The Venus Project

The Venus Project part 1



The Venus Project part 2



The Venus Project website.
http://www.thevenusproject.com/


THE ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT

The Zeitgeist Movement is the activist arm of The Venus Project , which constitutes the life long work of industrial designer and social engineer, Jacque Fresco. Jacque currently lives in Venus, Florida, working closely with his associate, Roxanne Meadows. Now, let it be understood that Mr. Fresco will be the first to tell you that his perspectives and developments are not entirely his own, but rather uniquely derived from the evolution of scientific inquiry which has persevered since the dawn of antiquity. Simply put, what The Venus Project represents and what The Zeitgeist Movement hence condones, could be summarized as: ‘The application of The Scientific Method for social concern.’
http://www.thevenusproject.com/images/stories/thezeitgeistmovement.pdf

The Zeitgeist Movement: Orientation Presentation (1hr. 37min.)



The Zeitgeist Movement website.
http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/

For brax's take on this material visit; brax peace: Reviewing The Venus Project

Homesteading Webloggers

Powered By Ringsurf

Foraging or The Earth Provides pt. 1

Illustration by simmons3d on Flicker.

The corporate induced reality of fast food franchises, super super marts, internationally distributed processed food products, and convenience driven consumerism has divorced humankind of the intimate embrace from our source of sustenance. Ask one person where our food comes from and they may answer "the Grocery store". Ask another with a broader view and they may say "the farm". Ask the farmer and they may say "from the garden, the fields, the tilled and seeded earth, unless it is a corporate farm then they will likely say "Monsanto". In reality it is in the natural places, the places untouched by the saw or plow, that the most enriching and diverse sources of sustenance can be found.


One does not have to find a pristine old growth forest, or an undisturbed ecosystem, to find food, despite their being optimum. The abandoned city lot, the river bank, the city park, or the overgrown fence row can provide an amazing amount of natural, nutritional, food sources. In fact there are many urban wild edibles. I'm sure that, everyday, hungry people walk unaware past untapped sources of naturally occurring nutrition in their quest for nourishment.

A plate of Wehani rice, with sauteed dandelion greens.

Let's begin with an edible plant that can be found in the majority of cities in the U. S.. Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are considered the bane of many lawn owners. It is possible to make money from home owners in exchange for removing the dandelions.


Every part of the dandelion is edible. The roots can be boiled and stir fried like other vegetables. It can also be roasted and used as a coffee substitute.


The leaves can be boiled in salt water like spinach. Eaten raw on sandwiches or in salads for a green with stronger taste.


The flowers can be stir fried as a vegetable. They have long been used to make dandelion wine.


Here is a video with the recently deceased Frank Cook, a man very connected to nature and an immense repository of plant knowledge, of Plantsandhealers.com discussing the dandelion.



We will continue this topic in later posts.

Urban Farms or Survival in the City

One of the easiest ways to reduce your cost of living is to start producing the things you consider necessities yourself. Even in urban settings there are things that can be done to reduce ones reliance on the system. From growing your own vegetables and spices, soap making, beer brewing, sewing, to making your own fuel for your transportation, many things you pay cash for can be made at home.


Here is an example, from ABC's Nightline, being set by a suburban family, the Dervaes, in Pasadena CA.





Check out the Dervaes website on urban homesteading. It has lots of tips and ideas for those on the road to self sufficiency.


Urban homesteading is not new, it was, in the early part of the twentieth century, the norm rather than the exception. As a youngster in the early 70's I sat at a table where everything on the table came from the yard that was in the city limits on less than a quarter acre of land. There was a shed with a stall for the milk cow and rabbit hutches and a chicken coup on the northwest corner of the lot. The southwest corner of the lot contained the house and a small front yard with a couple fruit trees. The eastern side of the lot was all garden with all the vegetables and spices that were familiar to a Midwestern boy, and a few that weren't.


First, through ordinances designed to "improve" community life, legislation forced removal of the milk cow, later the chickens had to go. By the 80's the city had remade the community into a place that required a greater reliance on processed foods, most times transported hundreds if not thousands of miles. Many cities have successfully propagandized it's citizenry to the point that should one get a couple chickens, or want a milk cow, there are immediately complaint calls from concerned neighbors to the proper authorities.


During the great depression many families helped feed themselves and made few extra dollars by selling eggs, milk, and fresh vegetables from these urban farms. The current economic crises doesn't offer many that option due to rigid zoning laws and their enforcement. It is, however, a good time to try to counter these ridiculous infringements on personal freedom and the rights of self sustenance. Economic hardship, combined with the growing public awareness of environmental impacts and the green movement make this a good time to reverse some of this community legislation.



There are urban farms spring up like mad all across the country some are facing these bureaucratic obstacles head on. Check out:

Bad Seed Farm in Kansas City Brings Urban Farming to the Next Level