Posts By: Denise Govindarajan

Secretary of Agriculture

Food Democracy Now! has prepared a petition listing names for Barack Obama’s selection of the next Secretary of Agriculture. See and sign it here.

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Deserts and Asparagus in Peru

It’s raining in the desert. The jungle is becoming a dry forest, a “bosque seca.” Mountains white with snowcaps melt into brown dust. This isn’t the magical realism of a Mario Vargas Llosa novel. This is the reality of Peru….

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Spirit of an Age

It was the first day of 2009. A cold beginning in Wisconsin, with 3 or more feet of snow and ice chunks on Lake Michigan. A friend and I went for a walk to catch up, as we were both…

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Food Security…and Land Rights

An article sent to me by a friend working on the Food Crisis Task Force at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The article points out that private companies and agribusiness are taking land away from…

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Reading List: Cesar Chavez

Just finished reading a compilation of Cesar Chavez’s speeches in an anthology titled An Organizer’s Tale. I had wanted to get a taste (pun intended?) of this legendary man’s ideology. Chavez, who lived from 1927 to 1993, spent the majority…

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Reaping the Faith

A great article on a local farm, called Norwich Meadows. My friend Rachel’s family is a member of their CSA, and we are working on setting up a CSA directly through our church here in New York City with Norwich…

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Global and local

Interesting article asking us to consider effects of eating local on global markets, especially the world’s poorest in West Africa. By Professor Bill Moseley, of Macalester College (my alma mater!) Farmers in the Developing World Hurt by ‘eat local’ philosophy…

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Not so romantic

Today, I harvested turnips in the freezing rain. Braced against the wind, I bent over again and again to unearth those savory white treats then bent my frozen fingers enough to twist the tie around four together. “Those CSA members…

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Buzzwords: Alternative Economies

I just finished reading Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I had this book on my list (and bookshelf) for many, many months, but finally committed to reading it when I was actually living on the farm. The most meaningful part…

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Lincoln Center film series

If anyone reading is in or around New York, you should check out the Green Screens Film Series at Lincoln Center. The farm where I work, Garden of Eve, is featured in the film “Farming the Future: Farm Life on…

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