E

xactly two years ago UK’s College of Agriculture broke

new, and some might say eyebrow-raising, ground when it

brought together under one roof a diverse menu of partici-

pants that included Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, Christopher

Hersheimer, Jon Carloftis, UK agriculture dean Scott Smith and

several of the college’s leading scientists to discuss ways to pre-

serve the vitality of Kentucky’s land, food and culture.

Co-sponsored by the Gaines Center, the conference was

called “Growing Kentucky" and was, frankly, a little surpris-

ing. It brought poets and artists and historians to the same

table with agronomists and animal scientists and ag econo-

mists. It was constructive, thought-provoking and entertain-

ing, and produced moments of genuine freshness and spon-

taneity. There was delectable local food prepared by area

chefs, spirited conversation, and a lot of people left wanting

more when it was over. Toward the end, Berry and Smith were

overheard promising each other to “do this again sometime."

They kept their word.

On March 13 and 14 “Growing Kentucky II" ushers in an

early harvest of speakers and panelists that rivals the first

conference. Berry is back, also Carloftis and Hersheimer. Slow

Foods USA executive director Erika Lesser is the Wednesday

lunch speaker. Chef and author Frank Stitt headlines one of

the plenary sessions, and the keynoter for Tuesday’s opening

session is educator and author Marion Nestle, whose books

include Food Politics and What to Eat. The College of

Agriculture partners this time with Dean Bob Shay and the

College of Fine Arts to bring together authors and econo-

mists, architects and artists, farmers and faculty.

The emphasis is on sustainability and what producers,

consumers, movers and shakers can do to cultivate and invig-

orate the inherent connection between food, land and her-

itage that grows local communities.

“Kentucky’s heritage is one of many small farms and

rural communities supported by agriculture, so we’ve

already got the structure in place to support local foods and

local communities," said Mark Williams, UK horticulturist

specializing in sustainable systems. “Sustainability means a

holistic approach that integrates environmental stewardship,

economic profitability and social responsibility, and when

you look at sustaining our communities it involves all those

components working together."

Conference sessions will encourage audience participa-

tion. One of the sessions features a panel of chefs and farmers

discussing how to overcome challenges to putting locally

grown foods on Kentucky tables.

“Bringing these different people together means that ideas

get shared and new connections are made, and it encourages

purchase of local foods by local chefs," said Bob Perry, a

Kentucky chef who now directs UK’s Food Systems Initiative.

“Very few land-grant university systems in the country support

this type of program, and so it’s a rare opportunity to come and

learn new perspectives and hear different opinions and express

your own ideas of how to encourage sustainability."

Another panel session highlights building local

economies.

“We’ve got (Kentucky League of Cities CEO) Sylvia

Lovely moderating, and it’s going to feature Steve Austin, Tom

Prather and representatives of Marin Organic who are travel-

ing all the way from California to participate," said Bonnie

Tanner, special projects coordinator for the College of

Agriculture. “With the amazing variety of fruits and vegetables

and meats and wide diversity of products, not to mention our

expanding tourism industry which can offer locally-grown

foods, Kentucky is the perfect venue for this discussion."

Because media play a pivotal role in creating awareness

and educating the public, one of the sessions brings together

print and broadcast journalists to discuss the work they do and

how they meet the needs of readers, viewers and listeners. One

of the panelists is writer and editor Susie Quick, who also prac-

tices sustainable production on her farm in Midway, KY.

“Since the issues surrounding sustainable farming are

new to many journalists, it’s their responsibility first to

become experts on locally grown and raised foods before they

attempt to educate the public," Quick said. “If there’s a lesson

to be learned from the recent outbreaks of E. coli 0157 in

spinach and salmonella in peanut butter, it’s that we need our

food to come from more local sources. It’s the writer ’s job to

interview the best experts and do a thorough job of reporting

these issues and to encourage readers to learn more about the

local farmers and food purveyors in their own community."

Quick said the media panel discussion is timely in that

Time magazine recently devoted its cover story to local foods.

The conference also offers participants the chance to see

some extraordinary art. Tuesday evening’s reception is at the

Singletary Center, where the UK Art Museum will welcome

attendees to three exhibitions: Bound for Glory: America in

Color 1939-1943, rare color images made in the 1930s and ‘40s

by leading members of the legendary Farm Security

Administration photography unit; From the Earth, an exhibi-

tion of place settings made by 50 potters representing each of

the 50 states; and Of Field and Farm: Rural Images from the

Collection in the upstairs Works on Paper Gallery.

Other conference highlights include an Entrepreneurs

Roundtable discussion; a Local to Global session featuring UK

faculty members; an evening of readings by Wendell Berry

and Bobbie Ann Mason; and music by the Red State Ramblers.

Conference sessions are free. The Tuesday evening grand

reception is $15 and Wednesday lunch $20. Online registra-

tion ended March 7 in order for headcount and meal arrange-

ments to be finalized, but conference organizers don’t want to

turn anyone away.

“If you’re reading this and it’s March 9 or 10 and you

want to attend the reception or lunch, or both, please go

ahead and contact us," said UK’s Bonnie Tanner. Tanner may

be reached at bonnie.tanner@uky.edu, or 859.338.6887. ¦

6

ACE Weekly March 8, 2007

F

E

A

T

U

R

E

S

G

rowing K

entucky II

Continuing the Sustainability Dialogue

“With the amazing variety of fruits and vegetables and meats and wide

diversity of products, not to mention our expanding tourism industry which

can offer locally-grown foods,

Kentucky is the perfect venue for this discussion.

—Bonnie Tanner, special projects coordinator for UK College of Agriculture

Jon Carloftis signed copies of First a Garden at the Farmers

Market last summer

“Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your

alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and

come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments. But these

things are not yet to be."

—Kahlil Gibran, 1923.

G

lobal warming or climate change is our most threat-

ening environmental problem and the greatest chal-

lenge of this century facing all Humanity. Some sci-

entists and politicians feel confident that the solutions lie

simply in the development of new technologies and eco-

nomic initiatives. But other activists and cultural creatives,

such as myself, clearly recognize that the ecological crisis is

in large part, a crisis in cultural and spiritual values…values

that condition us with an anthropocentric view of the uni-

verse and a lifestyle predicated on unbridled consumption

that has a devastating impact on the earth’s natural systems.

Our imperative is that we must reinvent our cultures, our

institutions and ourselves accordingly. We need new kinds

of agriculture, new kinds of urban design, new kinds of

architecture and new sources of energy that will emerge as

we work to

r econstitute

the deep

foundations of our cultural beliefs and behaviors.

Humans stand at a defining moment that presents us

with an irrevocable choice of creating a life-sustaining soci-

ety based on sustainable communities that have a sacred

relationship with the earth community or continuing down

the path of a suicide-economy. All over the world millions

of people are redefining these relationships that literally

reinvent the human within the community of life systems

or what Thomas Berry calls The Great Work. Lexington is

part of this worldwide sustainability movement that is

guided by four principles: environmental stewardship

(which is the foundation of all others), economic prosperi-

ty, community empowerment/involvement and social

equity that are to be interwoven, like pieces of cloth into a

quilt, into integrated systems of effort for common health.

This is a challenge that we face here in Lexington as a myr-

iad of environmental initiatives, urban gardening programs

and other sustainability projects have emerged…how to

coordinate…how to connect the fragmented dots…how to

surrender our disconnected efforts to the magic

of synergistic and integrated systems. But in the

meantime as we develop better answers to this

challenge we invite the community to jump on

board and get involved. My dear friends Sue

Weant, Bruce Burris, and John Walker describe

in this issue the important role of community

gardening in developing this earth connection

and sustainable communities. The work of cre-

ating sustainable communities is alive and

quite active here in Lexington and provides cit-

izens with multiple points of entry and involve-

ment. I want to share but a few other enticements to

get more people involved. LFUCG and UK have

developed many environmental initiatives that are

inspiring, but desperately need coordination.

The GreenLex group and Sierra Club have

formed the local Cool Cities initiative meant to lower

CO2 emissions. The UK Green Thumb and the Transy

TERRA environmental groups are encouraging their

universities to adopt comprehensive sustainability

practices and policies. The Montessori Middle School

has purchased 14 acres of land in south Lexington to

develop a land-based curriculum for their school.

Booker T. Washington Academy has developed a

quality food lunch program with emphasis on local

produce and have started a school garden. The Police

Department will soon be developing programs for youth

gardens and art programs. The Unitarian Church is setting

the example for faith institutions with its Green Sanctuary

and gardening program. The NorthEast Lexington

Initiative(NELI) has developed community partnerships

for two initiatives: the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden

(IMMAG) and the Youth GreenCorps.

The Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden (IMMAG), a

half-acre of vacant land at the intersection of Midland

Place, Nelson Avenue and Third Street, is a community col-

laboration with NELI and Leadership Lexington aimed at

commemorating the lives, stories and contributions of

African-American horse industry members from

Lexington’s East End neighborhood. Plans for the area

include transforming the land into a teaching art garden,

with native plants and trees, horse-themed art from recy-

cled material, historical markers, rain gardens and a home

to small community theater productions. Design for the

new park, which included youth input, is well underway

with construction hoping to begin in April.

The Youth GreenCorps, an exciting new grass-roots

initiative that engages youth in local environmental, hor-

ticultural and artistic projects, will provide youth oppor-

tunities to be of service to their communities. NELI in

partnership with LexLinc, Green Thumb and TERRA will

guide youth from all ages through hands-on work that

will include: creating new community and backyard gar-

dens; planting trees, flowers and native grasses; creating

natural habitats and rain gardens; building birdhouses,

compost bins and raised beds; creating art installations

from recycled objects, public murals and other efforts to

green-ify the community. The Youth GreenCorps will

begin these projects in the northeast Lexington communi-

ty with a vision of expanding throughout the county. This

project is about changing lives and landscapes.

Taking responsibility for growing our own food and

medicine in our own neighborhood is the easiest and most

effective way of guaranteeing our own health and that of our

particular patch of biosphere. Community gardening

involves people learning how to live and work together for

the common health and can serve as both a catalyst and a

framework for reinventing ourselves and re-establishing our

sacred connection with the earth community. Community

gardening literally roots us in a common Truth, a Truth born

of Nature, a Truth born of Interconnectedness. Perhaps this

observation was what prompted Thomas Jefferson, in the

autumn of his years, to observe, “No occupation is so

delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture com-

parable to that of the garden, and though an old man I am

but a young gardener." ¦

For more information on these and other projects contact Jim

Embry at 312-7024 or email jgembr0@cs.com, www.sustainlex.org

ACE Weekly March 8, 2007

7

O

N

T

H

E

C

O

V

E

R

Food for Thought

Lexington faces challenge to connect the dots,

integrate sustainability efforts

By Jim Embry

Taking responsibility for growing our own food and

medicine in our own neighborhood is the easiest

and most effective way of guaranteeing our own

health and that of our particular patch of biosphere.

F

E

A

T

U

R

E

S

8

ACE Weekly March 8, 2007

O

K—everyone who wants community gardening in

Lexington raise a hand," some fifty people shot their

hands into the air. So it was in August 2003 at the

Community Garden Summit/ Mural Dedication outside of

Third Street Coffee. This gathering sponsored by Latitude

Artist Community, Third Street Stuff and Ace Weekly includ-

ed wannabe downtown gardeners and local leaders who all

emphasized the necessity of creating energetic public spaces

such as community gardens. We came to together to celebrate

the small community garden we had begun earlier that year

on the corner of North Limestone and Constitution and to

plan for larger and more inclusive gardens in the future. To

make a long story – short, Latitude was forced to move from

its rented space to make way for condos and with that we lost

access to the space we needed for a garden—our garden plans

were put on hold for a while.

Latitude’s new space on Saunier Avenue doesn’t allow

us access to gardening space either but over the last few years

we have created a series of mobile community gardens (col-

orfully painted boxes mounted on wheels) which we roll out

of our garage door and into a sunny spot in the morning and

roll back inside at the end of our program day. This spring we

will launch “Latitude Mobile Community Garden Unit #3."

Our tiny portable garden legitimately serves the purpose of a

community garden and people in the neighborhood feel free

to help themselves to our peppers and tomatoes. There is no

particular definition for a community garden and you are

probably getting the idea that its nature depends on the needs

of those who are doing the gardening.

Louisville Community Gardens

(Brightside)

This will be the first year that the Jefferson County

Extension Service will manage Louisville’s rather extensive

community gar-

den system that is

one component of a

citywide beautification

program known as

Brightside. There are a

dozen or so gardens

containing well over a

thousand individual

garden plots in down-

town and suburban

Louisville that are administered by this program. This is com-

munity gardening on a comparatively (compared to

Lexington) grand scale. All gardens have managers—some

managers are paid seasonally for the work required to admin-

ister gardens of a larger size. Gardens are located on vacant lots

that the city owns as well as at some neighborhood schools. In

one form or another organized community gardening has

existed in Louisville for most of the last thirty years.

Denise Peterson, the Jefferson County Agent for Urban

Programs will help coordinate community garden activities

for Brightside. She notes some of the reasons why community

gardening is beneficial “ There is a shared sense of communi-

ty among gardeners, particularly seniors, it’s great exercise

helping to maintain a range of motion and muscle strength

and community gardeners are generous, usually growing

more food than they need and sharing it with others, in fact

there is a program known as ‘grow a row’ in which you plant

a row for yourself and another row for those who need it."

American Gardening Association

There are a number of national organizations, which sup-

port community gardening. Pat Gerhard of Third Street

Coffee attended the “Growing Communities Training" spon-

sored by American Community Gardening Association in

Atlanta in late February. The meeting outlined ways to build

communities through cooperative gardening projects

“Community gardening promotes networking between

people and neighborhoods, it is about community spirit

and health and looking outside of just yourself,"

Gerhard says.

Lexington Community Garden

After some years of trying, Lexington may be on the

verge of creating a couple of community gardens which just

might work. The Lexington Community Garden at the

Lexington Senior Center is one of these. Envisioned by Chris

Strecker, Bruce Burris and Robynn Pease, the garden offers

ten 10 X 10 garden beds. Nine of the ten beds have been

reserved at this point and we there are a mix of organizations

and neighborhood people who are using garden space. (Faith

in Action, Lexington Senior Center, Central Kentucky Radio

Eye, The Arboretum, Latitude etc.). Some neighborhood fam-

ilies are involved as well and some gardeners are subdividing

beds allowing for even more people to use them.

The Lexington Community Garden was conceived to

provide a needed outlet for gardening and also to be seen as

a model for other start up community gardens in the area. We

still have volunteer opportunities.¦

The Lexington

Community Garden

By Bruce Burris

Information

Lexington Community Garden at the Senior Center:

lexcommunitygarden@yahoo.com

Brightside:

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Brightside/Beautification/Community

+Gardens/

American Community Gardening Association:

http://www.communitygarden.org/

Friends of Jim Embry attending a garden tour

Bruce Mundy and students at the Booker T Washington Academy

establishing their school garden

Jim Embry's photo "Gold Dust" that shows Salina Ali in a

community garden

F

E

A

T

U

R

E

S

ACE Weekly March 8, 2007

9

W

hen my wife and I first moved Lexington, we rent-

ed a house and decided that, despite the shade and

the walnut trees, we would try to grow some

tomatoes. From my experience of trying to grow tomatoes in

England, I figured 12 plants would be sufficient. Now my

wife, who is from Ohio, thought I was crazy. “Twelve plants"

she cried "Do you know how over the top that is." The har-

vest wasn’t great for many reasons, but at least we tried. For

the last 13 years, we have kept on trying. Each year we have

increased our garden space, changing the numbers and types

of vegetable we grow. Last year, we grew twenty-nine toma-

to plants and this year we’ll go even more “over the top." We

grow food for many reasons: to educate our son, for health,

taste, choice and economics. But perhaps as important as any

other is the fact that it connects us to our neighbors.

Growing your own food is the most local of local food

production. With the price of oil hitting $70 a barrel, the

growing awareness of global warming and frequent food

safety scares, there is an increasing interest in local food

economies. There are many components to a local food econ-

omy; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers

markets, “Kentucky Proud" foods in grocery stores. While

agriculture can provide much of the bulk of food supply, cit-

izens remain as consumers—albeit informed and discriminat-

ing consumers. But there is another often overlooked contri-

bution to the local food economy: home-grown food.

Growing some of your own food provides many benefits over

buying food, even from local sources. As well as the obvious

health, choice and freshness benefits, the average return, by

some estimates, of $6 for every $1 invested in a home garden

can make a significant contribution to your budget.

The title of this article “Changing the way the world eats,

one garden at a time," comes from Roger Doiron of Scarborough,

Maine who started Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI) in

2003. Roger started the organization to promote the home grow-

ing of food as part of a local, sustainable food system. Currently,

KGI’s network includes over 3000 individuals from 80 countries

and information can be found at their website

WeGrowFood.com. I found out about Roger’s work after reading

a post that he wrote for the Commondreams.org web site called

“subversive plot." The article was accompanied by an aerial view

of Roger’s neighborhood with his garden highlighted by a green

rectangle surrounded by lots of red rectangles in the yards of his

neighbors. The red rectangles, he explains, are the garden plots

his neighbors will grow (though they may not know it at the

present time). This article was a great influence for me to try and

promote home-grown food in Lexington.

Food is more than a commodity; it is part of the social glue

that helps connect people in community. Feasts and festivals

have been an important part of cultural history for millennia,

and food was an essential part of these celebrations. Perhaps the

most undervalued contribution to us, in twenty-first century

America, of growing our own food may be its role is building a

foundation of neighbors helping neighbors. Grow a kitchen gar-

den and there is one thing, (disasters notwithstanding), that I

can guarantee: sometime in the year you will have more of a par-

ticular crop that you know what to do with. What better way to

use this surplus than to share it; use the extra to introduce your-

self to a neighbor you don’t know or boost a rapport with a

neighbor you do. As the enthusiasm takes hold you may want

to try and persuade a neighbor to start a garden and offer a help-

ing hand. If you feel encouraged to do more, help start commu-

nity gardens for those with no space to garden or offer classes to

those that need them. Be willing to offer trades with those who

physically can’t garden and commit random acts of kindness to

those who choose not participate. For those people pressed for

time, read about Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening

technique. Though I must add that square foot gardening is

wonderful for gardeners of all experience and motivation.

Growing some of your food may not save your life or

balance your budget, but you will get to know your neigh-

bors, and that, when the next ice storm hits, is priceless. ¦

John Walker is a local gardener and home grown food activist.

He is currently starting to build a local chapter of Kitchen

Gardeners International. Watch for details at

www.wegrowfood.com, your local library community bulletin

boards, and Ace’s weekly food column.

Neighbor helping neighbor

Changing the way the world eats, one garden

at a time

By John Walker

We grow food for many reasons: to educate our

son, for health, taste, choice and economics. But

perhaps as important as any other is the fact that

it connects us to our neighbors.

John Walker's son Gareth, holds some of the family's harvest

(in a son of William Tell impression)

Partners for Family Farms

Food Sustainability Team

By Sue Weant

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the

University of Kentucky and the Fayette County Public Schools

have signed a proclamation creating The Bluegrass

Partnership for a Green Community. These groups have

pledged to work together to find economical and sustainable

ways to protect our environment, conserve our resources, and

enhance our way of life for future generations. The combined

efforts of this partnership can provide a total of 18,350 employ-

ees, 2,773 vehicles, and 58,180 students to create unlimited

opportunities to implement positive change for our community.

Currently the partnership has ten teams to establish and

complete projects that will make Lexington a Green City. These

teams are: Green Buildings, Waste Minimization, Green

Purchasing, Environmental Education, Transportation,

Outreach and Communication, Water and Storm Water, Food

Sustainability, Land Sustainability, and Green Spaces.

The team that I chair is focused on food sustainability,

which is vital in providing us the nourishment to accomplish all

of our ambitions. Food connects the urban and rural communi-

ties and provides a means to include all age groups.

One of the goals of the Food Sustainability Team is a project

to create community gardens in Lexington. To quote team mem-

ber Jim Embry, "Fayette County is home to an emerging urban

gardening movement with a few community gardens, several

school gardens and numerous residential/backyard gardens.

For some, urban gardening is a hobby. For others, garden-

ing enables residents with the ability to supplement their diet

with fresh produce.

Urban gardens also provide open, green space within

dense neighborhoods, and teach area youth about the environ-

ment while giving the elderly a chance to stay active."

I can think of no better way to create a healthy, viable

green community than through gardening. This team is work-

ing to compile a list of existing gardens and plan to create a

network of community gardens throughout Lexington. There is

a nice collaboration of people who represent varied groups

who are working together to have a community effort and

impact that will green up our community, such as project

Bright Side in Louisville. A survey was done by Community

Farm Alliance and the University of Kentucky which brought

out the fact that our less advantaged neighborhoods have less

access to food and very little access to affordable home

grown, fresh food.

Community gardens throughout Lexington could help rem-

edy this problem. According to some surveys, when students

dig in the soil and work in gardens their grades improve. So

gardens would surely be a win, win project for Lexington.

Sue Weant is Executive Director, Partners for Family Farms.