Anna Davidson: Art/Science Fusion and Natalia Kresich: Social Action and Occupy UCD

On the show today we had Anna Davidson in the studio to talk about the Entomology 1 Art Science Fusion class and their one-evening exhibition Cabinets of Curiosity that was held on Saturday, December 3rd. In this class students learned about insects and then made art with clay, painting or found objects. For more information about this and other art science fusion courses at UCD: http://artsciencefusion.ucdavis.edu/

The second half of the show was dedicated to

talking about recent Occupy UC Davis events including the re-naming of Dutton Hall to Paulo Friere Open University. We had Natalia Kresish, a UCD student activist, in the studio to share her thoughts and experiences on social action and

the Occupy movements here at UCD and in San Francisco.

The music we played today:

The Buena Vista Social Club songs: Chan Chan and Candela

Fela Kuti: Teacher Don't Teach Me No Nonsense

Click here to listen to the show!

Michael McQuarrie, UC Regents Meeting 11/28

We had Michael McQuarrie in the studio to talk about the history of student movements, social change and the current events surrounding the Occupy movement. Dr. McQuarrie is a professor in the Sociology department at UC Davis and has worked extensively with grassroots community organizing, especially with labor unions.

For the second part of the show we played a segment from the open comment part of the UC Regents meeting that was held on four UC campuses on 11/28. We also discussed the Occupy UC Davis teach-ins that are happening on campus this week.

For the full schedule of The Dissent Lectures click HERE.

Click here to listen to the show!

Occupy Oakland, Davis, and UC Davis: after the pepper spray

Go here to listen to the show!

Soul Food Farm, Swords into Plowshares, Farmer-Veteran Coalition

The first half of the show features Alexis Koefed of Soul Food Farms in Vacaville. Her operation features pastured poultry including eggs and meat. For more info about her farm and CSA go to www.soulfoodfarm.com

The second half will be dedicated to Veteran's Day, we will be speaking with Paul Cox, a Vietnam veteran who is an activist and advocate for veterans of current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More info available at http://www.swords-to-plowshares.org/

Then we turn to Michael O'Gorman, a founder with the Farmer Veteran Coalition based here in Davis. The Farmer Veteran Coalition seeks to give opportunities to young veterans as they return to civilian life as production farmers, what O'Gorman calls "the second most challengin job in the U.S." after serving in the military. More info about how to get involved with the Farmer-Veteran Coalition is available at http://www.farmvetco.org/

Click here to listen to this week's show!

Russell Ranch tomatoes, Domes Community Build!

Local Dirt today has some great guests

The first half of the show will be feature Emma Torbert and Dani Lee, who will be discussing a brand new product that they have been developing: Russell Ranch sun dried tomatoes!

In the second part, Veronica Pardo and Ben Pearl discuss the Domes Community Build, which was a fantastic 4-day event with over 150 volunteers who donated time, labor, skills, food and more to make the Domes ADA accessible, as well as improve the structural integrity of the 39-year old- cooperative living structures that have become iconic to Davis since they will built in 1972

Click here to listen to this week's show!

Food Day, Ryan Galt, Halloween, Domes Build!

Ryan Galt, CRD professor, gives a talk about the issues of the current food system tying in the Occupy Wall Street movemnet, the "New Economy", and the role of the young generation.

Happy Halloween, Folks, Local Dirt reccommends you use Fair Trade Certified chocolate to celebrate!

For more information about Fair Trade Certified chocolate, visit http://fairtradeusa.org/

The Domes Community Build is this weekend, please come out to the Domes to rebuild them and make them ADA accessible! for more information on how you can help, go to www.bagginsend.org

Click here to listen to the show!

Occupy Davis

Today's show is dedicated to the Occupy movement. We are talking to local activists Bernie Goldsmith, Carmen Forts, and Jessica. We will also be speaking with Sophie Bosselman, a former UC Davis student who is currently in New York and has been present at Occupy Wall Street. To listen to the show, click here!!

Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Celebration

An exciting new era has come to UC Davis - an era when students can come to learn about sustainable agriculture and graduate with a Bachelor's degree in it! Anna Ruth and Natalie Yahr report from the celebration of UC Davis' new Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Major.

Speakers include Tom Tomich, Director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis, Maggie Lickter, UC Davis alumna, Mark Van Horn, Director of the UC Davis Student Farm and various UC Davis students and staff.

Click here to listen to the show!

Hoes Down Harvest Festival and Beginning Farmers Sasha and Emma

Hoes Down Harvest Festival!
The 24th annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival is this weekend in the beautiful Capay Valley at Full Belly Farm! Dani chats with Hallie Muller and Jeff & Annie Main, some of the key folks that pull together the harvest festival each year to learn more about what it takes to build a 600 Hay Bale fort, turn a working farm into a family festival and celebrate rural living and sustainable agriculture with over 3,000 families each year!

Don't miss the Hoes Down Harvest Festival this year. A great musical lineup, including Driving with Fergus and the local Mad Cow String Band. Great food, contra dancing, farm workshops and more!

Visit www.hoesdown.org to find out more about this year's event!
Photo courtesy Hoes Down Harvest Festival.

Beginning Farmer Series: Cloverleaf at Bridgeway Farms
Dani checks back in with beginning farmers Sasha Klein and Emma Torbert of the Cloverleaf at Bridgeway Farms. This past weekend marked the finale of their first season of farming. Learn from these beginning farmers about some of the challenges of starting a farm from scratch and some of the rewards of being a part of a local agricultural community.

The Cloverleaf at Bridgeway Farms is located off the Kidwell Rd. exit on HWY 80. Their farm stand is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-6pm. You can also find them at the Woodland Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Saturdays!

To learn more about their farm, check them out on Facebook!
Photo courtesy Matthew Hoffman.

Music.
This show features music by The Mad Cow String Band and Driving with Fergus. Both bands will be playing at the 2011 Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm the first weekend of October, 2011!

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Alan Hastings and Carl Boettiger; Population Biology

Ever wondered about stochastic forces, theoretical biology, invasive species, tipping points or the intersection between mathematical models and ecology? This week's show features grad student Carl Boettiger and his advisor, Alan Hastings, Phd in population dynamics and applied mathematical models.

To listen to this week's show, click here!

Temple Grandin, EcoFair Marin, Drought in Texas

Co-Host Anna-Ruth talks with Dr. Temple Grandin, the keynote speaker at EcoFair Marin, about what to expect in her class, her work in slaughterhouses, issues surrounding animal rights, and imperative " for little ag and big ag to stop throwing rocks at each other".

Check out Dr. Grandin's new book "Improving Animal Welfare: A Practical Approach", available on amazon for purchase.

Also check out Dr. Gransin's website here

Followed by a discussion with co-host Dani Lee about the meat industry and the future of food prices, including the drought in Texas and its affect on cattle ranchers.

The show concluded with sounds from EcoFair Marin, where Ambassa Cantave performed. Cantave is a co-founder for Grind for the Green and his music is "ushering hip hop and dub music into the realms of futuristic electro rock"

EcoFair Marin, which happened this past Sunday, September 4th, is the first annual community celebration to inspire a healthy and sustainable Marin.

Music Played:

Woodie Guthrie "This Land is Your Land"

Dead Prez "Be Healthy"

Click here to listen to this week's show!

Ryder Diaz, David Schwartz, Hazon

Monday, August 28th's show featured an interview with Ryder Diaz from the UC Davis raptor center. Diaz is a UC Davis ecologist and expert in pollinator communities, and will frequent Local Dirt again in future shows, so stay tuned!

Next, David Schwartz talked with Anna-Ruth about the growing food movement, its connection to history, and the power students have to change the food system. Shwartz is a Real Food Challenge organizer.

Then we heard from the Hazon conference, which happened on the UC Davis campus from August 19-21st. Anna-Ruth spoke with one of the Hazon leaders Renna Khuner-Haber, delving into the meaning of sustainable food.

Next was a quick talk with Elisheva Margulies, a natural foods chef, about her affinity for seaweed, a uniqe vegetable packed with nutrients.

Finally was a talk with Rachel Shapiro, co-chair of the Jewish life committee, who spoke of her experience as a midwife, a transformative women's circle, and the importance of spirituality through practicality.

Listen to the show here!

Farmworker Justice March & Compassion: Davis, CA

Farmworker Justice March. Last Saturday, supporters of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) demonstrated outside the Davis Trader Joe's, demanding that the grocery chain sign the CIW's Fair Food agreement. In this part of the show, you can hear what that demonstration sounded like and what the local organizers had to say. The young organizers, Liz Fitzgerald and Natalia Margolis, talk to Natalie about the CIW's approach to protests, how they became leaders, and how they felt at their first CIW demonstrations. To download Liz's "Traitor Joe's" song, click here.
(Oops! When we broadcast this story, it was hard to hear some of the sound from the march. We've since fixed that. If you'd like to hear the better version, click here.)


Compassion: Davis, CA. For two years, David Breaux has stood on the corner of 3rd and C Streets in Davis asking people to write in his notebook their concept of "compassion." He has since compiled the entries into a book. David talked with Natalie about why he does what he does, what he's learned, and what he'll do next. If you'd like to write down your concept of the word compassion, visit David at 3rd & C. He's there for much of the day. And if you'd like to learn more about compassion, you can attend David's presentation "An Experience with Compassion" this Wednesday, 7-8pm at the Davis Community Church (412 C St., across from the Farmers' Market).

Check out this video about David's compassion project:

David Breaux on Compassion from Robb Davis on Vimeo.

Music.
"Goin Down South" by R. L. Burnside and Lyrics Born (from A Bothered Mind on Fat Possum)
"Traitor Joe's" by Liz Fitzgerald
"Another Travelin' Song" by Bright Eyes (from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning on Saddle Creek)

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Campaign for Fair Food & Bricks Bike Kitchen

Local Dirt just purchased a brand spanking new audio recorder through a generous grant from the Davis Cooperative Community Fund! Having our own recorder means that we can record outside the studio more often and on short notice. We used the new recorder for both stories on this week's show. Hit us up if you know of something you think we should record.


Campaign for Fair Food. Damara Luce, National Coordinator of Just Harvest, a farmworker justice organization, talks about conditions in Florida's tomato fields and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' ongoing, successful campaign to improve those conditions. This audio was recorded with permission at last Tuesday's Kitchen Table Talks SF. The Kitchen Table Talks series is organized by Civil Eats and 18 Reasons. Visit the Kitchen Table Talks webpage to hear the whole panel discussion on modern tomatoes, which included Luce, Emma Torbert of UC Davis's Agricultural Sustainability Institute, and Fred Hempel of Baia Nicchia Farm & Nursery.

Want to get involved in bringing justice for farm workers in Immokalee, Florida? Check out the march happening in Davis, CA this Saturday from 5:30-6:30pm at the Davis Trader Joes.

Also, check out this awesome video that UC Davis alum, Liz Fitzgerald, made for the Campaign for Fair Food!



Bricks Bike Kitchen. A note from Natalie: Two weeks ago, I mentioned on the air that I wanted to produce some radio stories about kids & bikes. I'd gotten pumped on kids with bikes when I saw how much the kids I knew in New Orleans loved their bikes. A listener named Anne called into the station to tell me about a teeny tiny bike kitchen that her boyfriend and a friend had organized in the Sacramento housing project where he lives. They call it the Bricks Bike Kitchen, and you can't find it on the internet. She invited me to come out to record, and here's what I got. If you have a suggestion for a show topic, email us at localdirt@gmail.com or call us up (530.754.KDVS) during the show like Anne did.

Music.
This show features music by The Ditty Bops, The Dixie Bee-Liners, and The Dixie Chicks.

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Proyecto Azteca and Atrazine

Proyecto Azteca.
Jeremy chats with, Ann Cass, the Executive Director of Proyecto Azteca, a non-profit construction self-help program for unincorporated colonias located in southern Texas. Proyecto Azteca is a nationally recognized, community directed, self-help housing organization that has financed and trained more than 600 families in the construction and first time homeownership in over 50 Hidalgo County colonias. Photo courtesy Proyecto Azteca.

Atrazine up for Review.
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency will wrap up its two-year scientific review of atrazine, an herbicide found in 94% of U.S. drinking water. Kathryn Gilje, co-director of the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA) speaks with Natalie about how atrazine affect human health, what we can expect from the EPA's review, and what citizens can do.

Music.
Tonight's show featured music from...
- Josh Ritter
- Putamayo World Music, Brazilian Lounge
- Sons and Daughters, The Decemberists

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Art for Regional Change and The Carnito Story

Art for Regional Change.
Jeremy talks with jesikah maria ross, Art of Regional Change director, about her latest project, Restore/ReStory. The project brings together scholars, students, artists, and residents to produce a public history website and associated audio tour of the Cache Creek Nature Preserve in rural Yolo County, California. Photos by Jeremy Raff.

Farmers Market Update.
Jenn provides a Davis Farmers Market update and explains why apricots are going to be scare this summer.

Meet Your Meat: Carnito
Dani chats with UC Davis student, Thibault Hoppe-Glosser, about his hog, Carnito, and animal he raised, slaughtered and ate. Thibault and Dani chat about the ethical implications of meat consumption and how consciousness of where food comes from played a key role in Thibault's adventure in backyard animal husbandry. Learn what it took to raise a hog for seven months, slaughter it, then eat it for dinner. Photo by Aaron Gardner.


LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Davis Summers and Pride Weekend

Davis Farmers Market Update. The first of a weekly series of updates on the Davis Farmers Market, brought to you by Jennifer Heinlein from Good Humus Farms. Jenn chats about summer produce, the 'white dress' phenomenon, and more! What's hot at the market this week? Stonefruit, basil, cherries, summer squash, herbs, beets, strawberries, sunflowers... Image courtesy of Davis Farmers Market.

Davis Summers. What do local Davis-ites do with their hot, sweaty Davis summers? Find out more in this quirky segment of summer stories, tips for keeping cool, summer pop songs and the hottest and most intriguing aspects of summer entertainment. Image courtesy of TrekEarth.

Pride Weekend. Fabi and Jeremy chat about their experience in San Francisco for this past weekend's 42nd annual Pride activities. Learn more about the history of LGBT activism and celebration in San Francisco and the birth of San Francisco's Gay Pride festivities. See the 'videos' section below to watch clips from this weekends' festival. Image courtesy of FunCheapSF.

News.

• America's first no-packaging grocery store coming to Austin - from Grist.org, written by Sarah Laskow
• A warming planet struggles to feed itself - from the New York Times, written by Justin Gillis

Videos.
Jeremy captures scenes from the 42nd annual Pride activities in San Francisco.

Untitled from Jeremy Raff on Vimeo.

Whole Foods Parking Lot satire.



Music.
Tonight's show featured music from...
-Los Pregoneros Del Puerto, El Ahualulco
- James King, Leaving
- Victor Johnson, This Old Man
- Dan Zanes and Friends, Hop Up Ladies

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Solar Community Housing Association and Studying Sustainable Agriculture at UC Davis

Solar Community Housing Association.
Founded by a group of alumni from the cooperative housing program at UC Davis, the Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA) is a Davis, CA based non-profit that encourages and creates community and respect for environment through affordable, cooperative housing. Ben Pearl, Project Manager for the SCHA, talks about the latest projects that SCHA is supporting in the community, including the new cooperative located at J St and 3rd. To learn more about the SCHA, visit http://schadavis.org/. Photo courtesy of the SCHA.

Studying Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at UC Davis.
Want to get your hands dirty? Learn how to drive a tractor? Understand the impact agriculture policy has on food access and health? Support non-profits in agriculture? Then the new Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) major is for you! Joanna Normoyle, recent UC Davis graduate and Internship Coordinator and Undergraduate Advisor for the SAFS program, chat about the launch of the new major and how it was developed. Joanna also talks about the Agricultural Sustainability Institute and the Student Farm at UC Davis. To lean more about the ASI, the Student Farm or the new SAFS major, visit http://asi.ucdavis.edu/. Photo courtesy of the University of California.

Music.
Tonight's show featured music from...
- Kate Wolf, Across The Great Divide
- Laura Gibson, Shadows on Parade
- The Devil Makes Three, All Hail
- John Gorka, Shadows in the Fields

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Butterflies, Climate Change and a Rally to Save the Domes at UC Davis

Butterflies and Climate Change.
Butterfly Man, Dr. Arthur 'Art' Shapiro, professor of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis, discusses his work observing butterflies and monitoring their population across the central section of California over the past 35 years. Art also talks about his global travels and research translating changes and observations within butterfly populations to global climate change. To learn more about Art's work, visit his website: butterfly.ucdavis.edu. Photo courtesy of UC Davis.

Rally to Save the Domes.
Jeremy and Anna Ruth report from the rally to save the Domes, which occurred at UC Davis on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011. Domes residents and community supporters presented letters of support to the UC Davis administration to save their community. Jeremy chats with Emily Galindo, Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and director of Student Housing at UC Davis. We also hear from Fred Wood, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at UC Davis, on the state of the Domes future and negotiations with the Solar Community Housing Association. To learn more about the Domes community, and how you can help, visit www.bagginsend.org. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Raff.

Announcements.
- Join us for UC Davis Farm-to-College Night on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 from 4:30-7:30pm at the UC Davis ARC Pavilion. Fun activities, live music and contra dancing with Driving With Fergus, games, prizes, and of course, a sustainable menu featuring local and organic ingredients. Learn more at dining.ucdavis.edu.

Music.
Tonight's show featured music from...
- Putamyo World Music - Brazilian Lounge and African Lounge
- Evangeline (playing live at the UC Davis Tri CoOps - Pierce on Thursday, June 9th at 8pm)
- Bon Iver

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Student Run Food CoOp and the Trellis Fund

Flatland Food Collective at UC Davis - Student Run Food CoOp. Sparked by an interest in more sustainable food options on the UC Davis campus, UC Davis students Kase Wheatley and Anna Ruth Crittenden joined teams with the national Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive to launch a cooperatively- and student-run cafe on campus! Jeremy Raff chats with Anna Ruth and Kase about their work with CoFed and students at UC Davis to begin the discussion around food, cooperatives and how to marry the two into a retail operation on campus: the Flatland Food Collective. Image courtesy of the Flatland Food Collective at UC Davis.

The Trellis Fund. Named after grape trellises because it provides a support framework for local initiatives to grow and become fruitful, The Trellis Fund was developed by UC Davis graduate students and brothers Peter and Tommy Shapland. Neda Yousefian chats with Peter, Tommy and Juliet Braslow, a UC Davis graduate student studying Horticulture and Agronomy and International Agriculture Development program, about the development of the Trellis Fund and some of the projects that have fruited from the funds networking structure and grant program. The Trellis Fund aims to link horticultural graduate students in the U.S. to agricultural NGOs/universities/government agencies in developing countries. Image courtesy of the Trellis Fund at UC Davis.

Announcements.
Rally to Save the Domes - UC Davis Domes residents are organizing a rally in support of their housing community! The rally will be held in the Memorial Union on Wednesday, May 25th 2011 from 2 to 5 p.m. To lean more about the UC Davis Domes community, visit http://www.bagginsend.org/. Image courtesy of the Baggins End Community at UC Davis.

Music.
Tonight's show features music from...
- Tow by The Devil Makes Three
- Mister Freedom by Mother Earth, Tree People
- De Noile, Na Cama by Doris Monteiro
- Hands in Pockets by Joanna Newsom

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Kathleen Merrigan: Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food

A talk by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan, about the significance of eating locally produced food, knowing your farmer and playing an active role in your regional food system.

The event was hosted by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI) of UC Davis and Students for Sustainable Agriculture.

The piece begins with a short introduction by Tom Tomich, director of the ASI, and a presentation of the Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award to Kelly Garbach.

Learn more about the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program.

Listen to Merrigan's talk in the audio player below. Download the audio file here.



Audio recorded on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 at the UC Davis campus.

Living Off the Grid wih Kara Sweeney and Peace Corps in Mexico

Living Off the Grid
Kara "Hrubs" Sweeney is a first year undergraduate in Biological and Environmental Engineering. She lived in an intentional community in northern Idaho 30 miles from the Canadian border completely off the grid. After apprenticing with Becky Kemery, author of Yurts: Living in the Round, Kara became inspired to build her own yurt out of pallets, which would otherwise not go to any use. Her next big project is a mobile house! Image courtesy Kara Sweeney.

Peace Corps: Mexico
Daniel Evans, a UC Davis alumni and the Peace Corps country director for Mexico, came on to the show and talked with Neda and Jeremy about the work that Peace Corps volunteers do around the world. Daniel served as a volunteer in the Dominican Republic and then came to UC Davis to study in the International Agricultural Development and Ecology programs. He went on to work in international development for 30 years. Speaking about opportunities in the Peace Corps, Daniel was especially excited about the Master's International program where students can attend graduate school and serve in the Peace Corps simultaneously. In response to some of the criticism of the Peace Corps with regard to volunteers being part of American foreign policy Evans said that the Peace Corps is independent of the State Department and each volunteer shares their own experiences with their host community and so is a representative of America but not in any formal way. To learn more about the Peace Corps or the Master's International program visit the websites: www.peacecorps.gov or www.peacecorps.gov/gradschool. Image courtesy Peace Corps.

Music!
Today's show featured music from Afro-Cuban All Stars, Compay Segundo, and the compilation 24 Anos De Musica Y Cultura! 1976-2000!

Announcements!

• Take a quick survey about the UC Davis Student Farm!Win some free organic produce or a $20 gift card to the UC Davis Bookstore!
• Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food! Check out Kathleen Merrigan, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, at UC Davis, Wednesday, May 18th from 2:00-3:00pm at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. More event info here!
  

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series 2011: Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson.

Award-winning science fiction writer and local Davis community member, Kim Stanley Robinson, came to UC Davis for the 2011 Whole Earth Festival speaker series.

Robinson is well known for his Mars trilogy, as well as Three Californias trilogy, The Martians, Antarctica, and The Years of Rice and Salt.

The underlying theme in most of Robinson's writing is ecological sustainability.

Robinson spoke at the 2011 Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series at UC Davis. Listen to his discussion in the audio player below. Download the talk here.

Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series 2011: Derrick Jensen on Civilization and Resistance

Derrick Jensen.

"We are the members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures, on women, on children, on all of us through the possibility of nuclear suicide and other means -- all of these are unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity."

So began his first book, Listening to the Land. Why do we act as we do? What are sane and effective responses to outrageously destructive behavior? What will it take for us to stop the horrors that characterize our way of being? His work and life revolve around these questions.

Jensen spoke at the 2011 Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series at UC Davis. Listen to his discussion in the audio player below. Download the talk here.

Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series 2011: Penny Livingston - Stark on Permculture

Penny Livingston-Stark.

Penny Livingston-Stark is internationally recognized as a prominent permaculture teacher, designer and speaker.

Penny has been teaching internationally and working professionally in the land management, regenerative design and permaculture development field for 25 years and has extensive experience in all phases of ecologically sound design and construction as well as the use of natural non-toxic building materials. She specializes in site planning and the design of resource-rich landscapes integrating, rainwater collection, edible and medicinal planting, spring development, pond and water systems, habitat development and watershed restoration for homes, co-housing communities, businesses and diverse yield perennial farms. Image and biography courtesy www.regenerativedesign.org.

Livingston-Stark spoke at the 2011 Whole Earth Festival Speaker Series at UC Davis. Listen to her discussion in the audio player below.

Download the talk here.

Davis Art About, Farm-to-School, Pomegranate Salon and Musings with a Davis Community Member

2nd Friday Davis Art About, Farm-to-School and Pomegranate Salon.
Jeremy chats with several Davis community members about this upcoming 2nd Friday Davis Art About on Friday, May 13th from 5-9pm.

Rich, owner of Pomegranate Salon in Davis CA. This Friday, Pomegranate will be hosting several artists, including musicians, and also Berryessa Gap, a local winery. All proceeds from the wine sales at Pomegranate on Friday will support the Davis Farm-to-School program.

Talia Hack-Davies from Davis Farm-to-School came on to talk about the efforts that the Farm-to-School program has made in the community including recycling, school gardens, farm tours and healthy school lunches in Davis public schools. Talia also talked about the upcoming Tour-de-Cluck happening in Davis this weekend.

Jeremy also chats with several artists whose work will be featured at Pomegranate Salon on May 13th, including Chris Bell, Alexander Bonack and Morgan Hibbert-King.

Finally, Melanie Glover from the Downtown Davis Business Association, who coordinates the monthly 2nd Friday Art About events in Davis, chats with Jeremy about this Fridays events. To get a map of the events and locations for the Art About, check out the Downtown Davis Business Association website.

Farming, Humanure and Steinbeck - Musings with a Davis Community Member.
Community member, Bobby Johnson, chats with Neda, Anna Ruth and Jeremy about everything from urban agriculture to humanure. Bobby speaks about his undergraduate education in soil science, his love for tomatoes, the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, a non-profit that he helped to start, and his favorite crop, asparagus, and the phenomenon that occurs with your urine after consuming asparagus.

Bobby also chats about his work on the UC Davis Student Farm, human poop and how to utilize humane waste for recycling nutrients into our agriculture system. Bobby references the Humanure Handbook by Joseph C. Jenkins. Bobby's favorite books also include To a God Unknown and Cup of Gold, both by John Steinbeck.

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

Village Harvest and State-Wide Student Convergence

Village Harvest. Fruit trees scatter the streets, front yards and backyards of the Davis community, often times with their delicious fruit going to waste. Learn more about the local gleaning group, Village Harvest, in this week's show. Neda Yousefian sits down with Jagroop Guraya and Greg Gibbs. To learn more about Village Harvest, visit their website.

State-Wide Student Convergence. Over 300 students from across the state converged this past weekend at the UC Davis campus for the 10th annual California Student Sustainability Coalition Convergence. Dani and Anna Ruth report from the convergence, bringing you clips for keynote speakers, panelists, students and workshop leaders. To learn more about the CSSC, visit their website. Photo courtesy of Jay Erker.

Music!
Today's show featured music from, The Pleb, Laura Gibson, Driving with Fergus and Issa Bagayogo .

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

WEF Karma Patrol, Cob Benches and a chat with a student food warrior

Whole Earth Festival - Karma Patrol.
Mona Mae, Karma Patrol (KP) co-director for the annual Whole Earth Festival (WEF), talks with Anna Ruth about this years' amazing Zero Waste festival. Whole Earth Festival is coming to UC Davis the 6th, 7th and 8th of May - Mothers' Day weekend - and it is going to be AWESOME. This year's theme is Consciousness Cultivating Compassion. To learn more about WEF and how to get involved in KP and keep the festival cool, check out the WEF wesbite! Image courtesy of UC Davis.

Cob Bench at the Domes.
Dani reports from the UC Davis Domes community at a cob trash bench building party on Earth Day, Friday April 22nd. Brennan Bird talks about students taking a hands-on approach to their education. Shawn King discusses the nitty gritty of cob and earth-bag building. We also hear a fun story about salvaging waste from Willee Roberts. To learn more about the Domes, check out the Domes website. More information about cob building and earth bag building, too! Photos by Dani Lee.

Food Warrior Kitty Bolte.
Kitty Bolte and Anna Ruth chat about seed banks, Real Food Challenge and farming.

Music!
This week's show features music from Driving with Fergus, Dixie Chicks and Iron and Wine.

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!

WestCo Recap, Beekeeping and Colony Collapse Disorder

WestCo Recap and Beekeeping Workshop.
Anna Ruth and Jeremy recap on some awesome workshops, including a beekeeping workshop, and other happenings at the WestCo conference, which took place in Berkeley, CA this past weekend. WestCo is the coming together of student cooperatives from all over the west coast, providing an opportunity to strengthen the cooperative community through skill share, communication, and some festive collaboration.

Jeremy also talked about the recent breakthrough for the honeybee colony collapse disorder, citing an article from the New York Times - Honeybee Killer Found by Army and Entomologist by Kirk Johnson.

From the Archives.
We re-streamed two brief shows from past Local Dirt episodes, including a brief stint on the Fair Food Project with Alida Cantor and the Real Food Challenge with Hai Vo.

Music!
Tonight's' show featured music from Bon Iver.

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
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Plastic Bag Ordinance in Davis, Russell Ranch Barn Dance and the Domes

Plastic Bag Ordinance in Davis. Our favorite zero-waste specialist and UC Davis alum, Michael Siminitus, joined us on Local Dirt tonight to give use the dirt about the recently proposed ban of single-use plastic bags in Davis. Hear what Mike has to say about both sides of the argument - for and against the ordinance - and why the continuous production and use of film plastics is something we should be concerned about. Check out the Ban the Bag Davis Facebook Group to learn more!

Check out this awesome video from previous Local Dirt guest, AshEL Eldridge on plastic bags.



Russell Ranch Barn Dance Recap. Lots of fun, lots of dancing, lots of dirt. The Russell Ranch Barn dance that happened on Friday, April 1st with Driving with Fergus and Erik Hoffman was a great success. Anna Ruth talks about Erik Hoffman's calling skills, and how contra dancing supports community building.

Domes Work Party. Anna Ruth and Jeremy share sounds from the recent Domes community work party.

Red Tail Hawk. Great spoken word from Shannon Harney.

Music!
Tonight's' show featured music from Iron and Wine.

LISTEN UP!
To listen to this week's show, visit this show link. Enjoy!
You can also download the audio file by right clicking on the link and saving it to your hard drive!