I am not a blogger. This, however, is being said by a girl with a facebook, a private Xanga site, and now a Blogger site. I have never been one for putting myself out there for everyone to see. The Xanga is a private messaging board between my fiancé and me, and if anyone were to find the password, I am not sure whether the reader would throw up from our cutsie posts before or after I died of humiliation. The blogger site for me was always just for the class. I know that other people can find it, and may have, but I could not imagine someone out there really wanting to read my post on my cottage, or on endangered species. That is not to say I did not enjoy writing the posts – there were many I really enjoyed, I just could not see people outside of our colligate atmosphere caring much what I had to say on these topics. Because of this, I really geared my posts toward my classmates. I wrote them with the impact and discussion they would spur in mind. I always looked forward to receiving feedback in the form of comments.
The first post we wrote, I received nine very positive comments which to me evened out the ridiculous amount of time I spent writing that snippet that I did not even use in my reflective essay. However, the fact that many assignments were blog posts made them somehow less important in my mind. For example, though I always tried on the rhetorical strategy posts, had I known I were directly handing a copy into you, I do not doubt that my grammar and writing style would have changed drastically. I think those are my middle of the road posts – the daily assignments that I tried on, but did not really pour into.
My actual papers that were posted to the blog, however, were taken with just as much seriousness as any other paper. Those are my best posts – it is obvious that hours were poured into them. It is a strange balance, even to me. Being forced to look back through these posts is funny for me – it is so easy to see what took time and effort and what (like the examples of good and bad rhetoric) was left to the last minute. That post and my Cradle to Cradle post just were not great. The thing that I find slightly annoying is that even the posts I spent VERY little time on garnered many of the same positive comments that the ones I really spent time and effort on. This cold, I suppose, be taken as a great compliment to my writing style, but I would take it more to mean that people want to be reserved in their negative feedback when they then have to meet face to face. Maybe if this were a complete online course (which I think it easily could be) people would be more truthful in their blog comments.
Looking at my comments to others, I think I can be harsh. I know I can be harsh, actually. I appreciate constructive feedback and want people to say, “This is great, BUT…” so that is what I do for other people. I do not know if that is what other people like, though, so I have wondered throughout the class if others view me as judgmental or too harsh. However, I feel that a lot of what I had to say was very constructive, and, I can only hope, somewhat helpful to my classmates.
Overall I think I did a fairly good job on my blog. I think it is a fair representation of the amount of time I put into this class – it shows that sometimes I did not enjoy the readings as much (Cradle to Cradle) and sometimes I had a lot to say (Omnivore’s Dilemma). This setup did help me work on my rhetoric as well – I knew my classmates were going to read my posts and I knew if I did not express myself well that they would not agree with what I was saying. This forced me to push my rhetorical boundaries and expand my writing.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
I found a few cartoons that kind of represent what I want to do:
These kind of present a challenge for not only celebrities and politicians, but also ourselves. We talk a lot of talk but the tougher part is actually following through. A prime example of this is the Live Earth concert which people flew to in private jets and took hummers to - What are you raising funding for again? Oh, right, awareness of global warming. I could see a site that not only pointed this out, but had a good resource set for actually making changes...
These kind of present a challenge for not only celebrities and politicians, but also ourselves. We talk a lot of talk but the tougher part is actually following through. A prime example of this is the Live Earth concert which people flew to in private jets and took hummers to - What are you raising funding for again? Oh, right, awareness of global warming. I could see a site that not only pointed this out, but had a good resource set for actually making changes...
The Village Bakery and Cafe: The Recipe for Sustainability
Brianna
Eng 308J
The Village Bakery is not the average, run of the mill café, bakery combo. It was opened in 2002 by Christine Hughes who was later joined by her partner Bob O’Neil with the vision of providing affordable, local, and sustainable foods to Athens, Ohio. In 2007 Bob and Christine opened Della Zona in the space that the Village Bakery used to occupy and the Village Bakery ventured a few hundred feet to the east into the neighboring building (Hughes). The vision of these restaurants, namely the Village Bakery and Café, is to “sustain our community and provide exceptional dining by using locally grown organic vegetables, grassfed meats, free-range eggs, and farmstead cheeses,” (The Village Bakery). The real goal for the bakery was and is to buy from sustainable local farms that “produce a food with the kind of effect on the environment that is positive,” (Hughes). Locality is important for the environmental impact as well as the transparency of the methods used in raising the animal or crop that will become lunch. After all, as Bob said, “what what you eat eats is the basis of healthy eating.”
Both Bob and Christine worked at another local restaurant co-op known for using local foods, Casa Nueva. In their time there they moved from using 20% local foods to about 75% before Christine left. She knew when she branched out on her own that she wanted to start a business and not a non-profit organization. For one thing, she had experience in running a business and dealing with suppliers as that was her main role at Casa Nueva. The idea of relying on government grants and always having to answer to someone pushed her away from the non-profit scene and into owning a restaurant. This is not to say that The Village Bakery does no non-profit work. They often donate gift certificates and food to local non-profits. They are inundated with requests and being a business they must pick and choose the causes they want to contribute to. Most often, Bob and Christine choose to partner with non-profits working toward the same goals in the local area – local and sustainable food available to all people – such as the Community Action Initiative which sets aside land for anyone to plant a garden in a local park (Hughes).
Christine has also founded an organization, The Green Plate Club, which is involved in local schools. The goal of this organization is to teach school aged children and young adults to cook and eat not only what is healthy for their bodies, but also what is healthy for their planet. This group meets to discuss food and its impact, positive or negative, on the environment. A new chapter recently opened in Columbus, Ohio and the happiness and pride was easy to read on Christine’s face as she discussed it. She and Bob are so obviously dedicated to providing “real” food for every person (Hughes).
When asked if they encounter higher costs by buying from local providers and not off of a giant truck from a single provider, they did not initially speak of the financial cost. They spoke of the environmental cost of industrial food – that is food that is made in mass quantities, often using subpar and dangerous methods, then shipped across the country for sale. To them paying slightly more and putting in much more work in the growing season is worth everything they put into it. “America supports farmers…turns out 60% of the money [given out in subsidies] goes to Cargill, ADM, etc…What we’re really talking about is the cost of money. [Agriculture] is subsidized by the government…by war and keeping petroleum prices low,” Bob explained. He wanted to be sure that we understood the overarching implications of trucking food across the country and how unsustainable this is. He and Christine explained that the choices that they are making, and the ones we are making as well, affect everyone. The over-chemicalized fields not only create “virtual life” or pests and bacteria that are resistant to pesticides and antibiotics, but also leech into the water systems – and eventually into the water we drink. It is all needless – with the use of more and more stronger pesticides, costs are going up and yield is falling. This means that a local farmer practicing sustainable agriculture could produce as much if not more than the “agri-businesses” that Bob and Christine detest (Hughes).
The major obstacle the bakery has encountered is financial. Any additions must be planned very far in advance because of the difficulty obtaining funds. Since the Village Bakery and Café is a business any money used in renovations would come from loans issued by a bank. However, banks have a certain profit to spending ratio that they look for in the restaurant business and within this business it is lacking not due to poor sales, but their very commitment to serve local food. Since southeastern Ohio has such harsh winters most plants only can be harvested once per year. This means that serving marinara sauce in the winter entails buying an exorbitant amount of tomatoes, cooking them down in the summer, and freezing the sauce to be used in the winter. The same thing is done with many vegetables including bell peppers which are cleaned, diced, and frozen for use in the dead of winter. Because of this, spending peaks to a sharp high in the harvesting months and falls dramatically in the winter. This makes the business appear to the outsider as unstable and makes it nearly impossible for them to obtain loans. It is also this practice that makes freezer space a commodity. About a year after the Village Bakery was opened, the Undercover Market opened, selling excess produce, Snowville Creamery milk, fresh made yogurt and cheeses, and many gift items such as shirts and water bottles. All of the things found in the market are sustainable and free trade. Bob makes sure of it, even going as far as Paraguay to observe the conditions on the co-op sugar cane farm they obtain their sugar from. “We feel like food detectives,” laughed Christine.
Even though they struggle to gain funding, the owners say that the restaurant is doing quite well despite the struggling economy. They attribute this to the same values that started the Village Bakery – locality. Fair trade downplays the effects of fixation on the prices of many of products sold in the store and deli. This means that though prices are very high right now, even the sugar from Paraguay is fairly stable in price because they are paying for the actual sugar, not the idea of sugar found in corporate business. Closer to home, the local prices are not effected as dramatically by the boom in gas prices. Beyond this, there is no middle man in many of their business relationship which not only cuts costs, but also ensures that the farmers receive more money. This leads to a lot of savings for Bob and Christine overall for simply doing what they feel is morally right (Hughes).
One of the above discussed loans would allow Bob and Christine to pursue their next dream – to grow at least some of their own lettuce. Lettuce is something that they find themselves short on a lot, especially in the winter necessitating trips to Kroger for organic lettuce that they do not like to make. Their only other future plans for expansion are to help other activists to set up sustainable and local restaurants in other areas. “I really think this could work in any town…the college helps, but there are a lot of college towns,” Christine said. They hope to help others with their vast experience in dealing with local growers, in food choices, locations, and anything they could help with. Christine joked, “We need to write a book, maybe!” Overall Bob and Christine are not looking to expand their restaurant but are always trying to expand the consciousness of the impact of the food being eaten in America and more importantly to them, in Athens (Hughes). With food as good as theirs and the drive and passion visible and contagious to all who interact with them, Bob and Christine truly inspire their patrons to, as the sign near the entrance reads, “celebrate [their] power to change the world every time [they] pick up a fork.”
Works Cited:
Hughes, Christine and Bob O’Neil. Personal interview. 25 February 2009.
The Village Bakery and Cafe website. 1 March 2009
http://www.dellazona.com/villagebakery/villagebakery/about.aspx
Interview Questions:
1. What was your vision when you opened the Village Bakery? How has that vision evolved?
2. Has the tough economy effected business negativly at all?
3. Do you consider yourselves business people, activists, food lovers, or all of the above?
4. Can you talk a little more about Slow Foods USA?
5. Did your work at Casa inspire you at all?
6. Have you seen a lot of gratitude from local farmers?
7. Why did you name the Undercover Market as such?
8. Does the use of local products lead to higher costs as compared to getting everything from one company such as GFS?
9. What sorts of non-profits do you work with?
10. Do you think the view is shifting to that of a more sustainable approach?
11. Do you have any intentions of expanding?
12. What is your furthest import?
13. Why open the Undercover Market?
14. What is your most and least popular food?
Eng 308J
The Village Bakery is not the average, run of the mill café, bakery combo. It was opened in 2002 by Christine Hughes who was later joined by her partner Bob O’Neil with the vision of providing affordable, local, and sustainable foods to Athens, Ohio. In 2007 Bob and Christine opened Della Zona in the space that the Village Bakery used to occupy and the Village Bakery ventured a few hundred feet to the east into the neighboring building (Hughes). The vision of these restaurants, namely the Village Bakery and Café, is to “sustain our community and provide exceptional dining by using locally grown organic vegetables, grassfed meats, free-range eggs, and farmstead cheeses,” (The Village Bakery). The real goal for the bakery was and is to buy from sustainable local farms that “produce a food with the kind of effect on the environment that is positive,” (Hughes). Locality is important for the environmental impact as well as the transparency of the methods used in raising the animal or crop that will become lunch. After all, as Bob said, “what what you eat eats is the basis of healthy eating.”
Both Bob and Christine worked at another local restaurant co-op known for using local foods, Casa Nueva. In their time there they moved from using 20% local foods to about 75% before Christine left. She knew when she branched out on her own that she wanted to start a business and not a non-profit organization. For one thing, she had experience in running a business and dealing with suppliers as that was her main role at Casa Nueva. The idea of relying on government grants and always having to answer to someone pushed her away from the non-profit scene and into owning a restaurant. This is not to say that The Village Bakery does no non-profit work. They often donate gift certificates and food to local non-profits. They are inundated with requests and being a business they must pick and choose the causes they want to contribute to. Most often, Bob and Christine choose to partner with non-profits working toward the same goals in the local area – local and sustainable food available to all people – such as the Community Action Initiative which sets aside land for anyone to plant a garden in a local park (Hughes).
Christine has also founded an organization, The Green Plate Club, which is involved in local schools. The goal of this organization is to teach school aged children and young adults to cook and eat not only what is healthy for their bodies, but also what is healthy for their planet. This group meets to discuss food and its impact, positive or negative, on the environment. A new chapter recently opened in Columbus, Ohio and the happiness and pride was easy to read on Christine’s face as she discussed it. She and Bob are so obviously dedicated to providing “real” food for every person (Hughes).
When asked if they encounter higher costs by buying from local providers and not off of a giant truck from a single provider, they did not initially speak of the financial cost. They spoke of the environmental cost of industrial food – that is food that is made in mass quantities, often using subpar and dangerous methods, then shipped across the country for sale. To them paying slightly more and putting in much more work in the growing season is worth everything they put into it. “America supports farmers…turns out 60% of the money [given out in subsidies] goes to Cargill, ADM, etc…What we’re really talking about is the cost of money. [Agriculture] is subsidized by the government…by war and keeping petroleum prices low,” Bob explained. He wanted to be sure that we understood the overarching implications of trucking food across the country and how unsustainable this is. He and Christine explained that the choices that they are making, and the ones we are making as well, affect everyone. The over-chemicalized fields not only create “virtual life” or pests and bacteria that are resistant to pesticides and antibiotics, but also leech into the water systems – and eventually into the water we drink. It is all needless – with the use of more and more stronger pesticides, costs are going up and yield is falling. This means that a local farmer practicing sustainable agriculture could produce as much if not more than the “agri-businesses” that Bob and Christine detest (Hughes).
The major obstacle the bakery has encountered is financial. Any additions must be planned very far in advance because of the difficulty obtaining funds. Since the Village Bakery and Café is a business any money used in renovations would come from loans issued by a bank. However, banks have a certain profit to spending ratio that they look for in the restaurant business and within this business it is lacking not due to poor sales, but their very commitment to serve local food. Since southeastern Ohio has such harsh winters most plants only can be harvested once per year. This means that serving marinara sauce in the winter entails buying an exorbitant amount of tomatoes, cooking them down in the summer, and freezing the sauce to be used in the winter. The same thing is done with many vegetables including bell peppers which are cleaned, diced, and frozen for use in the dead of winter. Because of this, spending peaks to a sharp high in the harvesting months and falls dramatically in the winter. This makes the business appear to the outsider as unstable and makes it nearly impossible for them to obtain loans. It is also this practice that makes freezer space a commodity. About a year after the Village Bakery was opened, the Undercover Market opened, selling excess produce, Snowville Creamery milk, fresh made yogurt and cheeses, and many gift items such as shirts and water bottles. All of the things found in the market are sustainable and free trade. Bob makes sure of it, even going as far as Paraguay to observe the conditions on the co-op sugar cane farm they obtain their sugar from. “We feel like food detectives,” laughed Christine.
Even though they struggle to gain funding, the owners say that the restaurant is doing quite well despite the struggling economy. They attribute this to the same values that started the Village Bakery – locality. Fair trade downplays the effects of fixation on the prices of many of products sold in the store and deli. This means that though prices are very high right now, even the sugar from Paraguay is fairly stable in price because they are paying for the actual sugar, not the idea of sugar found in corporate business. Closer to home, the local prices are not effected as dramatically by the boom in gas prices. Beyond this, there is no middle man in many of their business relationship which not only cuts costs, but also ensures that the farmers receive more money. This leads to a lot of savings for Bob and Christine overall for simply doing what they feel is morally right (Hughes).
One of the above discussed loans would allow Bob and Christine to pursue their next dream – to grow at least some of their own lettuce. Lettuce is something that they find themselves short on a lot, especially in the winter necessitating trips to Kroger for organic lettuce that they do not like to make. Their only other future plans for expansion are to help other activists to set up sustainable and local restaurants in other areas. “I really think this could work in any town…the college helps, but there are a lot of college towns,” Christine said. They hope to help others with their vast experience in dealing with local growers, in food choices, locations, and anything they could help with. Christine joked, “We need to write a book, maybe!” Overall Bob and Christine are not looking to expand their restaurant but are always trying to expand the consciousness of the impact of the food being eaten in America and more importantly to them, in Athens (Hughes). With food as good as theirs and the drive and passion visible and contagious to all who interact with them, Bob and Christine truly inspire their patrons to, as the sign near the entrance reads, “celebrate [their] power to change the world every time [they] pick up a fork.”
Works Cited:
Hughes, Christine and Bob O’Neil. Personal interview. 25 February 2009.
The Village Bakery and Cafe website. 1 March 2009
http://www.dellazona.com/villagebakery/villagebakery/about.aspx
Interview Questions:
1. What was your vision when you opened the Village Bakery? How has that vision evolved?
2. Has the tough economy effected business negativly at all?
3. Do you consider yourselves business people, activists, food lovers, or all of the above?
4. Can you talk a little more about Slow Foods USA?
5. Did your work at Casa inspire you at all?
6. Have you seen a lot of gratitude from local farmers?
7. Why did you name the Undercover Market as such?
8. Does the use of local products lead to higher costs as compared to getting everything from one company such as GFS?
9. What sorts of non-profits do you work with?
10. Do you think the view is shifting to that of a more sustainable approach?
11. Do you have any intentions of expanding?
12. What is your furthest import?
13. Why open the Undercover Market?
14. What is your most and least popular food?
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