Given that I advocated for the carbon tax, I thought I'd put the money toward further greening ourselves. I've realized that it's not always easy staying eco with a newborn. When my infant daughter's not in cloth diapers (night time and when we go away), she's now in G-diapers (www.gdiapers.com). We spent $100 on the starter kit and a new compost (the wet disposal liner component can be composted). My partner spent his on the bike attachment for her stroller so we can drive less :)

Not long ago universities provided extension service to the public and together with local district agronomists provided opportunities for people to develop local skills and resources to produce food. Today we are relying on global trade agreements to provide cheap food and the local farmer is seen as a novelty and local food from small scale producers is often 2-3 times the price of supermarket products.

The heartbeat of a society is its food system. When B.C. became a province the Minister of Agriculture was second in importance to the Premier. Local and regional food is 'high fashion' now, and people are paying big bucks to have a link between the seed, the farmer and their palette. So it's important to have people in our province with training in how to produce high quality food either conventionally, organically or somewhere in the middle of the philosophies.

Our province is not providing funding to develop local food, field test and trial varieties that are adapted to growing without high inputs of chemicals and resources and survive in our regional climates. Lip service but no back up bucks to bring 'local and regional' food into reality.

There is immediate need to assess the carrying capacity of our cities and determine if we can afford to keep putting up houses for more people. We need to assess the value of agriculture in our system, and perhaps the system needs to change dramatically to start feeding people locally.

It's great to put up million dollar climate change facilities at universities but when I cannot get a definition from the Victoria institution about what a 'carbon credit' IS then I know there's alot of hot air being used to justify maintenance of the current status quo systems, provide new jobs for a few 'experts' in climate change and nothing happens regarding local food systems. Climate change experts do not talk to organic food producers or agronomists. Separate disciplines a world apart.

I'm a agronomist working in the organic and heritage seed movements for twenty plus years. As one of the few surviving agricultural historians in our province I challenge all of us to ask if the past can offer us lessons. If so, we better remember that the 'hand that holds the seed controls the food supply'.

I will give $50 of that $100 to the organic farmer who has given me land to do local wheat field trials.

Sharon L. Rempel
www.grassrootsolutions.com
Author of 'Demeter's Wheats' - growing community using traditional wisdom and heritage seed. (order information on www.grassrootsolutions.com)

I will give my $100 towards the preservation of the UBC farm. Yay for local food and people who care about it.

I will take my $100 and keep it to pay off the Federal Government as they have decided to impose their Gouge and Screw Tax (GST) on the B.C. Carbon Tax that is on my Terasen gas bill.

Went to the track, bet on the races and bought beer, thanks Gordon parlayed it into $200.00.

As my commitment to the cause my $100 will go towards tuition for a grandson who is pursuing a career in ecogeography.

I gave my $100.00 to the NDP.

I spent $25 on a book about eco-spirituality, New Climate For Theology God, The World, & Global Warming by Sallie McFague purchased @ Vine & Fig bookstore; $30 on a pull tote suitcase to pack locally grown fruits & veggies that can easily be lifted on the bus; $25 on a reused walking cane @ MCC Thrift Store for Sunday nature walks in Stanley Park & $20 for a Stanley Park Ecology Society Membership.

$100.00

I'd like to see the old interurban Rail Service running passenger rail from Vancouver through the Fraser Valley.

VOTE / DONATE TO: Rail for the Valley

AND: South Fraser OnTrax