Screening of Urban Roots at January 5, 2015 Meeting of Sustainable Monroeville~ 7:00 PM! Composting Class in February!

Join Sustainable Monroeville in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library on Monday evening January 5, 2015, at 7:00 PM, to see the documentary Urban Roots!

Urban Roots is Produced by Leila Conners (The 11th Hour) and Mathew Schmid, and directed by Mark MacInnis. "The film follows the urban farming phenomenon in Detroit. Urban Roots is a timely, moving and inspiring film that speaks to a nation grappling with collapsed industrial towns and the need to forge a sustainable and prosperous future."

 Following this 93 minute film, the participants will choose to watch one of two special features, Protecting the Right To Grow Food, A short by Thomas Linzey and Mari Margil of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund about how to protect the right to grow food, 7 minutes; Insights and Tips on Urban Farming, with Urban Roots farmers sharing their expertise on how to start and maintain an urban farm throughout the year, 18 minutes, or have a discussion of the film.

Suggested $5.00 donation will go to www.urbanrootsaction.com which donates a portion of proceeds to "Putting Farms in Schools."

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Save the date for Sustainable Monroeville's February 2, 2015, meeting. PA Resources Nancy Martin will teach a class on composting: It’s Time to Compost!!

Not sure what to do with your kitchen, garden and yard scraps? Would you like natural, home-made compost for your lawns and gardens in the spring? Expand your recycling efforts to include kitchen scraps and yard debris.

You receive a composting bin at class!

This PA Resources Council workshop thoroughly covers the importance and benefits of composting, the process, setting up a compost pile, proper maintenance, and ways of using finished compost. Participants will receive an Earth Machine Compost Bin with attendance. This bin, approved across the state as an ideal bin for urban and suburban areas, has an eighty-gallon capacity. 

Cost $50 single/ $55 couple and includes one compost bin

Where: Monroeville Public Library/Sustainable Monroeville’s February meeting

When: February 2, 2015 at 7:00 – 8:30 PM

For more info or to register go to:

www.prc.org 

or call 412-488-7490 X 226

This workshop is made possible by the generous support of the Giant Eagle Foundation.

Peaceable Kingdom documentary on July 7, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library

Join us on Monday evening, July 7, 2014, at 7:00 PM at the Monroeville Public Library to see the award winning documentary Peaceable Kingdom: the journey home, for the July meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. Free and open to the public!

"Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home is a riveting story of transformation and healing. This award-winning film explores the awakening conscience of several people who grew up in traditional farming culture and who have now come to question the basic assumptions of their way of life. Presented through a woven tapestry of memories, music, and breathtaking accounts of life-altering moments, the film provides insight into the farmers sometimes amazing connections with the animals under their care, while also making clear the complex web of social, psychological and economic forces that have led them to their present dilemma."

Directed by	Jenny Stein
Produced by	James LaVeck
Starring	Lorri Bauston, Gene Bauston, Harold Brown, Howard Lyman, Jim Mason, Jessi Seif, Peaches Gillete, Jerry Cook
Running time	70 min.
Language	English
Budget	unknown

Ingredients: The Local Food Movement Takes Root at the October meeting of Sustainable Monroeville; 6:00 PM Plant based pot luck; 7:00 PM documentary screening

Monday evening, October 7, 2013, Sustainable Monroeville will show the documentary: Ingredients: The local food movement takes root

6:00 PM Pot Luck with locally sourced plant based food; Pack in and out so bring cutlery and plates!

7:00 PM Film~Screen time is 67 minutes with discussion following

Thanks to Amy Baer for suggesting we screen this film! We are looking for sponsors to pay the $100.00 fee. Contact us if you'd like to donate. There will be a $5.00 suggested donation at the door. Proceeds will be sent to the filmmakers.

To Great Health!

The Monroeville Food Garden is behind the Monroeville Public Library. This amazing garden has supplied 500 pounds of fresh vegetables to four local food banks for the third year in a row! Kudos to Councilwomen Lois Drumheller, the Monroeville Public Library, the Municipality of Monroeville and all of the tireless volunteers!

Garfield Community Farm in Pittsburgh, PA

Solar panels on new bioshelter at Garfield Community Farm

Hops

Children running in Garfield Community Farm Garden

Black Snake crossing Frick Park

 Rooftop in eastern Pennsylvania

Lavender Buddha & Sage 

Sunflower from the home garden

Sprouting with Sustainable Monroeville on March 4, 2013 at 7:00 PM!

Our dog, Mango with wheat grass

Learn about indoor sprouting and growing techniques from Stan Beck who has his very own indoor sprout farm for himself, family and friends! Join us on Monday evening, March 4, 2013, at 7:00 PM in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Stan will be demonstrating how to sprout wheat, pea and sunflower seeds and how to grow them too. He'll talk about what is involved in  the middle of winter and all year round.

We'll sample some wheat grass juice and the Hippocrates Health Institute recipe green juice made of cucumbers, celery, pea sprouts and sunflower sprouts and have some sprouts to eat too! 

Janet McKee, producer of the newly released documentary Bethany's Story about the power of food to heal at the Q&A at the February meeting of Sustainable Monroeville.

Close to thirty people joined us for the screening of Bethany's Story!

Angella and Don Jackson at the raw pot luck dinner prior to the movie screening of Bethany's Story at last month's meeting!

Mmmm, raw foods and raw foodies are fun! Wonderfully delicious and healthful mostly raw vegan food. We must admit the vegan, cooked cup cakes were on the next table and they went fast!

Gift Circle and Promised Land

Our monthly meeting of Sustainable Monroeville will be on Monday evening, January 7, 2013. We will have a short discussion about the movie Promised Land whether or not you've seen it, hear a talk by Wanda Guthrie of Murrysville Marcellus, and host a Gift Circle. You can bring a gift of any kind to share with others and/or be prepared to take whatever there is to give! 

See you at the Monroeville Public Library in the downstairs program room at 7:00 PM! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHQt1NAkhIo Here's the link to the trailer for the new movie Promised Land. 

Food Not Lawns in White Oak, PA!

What a joy to see the descendent of a farming family farming her own suburban property and feeding the neighborhood! We went to the home of some friends in White Oak, Pennsylvania, and across the street I had the honor of finally seeing the garden my husband had been telling me about for ages:
Rows and rows of corn, tomatoes and more crops were abundantly producing all summer with only water from the sky! Amazing and wonderful!

The tall fence is to keep the deer from eating all the crops!

Natural Choices Lawn Care and A Chemical Reaction Movie on September 10, 2012n

Join us for the next meeting of Sustainable Monroeville on Monday evening, September 10, 2012, at 7:00 PM to hear Ed Hoffman of Natural Choices Organic and Natural Lawn Care and to view the movie A Chemical Reaction Go to http://www.safelawns.org/a-chemical-reaction/ for details.

Transition Pittsburgh http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dTcvO-o8NTA

So many beautiful colors! These tomatoes on the shelf in Pittsburgh's East End Food Coop are locally grown by responsible farmers. Yippee for the East End Food Coop!

How do we figure out where our food comes from and if their genome has been genetically modified? Peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, peaches, tangerines. Would you grow these on your front yard? Do you spray chemicals on your lawn? If so, would you consider not doing that any more and morphing your lawn into a lawn that produces Food Not Lawn? How bold are we anyway?

How long does it take to transform a formally sprayed lawn into one where we are comfortable growing food on it and eating that food?

The food grown in the Permaculture style garden behind the Monroeville Public Library that supplied 500 pounds of fresh vegetables for four local food banks last summer (we are still counting the bounty from this summer) does not use genetically modified seeds. How do we know?

What is the relationship between understanding the composition of the soils on our urban and suburban lots and how the grass is growing and our food systems in the United States? So much to learn! For the October meeting of Sustainable Monroeville, we will show a movie on genetically modified organisms called Genetic Roulette. Join us at the Monroeville Public Library for our meetings. They are free and open to the public!

Jeff Newman of Steel City Soils talking about Permaculture at the Cedars of Monroeville. The Cedars has worked with Jeff to put in a Permaculture garden as part of their landscape. The hearty local plants have done extremely well this season!

Jeff Newman Peddling with his Pierogies on Pittsburgh's Historic South Side! Peddlin' Pierogies uses whole wheat flour from Clarion River Organics and wonoderful organic potatoes too! Mmmm, mmm good!

Eating, Third Edition: It's the biggest cause of disease, disabilities and death in the U.S. today

Join us on Monday evening, August 6, 2012 at the Monroeville Public Library for the August meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. Our Raw Foods Pot Luck Dinner begins at 6:00 PM and at 7:00 PM, the movie will begin. We will be screening the movie Eating. Mmmm. mmmm. good! Bring along a raw foods dish, preferably with locally sourced food. Remember to bring along a place setting and a cup as we like to pack it in, pack it out, and make our events, zero waste!

Eating third Edition

A documentary film

"A compelling and often shocking look at the standard American diet." "...asserts that following federal nutrition guidelines can kill you." American Library Association

"Rivet yourself to your chair and watch Eating, a mind-blowing video experience that will forever change the way you think about food."

Joel Fuhrman, M.D.,            author of Eat To Live

"Eating is a brilliant program, showing a side of the food industry that many will find shocking. It also provides an easy and engaging path to health through good food. I highly recommend it." Neal Barnard, M.D.,            author of Breaking the Food Seduction

"I want both to congratulate and to thank you. You've done us all a major service." John Robbins, author of Diet For a New America

Don’t miss the Eating experience! 88 minutes that will change your life!

Reactions

This is part of an email RAVEDIET.com received which describes a showing of Eating:

"WOW! It was unbelievable! We had over 100 people show up to our fundraiser. After the film was over, about 30 people stayed around and talked and asked questions and ate free samples of fake meats and soy/ice/almond milks, etc...that had been donated by our local grocery stores. Before the movie, I decided not to put out handouts and books. I did it during the film, so that when people came out, they came on to the resource table where we had our cook books and our table full of free literature. There was SO MUCH excitement and energy in the theater lobby area. It felt like we changed a lot of lives and a lot of diets. It was enormously successful. Andy helped me and my students set up and break down, and he was also very engaged in talking to people and answering questions. He thought it was incredible! It is a great film to see on a big screen."

May Meeting, Pot Luck dinner and Gardening in Monroeville!

Join us on Monday evening, May 7, 2012 at the Monroeville Public Library for the May meeting of Sustainable Monroeville. We'll have a pot luck dinner at 6:30 pm. The theme for the pot luck this time is Raw Food! And remember to bring a place setting too, as we like to pack in and pack out and make our events zero waste. We will compost any leftovers that folks do not take home with them. At 7:00 PM the meeting will start with a short look at the Monroeville Food Garden. Then we will move right into a discussion about food and the movie we showed last month called Forks Over Knives.

Now is your chance to help prepare the Monroeville Food Garden behind the Monroeville Public Library for the 2012 season. Come de-thatch with your own tools Friday, May 11, 2012, from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. There will be some tools available if you do not have any to bring. Cold drinks will be there to keep you cool! Bring along a friend or two or three!

This will be the second year for the Monroeville Food Garden. Last year the garden provided 500 pounds of vegetables to five local food banks. Thanks so much to councilwoman Lois Drumheller, Councilman Bern Erb, Sandy McFall, Pam Barroso, the Girl Scouts, and others that helped with this incredible effort!

Eating a Plant Based Whole Foods Diet

Recently I spent three weeks at the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida, and participated in the Life Transformation Program. What an amazing experience! I am convinced that this place is a valid potential model of the hospital of the future where people really heal, and medications are not used to mask symptoms that are speaking to us to tell us what is out of balance in our inner ecosystems. Through their educational programming, serving delicious raw vegan food, and exercise and therapeutic opportunities, they teach each individual how to take charge of their own health and move forward in their lives as joyful, fulfilled spirits. It is a wonderful journey to be on, this life!

Come join us this coming Monday, April 2, 2012, in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library to see the film Forks Over Knives and learn about the advantages of eating a plant based whole foods diet. Elisa Beck for Sustainable Monroeville-- Join us on Facebook!

"Join the conversation that's changing the way America Eats." "The film features leading experts on health and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years."
                                                                                                                          from the film jacket

"A film that can save your life," Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times; "Great Movie." Mark Bittman, New York Times Columnist; "Convincing, Radical and Politically Volatile," John Anderson, Variety

Vandana Shiva in Pitttsburgh. Pure Joy and Inspiration!

Last night, I went to Point Park University to hear Vandana Shiva, "world- renowned environmental leader and thinker...She is the founder of Navdanya ("nine seeds"), a movement promoting diversity and use of native seeds. ..(she) set up the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology in her mother's cowshed in 1997. (Her organization)..has done studies that have validated the ecological value of traditional farming and have been instrumental in fighting destructive development projects in India." She also written many wonderful books including Soil, Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, 2008, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development, 2010, Earth Democracy, Justice, Sustainability and Peace, 2005, Water Wars: Pollution, Profits and Privatization, 2001, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, 1997, (all South End Press) Monocultures of the Mind (Zed, 1993) and The Violence of the Green Revolution (Zed, 1992)

A few of my friends, Steffi S. Eric V. a student from Point Park University, Vandana Shiva and me!

The talk was one of the most upbeat and inspiring talks I have ever heard. Shiva is grass roots and talked about the improtance of doing anything, any small thing, to work towards the world we want to see. She explained how turning land and soil to the organic way by enriching the soil, the earth will heal itself in a very short time, in two years.

After the talk, there was time for Q& A. I told Dr. Shiva that I usually ask questions. Following her talk though, I expressed my admiration that she spoke so well and summarized the healing plan for all of us people, plants, and all organisms through re-establishing the biodiverse earth, that I did not have any questions. Instead I told her what we are doing in our community of Monroeville to work with these issues. I told her about how we are linking the Food Not Lawns campaign with the urban core through the Schwartz Market project on Pittsburgh's Historic South Side.

So the newly established garden behind the Monroeville Public Library in cooperation with the library and the municipality is the first huge step in an outstanding direction. This winter, I will be thinking about, planning,  and designing a food garden for our front lawn, out here in this suburb called Monroeville. Our January meeting will be dedicated to the idea of Food Not Lawns. Join Us!

So what does this have to do with the urban core? Well, the urban folks do not have much space to grow food. Let's provide our suburban food for sale in the city and help the city folks establish their own rooftop gardens and urban farms....We are working step by step by step to establish a vibrant Schwartz Market on the South Side on Historic East Carson Street, main street USA! See http://1317eastcarson.blogspot.com. for more on this urban project. The market is available for vendors to sell food and some art, or have their goods sold. Please contact me if you are interested in being involved on any level out here in the suburbs or in the South Side.

I can be reached by e-mail at elisabeck@aol.com which I check almost daily, or sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com which I check infrequently!

So why am I so excited? Because when a person like Vandana Shiva says, oh, yes, that she did not talk about that last night, but that connecting the rural farmers with the urban core is so important and telling me that what we are doing is exactly what needs to happen, I get even more inspired! Perhaps she'll mention some of our after talking in her talk today at Carnegie Mellon University between 12:30 and 1:30 or tonight when she receives the Thomas Merton Award at the Sheraton in Station Squrare.

Join Us in this magnificent journey of vibrant life!  Elisa Beck :)

Elisa Beck

Stormwater Management and a USDA People's Garden!

At the first meeting of Sustainable Monroeville in February of 2009, we worked to start two committees, one to begin a rain barrel revolution in Monroeville, and the other to learn how to design and implement 10' x 10' biointensive gardens in our suburban yards. Those specific projects have not happened yet, but we did spark a permaculture-style vegetable garden project at the Monroeville Public Library that is planting the seeds for helping us understand how bioswales are important in stormwater management and much more. The garden is now a People's Garden. The People's Garden is an initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture "that encourages government and other organizations to create gardens to benefit the community." (People's Garden takes root beside library, Pittsburgh Post Gazette 9-15-11, EZ-2 byAnne Tubbs,)  The Crossraods Food Pantry and the Pitcairn Food Pantry are receiving the bounty of the Monroeville People's Garden. Here's today's article in its entirety by Annie Tubbs of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Lois Drumheller examines the garden behind the Monroeville library, recently certified by the USDA as a People's Garden.

Between the library and the senior citizens center in Monroeville lies a two-row garden of flowers, vegetables and herbs.
It's the brainchild of Monroeville Councilwoman Lois Drumheller, who wanted to establish a People's Garden -- a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative that encourages government and other organizations to create gardens to benefit the community.
She'd hoped to secure thousands of dollars in grants, but when it became clear that wasn't going to happen, she started planning the garden with just $450 in donations.
"This is the first year, and it's all experimental and done on a shoestring budget," she said. The garden is the only USDA-certified People's Garden in Allegheny County.
So far, the 240-square-foot garden has produced about 250 pounds of vegetables, fruits and herbs for two local food pantries -- the Cross Roads Presbyterian Church and the Pitcairn Food Bank.
Early in the year, Sustainable Monroeville, a group that promotes sustainable gardening, helped design a "permaculture" garden -- the plants have a symbiotic relationship to help each other grow.
Then, Ms. Drumheller had the soil tested in March by scientists at the Penn State Cooperative Extension. The test results weren't promising.
"We didn't have very nutritious soil," she said.
So she spent $225 of her budget on a "soil amendment" done by Steel City Soil. After public works employees dug two rows for the garden with a depression in the middle for a bioswale to catch water runoff, topsoil donated and delivered by a local landscaping company was laid down, followed by a nutritious compost mixture from Steel City Soil. On May 31, seeds and seedlings were planted, all of which were either donated or sold at a deep discount by two local garden centers -- June Rose Garden Center in Plum and Mosside Greenhouse in Wall.
Amid the zucchini, tomatoes and cantaloupe, the garden is dotted with marigolds and Irish Spring bar soap because a public works employee told Ms. Drumheller that the smells are offensive to deer.
"Municipal employees are an encyclopedia of knowledge," Ms. Drumheller said.
She also put fences around the tomatoes to further deter four-legged thieves.
She has seen rabbits, deer, turkeys and groundhogs nearby, but they're not really bothering the garden. Only one plant has been gnawed on -- a Jerusalem artichoke
"I don't really see a lot of animals getting into this," she said.
The staff at Monroeville Public Library helps Ms. Drumheller harvest produce from the garden during work breaks.
"It's been exciting to watch it grow and harvest the fruits of Lois' labor," said Christy Fusco, library director.
The small bioswale in the garden catches water on the sloping hill toward the library, preventing some of it from getting into the building.
Ms. Fusco said she hopes to include more environmentally friendly permaculture landscaping on the library grounds to mitigate flooding.
"We're just keeping our eyes open and sort of including that in our plans ... as we address facility issues," she said.
Ms. Drumheller hopes that sustainable gardens expand across the library grounds and onto the nearby Gateway School District campus. School board members took a tour of the garden last week.
Ms. Fusco said the garden is a great start, and she also hopes to "take those ideas and apply them to the whole campus."

Annie Tubbs: atubbs@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1613.

First published on September 15, 2011 at 12:00 am

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11258/1174606-56-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml#ixzz1Y1yVwl88

Check out the link to a wonderful editorial about stormwater management by Brenda Smith, Executive Director of the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, and one of 15 women being honored for making the region more green by the Boys and Girls Club on November 19, 2011, at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in downtown Pittsburgh: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11243/1170941-110.stm

One Woman Farm

Margaret Schlass of One Woman Farm will be speaking this coming Friday, March 11, 2011, at the Cedars in Monroeville. Go to the Cedars website for details. This is in conjunction with the Cedars coffee and tea house.

Home Grown Sustainability, From Pittsburgh to D.C.

My fellow classmates are part of University College at American University, which is a living and learning community. We all take the Environmental Science class, Sustainable Earth, and live in the same dorm with each other as roommates. We have the class 2 times a week with an additional lab once a week and a D.C. lab led by our leader an additional day per a week as well. It's really neat to be able to call Washington D.C. our "lab!" So far, we have participated in Freshmen Service Experience which was three days out of a week long welcome week. There were many different groups that American University, Earth Day Network, Green went to many different sites as volunteers. We went to Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro, MD. As volunteers at this recently certified organic farm, we contributed to the volunteer work force that runs Clagett, harvesting squash, potatoes (digging them out of the ground, very tedious laborious work), and cucumbers and weeding a strawberry field.

While there are some paid workers who serve as the base for the farm, many of the workers are either working for CSA shares or as pure volunteers. In addition, we have gone to The Earth Day Network in Dupont Circle Washington D.C. and learned about their yearlong effort to educate and make changes to society. With lobbyists in Congress and people working with schools and local businesses, they gave us many opportunities to apply for internships and eventual full time jobs, opening our eyes to the importance and relevance of green jobs overall.

In addition to our D.C. labs, our actual class lab has included testing the water quality of the Potomac river in canoes and off a pier, and using those results to find the overall water quality which is not stellar but is better than it has been in the recent past. The Sustainable Earth lecture portion of the class is taught by Dr. Kiho Kim, a researcher of coral reefs. He leads the class discussion with engaging PowerPoints and goofy anecdotes of his experience in Costa Rica and other tropical sites.

Being able to live and have class with students who care about the planet and are mindful of their actions not only gives us all a greater hope for humanity, but helps us produce greater ideas for change and also study for tests. With many more D.C. field trips in the near future and many more problems to solve, the future of Sustainable Earth is exciting. American University has a major focus on sustainability including greening many roofs (which a few of us helped with, hauling rocks and soil) and focusing on locally grown food. If American University is any indicator of the future, the future looks bright. Laura Beck

In Danger of Falling Food: Free documentary screening and discussion

In Danger of Falling Food: A Community Discussion
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Monroeville Public Library Gallery Space

Cosponsored by Sustainable Monroeville

Please join us as we view and discuss In Danger of Falling Food, an hour-long documentary about the permaculture concept featuring Australian ecologist Bill Mollison. Mollison was born in 1928 and has been called the father of permaculture, an integrated system of design encompassing not only agriculture, horticulture, architecture and ecology but also money management, land access strategies and legal systems for businesses and communities. The aim is to create systems that provide for their own needs, do not pollute and are sustainable. Mollison received the 1981 Right Livelihood Award for for developing and promoting the theory and practice of permaculture. The discussion will focus on permaculture strategies in Monroeville and will be facilitated by Kate O'Brien, Jeff Newman and Elisa Beck of Sustainable Monroeville.

Mark Hudson
Head of Adult Services
Monroeville Public Library
4000 Gateway Campus Blvd.
Monroeville, PA 15146
412-372-0500x13

Bioblitz Today, May 8, Join Us!

What is a bioblitz anyway? Imagine gardening and learning with friends and making new friends while creating a permaculture landscape. Then imagine those friends coming to your home or apartment complex to help you do the same thing~Join us today between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM in McKeesrocks for the first bioblitz. Shovels and gloves a welcome addition! To RSVP call 412-778-0140.