety testing can be done.

Techno-optimism is also a name given to a technique used to distract attention from a problem and to mitigate its seriousness. We saw this recently when the announcement of Craig Venter’s first ‘synthetic organism’ gave rise to techno-optimistic hopes that one day we may be able to create a synthetic organism that can clean up oil spills. This is a noble idea, but we have seen these techno-optimist expressions before.

The very first judgment to allow the patenting of a life organism was in fact a GM bacteria with the supposed properties of being able to clean up oil spills. This patent then lead the way for patenting of all genetically modified materials we have today. However the oil eating bacteria unfortunatley was not a success and is not being used in the current Gulf of Mexico oil crisis we have today.

Consider the purposes to which techno-optimism is put. We are told that Nuclear power waste isn’t a serious issue because we’re going to have a high-tech solution for it in the future. The crime of a massive oil spill isn’t so serious because we’re going to have a synthetic organism to fix it in the future. Techno-optimism serves those who profit from making a mess now. What techno-optimist solutions will be needed to clean up problems that may arise from untested nanotechnology?

5) Inspirational US farmer, Joel Salatin, shows how to have a thriving local food system

Joel Salatin is the self confessed lunatic farmer who features in the films Food Inc and Fresh. He runs Polyface farm. “We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” MADGE was lucky enough to attend two talks by him at the Lake House in Daylesford recently. Here are his essential components in a local food economy:

1) Producer

• Need to make agriculture aesthetically and aromatically sensually romantic
• Needs transparency to build the reputation
• Embedded in the community
• Solar driven ie use animals and lightweight fences , fertiliser in-sourced and not from outside, retain surface runoff water, value add on farms
• Jeffersonian intellectual agrarian concept
• Collaborate with others

2) Young people on the farm

• We need the best and the brightest for land stewardship
• The average age of people in healthy industries should be around 35. In the US farmers are 60 years old on average
• Most innovation starts very small. Current regulations tend to stifle this and this needs to change
• Polyface has an apprenticeship and intern programme

3) Accounting:

• Someone has to watch the money
• Need to divide into categories to show exactly what part of the business is making/losing money. Joel has 180 categories.

4) Marketing:

• Needs a gregarious story teller
• If you can’t do it yourself, outsource ie one group of produce growers employs someone to market for them. They pay 10% commission but it frees them up to farm.

5) Distribution:
This is often where local food systems fail. As can’t achieve economies of scale instead need to be collaborative, creative, fluid, responsive and be where people are. Polyface farms sales are:

• 25% on farm sales
• 35% direct to restaurants within 40 mile radius. Always has the delivery as a separate cost on the invoice otherwise produce ends up subsidising the transport. Chefs are welcome to collect from farm. Can also outsource delivery and contractor can see exactly income available.
• 45% metropolitan buying club. Uses the internet to have a running inventory so people can see what is available. Delivered 8 times a year. Drops pre-ordered, pre-sold food at hostess houses that others collect from.

Other creative examples given were:

• A school bus turned into a traditional town store complete with counter, shelving, pot belly stove and chairs to sit and chat. Produce collected from farmers and driven into the city to sell to office workers. It is so successful now converting a second bus into a mobile kitchen staffed by chefs to show people how to cook. This attracts customers to the chef’s restaurant as well.
• Sponsors send vans to inner city food deserts
• Box scheme community supported agriculture. Farmers stay on the farm but consumers get fresh food. Examples in Australia would include the Food Connect systems in several cities and other box schemes.
• Internet based system run by people with a background in pizza delivery. Has 30-40 farmers. Customers place an order by Tuesday 8pm. Wed am gofers are sent to pick up the produce, collated that evening and sent out on Thursday morning 5-8am. Delivery by moonlightling pizza deliverers.

6) Buyer/patron

• The vital catalyst – someone who realises that life is more than the supermarket
• Needs to be: philosophically consistent, appreciate seasonality, rediscover kitchens, realise how expensive processed food is, “don’t go shopping – go to the pantry”

Joel Salatin was enthusiastic and full of interesting and inspiring ideas. It is obvious that he takes great delight in nurturing young farmers and that his dedication is paying off as ex-apprentices often set up nearby therefore increasing the diversity and depth of the local food economy. As Joel said “Change this food system one bite at a time and heal our planet.”

Hear Joel being interviewed on Radio National

Joel will be running workshops in Australia later on this year.

Watch this film to show how a landscape of bare hills was turned into a beautiful productive landscape.

6) Labelling confusion

Encouragingly the NSW Food Authority successfully prosecuted smallgoods manufacture Primo for labelling as “Product of Australia” and “Meat content 100% Australian” meat that had come from Denmark.

A MADGE contacted us about a recent Channel 7 programme reporting that food from China imported into Australia via New Zealand was not required to have labels showing it originated in China.” MADGE was unable to find the report but here is an article from last year on imports from China and the limitations of labelling.

7) Take action, events and inspriation

Take Action:

Ring Coles Myer to ask them why they are part of a Monsanto photo competition see item 2

Help defend Karri forests and agriculture in WA from bauxite mining.

Stop a biomass power plant in Manjimup, WA.

Review of the Gene Technology Regulations – due by 18th June. Geneethics says “The proposed changes, in most cases, weaken present assessment and monitoring protocols so need critical review. We urge you to have your say. Please let Gene Ethics know if you will make a submission as we’ll prepare a draft NGO discussion briefing this week.”

Perth City Farm Cafe, and exciting new enterprise, get involved.

Conferences:

Australasian Association of Professional and Applied Ethics AAPAE Sydney 15th to 17th June 2010.

If anyone is going to the workshop entitled “The Ethical Challenges of New Technologies – Risk & Responsibility in Nanotechnology; Biotechnology & Synthetic Biology” MADGE would be very interested in a report.

Sunday 27th and Monday 28th June 8am to 4pm, St Ita’s Hall, Highgate Hill, Brisbane Food Sovereignty through farmer solidarity Brisbane. Hear Australian farmers and also from the worldwide farmer group Via Campesina. Don’t miss this! Details on facebook.

Patents on Seed, The Turning Point. Munich, Germany, July 19th 2010; 10.15 am to 3.15 pm. Conference to discuss the negative impacts of patents granted on plants and animals. Will also look at necessary changes and how to implement these.

Donations welcome for:

Radiothon for 3CR. This is a community radio station that runs great programmes and often interviews MADGE. It is run entirely on tax deductable donations. Please consider supporting it especially programmes like: Food Fight, Hometime and Tuesday breakfast programme.

MADGE – After 3 years of operation this is the first time we have asked for donations. Any money received would be spent on:

• MADGE leaflets
• An expensive upcoming conference a couple of us want to attend and report back on
• Travel to various speaking engagements and meetings

We are volunteers so none would be spent on wages. We will be concentrating more on research and collating what we have already done. Digests will report what we are up to but will be less frequent.

To make a donation please direct deposit to:

Bendigo Bank
BSB Number: 633-000
Account Number: 139388631
Account Title: MADGE AUSTRALIA INC.

We do not have tax deductable status. If you would like tax deductibility donate to:

Geneethics – a network concerned about new technologies

Greenpeace – who produce the TrueFood Guide and have organised the Chef’s Charter and much more.

Film:

Saturday 12th June, Forum Cinema at Shop1/ 7 Pendrigh Place, St Helens, Tasmania 7216 at 12:30pm. A new documentary “A worm in the Apple” is about how “Tasmania suffers from tyranny at the hands of a corrupt government, propelled by the fuel of commerce.” This is the story of the people who are fighting back. RSVP only $10. entrance fee to pay for the cinema. A wine bar and cafe are also available. EMAIL to RSVPecobard@gmail.com. You can see a trailer and purchase the DVD here.

GM Watch has “trawled the web in search of the best videos on GM and related issues.” See the list they have compiled here.

Books:

The town that saved food.

Farm City.

STOP PRESS

MADGE hopes that you have enjoyed the past three years of digests. Originally they were weekly and until recently, fortnightly. MADGE now wants to concentrate more on research and collating what we have already done. Digests will report what we are up to but will be less frequent. Please follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well.

Happy Eating
Love
MADGE

There’s lots of talk in the media on the pros and cons of wind power and how it fits (or doesn’t fit) into the Australian electricity grid.

Sustainable Energy Australia has produced a detailed briefing document on exactly this topic.

Click here to read the pdf document.

Have you been feeling the cold lately? Finding it hard to stay warm now that the grey winter is well and truly upon us? South Melbourne Commons is the place for you.

We have lots of jobs to keep your circulation moving and your karma positive. Our tireless volunteers have been keeping warm, getting fit, having fun and occasionally getting dirty all with a free lunch.

We have knocked off a lot of small but important tasks and are getting lots done in these cold months. Doors are being painted, sanding continues unabated, much “trimming” of plants has occurred and each week we find and clear more trash then you’d believe.

I am sure the question on everyone’s lips is when can I come and help out?

Available dates are listed below. Remember if you are coming, please RSVP so we know how many people to prepare lunch for and we can get a full day of tasks ready for everyone. RSVP to Martin Pritchard ecomarket.melbourne@foe.org.au or phone 0403 440 996.

Volunteer dates for June:

Friday 18th

Sunday 20th

Friday 25th

Saturday 26th

Fridays there are people onsite from 9-5 and weekend volunteer days run from 10am – 3pm. Even if you only have an hour to spare, let us know you’re coming and we’ll make sure that hour is put to great use.

A big thanks as always, to everyone who has come and helped out at South Melbourne Commons, since the beginning and especially in the last week. If you’ve volunteered and we haven’t seen you for a while, drop us a line and let us know what you’re up to or come and see how much progress we’ve made.

http://www.melbourne.foe.org.au/?q=rf/ecomarket