Agriculture in the Classroom

Teaching "an apple a day...." still counts in the classroom.

After asking my girlfriend how her day was at work the other day, I learned about an agricultural initiative focusing on children and grade schools. As a public health nurse she works closely with school district #61 here in Victoria. Within the schools, part of her role is to promote a healthy school environment and healthy student lifestyle. A way for her to achieve these goals is to connect the schools with applicable community initiatives and programs.

She explained a particular initiative she explained to me called 'The BC School Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Program'. Using only BC grown fruit and vegetable produce, schools connected with the program are delivered 1 serving of produce per student and school staff member twice a month. The benefits of a program such as this affects many in the school community and agricultural throughout BC.

Children at a young age have the opportunity to learn about healthy nutrition which encourages a healthy community and lifelong values for this generation. School staff have the opportunity to participate and be role models for students by eating healthy fruit and vegetables with the children in the classroom. This healthy nutrition awareness in the classroom can then be taken from the classroom back home with the students to thier families to further promote healthy lifestyle choices in the home, hopefully putting pressure on their parents to start purchasing locally as well. It teaches these students and their families about local produce that they have access to, and that they can choose it over foreign produce.

Local BC farmers promote consumption of their fruit and vegetables through the initiative, which in turn boosts BC economy. Green house gasses and emissions are reduced as less transportation of the products is needed. Partnerships created in this initiative are through the Overwaitea Food Group; Dynamex Couriers; the BC Ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture and Lands; Community Nutritionist of BC; Act Now BC; and various BC farms and produce suppliers who encourage community development and sustainability.

I think this a great program and really capatilizes on social capital. It is effective because it is starting at the bottom, with the kids....What will your resonse be when your son asks why you don't purchase local produce?

Check it out at http://www.aitc.ca/bc/programs/snack-program/program-information.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, a local apple a day keeps the recession away.

Measure once, Cut twice, Pay Twice

Sustainable building and infrastructure has gained much popularity in the last few years, WHY?

Is it because everyone wants to fit the 'Green Model'? I hope so, yet I doubt it. Economics, why people make the decisions they do, has always interested me and inspired me to ask- why? Typically the answer comes down to......... bones, bills, green, denaros, cash, loot, the wad, etc.

I have asked a few business men why sustainable building? More than once I have gotten the answer, " I don't give a **** about the environment, but this green thing works. Not only does a green check increase the value, but it is saving me money in the long run." More efficient appliances, better insulation and higher quality materials may cost more up front, but energy efficiency saves money and better quality lasts longer. Statistical analysis has proven that sustainable building may cost more upfront, take longer to mature but pays in the end. We were shown a very interesting graph in class portraying this, however I do not have access to it at the moment.

Sure, some individuals do care about the environment and will alter their habits for environmental benefit. This is great; however the majority of people are not willing to take on significant cost in doing so. Why do people ride their bikes? One reason may be to reduce GHG's, however there are typically many complimentary reasons; exercise, savings on gas, quicker, lack of ulterior transportation. I am guilty here, I ride my bike because I enjoy it, for health and monetary rewards. I do enjoy doing my part to reduce GHG's however this is not the subject my decision is based on.

In terms of sustainable building I think it is a great idea, and may want to pursue it in my future. Building self sustaining communities makes sense. The measure once, cut twice, pay twice mentality that has occurred in past booms seemed an easy way to make some quick coin, but now it is starting to cost and people are starting to agree that it was not worth it.

Facebook

What an interesting website that took the world by storm.

It was probably three years ago now that I first heard about facebook. My initial reaction was, "what a ridiculous idea." I couldn't figure out why you would want to post random pictures of yourself on a website... what was the catch? My friends continued to sign up and invite me, insisting that I should check it out. Word of mouth is typically a very strong seller, in this case however, it did not close the deal. It wasn't until many of my friends had already signed up that I considered it. It seemed to be the norm. Sure enough, I signed up to see what all the fuss was about and soon became addicted just as the rest of them.

Why is one lured in? Is it that connection to friends, the mysteriousness about it, the social concept? I'm not exactly sure, although I hardly know anyone that does not have it these days. My mom still doesn't but many aunts and uncles, the old and the young do.

I admit, I do not have the time to visit, or call many of my friends, this way I can sort of keep up. The mobility of people today seems so great that one soon ends up with connections all over. One can also really start to see the map of inter-connections. Work, family, friends, common interests...it seems you know someone, who knows someone else who you know. The "my sisters, friends, mom's, uncle's, boss's niece" kind of thing (this may be amplified for me as I am from Saskatchewan).

Events can be organized, group messages can be sent, common interest groups can be started. There are many many ways that facebook can be used as a networking tool. But does it lead to increased social capitol?

Instead of calling, people are messaging. Instead of going for tea, they are looking at pictures...? I think in some essences it does, I can say "going to Edmonton" in my profile, a friend may see that and let me know he will be in town at the same time, enabling us to meet up. In a separate case instead of calling to talk, I may just check out their profile, them un-knowing, and eliminate that communication factor.

Facebook originated from Harvard students as a social networking tool, which it is extremely effective and recently passed myspace as the most widely used. I think the 300 million USD revenue proves the ingenious design and popularity.

Anyway it is interesting....and I doubt I could delete my account.

One Million Acts of Green

Upon putting together a presentation on this topic for my Sustainability and Community Relations class I learned a few very interesting facts and it really made me think about the Human Networking Effect.

David Suzuki started the Nature Challenge four years ago. This involves and individual visiting his website, and signing up after completing 10 green acts. Thus far he has had approximately 400,000 people sign up. Hmm, now that I think about it that is equal to 4 million acts....not too bad. Anyway, the OMAoG program reached a million in less than four months (105 days). Wowzers. The exact reason for the success I am unsure of, although I do have some speculations. The nature Challenge required one to complete ten acts, this was likely too much commitment for many people as it is a big first step. OMAoG only required an individual to do one act, well actually you could sign up without doing any. Once people are sign up they may discover that it is not all that bad and end up committing ten, however they have taken small steps at a time.

Also David Suzuki did not really utilize the media to advertise, sure at the end of an article he may have thrown in a line like, visit my site and sign up. However, this was nothing compared to the exposure gained of OMAoG on the hour. TV, lots of air time, and celebrities all contributed.

On the topic of Celebrities, just because I see a famous individual involved doesn't mean I am immediately going to run out and follow suit. However, seeing multiple celebrities kind of sets it as a norm, people are always looking around to see what others are doing and they may decide, "hey I just saw 6 people join up....some of them famous, maybe I should check it out."

It is also very intriguing how fast word can spread. Almost like a small town, sometimes everyone knows about something that happened to you before you hardly even realize that it has happened. I tell five people, they tell 5, and they tell five equals a grand total of 125, all because one person told five others. I think that word of mouth is the best advertising one can get, just as long as they can get it started with something interesting.

Anyway, a quick bit about OMAoG. Go to http://green.cbc.ca/, sign up (all you need is your email) and do one act. That is all I ask, oh ya and tell 5 of your friends about it!!

Super easy to make a difference, even if you are already doing something and have been for 5 years, put it down and count it. Try a new act, and remember it all starts with one small step...and the only way to get things going is by taking that initial step.

The Railway

Trains were once a main source of transportation among communities, and provinces nationwide. Even here in Victoria there was a rail line that ran from the Northern peninsula down to Sooke which is now known as the Galloping Goose, a bike trail. Why one wonders?

Recently local politicians pushed to renew the E&N rail line for freight and commuters. The rail line runs 225 kms along the island, and rehabilitation would be environmentally, economically and socially beneficial. As stated in our environmental relations class, each hour of commuting decreases social capital by 10%. This is mainly because people are in separate vehicles, and focused on driving (hopefully). If they were to be on a train they could read the paper, do office/home work or even chat with their neighbor all the while efficiently lowering GHG's, avoiding traffic congestion and getting to work quicker. I think a light commuter train would be very beneficial, even if just connecting the western communities to downtown. A 40 minute, dangerous drive in traffic or a safe 10 minute train ride to get to work?

I wonder why we have lost such an efficient mode of transport? Is it just because everyone can afford to have their own vehicles? I always thought it would be so wonderful to have a car that drove it-self, you know had a auto-pilot. Hmmm, now that I think of it I guess you could call that the train, or bus. Whether one has a nap, reads the paper, eats breakfast or gets a head start on the work day they would definitely be able to utilize time that would be otherwise wasted by driving.

Social Capital and Communities

A 1998 study of social capital in North America demonstrated that there were various correlations between it and peoples actions within society. One trend line showed that as Social Capital increased so did high school students performance, another showed that the child welfare index rose with an increase of social capital. Low social capital was also related to higher rates in crime and the amount of TV that kids (Grades 4 & 8) watched. There were also apparent trends that related civic equality and economic equality to social capital.

I find this all very interesting as one wouldn't think that social capital could have such a great impact on a community. Although, now that I think of it I guess I can relate to my high school experiences. The students involved in the Student Representative Council typically were in the upper percentile for school performance. Out of the guys that I played sports with none were really big into TV or gamming. It seemed the more involved an individual was the better they did both academically and socially, many carrying on to pursue successful carriers in life. At times I wondered why my parents made me get involved or play sports. Sometimes it was against my own will, but now looking back I am very glad that I was involved as much as I was, and I believe that it has greatly helped me in life after school.

So, I do agree that social capital is a crucial element of happy and successful people. As people feel, trust and safety they are connected and participate in their community, developing a high social capital and this strong social capital is a catalyst for good things to come.

Sustainability and Size

This discussion made me think about my home town and how size plays a role in sustainability. It was a great community for me to grow up in however due to its size it is not really sustainable. Many people work out of town as there is not sufficient industry at the immediate location. Agriculture is really the only industry that revolves around the town, now days it is not uncommon for farms to be 5000+ acres and there is only so much land for the farmers. Due to the increased size in farms, there is really only a limited number of people that can make a living off agriculture, thus the town has a population of less than 500 people. There is only one post office, one grocery store and one café and a school of <150 students. Anyone who is not employed through these businesses usually ends up traveling to work in the oil patch (Alberta) or the northern mines. There are fewer and fewer jobs and the majority of the young people are moving away after high school. This leads me to believe that this community is too small to sustain itself.

I’ve noticed that size matters in the sustainability of companies as well. The smaller companies are often put out of business if hard times hit, yet when companies get too big efficiency seems to decrease. I used to work for a large Uranium mine and we would often hire environmental consultants for our work. We mainly dealt with two consulting companies, CanNorth and Golder. We found that Golder was so big that they had a much higher overhead cost, and thus charged a lot more to do the exact same project (60% more at times). However, sometimes we would be forced to go with Golder as they had a wider field of specialty and CanNorth could not do what we needed to be done.

A second example of this is as Cameco increased in size the cost of business increased while productivity decreased. There was a higher focus on safety and more and more paper work and meetings were required, leading to a lesser degree of productivity.

There is definitely a happy medium, not too large and not too small. To determine and maintain the ideal size is the tricky part.