Ronnie Cummins, founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association, will be giving a free public lecture entitled “Climate Catastrophe: How Organic Agriculture and Green Technology Can Help Us Survive the 21st Century” on Wednesday, March 10, 7:30pm at the Fairfield Public Library.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is a non-profit, U.S. based network of 850,000 consumers, dedicated to safeguarding organic standards and promoting a healthy, just, and sustainable system of agriculture and commerce. The OCA’s primary strategy is to work on national and global campaigns promoting health, justice, and sustainability that integrate public education, marketplace pressure, media work, litigation, and grassroots lobbying.

In his article The Organic Revolution: How We Can Stop Global Warming Cummins writes, “Beyond the gloom and doom of the climate crisis, there lies a powerful and regenerative grassroots solution: organic food, farming, and ranching.”

“Millions of organic farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and backyard gardeners (supported by millions of organic consumers) are demonstrating that we can build a healthy alternative to industrial agriculture and Food Inc. Our growing organic movement is proving that we can not only feed the world with healthy food, but also reverse global warming, by capturing and sequestering billions of tons of climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases in the soil, through plant photosynthesis, composting, cover crops, rotational grazing, wetlands preservation, and reforestation.”

Cummins is the editor of OCA’s website, organicconsumers.org, Organic Bytes newsletters, and Organic View. He also serves on the steering committee of OCA’s Mexico affiliate, Via Organica.

Cummins has been active as a writer and activist since the 1960s, with extensive experience in human rights, anti-war, anti-nuclear, labor, consumer, environmental, and sustainable agriculture campaigns. Over the past decades he has served as director of US and international efforts such as the Pure Food Campaign and the Global Days of Action Against GMOs. From 1992-98 Cummins served as a campaign director for the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, D.C. In 1998, Cummins organized the SOS (Save Organic Standards) Campaign, spearheading the largest consumer grassroots backlash against the US Department of Agriculture in recent history. He is also a frequent lecturer, both in the US and abroad.

Cummins’ visit to Fairfield is sponsored by Sustainability Research Institute, the not-for-profit research arm of The Sky Factory, LC.

Here is another great opportunity for local gardeners new and experienced to learn more about growing their own food!  As part of his internship in the Iowa Master Gardener program, MUM Sustainable Living professor Alex Kachan is offering a series of workshops on various aspects of small-scale, organic gardening to the entire community for free.  The only requirement is that you register at least one week in advance because each workshop is limited to 15 participants.  If Alex gets more than 15 requests for a workshop he will schedule a repeat for the overflow members.

I had the great pleasure of both attending one of Alex’s lectures on Vermicomposting (using composting worms to biologically break down organic matter) and working with him at the Ecovillage CSA two summers ago.  He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about growing food sustainably from every step in the cycle, so I am sure these workshops will be not only informative but inspiring.

Here is a brief listing of workshop times and topics.  Email Alex at the address below for complete descriptions and to reserve a spot in the ones that interest you.

Sunday, March 14th, 2010: Starting Seeds
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept., room 111 & SL greenhouse

Sunday, April 18th, 2010: Making your bed – the art of Double Digging!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, May 30th, 2010: Compost – learning to grow soil!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, June 13th 2010: Compost Tea – pampering your soil & vegetables!
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

Sunday, June 20th, 2010: Garden Q&A’s
Workshop length: 2:00– 4:00 PM (2 hours)
Location: MUM Community Garden

Sunday, July 11th, 2010: Seed Saving
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

August 15th, 2010: Vermicomposting
Workshop length: 1:00– 4:00 PM (3 hours)
Location: SL Dept. room 111

Workshops will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  To register, choose the workshops you wish to take and send their titles, dates & your name to Alex at: akachan @ mum.edu

Click here to download a flyer providing more details on the workshops.

The following is a letter from FACC Board Chairman Bob Moore, as originally posted on the FACC blog.

Dear Patrons, Friends, and Supporters of the FACC,

Last year, under the leadership of Executive Director Rustin Lippincott, the FACC underwent a dynamic and positive shift by presenting a broad variety of affordable events that appealed to a high percentage of our local residents and which attracted approximately 17,000 out of town visitors. One significant result of this management transformation was that Center revenues grew over 400% last year. Mayor Ed Malloy along with many other Fairfield residents, civic and business leaders see the Center as a significant, irreplaceable Community asset for two primary reasons:

Quality of Life

photo by Will Merydith

1. A continuing and broad choice of top entertainment and cultural events for families and adults, without having to drive to Cedar Rapids, Des Moines or Iowa City.
2. A multi-functional, spacious location for parties, indoor markets and wedding receptions.
3. A place to get to know your neighbors better while having an enjoyable, relaxed time.

Economic Impact

1. Out of town visitors that came to Fairfield because of Center events generated an estimated $3,000,000 in additional spending in Fairfield in 2009.
2. Even during a recession and with traffic routed around Fairfield with the new bypass, Fairfield’s local option tax collections rose by 1% last year.
3. Local employers acknowledge the FACC as an important local feature for recruiting and retaining talented and skilled employees.
4. Over 100 local organizations have had successful meetings and events at the FACC.

The FACC building in itself represents our community working together for economic growth and improved quality of life.

Facilities like the FACC generally are constructed and operated to serve the community and rarely break even without community support. If you live in the Fairfield area, you are likely aware that even with our success in 2009, our recent business planning has clarified the need to become debt free and to establish an annual fundraising campaign to operate at breakeven each year.

Debt Free Plan

We are currently underway with a plan to eliminate our debt via a public/private partnership with the City of Fairfield, its residents, Iowa State Bank, the USDA, and our individual and business donors by raising a total of $1.6 million. To date, Iowa State Bank, the Fairfield City Council, the FACC Board of Directors and several key FACC donors have already made firm commitments to this plan.

Annual Fund Plan

photo by Guy Harvey

In December we launched our “300 for 100” Annual Fund Campaign to raise $360,000 by June 30th for needed capital improvements and operating funds in 2010. If only 300 businesses and individuals donate an average of $100 per month, we’re confident that the Civic Center will remain healthy, grow and continue to serve our community. Over the past three months, we have already raised $123,000 (34%) of these funds.

You may be interested to know that by May 1st we plan to insure that the FACC property remains under local control by:

1. Appealing to local businesses and individuals who have the committed vision and resources to invest in Fairfield’s long-term growth. We are raising $950,000 from this group, $550,000 of which has already been raised.
2. Helping more Fairfield citizens see and feel how the Center directly and meaningfully benefits their lives so that on May 4th, they will support passage of the referendum to permit the City to own the Center free and clear through a reallocation of approximately ½ of the 25% portion of its community betterment local option sales tax collections over a 9 or 10 year period ($650,000 in total).

As a patron of The Fairfield Arts & Convention Centerthere are a number of ways you can help secure its future:

1. Continue coming to Center events that appeal to you, and encourage your friends to do so. Also, your patronage is important at Fairfield’s other venues that present live entertainment such as – Morningstar Studio, Café Paradiso Red Rock Tavern, and Revelations. Every venue is an important contributor to Fairfield’s richness.
2. Become more informed about our 2010 business plan and the May 4th referendum by reading this website or contacting Rustin or any of our board members.
3. Support the FACC financially. Make an instant donation, or download a donation card which provides several payment options, including monthly automatic payments.
4. Vote on May 4th in favor of local option sales tax referendum.
5. Help us educate your friends and neighbors about how the Center enriches our community and family life and about the importance of voting Yes on May 4th.

Thank you for your past and future support.

Sincerely,

Bob Moore
President
FACC Board of Directors

On Sunday, March 7 at 1:00pm there will be a peace rally held in Fairfield on the Hwy 1 Bridge (just north of MUM campus on Hwy1). This is a celebration in honor of the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world. The organization, Women for Women International (WFWI), has created a global campaign called Join me on the Bridge. This campaign is scheduled to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of International Women’s Day and the 10th anniversary of the UN Millennium Development Goals. We will meet at 1:00pm to celebrate women with song and drumming, write our messages of peace and hope on a large banner that will be sent to the international organization (along with photos and video footage of the gathering), and to sign petitions for peace, which will be sent by WFWI to various governments around the world to encourage them to provide women greater access to education, job training, credit, property rights and support.

On International Women’s Day, WFWI is bringing thousands of women from Rwanda and the Congo together on a bridge that sits between their two countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and economic sustainability. In solidarity, both women and men will gather together on bridges throughout the world in a global movement to create peace, inspire strength and give hope.

Women for Women International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that works in war torn areas of the world (Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, DRC, and Sudan). Through a sponsorship program, women survivors of war are able to take back their lives and become productive citizens. First, their basic needs of food, shelter, health care are met and then they begin a year long training program called “Renewing Women’s Life Skills”. Here they gain technical and vocational training, learn about their rights as women, and regain their self esteem. Throughout this year they are encouraged to correspond with their sponsor through letters and sometimes pictures. Once they graduate from the program, these women have new tools to return home with and to help provide for their families and gain a standing in the community, which they otherwise did not have. Through this organization, women are able to change their lives and the lives of their families and rebuild communities that have been completely destroyed by war.

We look forward to you joining us to celebrate and support Women world wide in an effort to build the bridges to a brighter future – You can also stop by and see us at this Friday’s Art Walk (in front Walker Group).

We’re fortunate to have so many great venues for playing and listening to music in Fairfield.

A new website, the Fairfield Music Gallery provides  you with a place to sample the richness and depth of local songwriting and musical talent.

The site provides musicians, songwriters, singers, engineers and the like with personal profiles and a place to store and promote mp3s, videos, podcasts, create discussion forums – and more.

Unlike MySpace or Facebook, this site is only for Fairfield and the surrounding area. Our mission is a simple one, to provide a place for local musicians and their fans to promote themselves, meet each other, and possibly even work together as a result of their interactions on the site.

Sign up as a member and join the appropriate group (songwriter, musician, singer, recording engineer, fan, etc) You can put a few photos on your page, load a few of your original songs (mp3), load a video of your original music performance and redirect people to your own website if you’d like.

Some of the local talent who have joined includes: Sharon Bousquet, David Seagull, Owen Blake, Aaron Blum, David Bordow, Theo Shier, Joe Toth, Mark Soth, Mike Scanlon, Laura Cohen, Beth Payne and Stevie Ray Jeffries.

For those of you who do not have the ability to record your work, Mark Soth of Blue Cat Alley can arrange for the recording of one or two pieces depending on the complexity/ length etc – at no charge -  from his home studio (which provides very decent quality.)  Contact  Mark at mrf@mchsi.com and he can arrange for a recording session.

Please check out the site and enjoy!

Francis Thicke is holding a film screening fundraiser for his candidacy for Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture.

The producers of the award-winning documentary film King Corn have released a sequel: Big River. Both Big River and an abbreviated version of King Corn will be shown Friday, February 19, starting at 7:30 p.m. on the 10-foot movie screen in Morning Star Studio’s ballroom, upstairs at 51 1/2 South Court Street on the east side of the Fairfield Town Square.

In King Corn college friends Ian and Curt plant one acre of Iowa corn and follow their harvested corn into the food system. What they find raises troubling questions about how we eat, how we farm, and the stuff we’re really made of.

In the Big River sequel, Ian and Curt track the trail of fertilizers and chemicals used to produce their acre of corn and discover how farm runoff travels through waterways to eventually reach the Gulf of Mexico, where that pollution causes an aquatic dead zone.

Friday night’s event will begin at 7:30 with a 50-minute version of King Corn, followed by the 30-minute film Big River. After the films Francis will spend a few minutes outlining his vision for a sustainable agriculture and food system in Iowa and will ask you to share your thoughts as well.

A minimum $5 donation is requested for the evening. Additional contributions are welcome.

More information on Francis Thicke’s campaign for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture can be found at www.thickeforagriculture.com.

King Corn Trailer:

Big River Trailer:

As an integral part of its ongoing efforts to support the FACC, the “300 for 100” program will raise the $360,000 necessary to supplement 2010 revenues, acquire needed furnishings and equipment, and seed an endowment fund.

“Not unlike similar facilities across the country, the FACC requires  a donor supported annual fund to ensure its sustainability” commented FACC fundraising chairman Bob Ferguson. “The 300 for 100 campaign will go a long way towards enabling the Center to continue to provide its far reaching social and economic benefits to the citizens of Fairfield.”

The campaign seeks to capitalize on the positive momentum the Center has already experienced with fundraising, having raised $460,000 in 2009 from hundreds of businesses, organizations, and individuals.

With an initial focus on those prior donors, the campaign’s goal is to encourage 300 people to donate an average of $100 a month. Primarily through a mailing initiative in December, the Center has already raised $123,000 toward its $360,000 goal.

The FACC board will initiate another phase of the campaign this week by personally contacting prior donors. The campaign will also be supported by: an informational kiosk in the Civic Center lobby, inserts within programs at FACC events, the Center’s Facebook Fan Page, the FACC website, and www.FairfieldCenterInfo.com – which in addition to containing an updated FACC business plan, allows individuals to contribute online.

Fairfield 1st Fridays Art Walk Executive Director Jeananne Robins submitted her resignation Monday, citing conflict with the event’s exectuive board of directors.  Robins said the board undermined her ability to perform her roles as the director of the Art Walk.  She likened the situation to too many head chefs in a kitchen. “It’s not fair to the city and the art walk to hire and executive director and have her only do the job of an executive assistant,” Robins said.

“The Art Walk board of directors has accepted the resignation of Jeananne and wishes her well in her future endeavors.  Her leaving is unfortunate yet was inevitable,” said a statement from Terry Baker, president of the board.  “The board is considering its options and formulating a plan that ensures the continuity and success of the Art Walk.  I am very confident in the Art Walk board.  They are a dedicated team and have been committed to working toward the Art Walk’s continued success for many years now,” added Baker.

Robins, who was hired in August, is the third Art Walk director since Cathy Wadsworth was hired as the event’s first professional director in August 2007.  Funding for Wadsworth’s position came from a matching Iowa Community Culture Grant given by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.  Amy Kettenburg and JoBeth Lewer also filled the Art Walk position prior to Robins’ hiring last August.

by Phyllis Khare

During the current fiscal year, the position was funded by $35,000 from Fairfield’s Local Options Sales Tax community betterment fund — that money also went to advertising and event expenses.  Prior to 2007, the event was run entirely by volunteers — a circumstance that Robins believes has contributed to the present state.

“The past board of directors had to act as executive directors.  It’s been hard for them to reverse that level of service, ” Robins said.  Her issues are with the few members of the executive board, who have individually countered her authority while serving on various committees. Robins acknowledged the board’s authority over her when acting as a single entity.  As the Art Walk’s executive director, Robins also felt she was kept out of the loop on too many details.  She cited and upcoming Art Walk that has been almost entirely organized by a board member as an example.

“This is not a club.  We need to sustain ourselves, The way to do that is to implement systems and run the event like a business,” Robins said.

“I don’t know what the solution is at this point.  I love the Art Walk, ” she said, “I just want to see the Art Walk survive, and I don’t think it can the way it is run right now.”

Baker was confident the Art Walk board would handle the matter and ensure the event’s future success. “As many of you can imagine, running an event every month of the year requires special skills and stanima, and I am very proud of this board for its flexibiulity and focus towerd the Art Walk’s continutity,” said Baker.