Buy Local

Tis' the season and I know a lot of you are counting your pennies so you can go out and get a gift for everyone on your list. Money is tight for a lot of people but it is tight for many small businesses right now too. The city of Louisville has a wealth of small, locally owned businesses that offer great products at really good deals. A lot of the stores support artists, students and other people trying to make this world a better place. Shop locally and keep your cash flowing in your city.

A city that supports small-business, locally produced goods, the arts, and their overall community is city that will flourish.

Here are a couple of interesting quotes from a article, "How Your Community Can Thrive-- Even in Tough Times" by Philip Myrick, vice president of Projects for Public Space.

"To thrive in the coming years we have to do a better job of protecting local resources. People naturally take pride in their local food, places, history, landscape, and businesses. It is time to make sure to give these local assets as much support, if not more, as we do chain stores, multinational corporations and outside culture"

"Cities and regions that thrive in the 21st Century will be differentiated by their lively neighborhoods and business districts, cultural and recreational attractions, great sense of place, protected natural areas, and deep pride in local character, products and foods. They will achieve this through and open collaborative process with their citizens."

Here are some ideas for small, affordable gifts that show you care, but also help support the small business community as well.

For your Beer lovers:

Locally owned Louisville Beer Store offers a exciting number of specialty craft beers, both imported and regional. Pick up a six pack of Christmas, Spiced and Strong ales...

because nothing shows you care more than a six pack of warmth even in the coldest of days.

Steak Lovers:

At Palermo Viejo Argentinian Beef is grilled to perfection at this locally owned steak house on Bardstown Road. Take you steak lover out for a Lomo and a bottle of Malbec that is sure to sastify any carnivore. Palermo is also a member of Louisville Originals, which offers a program that gives you $10 for every $150 spent at any of their business members... you would be surprised at how fast it adds up.

For your Special Lady:

There are several small boutiques located on the Bardstown Road block of Bonnycastle and Alta. With Dot Fox, WHY? Louisville, The Makery, Cherry Bomb and General Eccentric the gift buying experience should be a fun endeavor. Each store offers unique, hand-made and locally crafted jewelry, accessories, clothing... what have you.

If you can't find a fun gift for your lady at one of these locally owned businesses than I just don't know what where to send you.

LIBA, Louisville Independent Business Alliance, has lists of many businesses that are integral to their community.

Keep Chickens!

Keeping chickens has been a common practice for thousands of years... one could say it is part of human nature, or at least it was, until the modern convenience of the supermarket. Although I do not keep chickens yet, keeping the birds for eggs has been a dream of mine ever since I tasted my first farm fresh egg about eight years ago. The topic of raising chickens in the city limits has always brought me peculiar and questionable looks, but it really is not that uncommon... and yes it is legal in the city of Louisville. I am allowed up to six birds, one of which can be a rooster... which is not recommended if you want to stay friends with your neighbors.

Anyways, I was daydreaming about the my backyard chickens today and wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. There is plenty of information about keeping chickens in the city, I especially like Mother Earth News, they are a great source for these kinds of topics.

Copenhagen

As I am writing this, world leaders are awaking in Copenhagen, Denmark for a United Nations Conference on Climate Change. What will be done? What can be done? What will be promised?

There is plenty of scientific evidence that the carbon emissions we release into the earth everyday are impacting the earth negatively, and that our unsustainable way of living is... unsustainable. But this information is not new, and the subject of climate change has been "talked over" before, remember Kyoto? Since 1997 the earth's environment has continued to be trashed further, with the polluting of our water, air and land. Hey, what have we gained sine Kyoto? How about a giant island of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific... Maybe if the United States had actually signed the Kyoto Protocol things would be different now, but I doubt it.

Not only do we have the challenge of reducing our own emissions as a country, but the greater challenge can be found in the developing countries and the newly industrialized powers, especially China and India. With rapid population growth, the necessity and consumption for all things is only going to grow exponentially.

Climate change and global warming are tough issues to discuss. There are many different factors and sides to all of these issues, and hey, it's not going to be easy for anyone to change. I honestly think we are going to need a miracle to change everyone on this planet's mind about how they live with the earth.

I guess all we can do right now is live the best way we can individually and do our best to stay informed and help educate others. Living sustainably is a lot easier that some people think, we just need to shake ourselves out of the mindset of the consumer culture that so many of us were raised in. We are going to have to change the way we live no matter what, resources are only dwindling and the planet is changing. Might as well have some fun with it and live creatively... after all we are human and capable of magnificent invention and great intellectual thought.

just wanted to share

Agnes Denes, Wheatfield, 1982

Beef- Its whats for dinner.

I love roast beef, I loooove tender little filets cooked almost rare, a bison burger... I could eat it every other day. The point is that I really like my beef and bison. I tried the whole vegetarian thing for five years and was broken by the bison burger at Cumberland Brews... it really haunted my dreams.

However, the truth about beef is that the manufacturing and industrial farming of cattle is ruining the environment and our health. Most cattle raised in a factory farm setting are kept in crowded environments and are pumped with antibiotics and growth horomones. These animals are then slaughtered and the meat is processed with preservatives and other additives to keep it looking fresh and juicy. What about the environment? Did you know that possibly 15 -20 % of methan emmissions are produced by livestock and the leading cause of the deforestization of the Brasilian Amazon is cattle ranching and clearing of forest for pasture land.

It's not all bad... you don't have to give up the occasional steak and burger just yet. But, this consuming culture really needs to cut out all the bigmacs and royales with cheese. We need to start supporting local farmers, who raise their cattle naturally and on a farm where they are allowed to graze and soak up the sun. Wholefoods may not carry all local, but they do run specials on free range steak and ground beef all the time. Also, Cumberland Brews has an awesome Bison Burger, from KY BISON, that rocks my world everytime I eat one... ( I am biased because I work there). Eat more vegetables and save that steak for a special occasion... if everyone would do that, we would be healthier and live on a cleaner earth.

Want more?

Check out this article from Mother Earth News.

Anthotypes

The top image is created using crushed rose petals and the bottom is made with pokeberry juice. Both images were exposed in the sun for approximately two months.

BBC's radio broadcast on WFPL had a story this morning about sewage pollution and the Ganges river in India. I thought it was a coincidence considering yesterday I was researching the MSD sewage spill into the Ohio River and ranting to my boyfriend about how horrible it is that something like this could happen in Louisville. Listening to this story really put everything into perspective...

Please watch this video.