Distributism and Catholic Social Teaching , a collection of articles by my good friend John Medaille of Dallas, Texas, regarding distributism and the practical application of the Church’s social teachings to economic issues.
Thoughts in the Presence of Fear , Wendell Berry’s post Sept 11th essay that has been reprinted in 76 countries. This is his call to a “peaceable economy.”
The Idea of a Local Economy , by Wendell Berry, in depth critique of globalization and consumerism.
Turn the Tide , a program from the Center for the New American Dream, inviting people to make nine changes in their lives that contribute to a better environment. The Nine Actions .
Village Earth , a consortium for village based development. Offers an extensive of 1,050 of the best books on village level and do it yourself technologies, available on CD ROM or microfiche, 150,000 pages of text. Has online searchable access to the Appropriate Technology Sourcebook, which reviews the 1050 books in the AT Library.
Department of Rural Sociology , University of Missouri at Columbia. There be heroes of the revolution here doing important work on rural issues, consolidation in the food industry, local food networks, and etc.
Family Homesteading Advocate , info and support for all aspects of family homesteading. Also offers some products for sale.
Agrarian Studies , at Yale. Who woulda thought that Yale would have an agrarian studies program. Interdisciplinary.
Pulling Apart , a state by state study details how the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us has widened over the last 20 years. Links is to a report summary and has access to the full report.
The Home Place , a sustainable living demonstration center
World Grain Update , World grain harvest this year will fall 54 million tons short of annual consumption. The balance will be made up by drawing on stocks of grain carried over from previous years. This year’s harvest is projected at 1,841 million tons, with consumption estimated at 1,895 million tons. Last year’s shortfall was 34 million tons. The world’s reserve stocks of grain are at their lowest levels in 20 years – amounting to only 22% of annual consumption.
Oklahoma Sustainability Network , online access to a growing group of Oklahomans who are finding and publicizing sustainable alternatives. Don’t miss its first ever statewide conference, May 10, 2002, at the OSU OKC campus on North Portland.
Oklahoma Use Less Stuff Campaign , from the Oklahoma Dept. of Environmental Quality, excellent online access to downloadable materials.
Cherokee Heritage Center , preserving and promoting Cherokee history and culture.
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas , an information center operation by the National Center for Appropriate Technology. Provides technical assistance to farmers, Extension agents, market gardeners, and others with an interest in agriculture. Extensive online library of reports giving practical details of sustainable commercial agriculture.
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy promotes energy efficiency as a way of bolstering the common good (including economic prosperity), lots of resources, including a home energy consumption guide, ratings of energy efficiency of appliances, legislative and tax alerts.
Positive Futures Network , working to build a more just and sustainable world.
New Urban Agenda , highlighting progress along the road to sustainability, reports from them that’s doin’.
Corporate Agriculture Research Project , monitors corporate agri-business and supports alternatives. Has a regular email newsletter, Agribusiness Examiner , and a new services, Agbiz Tiller . Dares to talk about justice and the small farmer and farm worker.
Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society , academic group studying the relationship between human values and agriculture systems.
Community Development Society , a professional organization, has on-line journal with abstracts of articles, other resources.
Real Wealth , the Genuine Progress Indicator as an alternative to the GDP or GNP as measures of economic well being.
Bread for the World , see their Action Alert for this month.
Community Food Security Coalition , information, action, networking.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers public policy, sustainable agriculture, community supported agriculture.
14 essays on food security , from the Food and Agriculture Organization
Food Research and Action Center New data show sharp increase in food insecurity in the US. Report
Eco-Village Information Service links to people and places of sustainable living.
Community Food Security Coalition . Food security is where all people have nutritionally adequate, culturally acceptable diet at all times through local non-emergency sources. Has a number of publications, access to federal money for urban agriculture (community gardens and etc.)
Institute for Food and Development Policy , working to eliminate the injustices that cause hunger. http://www.foodfirst.org
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy , some really good articles in its Resource section on globalization and agriculture. The institute is working to create environmentally and economically sustainable communities.
The Farm , founded in 1971 on 1700 acres (a little more than 2.5 square miles, in Summertown, Tennessee. Now they have a school offering immersion experiences at their Eco-Village Training Center including natural building techniques (strawbale, cob, post and beam framing), solar electricity installation, permaculture. Students are a mix of people who pay tuition and people from disadvantaged populations attending via a social justice scholarship (most of whom come from the surrounding 8 state area). See also the Global Village/Institute for Appropriate Technology , chartered in 1974, to research environmentally friendly new technologies.
Global Ecovillage Network , linking ecovillages and related projects. Global Ecovillage Network Newsletter , downloadable in PDF, 44 pages, reporting news about sustainable communities throughout the world. What is an eco-village? With guided tour. Try their Community Sustainability Assessment Audit .
Columbia’s Model City , established in the 1970s on Columbia’s “llanos” (think plains), Gaviotas is a model eco-village that is working for its people and generating new ideas, and new applications of old ideas, to benefit the common good everywhere.
Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe , Egyptian site, organization building capacities in the direction of sustainable development. On-line newsletters.
Estonian Sustainable Development Database , On-line library of materials (in both English and Estonian), primarily targeted at non-profits and government planners.
Green Power Hong Kong , hundreds of articles about green power issues in Hong Kong, China, and throughout the world, in Chinese, has a summary page in English.
Findhorn Ecovillage Page , the Findhorn intentional community was founded in 1962 in Scotland. This is one of the better ecovillage sites, and does a good job explaining the basics of renewable energy, sustainable economics, local food production (they farm 25 acres which supplies about half the food of the 312 residents).
People Centered Development Forum , an international alliance of individuals and organizations dedicated to creating just and sustainable human societies through voluntary action. Life After Capitalism. See also When corporations rule the world , which shows how our corporate economy betrays the free market and violates freedom.
Center for the New American Dream , in the last 50 years, Americans have used more resources than all of the people who have ever lived on this planet since God created us. Comprehensive access to information helping people and organizations reduce consumption.
Journey to Forever , this link was hard to categorize. It’s got piles of practical info on just about all things sustainable, yet it also chronicles a journey by LAND from Hong Kong to Capetown, South Africa (talk about an adventure!) The journey hasn’t started yet, apparently, but in the meantime they have created a really great site that I am only beginning to scratch the surfaces of. I may have to start handing out stars so I can give five big ones to this site.
Consolidation in food retailing and dairy , Implications for farmers and consumers in a global food system, a National Farmers Union report, by Dr. William Heffernan and Dr. Mary Hendrickson of the University of Missouri at Columbia’s Department of Rural Sociology, pdf file. NU Home
The Last Farm Crisis , from the Nation Magazine, chronicling the demise of the family farmer.
The E.F. Schumacher Society , the “small is beautiful” folks. On-line publications , in particular, see Ewes Jackson’s Call for a revolution in agriculture.
The Mad Farmer Liberation Front Manifesto , a poem by Wendell Berry.
The Heifer Project , provides small livestock (bees, chickens, goats, rabbits, ducks, buffalo, llamas, pigs, geese, sheep, heifer, plus trees) to third world villages. The people receiving the livestock agree to give some of the offspring to their neighbors. Catalog ,
Redefining Progress , community indicators movement, working to redefine the measuring of progress. Measure Ecological Footprint and see the impact of your lifestyle on nature. See also Indicators for measuring progress towards sustainability.
Dancing Rabbit Eco-village , a work in progress in northeast Missouri, has lots of nice details about what they are doing and where they are going, How to build a rainwater catchment cistern ,
Intentional Communities , a website serving the growing communities movement — ecovillages, Co-housing, community land trusts, communes, urban housing cooperatives and etc. What’s true about intentional communities: dispelling the myths , publishes a hardcopy Communities Directory with listings for over 600 intentional communities, has an on-line directory of ICs with websites.
European foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions , providing information and support for implementing sustainable development and business practices. Sustainable Development Online , databases and access to online SD material..
Hutterite Society , a review of the book, has some basic info about Hutterite history and lifestyle.
Community Design , index of articles about sensibly designed communities and urban spaces.
The Obsolescent Village Reborn , predicts that villages will outlast the cities.
Amish Heartland , on-line access to the Ohio Amish.
The Green Center , non-profit educational organization that has evolved from the New Alchemy Institute, a pioneering effort in sustainable rural and urban living. Has on-line resources plus offers reprints of classic New Alchemy texts.
City Repair , local Portland, Oregon group that is working to build a resilient, environmentally conscious, sustainable city.
Center for Environment and Society , at the University of Essex in the UK, a trans-disciplinary academic research center, reports on results of practical applications of sustainable living.
Mutual Aid , the anarchist classic by Peter Kropotkin, an alternative to “survival of the fittest”.
Responsible Shopping , spend your money wisely and with your eyes open. Know who you are supporting with your dollars and what they are up to behind your back. Stop financing your own destruction! From the Co-op America folks (who are Good People.)
The new Cuban agriculture is oriented towards what we Americans call organic or sustainable agriculture. Here’s another article from Canada’s City Farmer site.