In March 2009, 12,00 young people gathered in Washington DC for the Power Shift Conference. This is their story.
For more information about Power Shift 2009 see this earlier blog post.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Nice Shirt! Got it at the Mall? Who Sewed it for You?
Photo: Summer Rayne Oakes modeling the work of LA designer Deborah Lindquist, who takes the finest old clothes and fabrics and re-incorporates them back into fashion's mainstream.
Next time you're out looking for that perfect shirt, keep an eye out for clothing items bearing the new MADE-BY label.
Track & Trace is a new database system that allows consumers to learn about the manufacturing process for a particular item of clothing in their closet - from the materials selection process to who sewed your garment together.
Fashion companies need to apply to MADE-BY for the label, which is managed by a non-government entity whose motto is "fashion with respect for people and planet."
Created by the Amsterdam-based MADE-BY, in collaboration with Organic Exchange and the UK-based IT company Historic Futures, “every link in the production chain enters production information into the database and forwards it to the next link. This gives the brands as direct access as possible to production data from the other suppliers in the chain.”
This is the first tracking system designed for clothing. MADE-BY's goal is to help UK fashion brands create more sustainable collections.
For a list of participating brands, go here - 3 of the newer participating brands are Barts, Alchemist, and Rianne de Witte.
MADE-BY is supported by the very awesome international model Summer Rayne Oakes.
Summer Rayne Oakes graduated from Cornell University —an entomologist and environmental scientist by training. In 2000 in the midst of her studies, Oakes embarked on a journey of cause-related modeling and innovative sustainable design/development projects to push sustainability issues through fashion and media, a position which earned her the name of “The Eco-Model." In addition to this, Summer Rayne is now a spokesperson, resident expert, and youngest Board of Advisors for Planet Green, Discovery Network’s eco-lifestyle network.
Check out Summer's blog to learn more about what she's up to.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
"I'm Heading for DC; Anybody Feel Me?" - Young Jezzy
In addition to this video, also check out this awesome Politico story, Hip Hop Caucus engages Capitol Hill.
According to the Politico story -
Organizers are working with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to gather support for legislation fighting climate change — and singers Solange Knowles and Keyshia Cole have both signed on to help, through the "Green the Block"campaign.
From the Hip Hop Caucus website -
Green the Block is the Hip Hop Caucus' campaign to address urban poverty and climate change, at the same time. Through grassroots activities and celebrity involvement we are working to create a strong green economy, locally and globally.
Climate change and urban poverty in the U.S. and abroad acutely affect low-income communities and communities of color. The cost of inaction to solve global warming is too high.
More than planting a tree in the hood, Green the Block is about educating diverse communities on the issues related to climate change and its relevance to their lives, engaging them in the green movement through policy and service, and introducing them to the Green Economy.
There are three pillars of Green the Block Campaign.
They are:
Advocacy
Green Jobs
Conservation
While you're at it, check out Young Jeezy’s "My President is Black" which was in heavy rotation last summer:)
Kids' TV Networks Urge Environmental Action
photo: the Jonas Brothers
Both Disney and Nickelodeon are using their networks to encourage kids to go green.
Check this out -
Disney is launching a multi-platform, year-long "green" initiative - "Friends for Change: Project Green." It'll be supported by TV, radio and internet ads featuring 29 of today's Disney Channel teen stars like Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montanta) and the Jonas Brothers.
The stars will challenge kids to join them by making small changes in their daily actions, to benefit 4 key areas - climate, water, waste, and habitats.
LOVE these 2 commercials!!!
Disney will highlight each one of these 4 key areas for 3 months each. Disney will also hold quarterly events where on a designated day, kids will be encouraged to act in unison on a single task such as adjusting home thermostats or reducing water usage.
These events will be tracked online and on air. Kids will be encouraged to pledge to take actions, and then report back on their actions.
Over the course of the year, Disney will also invite kids to help them determine how Disney will donate $1 million to environmental organizations.
"We were inspired by the outpouring of enthusiasm from our family of talent to enact real environmental change by connecting with other kids, fans and friends on an entirely new level," says Rich Ross, president, Disney Channels Worldwide. "Friends for Change is about the power of friendship - when we all work together, anything is possible."
Also check out Nickelodeon's campaign - "The Big Green" - which also has an online component, here.
Rising Stars 2009
Campaign & Elections’ Politics magazine has announced the 2009 Rising Stars. One of the most prestigious honors in politics, the award goes to people 35 or under who have already made a significant mark in political consulting or advocacy. The magazine chose 10 Democrats, 10 Republicans and seven nonpartisan leaders this year out of a pool of several hundred nominees.
“Capping off an historic election year, we received a record number of nominations for this year’s Rising Stars,” said James Klatell, managing editor of Politics. “With so many exceptional young people working in politics today, this was an exceedingly difficult process.”
The Rising Stars will be honored on June 12 during our 26th annual training seminar, The Art of Political Campaigning. Past Rising Stars have included David Axelrod, Paul Begala, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Alex Castellanos, Rahm Emanuel, Ed Gillespie, Alexis Herman, Karen Hughes, Laura Ingraham, Celinda Lake, Jim Pinkerton, Ralph Reed and George Stephanopoulos.
DEMOCRAT
Brent Blackaby, 34, is a co-founder of Blackrock Associates, an online marketing, fundraising, and strategic consulting firm in California. His clients include Sens. Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy, and Chuck Schumer, and Gen. Wesley Clark.
John Del Cecato, 35, is a partner at AKPD in New York City. He wrote, directed and produced many of the television ads for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Daniel Gotoff, 34, is the director of Lake Research Partner's New York City office. Since joining LRP in 1996, he has worked for candidates at all levels of the electoral process.
Julie Greene, 29, is the head of the AFL-CIO’s member communications program. She is a veteran of the direct mail firm MSHC Partners.
Jessica Grounds, 28, is a vice president at Stones’ Phones, the president of Women Under Forty Political Action Committee (WUFPAC) and the associate director of Running Start, a non-profit that educates young women about serving in political office.
Nicole Harburger, 33, is a vice president at GMMB in Washington. She has been a press secretary on Capitol Hill and the communication director for the Democratic Governor’s Association.
Robert E. Jones, 32, is the political director of Annie’s List in Texas. He has helped nine Democratic women win seats in the Texas legislature.
Amy Leveton, 33, is senior vice president and managing director of Penn Schoen & Berland Associates in Washington. She led research for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Todd Rogers, 31, is the founding executive director of the Analyst Institute, which uses the tools of behavioral science to help progressive groups increase the impact of their voter contact.
Tanya Tarr, 29, is a political research analyst at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. She has worked for Al Gore’s presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the AFL-CIO.
REPUBLICAN
Tucker Bounds, 30, is partner at Quinn Thomas Public Affairs in Oregon. He was the deputy communications director for John McCain’s presidential campaign.
Shannon Burns, 33, is the CEO of Victory Solutions, which provides unique VOIP phone banking technology to Republican campaigns.
Jessica B. Colón, 34, is the founder of Colón & Company, a consulting firm in Houston. She serves as the chair of the Young Republican National Federation and appears frequently on Fox News.
Danny Diaz, 33, launched his own consulting firm, Diaz Communications LLC, this year. A senior member of John McCain's 2008 campaign, he was previously the communications director at the Republican National Committee.
Josh Ginsberg, 26, is a vice president at Mercury Public Affairs in California. He is a veteran of George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign and Mitt Romney’s 2008 campaign.
Katie Harbath, 28, is the director of DCI Digital for the DCI Group. She has worked on Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 campaign and for the Republican National Committee.
Alex Lundry, 31, is vice president and director of research at Target Point Consulting in Virginia. He helped pioneer new micro-targeting techniques for Mitt Romney’s 2008 campaign.
Christopher N. Malagisi, 28, is the founder of the Young Conservatives Coalition. He has worked in young adult voter outreach for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, Fred Thompson and John McCain. He is also director of political training at the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Va.
Brian Nick, 33, is the director of strategic development and communications for Strategic Perception in Washington. He is a veteran of former Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s office and campaign.
Ryan Waite, 31, is the president of NextDoor Politics and executive vice president of Connell Donatelli, an online advertising and marketing firm in Virginia. He handled the online advertising for John McCain’s presidential campaign.
NONPARTISAN
Adam Conner, 24, opened Facebook's Washington D.C. office, where he oversees the company's political and governmental outreach and directed the company’s 2008 election efforts including voter registration and get out the vote tools.
Rob Engstrom, 34, is a vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, responsible for the group’s day-to-day political and grassroots operations.
Steve Grove, 31, is the head of News and Politics at YouTube. A former journalist, he partnered with CNN to develop the CNN/YouTube debates during the 2008 Election.
Irina Pruidze, 32, is the deputy international secretary of the New Rights Party, which advocates for limited government and free enterprise for Georgia in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
Jordi Segarra, 30, is a board director of the European Association of Political Consultants and multiple-time Pollie winner. He has consulted for parties and leaders throughout Europe and Latin America.
Tom Serres, 27, is the entrepreneur behind Piryx, a social commerce platform aimed at empowering the little guys of the political world with online tools.
Brian Williams, 28, is vice president in charge of product strategy and design at Aristotle, the political technology firm in Washington. He has worked on races across the country and consulted abroad with several national political parties.
source: Rising Stars 2009, Politics Magazine, May 2009
Jersey's Bottle Caps
Photo: John Weber, the Surfrider Foundation's East Coast Regional Manager, assists Surfrider's chapter network from Massachusetts to New Jersey.
John Weber recently shared this bit of news with the Surfrider Foundation's members on the Surfrider blog -
A group here in NJ, Clean Ocean Action, had a contest that involved hundreds of groups, schools, and families in collecting and recycling plastic bottle caps. In all, almost 2.5 million caps were collected and about 200,000 were on display at an event this weekend.
Surfrider Foundation, Jersey Shore Chapter contributed 53,000 caps to the cause.
And to think, Aveda, the salon/hair care company has hundreds and hundreds of groups collecting caps all around the region because they are otherwise not recycled. The caps will be melted down and recycled into new caps. They are definitely on to something.
This young man took on for the team and wore a penguin suit all day. But his message was one of thanks. Cool.
For more info about this campaign, check out one of my earlier blog posts.
Barefoot Wine & Surfrider Foundation - partner again in 2009
photo: Mason Jennings, singer/songwriter who’s donating proceeds from his single “Sunlight” to the Surfrider Foundation.
The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project, now in its third year, makes beaches and lakes across America “barefoot friendly.” In celebration of Surfrider Foundation’s 25th Anniversary, Barefoot Wine, Surfrider Foundation and community volunteers are embarking on a tour of 25 cleanups nationwide, stopping in Huntington Beach, California for a big party.
2009 Barefoot Wines Beach Cleanups featuring Mason Jennings:
Huntington Beach, CA Saturday, June 13
Tampa, FL Saturday, July 11
Chicago, IL Saturday, July 25
Seattle, WA Saturday, August 15
More details about the cleanups here.
Following the June 13, 2009 9-11am cleanup, volunteers 21+ are invited to attend a free open-to-the-public celebration at the brand new Shorebreak Hotel, located at Bolsa Chica State Beach 500 Pacific Coast Highway, Tower 21, Huntington Beach, CA - featuring Barefoot wines, surf-inspired fare and a live musical performance from Mason Jennings, from 6-8pm.
Go to the Barefoot Wine website to create a profile so that you can help Barefoot Wine pick a grand prize winner -
Each campaign will receive $5,000 from Barefoot Wine, and the one with the most votes will receive an additional $5,000!
Hint - vote for Gaviota Coast!! You can vote once per day through August 15th (voting is reset at midnight EST.)
Campaign: Clear the Path – Beach Access - Oahu Chapter, Hawaii
Through this campaign the Chapter is pushing for better beach access through public education and legislation. With continued construction and development all over the island, shoreline access is at risk. In addition to the Clear the Path campaign, the chapter helped form the Shoreline Access Coalition of Hawaii, a collaborative group of organizations focused on improving shoreline access around the state.
Image depicting beach filling
Campaign: Challenge Beach Management Permitting Practices: Stop Harmful Beach Fill Projects - Palm Beach County Chapter, Florida
After successfully challenging a dredge-and-fill project permit under the “Reach 8” campaign, the chapter is addressing future beach fill projects. Beach filling is an act of “beach management” that does more harm than good to our coastlines by disrupting their naturally self-sustaining environments. Chapter focus is on 1) greater public outreach and education regarding the importance and fragility of the beach ecosystem and how it is threatened by these beach fill projects and 2) an improved permitting process for beach fill projects, one that is not dictated by the beach dredging lobby and incorporates an ecosystem-based management approach to permitting these projects, as opposed to the piecemeal permitting scheme now in place.
Campaign: Save Gaviota: Preserve the Gaviota Coast From Development - Santa Barbara Chapter, Californi
The Gaviota Coast is the last undeveloped stretch of coastline in southern California that is facing an increasing threat of development. It is a rich and vital natural resource that should be preserved and protected for future generations to enjoy, but there are presently more than a dozen development projects being planned, the most significant of which (known as Naples) would permit 72 luxury homes, which would average 8,000 square feet in size. Since its inception, the Surfrider Foundation Santa Barbara Chapter has been a leader in local efforts to halt and/or limit further development of the Gaviota Coast.
Campaign: Sink the Breakwater – Restore the Shore
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach Chapter, California
The Surfrider Foundation Long Beach Chapter has been working for over a decade on their “Sink the Breakwater – Restore the Shore” campaign. The goal is to reconfigure the Long Beach Breakwater, which will restore the natural flow of ocean currents in Long Beach Harbor, improve water quality and bring back waves to Long Beach.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Artistic & Anonymous Self-Expression Opportunities Online
Check out this new website, Cards of Change --
Cards of Change was created by recently laid-off TBWA/Chiat/Day employees who have formed the ideas company Unknownlab. To participate in the website, take one of your old business cards, cross out your former contact information, and replace it with your new email address, and a positive change that has come about recently despite being laid off from your job. Then take a photo of the card and upload it to Cards of Change photo gallery on the website. Once your card is up on the site, you can share it via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit and other social networking sites, increasing your card's visibility.
Cards of Change reminds me of 3 other websites that also encourage anonymous self-expression - often of a personal nature:
PostSecret:
"What's In Your Bag?" Flickr group:
Posted to the Flickr group by Mary_Bridges1987
and 1,000 Journals:
Both PostSecret and 1,000 Journals had accompanying traveling art exhibits, and films, both of which I was able to catch when they came through the Bay Area. This removed the community from the internet, and brought everyone together in an art gallery setting - it was really cool:)
Cards of Change was created by recently laid-off TBWA/Chiat/Day employees who have formed the ideas company Unknownlab. To participate in the website, take one of your old business cards, cross out your former contact information, and replace it with your new email address, and a positive change that has come about recently despite being laid off from your job. Then take a photo of the card and upload it to Cards of Change photo gallery on the website. Once your card is up on the site, you can share it via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, Reddit and other social networking sites, increasing your card's visibility.
Cards of Change reminds me of 3 other websites that also encourage anonymous self-expression - often of a personal nature:
PostSecret:
"What's In Your Bag?" Flickr group:
Posted to the Flickr group by Mary_Bridges1987
and 1,000 Journals:
Both PostSecret and 1,000 Journals had accompanying traveling art exhibits, and films, both of which I was able to catch when they came through the Bay Area. This removed the community from the internet, and brought everyone together in an art gallery setting - it was really cool:)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Aren't all organic vegetables "safe" and "vegetarian?" Apparently not.
Kate Khosla had a dream — to operate a small farm. Her husband, Ron, came to share her vision. With Ag-related degrees, but no practical experience, they took the plunge in 1999 and purchased 77 acres in the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley.
For 10 years, the Khoslas, who are Sierrans (Sierra Club members), have been transforming their dream into a successful reality: a full-fledged organic operation that provides their customers with more than 125 varieties of vegetables, fruits and cut flowers. They are a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) serving 200 families in the area.
Their Huguenot Street Farm is also veganic: unlike many organic farms, they won’t use slaughterhouse byproducts. They consider these wastes toxic and find their use completely counter to organic clean living.
They gave up their “certified organic” status when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) took over certification of farms, but they haven’t changed their growing practices, which are far stricter than the USDA. Ron credits support from the
Sierra Club’s Mid-Hudson Group and Atlantic Chapter with helping him to start a low-cost and less bureaucratic alternative to the USDA program. In 2002, the Chapter was the first organization to endorse his plan for a “certified naturally grown” initiative. (See www.naturallygrown.org) Last year almost 100 farmers from around the country and world visited the farm to learn about their methods.
Ron works with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. He serves the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization as its international organic certification consultant.
Ron and Kate have made veganic farming a viable occupation, in part because they’re growing truly great food. But they’ll be the first to tell you it takes much more than that. To make their business cost effective they have had to be innovative, as well as becoming efficiency experts. Among the impressive list of Ron’s innovations are a solar electric tractor (instructions are on their website), a radiant heating system for their greenhouse and the CoolBot, a system to run their walk-in cooler using a standard air conditioner.
Ron considers the latter to be his most precious invention so far. The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency is supporting it and the United Nations wants to put them in developing countries to reduce losses due to food spoilage. Ron took time from his busy schedule to answer questions from the editors of Vegetarian Voice magazine.
In what ways is veganic/organic growing similar to traditional organic practices and where are the departures?
RK: The biggest difference is just in our fertility choices. Historically, organic farmers were very partial to the idea that animals and animal wastes are a necessary part of a healthy and holistic farm nutrient system. The farmer would keep animals
(which were eating hay grown on that farm) and recycle the wastes back into the fields. Whether or not you are vegetarian, you can appreciate the “full-circle” ideals of those first organic farmers.
Now, of course, modern USDA certified organic farms are nothing like that. The organic industry on both large and small farms in the U.S. is completely wedded to confinement animal operations. Mostly it’s the chicken industry, but there’s also fish emulsion, bone meal, blood meal and leathermeal that you’ll find in labeled organic fertilizers.
Many other farms just get bulk drop-offs either by the dump truck load or in what are known as “1000-lb. Super Sacks” of offal, including the waste from the live animals as well the ground up and sometimes pelletized bodies of the culls. It’s not just the cruelty that this represents but what you end up eating. When you bite into that USDA certified organic carrot that you probably bought at the health food store, you have to think about what those animals are fed, including antibiotics, hormones and growth regulators like arsenic. All that stuff builds up in the animals’ bodies and then it’s spread onto the organic fields. And right now, no one really seems to care.
There’s a great report from the University of Minnesota from last fall about how the antibiotics used in the factory chicken farms does not break down in the chickens’ bodies...does not break down after the [organic] farmer spreads it on his fields... and does not break down as it’s taken up by the carrots and potatoes and lettuce you buy in your local health food store. But would you rather buy conventionally grown carrots (which also use factory farmed wastes) or conventional potatoes that are grown with “systemic” pesticides that enter the tissue of the plant so the farmer only has to spray once a year (though you can never wash them off!)? It’s just a really weird time to be trying to live “healthy” in the U.S. right now.
How do you maintain soil fertility? How do veganic methods create healthy, well-balanced soil? Do you depend on outside sources for any soil amendments? Do you think you could ever create a completely closed cycle on your farm?
RK: This could be a whole article in and of itself, but the crux is that we plant a lot of “green manure” cover crops. Basically, where another farmer might plant a hay crop to feed to his cows... and then he takes the manure from the cows and uses it to fertilize his vegetable crop fields and build up his soil, we do the same thing, but we just eliminate the cow from the picture. So... we grow crops to feed the micro-organisms in the soil. Some leguminous crops, like soybeans, peas and vetches, have a relationship with beneficial bacteria that fix nitrogen from the soil. Then there are others that we grow just to build up the carbon in the soil, which helps us to build up organic matter in general and helps hold water like a sponge. By eliminating the cow, we’re actually more efficient.
Can we ever create a completely closed cycle on our farm? Well, we can’t really make a completely closed cycle unless we want to start collecting all the waste from the hundreds of humans who get their summer produce here (including their bodies when they’re done with them!). We compost everything we can, and encourage the farm members to bring their compost back to the farm as well. The local tree trimmers bring truck loads of wood chips, too. I think we’re about as close as we can practically hope to be to run a closed system.
Would you say that your farm is more environmentally friendly than the standard organic farm that raises animals?
RK: Well... we visit a lot of farms, and I think most of the small organic farmers I know take excellent care of the animals they have, and they are actually a pretty healthy component of the farm. I don’t get how they can be so nice to them, and then eat them. One guy proudly claimed he makes such great friends with his pigs that they happily follow him right up the ramp to the slaughterhouse each fall. It’s so weird to me.
I think the far bigger negative environmental issue is all the farms that rely on factory farm wastes for their primary nutrient source — and that now certainly includes the majority of farms we visit, which is such a shame.
I got a call from a small NOFA-NY [Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York] USDA-certified organic farmer this year who was telling me how messed up his soil tests were from putting tons of factory farmed chicken waste (which are high in salts and phosphorous from their crushed bones).
I hear the same stories from California, where they have even less rain. The salts build up, the land is destroyed. So I wouldn’t say it’s the keeping of animals that’s so much the problem as the using of animal wastes.
What type of equipment do you use? With rapidly rising energy costs, do you think your farm serves as an eco model for others running small-scale farms?
RK: We’re all about appropriate technology. There’s great stuff out there that’s so helpful to small farmers — it’s just finding and modifying it so that it works to improve our methods and reduce labor. We farm with two solar electric tractors that I designed and built myself using the old Allis-Chalmers “G” tractors from 1947. [The instructions are posted for free at www.flyingbeet.com/electricg. Dozens have been built around the country.]
Our farm is also part of an exhibit in the Museum of Natural History called “Water” because we use a hightech system of solenoids on timers with an oddly configured electric pump to manage irrigation on the farm, minimizing waste of water, labor
and pumping fuel.
In 2006, I patented a new approach to cooling for small farms [www.storeitcold.com] which wouldn’t even have been technically possible just 10 years back but now
saves us over 50% on electricity costs (now small grocery stores, food coops, restaurants... and ironically mortuaries use our system, too!) We use sensors and small motors to take a new approach to heating the greenhouse that saves us hundreds
of dollars in propane each year. So, we love technology!
One important concern for farmers, of course, is crop yields. Have you been able compare yours to that of other organic and conventional (chemical) growers?
RK: This is a great question. Our yields have been increasing steadily per acre every year. We harvest about four times the tons of vegetables per acre as we did six years ago, and certainly our harvests per acre of most crops are well above even conventional national acreage yields. I wish I could say it’s just because of how great our veganic growing methods are, but I don’t believe it’s true. After 10 years in this, I think it’s more a question of spacing, weed control, and managing nutrients and water in a healthy soil environment. No doubt veganic farming builds up an excellent soil, but I’ve also seen some excellent healthy soils and management practices on both conventional and more “normal” organic farms.
Modern day veganic/organic growing appears to have its roots in Europe. Khadigar Farm in Maine has been using veganic methods for decades, but there appear to be few other such farms in North America. Do you see this situation changing here?
RK: We have a great new program called the North American Vegan Agricultural Network and, with their help, we’ve launched a new certification program for veganic farmers
here, but we haven’t had a chance to publicize it at all… The certification program is at www.certifiedveganic.org. It’s a free system, based on the Certified Naturally Grown program we started in 2002, which has grown to almost 800 farmers around the country (and is not veganic). I hope both those things will give the movement a great boost forward!
There appears to be a growing number of outbreaks of food poisoning attributed to plant foods, such as the recent case of tomatoes contaminated with salmonella. What is the real source of such contamination? As the number of conventional farmers switches to using standard organic methods, do you envision the situation growing worse? Do vegan/organic methods reduce the risks?
RK: There’s no doubt veganic methods limit our exposure to salmonella and other pathogens in our vegetable crops. Animal production is a major source of contamination, with 10 percent of cows acting as carriers for salmonella not to mention the salmonella (and so many other disease organisms) present in poultry. But as a veganic farmer, I often hear that organic farming with manures is the culprit, and although I agree that organic farmers should stop using manures from factory farms, it’s for reasons other than salmonella contamination, because the standards require long intervals between the application of the manure and harvest of the crop (there are no interval requirements for conventionally grown produce). Rather, I am more concerned with long-term sustainability issues and contamination of our food supplies with antibiotics and hormones as well as antibiotic resistance from factory farming techniques (not to mention the ethical considerations).
The CDC claims there are over a billion cases of salmonella poisoning in the world each year. It doesn’t just happen on organic farms. Many conventional farms use animal waste in their food production, and skyrocketing fertilizer costs means the use of animal manures is increasing everywhere. But even if you eliminated manure, animal waste is impossible to avoid. It comes from neighboring farms, from irrigation water that’s come from hundreds of miles away (or flooding, which happens more now with global warming) and it comes from the humans in processing and cleaning plants — not to mention wild animals.
It’s more important now than ever before to buy local and to get to know your farmer. Ask them if they use factory farm wastes in their crop production and about sanitation and storage of crops before you pick them up. We visited one small farm that was giving out carrots they’d picked the night before. Rats had obviously been climbing over the carrots and munching away, so chewed up pieces of carrot and fecal matter littered the bins. They rinsed them out, but it was pretty gross. We didn’t hang around, but I wondered if the CSA members noticed, cared or were just too afraid to ask. You have so much more power than you know just by asking questions! Most people aren’t bad, they just need an extra push to goodness!
Contamination can happen at so many different stages, and I think in general it’s going to hit the plants post harvest. Organic farmers are very regulated in the timing and use of manures, so that stops contamination from those sources actually. Conventional farmers using manures are not beholden to those rules, so I’d actually be more afraid of what they are doing, but again, I think the real problem is in the packing and sorting facilities post harvest.
What advice would you offer the home gardener who wants to grow vegan/organic?
RK: Get the book Growing Green from Chelsea Green publishing and get started! And go easy on yourself. I’ve seen so many people try to get started and then give up. The first three years are the hardest, so don’t make things so hard on yourself that
you’re likely to fail and then stop forever. There is a great program in India I worked with (that I was initially ideologically opposed to, but I’ve since completely changed my mind) that prohibited small farmers from using pesticides but allowed them to “fall back” on using smaller and smaller amounts of chemical fertilizers. The net effect on transitioning hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers to a system of truly sustainable production over three to five years was much greater than when they got them all excited about changing everything overnight. Farming teaches you to be patient. I’m a big proponent of incremental, yet constant, progress forward!
This article is adapted from a longer interview in the Vegetarian Voice, which is published by the North American Vegetarian Society, PO Box 72,
Dolgeville, NY 13329; www.navsonline.org
Source: Hudson Valley Veganic Farm Attracting Worldwide Attention: Creative Technology, Ban on Manure Draws Backing from UN, Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter - Spring 2009 newsletter
For 10 years, the Khoslas, who are Sierrans (Sierra Club members), have been transforming their dream into a successful reality: a full-fledged organic operation that provides their customers with more than 125 varieties of vegetables, fruits and cut flowers. They are a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) serving 200 families in the area.
Their Huguenot Street Farm is also veganic: unlike many organic farms, they won’t use slaughterhouse byproducts. They consider these wastes toxic and find their use completely counter to organic clean living.
They gave up their “certified organic” status when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) took over certification of farms, but they haven’t changed their growing practices, which are far stricter than the USDA. Ron credits support from the
Sierra Club’s Mid-Hudson Group and Atlantic Chapter with helping him to start a low-cost and less bureaucratic alternative to the USDA program. In 2002, the Chapter was the first organization to endorse his plan for a “certified naturally grown” initiative. (See www.naturallygrown.org) Last year almost 100 farmers from around the country and world visited the farm to learn about their methods.
Ron works with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. He serves the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization as its international organic certification consultant.
Ron and Kate have made veganic farming a viable occupation, in part because they’re growing truly great food. But they’ll be the first to tell you it takes much more than that. To make their business cost effective they have had to be innovative, as well as becoming efficiency experts. Among the impressive list of Ron’s innovations are a solar electric tractor (instructions are on their website), a radiant heating system for their greenhouse and the CoolBot, a system to run their walk-in cooler using a standard air conditioner.
Ron considers the latter to be his most precious invention so far. The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency is supporting it and the United Nations wants to put them in developing countries to reduce losses due to food spoilage. Ron took time from his busy schedule to answer questions from the editors of Vegetarian Voice magazine.
In what ways is veganic/organic growing similar to traditional organic practices and where are the departures?
RK: The biggest difference is just in our fertility choices. Historically, organic farmers were very partial to the idea that animals and animal wastes are a necessary part of a healthy and holistic farm nutrient system. The farmer would keep animals
(which were eating hay grown on that farm) and recycle the wastes back into the fields. Whether or not you are vegetarian, you can appreciate the “full-circle” ideals of those first organic farmers.
Now, of course, modern USDA certified organic farms are nothing like that. The organic industry on both large and small farms in the U.S. is completely wedded to confinement animal operations. Mostly it’s the chicken industry, but there’s also fish emulsion, bone meal, blood meal and leathermeal that you’ll find in labeled organic fertilizers.
Many other farms just get bulk drop-offs either by the dump truck load or in what are known as “1000-lb. Super Sacks” of offal, including the waste from the live animals as well the ground up and sometimes pelletized bodies of the culls. It’s not just the cruelty that this represents but what you end up eating. When you bite into that USDA certified organic carrot that you probably bought at the health food store, you have to think about what those animals are fed, including antibiotics, hormones and growth regulators like arsenic. All that stuff builds up in the animals’ bodies and then it’s spread onto the organic fields. And right now, no one really seems to care.
There’s a great report from the University of Minnesota from last fall about how the antibiotics used in the factory chicken farms does not break down in the chickens’ bodies...does not break down after the [organic] farmer spreads it on his fields... and does not break down as it’s taken up by the carrots and potatoes and lettuce you buy in your local health food store. But would you rather buy conventionally grown carrots (which also use factory farmed wastes) or conventional potatoes that are grown with “systemic” pesticides that enter the tissue of the plant so the farmer only has to spray once a year (though you can never wash them off!)? It’s just a really weird time to be trying to live “healthy” in the U.S. right now.
How do you maintain soil fertility? How do veganic methods create healthy, well-balanced soil? Do you depend on outside sources for any soil amendments? Do you think you could ever create a completely closed cycle on your farm?
RK: This could be a whole article in and of itself, but the crux is that we plant a lot of “green manure” cover crops. Basically, where another farmer might plant a hay crop to feed to his cows... and then he takes the manure from the cows and uses it to fertilize his vegetable crop fields and build up his soil, we do the same thing, but we just eliminate the cow from the picture. So... we grow crops to feed the micro-organisms in the soil. Some leguminous crops, like soybeans, peas and vetches, have a relationship with beneficial bacteria that fix nitrogen from the soil. Then there are others that we grow just to build up the carbon in the soil, which helps us to build up organic matter in general and helps hold water like a sponge. By eliminating the cow, we’re actually more efficient.
Can we ever create a completely closed cycle on our farm? Well, we can’t really make a completely closed cycle unless we want to start collecting all the waste from the hundreds of humans who get their summer produce here (including their bodies when they’re done with them!). We compost everything we can, and encourage the farm members to bring their compost back to the farm as well. The local tree trimmers bring truck loads of wood chips, too. I think we’re about as close as we can practically hope to be to run a closed system.
Would you say that your farm is more environmentally friendly than the standard organic farm that raises animals?
RK: Well... we visit a lot of farms, and I think most of the small organic farmers I know take excellent care of the animals they have, and they are actually a pretty healthy component of the farm. I don’t get how they can be so nice to them, and then eat them. One guy proudly claimed he makes such great friends with his pigs that they happily follow him right up the ramp to the slaughterhouse each fall. It’s so weird to me.
I think the far bigger negative environmental issue is all the farms that rely on factory farm wastes for their primary nutrient source — and that now certainly includes the majority of farms we visit, which is such a shame.
I got a call from a small NOFA-NY [Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York] USDA-certified organic farmer this year who was telling me how messed up his soil tests were from putting tons of factory farmed chicken waste (which are high in salts and phosphorous from their crushed bones).
I hear the same stories from California, where they have even less rain. The salts build up, the land is destroyed. So I wouldn’t say it’s the keeping of animals that’s so much the problem as the using of animal wastes.
What type of equipment do you use? With rapidly rising energy costs, do you think your farm serves as an eco model for others running small-scale farms?
RK: We’re all about appropriate technology. There’s great stuff out there that’s so helpful to small farmers — it’s just finding and modifying it so that it works to improve our methods and reduce labor. We farm with two solar electric tractors that I designed and built myself using the old Allis-Chalmers “G” tractors from 1947. [The instructions are posted for free at www.flyingbeet.com/electricg. Dozens have been built around the country.]
Our farm is also part of an exhibit in the Museum of Natural History called “Water” because we use a hightech system of solenoids on timers with an oddly configured electric pump to manage irrigation on the farm, minimizing waste of water, labor
and pumping fuel.
In 2006, I patented a new approach to cooling for small farms [www.storeitcold.com] which wouldn’t even have been technically possible just 10 years back but now
saves us over 50% on electricity costs (now small grocery stores, food coops, restaurants... and ironically mortuaries use our system, too!) We use sensors and small motors to take a new approach to heating the greenhouse that saves us hundreds
of dollars in propane each year. So, we love technology!
One important concern for farmers, of course, is crop yields. Have you been able compare yours to that of other organic and conventional (chemical) growers?
RK: This is a great question. Our yields have been increasing steadily per acre every year. We harvest about four times the tons of vegetables per acre as we did six years ago, and certainly our harvests per acre of most crops are well above even conventional national acreage yields. I wish I could say it’s just because of how great our veganic growing methods are, but I don’t believe it’s true. After 10 years in this, I think it’s more a question of spacing, weed control, and managing nutrients and water in a healthy soil environment. No doubt veganic farming builds up an excellent soil, but I’ve also seen some excellent healthy soils and management practices on both conventional and more “normal” organic farms.
Modern day veganic/organic growing appears to have its roots in Europe. Khadigar Farm in Maine has been using veganic methods for decades, but there appear to be few other such farms in North America. Do you see this situation changing here?
RK: We have a great new program called the North American Vegan Agricultural Network and, with their help, we’ve launched a new certification program for veganic farmers
here, but we haven’t had a chance to publicize it at all… The certification program is at www.certifiedveganic.org. It’s a free system, based on the Certified Naturally Grown program we started in 2002, which has grown to almost 800 farmers around the country (and is not veganic). I hope both those things will give the movement a great boost forward!
There appears to be a growing number of outbreaks of food poisoning attributed to plant foods, such as the recent case of tomatoes contaminated with salmonella. What is the real source of such contamination? As the number of conventional farmers switches to using standard organic methods, do you envision the situation growing worse? Do vegan/organic methods reduce the risks?
RK: There’s no doubt veganic methods limit our exposure to salmonella and other pathogens in our vegetable crops. Animal production is a major source of contamination, with 10 percent of cows acting as carriers for salmonella not to mention the salmonella (and so many other disease organisms) present in poultry. But as a veganic farmer, I often hear that organic farming with manures is the culprit, and although I agree that organic farmers should stop using manures from factory farms, it’s for reasons other than salmonella contamination, because the standards require long intervals between the application of the manure and harvest of the crop (there are no interval requirements for conventionally grown produce). Rather, I am more concerned with long-term sustainability issues and contamination of our food supplies with antibiotics and hormones as well as antibiotic resistance from factory farming techniques (not to mention the ethical considerations).
The CDC claims there are over a billion cases of salmonella poisoning in the world each year. It doesn’t just happen on organic farms. Many conventional farms use animal waste in their food production, and skyrocketing fertilizer costs means the use of animal manures is increasing everywhere. But even if you eliminated manure, animal waste is impossible to avoid. It comes from neighboring farms, from irrigation water that’s come from hundreds of miles away (or flooding, which happens more now with global warming) and it comes from the humans in processing and cleaning plants — not to mention wild animals.
It’s more important now than ever before to buy local and to get to know your farmer. Ask them if they use factory farm wastes in their crop production and about sanitation and storage of crops before you pick them up. We visited one small farm that was giving out carrots they’d picked the night before. Rats had obviously been climbing over the carrots and munching away, so chewed up pieces of carrot and fecal matter littered the bins. They rinsed them out, but it was pretty gross. We didn’t hang around, but I wondered if the CSA members noticed, cared or were just too afraid to ask. You have so much more power than you know just by asking questions! Most people aren’t bad, they just need an extra push to goodness!
Contamination can happen at so many different stages, and I think in general it’s going to hit the plants post harvest. Organic farmers are very regulated in the timing and use of manures, so that stops contamination from those sources actually. Conventional farmers using manures are not beholden to those rules, so I’d actually be more afraid of what they are doing, but again, I think the real problem is in the packing and sorting facilities post harvest.
What advice would you offer the home gardener who wants to grow vegan/organic?
RK: Get the book Growing Green from Chelsea Green publishing and get started! And go easy on yourself. I’ve seen so many people try to get started and then give up. The first three years are the hardest, so don’t make things so hard on yourself that
you’re likely to fail and then stop forever. There is a great program in India I worked with (that I was initially ideologically opposed to, but I’ve since completely changed my mind) that prohibited small farmers from using pesticides but allowed them to “fall back” on using smaller and smaller amounts of chemical fertilizers. The net effect on transitioning hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers to a system of truly sustainable production over three to five years was much greater than when they got them all excited about changing everything overnight. Farming teaches you to be patient. I’m a big proponent of incremental, yet constant, progress forward!
This article is adapted from a longer interview in the Vegetarian Voice, which is published by the North American Vegetarian Society, PO Box 72,
Dolgeville, NY 13329; www.navsonline.org
Source: Hudson Valley Veganic Farm Attracting Worldwide Attention: Creative Technology, Ban on Manure Draws Backing from UN, Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter - Spring 2009 newsletter
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Myspace Music, Vitaminwater, Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys & 50 Cent
You might have read that Youtube has partnered with Universal Music to launch a new, branded music site, Vevo. To that bit of news, add this one - Myspace Music has entered into a partnership with Coca-Cola's Vitaminwater.
This summer, 24 million bottles of Vitaminwater's new flavor, Sync, will feature the Myspace logo. Under-the-cap codes can be redeemed on Myspace Music, via the social networking site's partnership with Amazon, for a free MP3 download.
Vitaminwater is paying for the downloads, thereby driving revenue to Myspace Music's shareholders - major record labels. The shareholders stand to gain from all of the revenue streams from the monetization of the site - advertising, digital-music sales, t-shirts, and concert ticket sales purchased through Myspace Music. However, since music downloads bring in the most revenue, the labels are really hoping that this partnership with Vitaminwater will turn Myspace Music visitors - 27 million unique visitors in April, alone - into buyers.
This shows promise because so far, Sync is one of Vitaminwater's top flavors with consumers. It's also the first time that Vitaminwater has entered into a co-branding arrangement with another consumer-products company.
"We're linking up with MySpace to give something back to our loyal users," said Eric Berniker, senior VP-marketing at Vitaminwater. "In this economy, anything free is appreciated."
"We think this will show the ease of use of the site," Myspace Music President Courtney Holt said. "There are buy buttons next to every stream of music. We think boosting conversions is really important for our business."
Vitmainwater is supporting the new campaign - "Download of vitamins and antioxidants" - with magazine, radio, and in-store advertising that features Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys, and 50 Cent. The campaign kicked off recently, and will end July 31st.
Check out the campaign's myspace page, here.
photo: Carrie Underwood & 50 Cent
This is Myspace Music's first major co-branding partnership since former MTV executive Courtney Holt stepped in as president, back in January. But it's not a first for Myspace Music - Toyota has been offering free MP3 downloads, "Toyota Tuesdays", on Myspace Music.
It's also not the first time that something like this happened - think back to the 2004 partnership between Apple's iTunes and Pepsi, where Pepsi sponsored free downloads to help build awareness of the iTunes site. Myspace Music and Vitaminwater executives won't say how many downloads they expect to result from this partnership, but in 2004 the partnership between iTunes and Pepsi resulted in only 5 million downloads out of a possible 100 million downloads. But even a small boost would be welcomed, because Fox Interactive Media, a division of News Corp, suffered an $89 million dollar loss last quarter.
"We love seeing our brand associated with [Vitaminwater] and seeing MySpace extended into other media outlets. It's driving awareness of our network," Mr. Holt said. "We're hoping other brands will see this as a place to do collaborative, integrated business. This exemplifies what we can do vs. what other media companies can do."
Can Vitaminwater Help MySpace Music Make Some Money? Coca-Cola Brand Offers Free Downloads From Fledgling News Corp. Service, by Michael Learmonth and Natalie Zmuda, Advertising Age, May 13, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Does your picture appear on the new Tide bottle?
Tide's newly redesigned detergent bottle packaging is part of Procter & Gamble's new cause marketing campaign, "Loads of Hope", which raises funds for disaster relief. The new packaging shows photos of actual people that Tide has helped - including those affected by Katrina.
The bottles have a short shelf-life - the company only plans to have them in stores through June. Ten cents from the sale of each bottle will be donated to disaster efforts.
Tide has already run 30,000 loads of laundry for New Orleans residents. This initiative is covered in the new Tide commercials created by Saatchi & Saatchi, New York - like this commercial, which is running this month:
Tide is also donating 100% of funds from the sale of specially-designed $20 vintage t-shirts to disaster relief. Is this shirt made from organic cotton? Nope.
Additionally, Tide is partnering with Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest.)
“'Loads of Hope' is a key pillar for the Tide brand going forward. It’s the No. 1 driver of traffic to Tide.com, the No. 1 source of positive consumer verbatim and testimonials in our consumer relations group,” said P&G fabric care external relations manager Kash Shaikh. “A key part of what we’re doing is to connect with consumers.”
Source: Tide's Charitable Makeover, Brandweek, April 10, 2009, by Elaine Wong
I was hesitant to promote this campaign because even though I just read that Procter & Gamble made a commitment in 1999 to eliminate animal testing on 80% of their products, the company continues to torture rabbits, ferrets, and many other animals in its skin- and eye-irritancy experiments for cosmetics.
Additionally, Iams, a Procter & Gamble brand, continues to keep up to 700 dogs and cats locked inside its Dayton, OH laboratory for non-invasive nutritional studies. So instead of purchasing Iams dog food, please support these companies that do not test on animals, like Newman's Own dog food. Hey - if the dog food tastes as good (and is as good for the planet and for your body) as the company's cookies, then any dog should be happy eating it:)
Dr. Dean's Night School
I've been following this campaign - so impressed with the way the campaign is using different tools, yet in a very user-friendly way.
On March 25, 2009 former chair of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean launched a new campaign during a Democracy for America conference call with thousands of supporters across the country listening in, live. Dr. Dean is calling on Congress to pass healthcare reform that includes a universally available public option, such as Medicare.
This isn't a recording of the call, but you can listen to Dr. Dean speak about the campaign, here:
The March 25th conference call was the launch of a multi-pronged campaign that will demonstrate public support for Dr. Dean's healthcare reform proposal, including neighborhood canvasses, meetings with elected officials, and ads that will run in targeted districts.
The first step of the campaign - Dr. Dean asked supporters to add their name to a petition addressed to Congress at www.StandWithDrDean.com, and to help him gather even more signatures.
The text of the petition reads:
Give America a choice. We support healthcare reform that allows individual Americans to choose either a universally available public healthcare option like Medicare or for-profit private insurance. A public option is the only way to guarantee healthcare for all Americans and its inclusion is non- negotiable.
Any legislation without the choice of a public option is only insurance reform and not the healthcare reform America needs.
Dr. Dean will spearhead the campaign, with the help of his 1 million + membership grassroots organization, Democracy for America. DFA organizes activists in local communities, trains campaign staff, and endorses progressive candidates.
Note this very cool addition to the campaign, which I just found out about today:
Night School is Democracy for America's interactive online training program. Every month Night School brings top campaign experts right to your home at absolutely no cost to you. You can listen live from your computer on Blog Talk Radio at the link provided when you RSVP.
The training will last just over an hour and will be accompanied by a slideshow you can view online or download and print out. Check back here the day of the training to download the slides.
No extra applications are necessary, simply RSVP above and you'll receive an email with all the necessary information. Then join us live on May 26th at 8:30pm EDT for the training.
May 26th training - "Citizen Lobbying"
This summer DFA is going to launch a massive citizen lobbying campaign to pressure congress into adopting a 'public option' in any health care reform. Join this hour long online training with Gov. Dean and several other guest trainers to learn how you can set up an effective citizen lobbying campaign in your area.
Don't worry if you can't make it, we'll have a recorded version of the training up immediately after the training is completed.
If you have any specific questions about this training or DFA Night School you can send them to: nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
For more info check out the DFA website.
On March 25, 2009 former chair of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean launched a new campaign during a Democracy for America conference call with thousands of supporters across the country listening in, live. Dr. Dean is calling on Congress to pass healthcare reform that includes a universally available public option, such as Medicare.
This isn't a recording of the call, but you can listen to Dr. Dean speak about the campaign, here:
The March 25th conference call was the launch of a multi-pronged campaign that will demonstrate public support for Dr. Dean's healthcare reform proposal, including neighborhood canvasses, meetings with elected officials, and ads that will run in targeted districts.
The first step of the campaign - Dr. Dean asked supporters to add their name to a petition addressed to Congress at www.StandWithDrDean.com, and to help him gather even more signatures.
The text of the petition reads:
Give America a choice. We support healthcare reform that allows individual Americans to choose either a universally available public healthcare option like Medicare or for-profit private insurance. A public option is the only way to guarantee healthcare for all Americans and its inclusion is non- negotiable.
Any legislation without the choice of a public option is only insurance reform and not the healthcare reform America needs.
Dr. Dean will spearhead the campaign, with the help of his 1 million + membership grassroots organization, Democracy for America. DFA organizes activists in local communities, trains campaign staff, and endorses progressive candidates.
Note this very cool addition to the campaign, which I just found out about today:
Night School is Democracy for America's interactive online training program. Every month Night School brings top campaign experts right to your home at absolutely no cost to you. You can listen live from your computer on Blog Talk Radio at the link provided when you RSVP.
The training will last just over an hour and will be accompanied by a slideshow you can view online or download and print out. Check back here the day of the training to download the slides.
No extra applications are necessary, simply RSVP above and you'll receive an email with all the necessary information. Then join us live on May 26th at 8:30pm EDT for the training.
May 26th training - "Citizen Lobbying"
This summer DFA is going to launch a massive citizen lobbying campaign to pressure congress into adopting a 'public option' in any health care reform. Join this hour long online training with Gov. Dean and several other guest trainers to learn how you can set up an effective citizen lobbying campaign in your area.
Don't worry if you can't make it, we'll have a recorded version of the training up immediately after the training is completed.
If you have any specific questions about this training or DFA Night School you can send them to: nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
For more info check out the DFA website.
New Music Store Model in London
photo: Oxford Street, London.
HMV Group, with 250 stores, is Britain's top music and film retailer. It opened its first UK store in London in 1921. HMV stands for "His Master's Voice" - a reference to the company's logo - a 19th century painting by Francis Barraud, of a dog listening to a wind up gramophone.
With music making up only 30% of sales, DVD's 46%, and technology 21%, HMV has embarked on several new business ventures.
* HMV has partnered with the movie theater chain Curzon Artificial Eye. They are testing a 200-seat movie theater, branded "HMV Curzon", above a HMV London store. It should open this fall. The theater will be on the second level of the building, and patrons will enter the theater by walking through the HMV store on the ground level. Once in the theater, patrons will be treated to a cafe, bar, and luxury seats. There will be a merchandise area inside of the theater, as well. The theater will open at 9am, and will also show films for local schools, as well as parents with young kids.
"Millions of film fans visit HMV's High Street stores each year, making them an ideal destination for this new type of cinema experience," said Simon Fox, HMV Group CEO. "This partnership demonstrates our commitment to getting our customers even closer to the film and entertainment content they love."
"This is part of a wider strategy to reinforce the brand as an entertainment specialist," said Malcolm Pinkerton, a senior analyst at Verdict Research. "Their core market is moving online, and this is part of a long-term move away from the store as a place to buy music. At the same time, by getting people onto the premises to watch films, they will hope that they can attract customers to the stores."
Mr. Pinkerton doesn't expect the movie theaters to be a big revenue earner for HMV, but UK movie theater audiences were up 2.5% last year, the strongest year since 2004.
"HMV is the ideal partner to trial this totally new concept in cinema," said Philip Knatchbull, CEO of Curzon Artificial Eye. "HMV Curzon will expand the cinema experience beyond just film programming by interacting and reacting to our customers' interests and desires and providing them with a wide range of film and entertainment in an intimate and high-quality environment."
* In 2005, HMV purchased Waterstones, a book retailer, so the company now owns all 692 of the Waterstones stores - in 7 countries including Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore. If the cinema venture mentioned above is successful, then HMV will consider opening cinemas above the Waterstones stores.
* In early 2009 HMV formed a joint venture with live music venue owner Mama Group. As a result, the Hammersmith Apollo is know the HMV Hammersmith Apollo.
* HMV also recently entered into a partnership with France Telecom's Orange, and as a result is now selling the company's cell phone products in the HMV stores.
HMV posted a pretax loss of $40.7 million in the six months ended Oct. 25, 2008. "We still have much to do," Mr. Fox said, "but I remain confident that the group's transformation plan remains on track to increase efficiency, revitalize our core business and establish new channels to market."
Source: HMV to Put Cinemas Above Music Stores in U.K., Advertising Age, by Emma Hall on 05.12.09 @ 06:19 PM.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
This is Beautiful.
After eight weeks of practice, followed by an impressive performance in front of their entire school, a group of middle school kids believed they could fly.
Most in the group had never sung publicly before, yet they energized a room full of students and teachers with the school’s first-ever a cappella concert at Elm City College Prep Middle in New Haven, CT.
Check out an awesome video about the program, here.
This remarkable achievement was made possible by an unusual collaboration among Elm City Middle, The Duke’s Men of Yale, and the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School.
Elm City College Prep Middle, an Achievement First charter school, educates around two hundred fifty students in grades five through eight. Selected by blind lottery, 99 percent of Elm City students are Black or Latino, and 75 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. Elm City seeks to “prepare students for success in college and in life.’ Until the Duke’s Men came along, Elm City Middle did not have music as part of its program.
The Duke’s Men’s relationship with Elm City Middle grew out of their performance at the conference on the Future of Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education in December 2008. As part of the agreement to hire the Duke’s Men to entertain at the conference, the Center asked the Duke’s Men to create a partnership with a school in New Haven. The Duke’s Men took up this commitment with great enthusiasm. Twice a week after school, college students from the Duke’s Men gave a group of Elm City middle school students their first taste of college a cappella. By the end of 8 weeks, a new group was born – the Elm City Kool-Aid.
This collaboration provided an opportunity for both the pupils at Elm City and the students at Yale to create a powerful bond. Through their shared passion for music, the experience connected the kids to each other and to a group of “cool” college students. The middle schoolers had the chance to learn and have fun with each other and their successful college neighbors. In the process, they developed new self-expression and self-confidence. They also saw college in a new light. It was more than the fulfillment of the community’s expectations. It could be time to discover their voice, pursue their passions and have fun in the process! The Yale students connected with a world beyond the classroom and felt a deep satisfaction in making a difference in their community.
Amistad Academy 10th Anniversary: Elm City College Prep A Capella Ensemble with the Yale Duke's Men:
This was a project of The Center for Institutional and Social Change, housed at Columbia Law School. Soooo cool!
The Center works primarily through projects in different institutional settings, such as higher education, low-wage work, criminal justice, and housing. Each of the projects brings together creative and committed researchers, practitioners, and students to address problems involving structural inequality, and to do so through examining innovation. The projects conduct interdisciplinary studies, develop research/practice networks, and communicate their learning through publications, websites, educational programs, workshops and conferences. The Center uses this project-based work to develop cross-cutting frames, strategies and methodologies that can be used by researchers, practitioners, and policy makers seeking to understand how to advance inclusion and public problem solving through institutional transformation.
source: Building Bridges Through A Cappella, Posted by Susan Sturm, May 01, 2009 12:00 AM.
Most in the group had never sung publicly before, yet they energized a room full of students and teachers with the school’s first-ever a cappella concert at Elm City College Prep Middle in New Haven, CT.
Check out an awesome video about the program, here.
This remarkable achievement was made possible by an unusual collaboration among Elm City Middle, The Duke’s Men of Yale, and the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School.
Elm City College Prep Middle, an Achievement First charter school, educates around two hundred fifty students in grades five through eight. Selected by blind lottery, 99 percent of Elm City students are Black or Latino, and 75 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. Elm City seeks to “prepare students for success in college and in life.’ Until the Duke’s Men came along, Elm City Middle did not have music as part of its program.
The Duke’s Men’s relationship with Elm City Middle grew out of their performance at the conference on the Future of Diversity and Opportunity in Higher Education in December 2008. As part of the agreement to hire the Duke’s Men to entertain at the conference, the Center asked the Duke’s Men to create a partnership with a school in New Haven. The Duke’s Men took up this commitment with great enthusiasm. Twice a week after school, college students from the Duke’s Men gave a group of Elm City middle school students their first taste of college a cappella. By the end of 8 weeks, a new group was born – the Elm City Kool-Aid.
This collaboration provided an opportunity for both the pupils at Elm City and the students at Yale to create a powerful bond. Through their shared passion for music, the experience connected the kids to each other and to a group of “cool” college students. The middle schoolers had the chance to learn and have fun with each other and their successful college neighbors. In the process, they developed new self-expression and self-confidence. They also saw college in a new light. It was more than the fulfillment of the community’s expectations. It could be time to discover their voice, pursue their passions and have fun in the process! The Yale students connected with a world beyond the classroom and felt a deep satisfaction in making a difference in their community.
Amistad Academy 10th Anniversary: Elm City College Prep A Capella Ensemble with the Yale Duke's Men:
This was a project of The Center for Institutional and Social Change, housed at Columbia Law School. Soooo cool!
The Center works primarily through projects in different institutional settings, such as higher education, low-wage work, criminal justice, and housing. Each of the projects brings together creative and committed researchers, practitioners, and students to address problems involving structural inequality, and to do so through examining innovation. The projects conduct interdisciplinary studies, develop research/practice networks, and communicate their learning through publications, websites, educational programs, workshops and conferences. The Center uses this project-based work to develop cross-cutting frames, strategies and methodologies that can be used by researchers, practitioners, and policy makers seeking to understand how to advance inclusion and public problem solving through institutional transformation.
source: Building Bridges Through A Cappella, Posted by Susan Sturm, May 01, 2009 12:00 AM.
Target uses Facebook to connect with Consumers & Give Back
Actress Rosie Perez poses with Bullseye the Target dog at the Los Angeles Film Festival 2007 Spirit Of Independence Award Ceremony Honoring Clint Eastwood.
Target is inviting consumers to help the company decide how to donate $3 million, as a part of the "Bullseye Gives" program.
For 2 weeks, Facebook users can go onto Target's "Bullseye Gives" Facebook Page, and vote for one of 10 charities pre-selected by Target. The number of votes each charity receives will determine how much money they receive from the $3 million allocated for the program.
The charities up for a piece of the donation are:
* American Red Cross
* National Park Foundation
* Breast Cancer Research Foundation
* Operation Gratitude
* Feeding America
* Parent Teacher Association
* HandsOn Network/Points of Light Institute
* St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
* Kids in Need Foundation
* The Salvation Army
All votes and dollars allocated will be updated in real time on the Facebook page throughout the course of the contest.
Target will announce the final results on May 26th.
Target is also helping consumers connect with service and volunteer opportunities in their local communities through the Facebook page.
source: Target Lets Facebook Fans Dole Out $3 Million, Sustainable Life Media, May 11th, 2009.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Reaching the Conscious Consumer
This is an interesting panel discussion from the LOHAS 2008 Conference in Boulder, CO on cause marketing partnerships.
LOHAS = Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
Moderator - Rob Lederer (Management Resources)
Panelists - Ellen Feeney (White Wave), Eric Friedenwald-Fishman (Metropolitan Group), and Patrick Nye (Bonneville Environmental Foundation)
The panel discussion is broken up into 7 video segments.
Part 1 can be viewed here.
Part 2 can be viewed here.
Part 3 can be viewed here.
Part 4 can be viewed here.
Part 5 can be viewed here.
Part 6 can be viewed here.
Part 7 can be viewed here.
Citizen Photographers Help Whale Sharks
Recreational divers can now help marine biologists track Whale Shark populations by uploading their personal photographs and details about the sharks they observed in the water (scarring, for example) on the website ECOCEAN.
The Library uses photographs of the skin patterning behind the gills of each shark and any scars to distinguish between individual animals. Cutting-edge software supports rapid identification using pattern recognition and photo management tools.
According to the website, the marine biologists have already received 200,000+ Whale Shark images from members of the public.
Based on information collected from ECOCEAN, marine biologists recently concluded that Whale Shark populations are increasing on Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.
Whale Sharks migrate up to 12,000km and prior to the 1980s there had been only 350 confirmed Whale Shark sightings. More than 500 new Whale Sharks, considered vulnerable, have been discovered at Ningaloo Reef since ECOCEAN began in 1993.
Lead author on the ESR study Jason Holmberg says smaller whale sharks have also been discovered feeding at the reef during the study.
“Why are more and more juveniles arriving on the reef? It’s unclear, but it’s positive news,” Mr Holmberg said.
Founder of the ECOCEAN whale shark project and Murdoch University scientist Brad Norman says the research shows that whale sharks can increase where they are well-protected.
“We have also demonstrated the power of citizen-science, that ordinary people around the world can make a real contribution to serious research and conservation.”
“Thanks to increasing levels of data collection, we’re finally able to estimate how many whale sharks appear annually, how long they typically remain at Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), their patterns of arrival and departure and shifts in their population structure,” he said.
The success of the online survey has prompted scientists to issue a worldwide call to holiday-makers and divers to join in a global effort to monitor and protect the largest fish in the sea - thought to be at risk in the waters off many countries.
To upload your own photos and encounter details, go here.
source: Whale Sharks on the Rise, Perth Now, April 30, 2009.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Can You Please Cut That Policy Statement Down to 140 Characters?
This is a really interesting example of a government office's use of social media.
"A Conversation about Using Social Media in Public Diplomacy, with David Saranga, Israel's Consul for Media and Public Affairs" - January 1, 2009.
excerpt from the blog post:
On December 30, 2008, the Israeli Consulate General in New York hosted a "citizens' press conference" and invited interested parties to send the Consulate questions about the recent Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip, using the social media website Twitter.com. This is probably the first time a country's diplomats have embraced the use of Twitter for outreach to audiences for their messaging.
In addition to Twitter, the Israeli Consulate also utilizes Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, and a blog about Israeli life and culture.
Make sure to check out the podcast, too.
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