New Monthly Editorials

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Upcoming Event

September 1st: All flesh is grass: A slow food public presentation

• Joel Salatin's "farm of many faces" is richly profiled in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma as "one of the most productive and influential alternative farms in America." Acclaimed author and pastoralist, Salatin's passion for humanity's ancient engagement with grass argues its current relevance to your health and our species' continuued success on the planet.

News Update

• Merced's foreclosure crisis explored in New York Times story; as story breaks, numbers worsen: Reversing the trend of May and June, more homes were foreclosed in July than sold ... Scott Jason; 08/27/08
• Lawmakers aim to cut global warming by limiting sprawl ... Paul Rogers; 08/24/08
• In the Ruins of the Housing Bust, the Price of an Illusion ... David Streitfeld; 08/22/08
• Some Locals Upset with Annexations ... Corey Pride; 08/24/08
• Silicon Valley's water bank: underground storage in Central Valley ... Paul Rogers; 08/23/08
• Some Locals Upset with Annexations ... Corey Pride; 08/22/08
• New Produce Market Takes a Fresh Approach ... Carol Reiter; 08/22/08
• Legislature takes aim at urban sprawl and global warming: A bill calling for financial incentives to target greenhouse gases would be the first in the nation ... Margot Roosevelt; 08/22/08

Worth Reading

• Letter: Unrestrained growth ... Gerri Martin, Livingston; 08/27/08
• Farms thrive in crazy times: It's easy to see why when residential real estate is crumbling, the Valley's agriculture continues to grow; 08/27/08
• Gone forever ... Gloria Unruh, Squaw Valley; 08/23/08

Monthly Editorial

Valley Land Alliance will publish a monthly editorial from our readers. If you wish to appear on this site please send your editorial to the email address on our contact page. We wish to state that these pieces do not necessarily reflect the mission of Valley Land Alliance, but are opinions from our readership.

WE might get THERE from HERE

By Glenn Anderson

Who are WE?

We are a very unique species with a large brain that is incredibly creative and innovative. We like to explore new places and new ideas. We are quite willing to do battle with fellow humans that do not agree with us. We like to control resources. We love to acquire stuff. We mostly think our kids and close relatives are special. We generally think that bigger is better. We are not sure that people of other nations are equal. We often think that people of another ethnicity are inferior.

Where is HERE?

HERE is a planet, a continent, a nation, a state, and a community that is under stress because we are choosing to overdraw the planetary natural capital. Here some say that from mid October until the end of each year we are overspending the planets capacity to renew itself. Here is where jurisdictions, property rights, habits of consumption, antiquated policies, and sometimes ignorance prevents proper and sustainable management of resources. Here is a world that is giving over too much control of resources to people who do not share local and global communities' best interests.

Where is THERE?

There is where we are helping the earth provide sustenance for over six billion humans. There is where all people seek to grow in awareness of the planetary ecological constraints. There is a place where no one is living in denial of his or her own environmental abuses. There is a place where we take delight in finding energy sources that have no harmful side effects. There is a world that would encourage universal enlightenment. There is where research and innovation would very naturally lead to sustainable living.

As our species travels along it's resource plundering path may we each learn to make personal choices that are right for the earth and our children.

Web Sites Worth Visiting

American Farmland Trust: California - Paving Paradise

One out of every six acres developed in California since the Gold Rush was paved over between 1990 and 2004, concludes a new AFT report, Paving Paradise: A New Perspective on California Farmland Conversion. In all, more than a half million acres were urbanized during this period, almost two-thirds of it agricultural land. Among AFT's other findings: More than 60% of the land developed in the San Joaquin Valley, which accounts for half of California's agricultural production, was farmland of the very best quality. The attached report includes both a database and text that explains and analyzes the data.

Plumas Sierra Counties: Land Use Information

18 Different Fact Sheets (1 to 4 pages each) written in layperson terms to help us all better understand aspects of community land use planning.

Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) provides educational and business opportunities for farm workers and aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops grown on two organic farms in Monterey County, California.

The Story of Stuff.com

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.