Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta

It’s been a few hard days on the road with temperatures staying steady around –30C or –42C with the wind chill factor. This is not the type of weather you want to encounter when you live in a van, trust me, I know.

After leaving the Bison ranch, I headed down through the towns of Hardisty and Killam. In Hardisty I shot some footage of the Tank Farm, which is the location where all the oil traveling from northern Canada arrives for storage, before heading south into the United States. I’m always a little disappointed in industrial complexes, as they’re always quite ugly and don’t provide much in the way of good photography. In Killam, I captured some footage of the huge grain complex, a replacement of the traditional prairie grain elevators, and a major symbol of industrial agriculture.

Heading south I arrived late in the afternoon in Drumheller, and man o’ man was it ever F%^$ing COLD!!! I parked behind Canadian Tire amongst some serious oil industry trucks: Exxon, Halliburton, and other smaller pipeline outfits. They’re everywhere in Alberta these days… Part of the BOOM cycle. I parked behind Canadian Tire since all the way from the ranch, the van’s charging system had been acting strange, and that evening, after walking Moses, I returned and turning the key found my sweet Veronica DEAD. No juice. This is not what you want at –42C. Luckily, I was able to get a customer leaving Canuck Tire to give me a boost. “This is the third vehicle I’ve given a boost tonight. It’s just too damn cold for cars!” she said. “I appreciate it! And I’m really sorry to hassle you is such awful weather.” I reply. “Haha, no problem, I’m used to it! I’m from Saskatchewan!”

The next morning in leaving Drumheller, I shot some footage of the giant dinosaurs that can be found all around the city. As I stood underneath them, fingers freezing up, I had to smile to myself. You see, here are these dinosaurs, covered in blowing snow, to remind me that the some unfortunate weather can be a serious disaster if you’re not ready for it. Mother Nature is definitely in control.

My van hasn’t been turned off since, except for oil and fuel fill-ups. In Calgary on my way to a CBC News World interview Veronica stalled dead again. Fuel lines starting to freeze due to some water in my diesel. BAD NEWS!!! I called my brother in Vancouver who insisted he could fix it from B.C. with his mental powers. Unimpressed and not laughing, I hung up on him. Sat for a moment, my van half-blocking the road, experiencing a state of pure panic, as the radio had just reported a minimum 12hr wait for tow trucks. I then gave it one more try, and… Ohh what a sweet sound, I was back in business. All my life my brother has been a magical man, and I’m very grateful.

CBC interview seemed to go well, I’m becoming more comfortable with being on live national news, although I never seem to say what I would like to. It’s still mindless babble and unfocused thoughts from my perspective. It’s just too fast for me. I have a small book on media relations in the back of my van, I’ve been meaning to get to it, I will before my next on camera appearance. I will work to become a master of the perfect television sound/videobyte ;-) Hehe

Oh my it’s late and this blog entry is covering sooo much.. I’m tired.

Yesterday, after the interview, I headed down to Lethbridge. Picked up a hitchhiker who was standing on the side of the highway next to his stalled van… good karma. Dropped him off at home and drifted off to sleep listening to my van’s engine hum, parked in a strip mall parking lot. Although I’d prefer to not let my engine run all night, I also really don’t want to freeze to death, and being a diesel, Veronica idles real low. 10hrs of idle/sleeping time costs me $12 in fuel, and for those of you concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning, diesel produces almost no carbon monoxide, and the rear of my van is packed with gear creating an additional exhaust barrier. Oh and then there’s emissions… as much as I’m not happy about my pollution, I figure it’s somewhat balanced out by the fact that I’m not heating an entire house. And this is the paradox to life… we all want to go green, but at the same time we love our creature comforts.

Today, I awoke, walked the dog, interviewed Lethbridge University Professor/Research Scientist James Byrne on the topic of water, his specialty, and then headed off down the road towards Pincher Creek, filming some of the wind farms along the way. As I was driving south, the wind picked up just as the radio began broadcasting severe weather warnings of blowing snow and blizzard conditions for the Crownest and Pincher Creek area.

It’s pretty brutal out there right now, 80-100Km/Hr winds, but I’m parked behind a 24hr gas station, I’ve walked and fed the dog, eaten some dinner and am cozy inside my van writing this entry.

g’night & peace,
d

Marshall McLuhan used to say "The Medium is the Message", I've been thinking about my own road lately, and the fact that it's about slowing down, getting outside of the 'grid', reflecting on almost everything, and having faith. Faith that we will all somehow find our way forward, and faith in the process of letting go... so that we may hold on, to what we value most.

The Process is the Message

Peace,
d

Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Location: Bison Ranch, Alberta

This will be my last entry form the bison ranch. I’ve been here since September 16th; making my visit just over to months. I’m remembering back to when I was approaching this location, and the uncertainty I felt as I picked up the phone to introduce myself. Now, two months later, I consider these people… family. Like my puppy Moses, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about myself in my time here, and also like Moses, I will miss this place when I’m gone.

I feel this place... will miss us as well.

So what have I learned? That’s the question the CBC always seems to ask me in my interviews… What have you learned?

I’ve learned I love agriculture! I love being in a place where I can work with my hands and truly create something. I love running my hands through grain, across a heifers back, or over the fields; letting the grass glide across my palms. I love being connected.

I’ve learned our connection to the land has changed drastically in the last fifty years, and over a few generations, much of the traditional knowledge and ‘slow’ agricultural practices have been replaced by information and technology. We traded in the sustainable small/local farms in favour of bigger, faster and more complex systems. These are systems in which farmers are advised to dump nitrogen onto their land without any true understanding of the impact on the end balance and health of our soil. The destruction of the small farmer, local agriculture and healthy, balanced, biologically active soil has resulted in a landscape that is fully dependent upon artificial and technological intervention. The farmer is thus tied into purchasing the products of big agribusiness, forced to buy, in order to maintain high crop yields. When the farmer is unable to afford these fossil fuel based nitrogen fertilizers, the land quickly transforms into a dustbowl. In essence, I’ve learned that the complexity of the system we’ve built, could perhaps become a major contributor to our eventual downfall.

Where is the wisdom lost in knowledge, where is the knowledge lost in information. -T.S. Eliot

I’ve learned that due to the aforementioned practices and lack of traditional knowledge and wisdom within agriculture, food today contains far fewer nutrients than the same food of fifty years ago.

I've learned we're heavily dependent upon irrigation, and many places, like Alberta, are drying up as our climate changes.

I’ve learned that there are 180,000,000 obese children in the world, and 120,000,000 who are starving: both a result of malnutrition.

I’ve learned, Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants = Healthy Animals & Healthy People.

I’ve learned there used to be small grain elevators operating in every town situated along a rail line, now there is no train and only huge grain facilities that require farmers to purchase expensive hauling trucks and drive hundreds of kilometers.

I’ve learned as with soil, our bodies require balance to remain intact, and what we do to the land, we do to ourselves. Everything is connected.

This we know, the Earth does not belong to Man; Man belongs to the Earth. This we know, all things are connected like the blood that unites one family. All things are connected. - Chief Seattle

I’ve learned how monoculture requires very little knowledge for successful production, whereas true agriculture requires a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom.

I’ve learned how to kill and butcher chickens, lamb, beef and bison in a respectful and caring manner. I’ve learned how we should all be grateful towards these animals, for what they provide. If we listen, they may act as our teachers, provide unconditional companionship, enrich the soil, provide nourishment, and in hard times clothing, tools and shelter.

I’ve learned the difference between whole and processed foods and the importance of us knowing the difference. With our actions we create the world.

I’ve learned that farmers, like all of us, unfortunately respond to market demand, and in the end, it’s we the consumers, who have fostered this system. I believe the more we feed this complex and unwise system, the more trouble we will likely face down the road.

I’ve learned despite all the grim facts regarding food and industrial agriculture, there IS hope.

I’ve learned that there are a lot of people in the world working very hard to try to educate people about these issues. People from organizations like Acres USA, Slow Food, and The Weston A. Price Foundation, and independent people like Chris, Janet and all of us who are educating ourselves to the alternative options available. The solutions to all our problems lay in education and consumer choices. We should be thinking when we put food on our table and we should be doing everything in our power to connect to small, local, fresh and sustainable agriculture.

I’ve learned, I have lots to learn, and most of us do.

Life in all it's fullness is this -- Mother Nature obeyed. - Weston A. Price

peace,
d

I've been learning a lot about food while here on the bison ranch.. and this is my second post on how we've traveled headlong into a progress trap when it comes to the food we eat. Around our food we've built an overly complex system that is highly dependent upon fossil fuels, fertilizers, and irrigation. This overly complex development has been great for the ever-expanding food processing industry, but not for overall human health. When I look out at the world, it seems economics has pushed nutrition aside. For us as consumers it has also become increasingly difficult to make good choices in what we eat, especially considering the overwhelming barrage of advertising and propaganda.

My feelings when it comes to food, is the same as my feelings regarding many of the things I've been exploring in these blogs. Aside from the truth of what's 'right' and 'wrong', we should get back to basics and return to more sustainable locally-based forms of agriculture. We should educate ourselves and reconsider our consumer choices, hopefully leaving false notions of progress behind.

In the end, I am unable to change how people eat, as it's a matter of individual choice, but I am able to post a little information and maybe affect those choices. Without education, we have no choices, and are simply left to follow mainstream trends. In educating ourselves, we may find the solutions that will eventually lead us to a healthy and sustainable world.

I've often heard refined sugar described as 'white death'... this has been echoed here at the ranch, here's some info I dug up to consider,

Article: http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/sugar/
_______
.

An example of progress gone astray? peace, d

Margarine Manufacturing Process
- Soy beans, corn, cottonseed or canola seeds
- Oils extracted by high temperature & pressure
- Remaining fraction of oils removed with hexane and other solvents
- Oils, now rancid, steam cleaned to remove all vitamins & anti-oxidants (but pesticides and solvents remain!)
- Oils mixed with a nickel catalyst
- Oils with catalyst subjected to hydrogen gas in a high-pressure, high-temperature reactor.
- Soap-like emulsifiers mixed in
- Oil steam cleaned again to remove horrible odor
- Gray color removed by bleaching
- Artificial flavors, synthetic vitamins and natural color added
- Mixture is packaged in blocks or tubs
- Advertising promotes margarine as a health food
______________

BUTTER VERSUS MARGARINE(excerpt from article by Dr Lawrence Wilson)
In the rush to lower cholesterol, many health authorities recommend eating margarine instead of butter. However, there is more to consider about margarine than just cholesterol.

WHAT IS MARGARINE?
'Hardening' vegetable oil by bubbling hydrogen through it at high temperature produces margarine. The hydrogen saturates some of the carbon-carbon bonds of the oil. The product then becomes hard or solid at room temperature. When the carbon bonds are saturated, the product is called a saturated fat. Margarine contains some saturated fat. Otherwise it would not be hard at room temperature. The ads and the packaging for margarine are often deceptive. Advertising often states it contains 'polyunsaturated oil'. However, the processing saturates or partially saturates the oil.

Margarine begins as chemically-extracted, refined vegetable oil. This is a poor quality product to begin with. The high temperature needed to produce margarine destroys any vitamin E, and perhaps other nutrients left in the oil. Also, the final product contains trans-fatty acids. These are man-made fatty acids. Research shows that trans-fatty acids increase inflammation in the body. This can worsen illnesses such as colitis and arthritis. Very recent research indicates that trans-fatty acids in margarine raise LDL levels. LDL is the "bad" cholesterol.

Hardening agents used in the production of margarine include nickel and cadmium. Nickel is a toxic metal that in excess causes lung and kidney problems. Cadmium is among the most toxic of the heavy metals. It may contribute to serious diseases such as arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure and malignancy.

WHAT IS BUTTER?
Cream is the raw material for butter. Butter is a partially saturated fat, just like margarine. However, butter is a natural product that does not contain trans-fatty acids. Butter is an excellent source of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K. These are not found to any degree in margarine. The vitamin content of butter varies seasonally, depending on the diet of the animals from which it is derived. Butter also contains some milk solids, giving it a whitish color. Ghee or clarified butter does not contain the milk solids.

Dr. Weston Price identified a factor in butter that is essential for proper growth and development of the bone structure. He called it 'activator X' and wrote about it in his book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. Dr. Price was able to reverse severe tooth decay in children by feeding them one meal a day of highly nutritious food - including butter.

Although many people are sensitive to cow's milk dairy products, often butter is well- tolerated. This is because butter is almost a pure fat, and does not contain many of the allergens found in other milk products. Butter made from certified, raw (unpasteurized) cream is available in some areas. It the best quality butter available next to making it from your own cow.

IS AVOIDING BUTTER THE WAY TO CONTROL CHOLESTEROL?
The observations of many natural health practitioners indicate that a balanced body chemistry is the key to normalizing cholesterol. Dr. William Koch, MD, an eminent physician, wrote:

"Cholesterol ... is no problem when the oxidations are efficient and diet is sensible. In all our observations, high levels drop ... it steadies to a good normal when the oxidations are re-established to normal." (Normal oxidations refers to the efficient burning of food and the generation of adequate energy from food.)

Most cholesterol is manufactured within the body. A maximum of about 4% of all cholesterol comes from the diet. Cholesterol is the raw material for the adrenal stress hormones and the sex hormones. The body often reacts to stress by producing more cholesterol. This allows the body to make more stress-fighting hormones. As biochemical stress is reduced through a scientific nutrition program, cholesterol levels often decrease without the need for restrictive diets.

In fact, eating some animal products often helps balance body chemistry. In these instances, cholesterol levels or the cholesterol/HDL ratio improves although the diet contains cholesterol-containing foods.
In general, fast oxidizers or fast metabolizers can eat more butter and other fatty foods. True fast oxidizers run lower cholesterol levels. They also burn up fats more rapidly and efficiently. Slow oxidizers should restrict all fats and oils, including butter. However, a small amount of butter (1 teaspoon daily) may be eaten by slow oxidizers.

SUMMARY
The argument for eating margarine and other products containing hydrogenated oils are their lack of cholesterol. Margarine is also less expensive than butter. However, margarine contains refined, artificially saturated vegetable oil. It also contains harmful trans-fatty acids, and often residues of the toxic metals nickel and cadmium. Butter is a natural food and a good source of important fat-soluble vitamins. You will pay more for butter, but nutritionally it is well worth it.

Sunday, November 12, 2006
Location: Bison Ranch, Alberta

I’ve been pretty critical of technology in past blogs potentially creating the idea that I’m anti-technology or that I don’t recognize all the benefits it provides. This is not the case, as I stand firmly behind technology and believe together with science it will provide us with many of the solutions to our current problems.

What I am against, or rather, what I am questioning, is the improper use of technology. Where was it we went off the rails with our creations, sending us headlong into a variety of progress traps? And why have we created so much technology that distracts us from the serious problems we face, rather than move us forward towards solutions? Even worse, we have created technology that is detrimental to human development, with the sole purpose of increasing bottom lines. And lastly, most importantly, is the question of how we have become increasingly dependent on a complex technological system, and are losing much of the knowledge that sustained human life for millions of years.

In my opinion, as we move into the future what will most likely occur is a reality built of both high-tech and no-tech. I feel the answers lay in us returning towards much of the traditional knowledge, sustainable practices and simplicity of the past, while at the same time, continuing to develop those technologies that truly make sense and actually improve our lives and the lives of those around us. The answer is not to turn away from technology and progress, but to recognize ‘true’ progress and not get pulled into something that sends us spiraling backwards, as we’re sucked into uncaring corporate agendas.

When I was up in Yellowknife I met a woman who was doing research in Lifecycle Analysis. Lifecycle Analysis, from what I understand, is the study of the complete lifecycle and the cumulative impact of specific objects. For example, what is big picture when it comes to something as ordinary as a plastic bag if you consider everything; raw materials, employment, toxins resulting from production, energy used in production, transportation, cost, usage, repeat usage, durability, recycling, end waste materials, waste transportation, end environmental impact, biodegradation. If we could see this information on product labels (which seems impossible), I think we’d probably make some very different choices regarding our purchases. There are so many hidden costs in the choices we make and only though investigation and educating ourselves will we begin to see the true consequences of our actions, both for ourselves and our external environment.

It’s important to recognize that our individual choices really do affect our reality. It’s hard for me to see this sometimes, but all of our choices, when taken together, do hold the power to either support huge uncaring multinationals or return us to a simpler healthier way of life.

Another set of quotes from Jared Diamond’s book Collapse,

Despite these varying proximate causes of abandonments, all were ultimately due to the same fundamental challenge: people living in fragile and difficult environments, adopting solutions that were brilliantly successful and understandable “in the short run,” but failed or else created fatal problems in the long run, when people became confronted with external environmental changes or human-caused environmental changes that societies without written histories and without archaeologists could not have anticipated. I put “in the short run” in quotation marks, because the Anasazi did survive in Chaco Canyon for about 600 years, considerably longer than the duration of European occupation anywhere in the New World since Columbus’s arrival in A.D. 1492. During their existence, those various southwestern Native Americans experimented with half-a-dozen alternative types of economies. It took many centuries to discover that, among those economies, only the Pueblo economy was sustainable “in the long run,’ i.e. for at least a thousand years. That should make us modern Americans hesitate to be too confident yet about the sustainability of our First World economy, especially when we reflect how quickly Chaco society collapsed after its peak in the decade A.D. 1110-1120, and how implausible the risk of collapse would have seemed to Chacoans of that decade.

All of us moderns—house-owners, investors, politicians, university administrators, and others—can get away with a lot of waste when the economy is good. We forget that conditions fluctuate and we may not be able to anticipate when conditions will change. By that time, we may already have become attached to an expensive lifestyle, leaving an enforced diminished lifestyle or bankruptcy as the sole outs.

- Jared Diamond

We have to realize that all of our money and technology is nothing without an ability to produce food, build shelter and create community. We have to remember that there have been many societies before us, and there will most likely be many more to come.

Peace,
D

Friday, November 10, 2006
Location: Bison Ranch, Alberta

I’ve read stories of people being two places at once. Randomly, I just thought I’d mention it here. Not sure why. I guess I’m just blown away by how there’s so much magic in the world. Magic is beautiful.

peace,
d

This is about the conference that Chris and Janet just returned from.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1774725.htm

peace
d