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Renewing the Countryside Newsletter
December 2005
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In This Issue
-- This Month's Featured Stories
-- RTC News Flash
-- Resource Pick: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
-- Partner Pick of the Month: Indian Land Tenure Foundation -- What We're Reading: Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life -- Blue Hen Vietnamese Kitchen: Los Angeles, CA -- Giving Is In Season--Share Renewing the Countryside With Your Friends! -- What Does RTC Do?
Greetings friends of RTC--we'd like to hear from you! Please tell us about your favorite local foods restaurants and sustainability resources, and we'll feature them in our next issue! Just email andi@rtcinfo.org and put "Where We're Going" in the subject heading. |
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This Month's Featured Stories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jones Family Farm: Where the Customers
Come and
Get
It
Hailed as one of the outstanding reasons to visit New England by Yankee Magazine, you don't need to be a farmer to appreciate what the Jones Family Farms has accomplished through the past six generations of good farming practices and diversification. Visitors to the 400 acre farm will get the chance to harvest their own crop-- be it luscious strawberries or blueberries, pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, or just the right Christmas tree to fit in their front room. The Best Trading Company Under the Winter Sun The woman behind Winter Sun Trading Company is as colorful as her place of work: a historic building in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, filled with treasures and tinctures collected from local artisans, wildcrafters, and healers. In the front of Winter Sun, walls are hung with a beautiful collection of traditional Hopi katsina carvings, glass-topped cases are filled with silver jewelry, and yucca baskets hold bundles of sagebrush. The vision for Winter Sun started thirty years ago, when Hogan made her first trip to the Hopi Reservation. She became close friends with Herbert, a Hopi medicine man, and read Alfred Whiting?s Ethnobotany of the Hopi. |
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RTC News Flash ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Few Announcements...
Time for Rural Action! Find out more about Prairie Rural Action....
Renewing the Countryside Youth Book!
For more information, contact Beth Munnich at 1.866.378.0587 or beth@rtcinfo.org.
Curriculum Makes Its Debut
Upcoming Calendar!
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Resource Pick: Center for Rural Entrepreneurship ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship's goal is to
build more
"prosperous, dynamic, and sustainable economies" in
rural
America--by supporting
entrepreneurs. As part of the Rural Policy Research
Institute
(RUPRI), the Center conducts research and promotes
policies
that support and stimulate private and public
entrepreneurship. Visit their website, www.ruraleship.org, and you'll find endless information about the policies, issues, and resources that are integral to rural economical development. |
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Partner Pick of the Month: Indian Land Tenure Foundation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recognizing the numerous land problems facing
Indians
today, The Indian Land Tenure Foundation was
formed in
order to support initiatives that offer education,
economic
training, and legal support related to Indian land
tenure
issues.
Community-owned and community-directed, the non- profit organization includes Indian people on and off reservations, along with members of tribes, tribal governments, and non- Indians who are connected to Indian land issues. We're honored to have the opportunity to begin partnering with ILTF to produce a series of books on Indian Land Tenure--more details to come! |
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What We're Reading: Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perhaps you've heard this tale before: a young couple, fed up
with the corporate lifestyle, moves to the country to find a
more fulfilling way of life. But in John Ivanko and Lisa
Kivirist's book Rural Renaissance, there's a lot more to the
story. In addition to documenting their remarkable lifestyle
shift, from corporate marketing to running a "sustainable bed
and breakfast" and small farm, Rural Renaissance tells you
what you really want to know-- like for instance, "Can you
actually make a decent living that way?" In addition, John
and Lisa offer their readers the sort of tools and well-earned
wisdom that are indispensable to anyone working to balance
values with livelihood and who yearn for greater self-
reliance.
Lisa and John have emerged as leading voices in the sustainable agriculture movement, and with their marketing background, they're uniquely qualified to sing its praises. In recent years, they've traveled all over the United States sharing their story and learning about those of other farmers, rural entrepreneurs and small business owners. They've encouraged other aspiring homesteaders to take the plunge towards renewable energy and conservation, homegrown food, right livelihood, and land stewardship. We feel lucky to count Lisa and John as an integral part of Renewing the Countryside, contributing their media and marketing expertise and on-the-ground insights. We founded the Rural Renaissance Network (RRN) with Lisa and John back in 2003 to provide resources and networking opportunities which we plan to expand in scope in the future. Find out more about the RRN at www.ruralrenaissance.org Buy the book! Proceeds from the sales of Rural Renaissance as well as ten percent of the co-authors' proceeds from the sales of the book support, in part, the Rural Renaissance Network.
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Blue Hen Vietnamese Kitchen: Los Angeles, CA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For this month's "Where We're Going," we'd like to
direct your taste buds to an article written
by our friend Eliza Thomas, Associate Editor of the LA
holistic health magazine Whole Life Times.
From the outside, Blue Hen Vietnamese Kitchen looks like just another Vietnamese restaurant in sprawling Los Angeles--but you can expect more than just tasty Asian cuisine. Owners Diep Tran and Que Dang are passionate about seasonal, organic food, and supporting local farmers, and their principles are reflected in everything they serve.
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Giving Is In Season--Share Renewing the Countryside With Your Friends! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Choose from Renewing the Countryside's growing
selection of
beautiful books on successful, sustainable enterprises
in
America's rural communities. These unique collections
of
stories and photographs are perfect gifts for your
family
and friends in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota,
Washington,
Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and elsewhere!
If you place an order between now and December 15, you'll get free shipping, and 25% off Values of Agrarian Landscapes. To receive this great discount*, visit store.rtcmarket.org and enter "Holiday" in the "referral" box on your order, or call us at 1-866-378-0587. *This discount will be reflected on your credit card bill, but will not appear in the on-line RTC Store shopping cart. |
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What Does RTC Do? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Renewing the Countryside is a 501(c)3 non-profit
that strengthens rural areas by championing and
supporting farmers, artists, entrepreneurs,
educators, activists, and others who are
revitalizing the countryside through innovative
endeavors. We build awareness and support for these
initiatives by collecting and sharing stories of
rural renewal, providing practical assistance and
networking opportunities for those working to
improve rural America, and fostering connections
between urban and rural people.
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
andi@rtcinfo.org
phone:
1-866-378-0587
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