Share and Voice: Organic Agriculture Conference

It took a bit of looking but I found this really neat event that would be cool to see. It's not in the Duluth area but it is still pretty close.  Here is the information about the event:

Organic Agriculture Conference
When: Dec 5 – 6, 2011
Where Sioux Falls, SD
Description: You all are invited to a conference for organic agriculture to be held on Dec. 5 & 6 at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls. Attached is an agenda for the conference. The conference has a bit of a theme towards adding value to farm products. Some of the presenters include: Bob Quinn - producer and marketer of specialty wheat in Montana Chris Blanchard – runs a diverse vegetable and herb farm in Iowa Kim Odden - on-farm processing of oilseeds for feed and fuel Glen Cauffman - evaluation of veg. oil for fuel at Penn State University Stevan Knezevic - flame weeding in field crops at University of Nebraska

I found the information about this event on Sustainable Farming Association website.

Pumpkin Spice Muffin Recipe

Here is the recipe for the muffins that I brought to class today:

Whisk together thoroughly:
2 1/3 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 

Stir in: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Whisk together in a large mixing bowl:
3 large fresh eggs
1 14 ounce canned pumpkin or fresh
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin pan or line muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and fold until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not overmix! The batter will not be smooth but should be lumpy. 

Carefully spoon the batter into the muffin pan filling each muffin 2/3 full. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of several muffins comes out clean. Your baking time will vary depending upon your oven. Let cool 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Serve at once.

Advocacy Project: Healthy People/ THOMAS

HEALTHY PEOPLE 2020:

Objective:   EH-22 Increase the number of States, Territories, Tribes, and the District of Columbia that monitor             diseases or conditions that can be caused by exposure to environmental hazards
Sub-Objective:
     EH-22.2 Pesticide poisoning
Baseline:   28 States monitored pesticide poisoning in 2009
Target:     56 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia

Target-Setting Method:  Total Coverage

Data Source:   Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) State Reportable Conditions Data Inventory

THOMAS:

H.R.3323.IH
Title: Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act (Introduced by the House)
Sponsor:  Representative Bob, Gibbs
CoSponsor: 137
Latest Major Action: 6/21/2011 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 78.
 Recommendations: Vote for No Freeing Agriculture to Reap More Act
My Political Representatives:
    Representative John Kline
    Representative Collin Peterson
    Representative Timothy Walz

Share & Voice: Environmental Justice

I was looking at this Environmental Justice website and I think that it's really neat. It contains a lot of information on what is being done to help the environment. I really like how they talk about the need for everyone to get involved. There are a whole bunch of links that you can visit on the website that talk about all the various things that they are doing and have done to help the environment. This website just has a ton of information on it that you can look at. You can even look at what is being done in our area. Like in how Minnesota is communicating with Environmental Justice issues on a regular basis. This website has numerous links on it which all contain lots of information on them

One of the links that I looked at on this website was "Plan EJ 2014" which is all about how environmental justice is going to be integrated in the EPA's programs, policies, and activities. This will hopefully advance environmental justice in the EPA and also the federal government as well. I think this is a really good idea to get some of the major companies and people involved in helping out.

I think that this would be a good website for the class to check out because not only does it contain information on what we are doing on a national level to help in the environment but there are also links so that you can see what is going on in your state and your area.

Advocacy Project: My Political Representatives

I don't pay much attention to politics so this activity was a good one for me to do. While looking for the information needed for this post I read a little extra just for fun.

Political Leaders:







President: Barrack Obama
Political Affiliation: Democrat
Website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama










Governor:
    Name- Mark Dayton
    Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
    Contact Info-
         Address:    Office of the Governor 
                          130 State Capitol 
                          75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 
                          St. Paul, MN 55155

       
         Phone:       651-201-3400


         Fax:          651-797-1850 








Senators:


        Name- Al Franken
        Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
        Contact Info-
              Address:   60 East Plato Blvd
                               Suite 220
                               St. Paul, MN
                               55107

             Phone:     651- 221-1016

Name- Amy Klobuchar
Political Affiliation- Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
     Address: 1200 Washington Avenue South
                    Room 250
                    Minneapolis, MN
                    55415

     Phone:     612-727-5220

     Fax:         612-727-5223














House of Representatives:




Name- Thomas Huntley
Political Affiliation-Democrat farm labor
Contact Info-
      Address:
             351 State Office Building
             100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
             Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
      Phone:
             651-296-2228


      Email:
            rep.thomas.huntley@house.mn





Name- Roger Reinert
Political Affiliation- Democrat Farm Labor
Contact Info-
       Address:

100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.               State Office Building, Room 149               St. Paul, MN 55155-1206

       Phone:
           651.296.4188
       Email:
           sen.roger.reinert@senate.mn





Name- Chip Cravaak
Political Affiliation- Republican
Contact Info-
      Address:
           Cravaack for Congress Campaign Committee
           P.O. Box 951
           North Branch, MN 55056-0951
     Phone:
           651.317.9245

Reflections: week 1-7

I wasn't very excited about this class coming into to it but I have to say that I have changed my mind about how I feel about this class. I'm finding that I am learning a lot of new things and I am really enjoying myself in this class. One of my favorite parts about this class is the discussions we have. We  really get into it when we have discussions and that's what I love most about them. No one is holding back or afraid to share their opinion.

The first two weeks were kinda slow just getting into what the class was about and starting to learn what the topic of Environmental Health was all about.

Weeks 3-7 was when I started to read my book called Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.
I really enjoyed this book and it showed me a lot about what was going on in our world.

The Movies that we have been watching in class have also been really informative for me. It's kind of sad to learn about all the issues going on in our environment. Not only that but all the big corporations with all the problems are choosing to do nothing about it.

This class is one that I am starting to look forward to now. I love our class discussions and the work we have to do outside is not very difficult which I love considering all the other work I am doing

Eye Opener: Junk on the Brain

Antiques: Any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or anything similar, created or produced in a former period, or around 100 years before date of purchase.

Junk/Junking: Any old discarded material.

Flea Market: A market that is usually outdoors, consisting of a number of individual stalls selling old or used items such as antiques and other merchandise.

Thrift Shop: A retail store that sells secondhand goods at reduced rates.

Upcycling: Component of sustainability in which the use of waste materials to provide  new products. Taking something disposable and making it into something of greater use and value.

1. All these terms relate to environmental health. They all have to do with reusing teh materials and goods that we already have and putting them to good use as something else instead of just trashing them.
2. Antiques- Father Time Antiques, 395 S Lake Ave #1, Duluth, MN, 55802-2311. (218) 625-2379. I was not able to find a website for this store.                                                                                     Junk- Jadco Special Haulers Inc, 4011 Rehbein Road, Duluth, MN, 55803-9274. (218)724-5538. I was unable to find a website for this place as well.                                                                             Flea Market- Wabasha Flea Market, Highway 61 and Industrial Court Box 230, Wabasha Minnesota. 55981, 651-565-4767. I could not find a website for this place.                                                                                                                                    Thrift Store- Goodwill, 700 Garfield Avenue, Duluth, MN, 55802                                      Upcycling- Ingvald's Custom Builds, 25 West Redwing Street, Duluth, MN 55803. 701-361-8827.
3. Towel Bar- I like this idea of a towel bar. I live with 5 other people and some of them are always just using the hand towel, bunching it up and tossing it aside so that it never drys. I think a smaller version of this would be perfect for our bathroom!                                                                                  Sign- I have always thought that plaques and posters with cute sayings on them were always nice to look at. I love that idea of writing what you want on a sign for everyone to see and read. It tells a little about the kind of person you are.                                                                                               Table Art- I thought this was a really cool idea. Using a card table as wall art, I never would have thought of it and when I looked at the picture it looks completely natural. It doesn't even look like a table at all even. I really like it because it looks really nice and simple and I like simple things the best.