You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails. |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Renewing the Countryside Newsletter
August 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In This Issue
-- This Month's Featured Stories
-- RTC News Flash
-- Resource Pick: Daily Yonder
-- Regional Partner Pick: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency -- What We're Reading: The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved by Sandor Elix Katz -- Conference Picks: The North American Ecotourism Conference 2007 -- Where We're Going: Mackinac Island, MI -- What Does RTC Do?
Welcome to the August Renewing the Countryside newsletter, designed to provide a monthly toolbox of resources, ideas and inspiration for your own efforts and interests in rural revitalization.
Thank you for your continued support of Renewing the Countryside. Jan Joannides, Executive Director |
|
|
This Month's Featured Stories --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sutcliffe Vineyards
Cortez, CO Blending his earlier experience farming in Wales with his knowledge of the gourmet foods industry that he had gained as a successful restaurateur, John Sutcliffe became a grape grower and vintner when he moved to the far southwest corner of Colorado in the mid 1990s. Sutcliffe Vineyards now produces more than a thousand cases of fine wine each year. Growing grapes at 5,300 feet above sea level isn't just a matter of turning sunlight into sugar, but rather also part of his strategy against what Sutcliffe calls a "new wave of settlers bent on remodeling the West into an endless playground."
Phyllis Hogan's Winter Sun
Phyllis Hogan lives life according to her own script. Applied ethnobotanist-trader, mother-community leader, mentor-scholar, activist-musician - these are the many roles she assumes as part of her philosophy of reverence and reciprocity. Phyllis's business, Winter Sun Trading Company, is in a historic building in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona. Winter Sun is a modern Southwest trading post, 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. In the back, a smaller, low-ceilinged room - filled with herbs, spices, teas, soaps, and salves - has the feel of a century-old apothecary shop. |
|
|
RTC News Flash --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eco Experience In Progress at MN State Fair
The "Eco Experience" at the Minnesota State Fair is in full swing through September 3, with RTC managing the Healthy Local Foods area again this year. Upcoming theme days include New Farmers Day on Sat. Sept. 1 (sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project), Organic Day on Sun. Sept. 2 (sponsored by Organic Valley Family of Farms) and Kids and Food on Mon. Sept. 3 (sponsored by the Youth Farm and Gale Woods Farm). Click here for more information on the Healthy Local Foods exhibit within the Eco Experience.
RTC Wisconsin Book Coming Soon The next book in the RTC state series -- Renewing the Countryside: Wisconsin -- will be out in September, a partnership project of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and the Northern Center for Community and Economic Development (University of Wisconsin - Superior and University of Wisconsin - Extension) and distributed by the University of Wisconsin Press. Various educational outreach and marketing efforts are currently underway, including presentations at the Wisconsin Book Festival, Wisconsin Historical Society, book signings and media coverage. Look to to the September RTC Newsletter for more detail on ordering your hot-off-the-press copy. Minnesota Cooks Calendar Available The Minnesota Cooks event held on Tuesday, August 28 was a roaring success. Read what the Star Tribune had to say here and order one of the beautiful 16- month calendars with farm photos and chef recipes for $10.
|
|
|
Resource Pick: Daily Yonder ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As mainstream TV and newspapers lessen their
coverage and focus on rural America, the Daily
Yonder aims to bring a vibrant "daily multi-media
buffet of news, commentary, research, and features"
via the web. Published by the Center for Rural
Strategies and developed with foundation support,
the Daily Yonder utilizes an interactive blog format to
communicate daily breaking news, video and live
radio from coast to coast. With the 2008 presidential
election around the corner, the Daily Yonder covers
how the candidates are reaching (or ignoring) rural
communities, encouraging readers to contribute their
voices and opinions online.
|
|
|
Regional Partner Pick: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With a mission of protecting Minnesota's environment
through monitoring environmental quality and
enforcing environmental regulations, the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) leads a variety of
educational outreach and legislative initiatives,
working with Minnesotans to protect, conserve and
improve the state's
environment and enhance residents' quality of life.
For the second year, the MPCA is sponsoring the Eco
Experience at the Minnesota State Fair, partnering
with Renewing the Countryside and other regional
partners for the Healthy Local Food exhibit.
Learn more about the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency . . . |
|
|
What We're Reading: The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved by Sandor Elix Katz --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Educate yourself about food choices and save
America from the bland, nutritionally void, and
corporate profit driven options now loading the
supermarket shelves. The rallying cry behind the
book, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved:
Inside America's Underground Food Movement by
Sandor Elix Katz, this book profiles grassroots
activists around the country who challenge
assumptions about the food industry. From
community-supported local farmers to raw milk
producers forced to operate under the regulation
radar, this book narrates how average people can
make responsible purchase choices and take direct
responsibility for their own health and nutrition.
|
|
|
Conference Picks: The North American Ecotourism Conference 2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaders in the global ecotourism movement will
gather in Madison, WI, this September 26 to 28 for
the North American Ecotourism Conference,
sponsored by the International Ecotourism Society
(TIES). As ecotourism and green travel grow as
industries, such gatherings further showcase the
potential impact mindful travelers can make
collectively. RTC staffers -- Jan Joannides, Lisa
Kivirist
and John Ivanko -- will be presenting at the
conference, which, naturally, aims to be a green
gathering through initiatives like carbon offsets, local
foods at meals and encouraging public transportation
use.
For more information on the North American Ecotourism Conference . . |
|
|
Where We're Going: Mackinac Island, MI --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leave fossil fuel dependencies behind when you
travel to Mackinac Island off the northern tip of
Michigan. Since 1896, the motorized
"horseless carriage" has been banned from the
island as cars spooked the
horses. Today, Mackinac Island offers a unique
destination "traveling back" to a simpler time when
folks linger to chat on street corners. Accessible by a
15-minute ferry ride from Mackinac City, the island --
two miles wide and three miles across -- lures
bicyclists craving car-free cruising.
|
|
|
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.
As always, you can support our work by making an online donation or purchasing books from the Renewing the Countryside store. We're grateful to the Beim Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Emma B. Howe Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, the Bush Foundation, The Brico Fund and North Central SARE, for contributing to our work. Find out more about Renewing the Countryside . Do you like what we do? Contributions from people like you are an important source of our funding. Please consider a contribution to Renewing the Countryside's work.
|
|
|
Contact Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
email:
info@rtcinfo.org
phone:
1-866-378-0587
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
