MLT NEWSLETTER

Fall 2015

Cultivating Resilient Communities

MLT Board of Directors:

Rita Bober
Norm Bober
Ken Dahlberg, Chairperson
Maynard Kaufman
Ron Klein
Suzanne Klein
Michael Kruk

Jim Laatsch
Lisa Phillips, Treasurer
Michael Phillips
Thom Phillips, Managing Director
Jan Ryan, Secretary
Jon Towne, Newsletter Editor

    In this issue are two articles by two long time MLT directors and stalwart newsletter contributors Rita and Maynard. The Gibbs House at Western Michigan University is the subject of the 1st article by Maynard. Many readers are aware of Maynard's history in the “back to the land” movement dating from the early 1970's. It may be that Maynard and MLT, pioneers in homesteading and permaculture, were ahead of their times in that the forces promoting social and institutional awareness of ecology, sustainable energy and food systems, climate change, and economic and social justice had not matured to the “tipping” point which hopefully has now passed. University support of the Gibbs House project also reflects the growing local foods movements with family grown food, CSA's, and farmers' markets becoming mainstream.
    Here are a few links, mostly at the MLT website, which can give the reader a background to the 42 year history of Maynard's efforts closely followed by similar and in many cases identical efforts by MLT.

http://www.michiganlandtrust.org/   Michigan Land Trustees (website created in 1997).
http://www.michiganlandtrust.org/Newsletter.html   Michigan Land Trustees Newsletter (80 issues since 1979!).
http://www.michiganlandtrust.org/compilation/index.html Homesteading, a Compilation. Articles written by participants of the two homesteading programs with background information. This page was created for a “reunion” in 1998.
http://issuu.com/wmich/docs/wmu-magazine-fall-2015/12 The article Maynard references.
https://wmich.edu/sustainability/projects/gibbs Gibbs house website.

Rita's article (two parts) is adapted from her articles in the Lawton Free Reader. Emergency Preparedness, something that even the self sufficient, should never ignore. Rita also notes the passing of Detroit based philosopher/activist/author Grace Lee Boggs.

The Board of MLT wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

An Appreciation for Western's new “All-Natural” Living, Learning Laboratory

                                                                    Maynard Kaufman

    I was very pleased to read about the new “All-Natural Living, Learning Laboratory” at Gibbs House on Western's campus. The article, well-illustrated and colorful, appeared in the fall issue of “W,” the WMU Alumni Magazine. Thanks to Harold Glasser for his efforts on this project. This is a long-overdue development and it should continue and prosper.
    It is overdue because it has been over forty years since I had started a similar “living-learning” program in connection with Western, and it is more important now. My project went through several phases. First, I received a half-time leave of absence from classroom teaching to develop this program on a farm that my wife and I bought for that purpose. It was near Bangor and we called it the School of Homesteading. Starting in 1973, we invited a class of eight or ten students to reside with us on the farm through the growing season and learn by doing the work necessary for raising food.
    In its second phase the Homesteading Program was brought back to campus as courses offered through the Environmental Studies Program.   Developing this was a complex process and it involved many meetings with the Curriculum Committee in the College of Arts and Sciences. Given how unconventional “homesteading” was as a course of study and how complex the arrangement was, I was doubtful it would be approved. But, with much support from Environmental Studies faculty members, the program was approved. The university paid for the instructor of the program and listed the courses in its catalog.   A course on Homesteading Theory, which I taught, was offered on campus while courses on Homesteading Practice were offered at the new Land Trust Homesteading Farm just acquired by Michigan Land Trustees. I was designated as the (unpaid) “Homesteading Coordinator” to find the instructor for the Homesteading Practice course as well as the students. This program operated successfully for a few years until a new and unsympathetic administrator ended it.
    The third phase was also ended by an administrative road block. It drew on the experiences my friend Ken Dahlberg and I had in teaching a new course, “Introduction to Appropriate Technology” approved for the Environmental Studies Program in 1979. Emboldened by the success of the Homesteading Programs, I began seeking funds for the establishment of a Center for Appropriate Technology and Homesteading on campus. I reached out for help in this to faculty members in several Colleges of the University, especially the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. We even had tentative approval of a site for this project. It was to be just across the street from where Gibbs House is now. The proposal was sent to the national Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, and our preliminary proposal was accepted. They invited us to prepare a final proposal, and I spent many more hours on that. Then, when administrative people finally looked at our proposal and saw that it would cost the University about $4000 and a small piece of land, they withdrew their support even though the university might have gained $200,000 for this new program and its buildings.
    Now, some forty years later, the so-named “All-Natural Living, Learning Laboratory” at Gibbs house is a version of what we envisioned in the 1970s. I am so glad to see it get started, and the inclusion of a Permaculture component reflects perspicacity.   Michigan Land Trustees, which continued the Homesteading Program for several years after WMU ended it, sponsored one of first three-week Permaculture Design courses in western Michigan in 1985 on the Land Trust Homesteading Farm near Bangor. It was coordinated by Jon Towne, then the manager of the farm, and he started the Permaculture plantings.   Although we were a bit ahead of the times, we now feel vindicated.

Are you ready?

By Rita Bober

    Disasters can happen at any time and in any location. Here are articles about emergency preparedness and how to be prepared. Farmers and homesteaders will probably be more prepared than our city cousins but you never know! Adapted from articles published in the Lawton Free Reader.

       In 1980, we lived near Bangor when a tornado came roaring down M-43 into Kalamazoo. Numerous trees in our woods were knocked down and a tree crashed into our roof. Several trailers and barns were destroyed along our road. We were without electricity for six days. No one was injured but it was our first experience in living without electricity. When we moved to Lawton, I checked with the clerk’s office on what their plan was for emergencies. They suggested I check with the library. No materials were there on what to do. We know there is a plan out there somewhere.
    Tornadoes are not the only disaster to be prepared for. There are winter storms with significant snow and hail storms like we had a few years ago. Now we have to worry about earthquakes in Michigan, too. And also we need to be prepared for any disaster at the nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan near Covert.
    By planning ahead, it will be easier to make the right decisions when the worst happens. Whether you live in the city or the country, your water supply relies on electricity to run the system. What will you do during a power outage? We need water every day to survive. What if the roads are impassable? Find out how much water to have on hand for each person in your family during an emergency. Having enough food for at least three days is easily arranged if you plan ahead. What foods does your family enjoy that you can have on hand and that doesn’t need heating on the stove? Do you have a first aid kit and what should you have on hand for injuries that may occur? Learn what you will need to take with you if you have to evacuate.
    September is Emergency Preparedness month. It takes more than the police and EMS to respond to a disaster. One of the best ways to be ready is to go out and meet your neighbors. There will be someone who knows what to do; someone who has what will help; there will be a neighbor who can do something to solve a problem. I remember reading about a community near Traverse City that was hit with a huge winter storm. No one could get out for a week. And the electricity was off. Neighbors got together and shared food cooked on a grill. Snowmobilers finally got through and helped to provide medication that had run out. Working together enabled folks to pass the time until help arrived.
    Does your family have a disaster plan? Are you dependent on electricity to run your medical equipment? Do you have extra food for your pets? Pets may not be able to go to emergency shelters if you have to evacuate.
     Local Lawton hosted an emergency preparedness program recently. Our guest speaker was Lt. Bob Kirk, Director of Domestic Preparedness from the Paw Paw office. Here are some websites he recommends:
http://www.do1thing.com;
http://www.vanburencountysheriff.com/domestic.htm
http://www.michigan.gov/beprepared
    We hope to never have a disaster but just in case – take care of your family by being prepared.

Beyond Preparedness

    Up above I talked about being prepared for any emergency that comes along. Having enough food, water, tools, and a first aid kit give us the supplies we need for a few days or a week of being on our own. This preparedness is something we can all manage.
    But the destruction caused by climate change and/or economic collapse may be more than we can handle easily. In 2014, August, September, and October were each the hottest months ever recorded. Of the hottest years on record, 13 have occurred in the last 16 years. We see that there is a significant drought out west, and many acres of land destroyed by fires. Major environmental disasters are occurring more frequently; Katrina, droughts, floods, and Hurricane Sandy just to name a few.
    But let’s take note – there are only three things that we absolutely need to survive. According to “Maslow’s” hierarchy of needs these are oxygen, water, and food in that order. We can only live a few minutes without oxygen, a few days without water and a few weeks without food. Non-essentials such as shelter (except for Michigan winters), companionship, and meaningful activities like exercise, play, or work are things we can live without, perhaps for years. Cars, water heaters, and flush toilets are not on either list.
    So if you depend on an oxygen tank to breath, you will be in a difficult situation if the grid goes down. But we need to consider that in the long term oxygen is provided to us from trees and plants. It’s also important to encourage community efforts to reduce harmful air pollution.
    Clean water is a necessity for all life. When our water becomes polluted, contaminated, or disappears because of our hot climate, what will we do? We need to plan for this right now. Corporations must stop dropping their chemical waste in our rivers and lakes. Fracking takes thousands of gallons of water that can never be used again because of the chemicals placed in the process. This is not right.
    Using water for generating electricity can become a problem when one has to choose water for drinking and water for electricity. This may be happening soon in California. In some parts of the world, the electricity is turned on for only a few hours per day. During that time, you have to do everything such as your laundry, fill every container with water and check in with the world on the Internet. And the rest of the time, you do without electricity.
    Food – we can only live without it for a few weeks. If you haven’t started to grow your own food, now is the time to start. When the agriculture fields in California dry up, we will need to provide our own food in the state of Michigan. Luckily, we are the second only to California in the variety of produce we can grow. Check out local farmers markets and farm stands if growing your own food isn’t possible. Start learning how to preserve your food. We have long, cold winters here.
    I worry about my grandchildren. What kind of world will they have? Will they ask me what I did to prevent the loss of oxygen, water, and food? I hope I have the right answers for them.

GRACE LEE BOGGS: Long time activist and philosopher died on Monday, October 5, 2015. She was 100 years old and though she devoted most of those years to re-inspiring and rebuilding Detroit, her influence rippled out much further. I wrote a review of her book: The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism For The Twenty-First Century, for the MLT Newsletter, Fall, 2012

Grace held an unshakable faith in the power of ordinary people to shape the future. Millions have been enlivened and empowered by her wisdom and spirit. Her ideas challenged us all to lead meaningful lives. "We need to discern who we are and expand on our humanness and sacredness. That's how we change the world, which happens because WE will be the change."

Grace believed that revolutionary movement in the United States is not headed by a particular party with a common ideology but by individuals and groups responding to the real problems and challenges that they face in their lives and work. The movement is made out of love for people and for the places where we live.
Grace Lee Boggs, thank you for all you have done, for the people and the earth.

Rita's article referenced above is at: http://www.michiganlandtrust.org/Fall2012MLTNewsl.html

Back to MLT Newsletter Page