What Would Rachel Say?

The New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF) is designed to foster and give voice to grassroots environmental initiatives in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.  The Fund uses  networking ,  skills-building , and  grantmaking to fuel civic engagement, local activism, and social change.  Please read About Us to learn more!

---

INVITATION: ACOEM Water Webinar
Water Contamination and Waterborne Disease: Are Your Patients at Risk? November 20, 2008 12:00PM (EST)

You are invited to participate in a 90 minute national webinar that will address the latest trends in waterborne disease and discuss recent controversies such as the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water and the potential of agricultural water as a source of E. coli O157:H7 infection. This CME course will review the clinical challenges inherent in evaluating and managing patients who may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water, polluted recreational waters or water contaminated after a natural or man-made disaster. The special needs of susceptible populations at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from water-related disease will be highlighted including waterborne disease outbreaks associated with children in water parks and waterborne nosocomial infections in healthcare facilities. This program will also describe the role that healthcare providers can play in protecting and preserving water quality in their communities.

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is sponsoring this national webinar. Registration information is available at: http://www.acoem.org/water_ contamination_webinar.aspx . The seminar will highlight "Recognizing Waterborne Disease and the Health Effects of Water Pollution: A Physician On-Line Reference Guide" as a clinical resource. This on-line medical reference guide addressing waterborne disease, water terrorism, and medical preparedness is available at www.WaterHealthConnection.org and has received more than 9.8 million hits for information from more than 350,000 users in 89 countries across the world.

At the conclusion of this water webinar, you will be able to:
1.	Recognize the medical, public health, and economic consequences of water contamination for a community resulting from natural and man-made disasters
2.	Understand the clinical challenges that complicate the accurate diagnosis and management of waterborne disease and the health effects of acute and chronic exposure to water pollutants
3.	List the five critical sources of water contamination resulting in water-related disease that represent the greatest public health threat, especially to susceptible populations most at risk for serious morbidity and mortality
4.	Identify the most recent trends in waterborne illness and water-related deaths from both drinking and recreational water exposure in the US
5.	Describe the importance of medical practitioners as sources of information and education regarding water quality and safety to their patients

Please consider joining us for this timely environmental medicine webinar and educational offering.

Patricia L. Meinhardt, MD, MPH, MA,
Executive Medicine Director, Center for Occupational and Envi

Allina Hospitals and Clinics and Health Care Without Harm are hosting :

Good Food, Good Medicine-The Kaiser Permanente Story

Why our Nations Leading Hospital Systems are Supporting Local, Sustainable Food Production

Join us for a presentation by Dr. Preston Maring, Associate Physician-in-Chief Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and W K Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow, regarding Kaiser Permanente's goal of supporting local, sustainable food systems and the steps they are taking to make it happen via supporting onsite farmers markets, developing on site community supported agriculture, sourcing inpatient meals from small family farmers and more. 

Good Food, Good Medicine-The Kaiser Permanente Story

Thursday, November 13, 2008 * 4:00-5:00pm

Allina Commons in the Midtown Exchange

2925 Chicago Avenue

Minneapolis , MN 55407

 

Please RSVP if you plan to attend to Marie Kulick, 612-870-3422 or mkulick@iatp.org.

Mayor launches "Capital Growth" to boost locally grown food in London

WEBWIRE Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Rosie Boycott, Chair of London Food, today launched an innovative scheme to turn 2,012 pieces of land into thriving green spaces to grow food by 2012.

Capital Growth -- the first initiative delivered by Rosie Boycott in her capacity as Chair of London Food - aims to identify suitable patches of land around London and offer financial and practical support to groups of enthusiastic gardeners or organisations who want to grow food for themselves and for the local community. It is expected that a range of organisations will open up land to the scheme including borough councils, schools, hospitals, housing estates, utilities companies and parks. There are already community groups growing food on land across London - Capital Growth will help to expand these organisations whilst encouraging new ones.

The Mayor today announced the first organisations to pledge land to Capital Growth, these are:

* Blenheim Gardens housing estate in Brixton, to be run by social housing residents;
* A large privately owned residential garden in Morden, where local volunteers will grow and share the harvest;
* Latchmere House resettlement prison in Richmond, which will grow food for the canteen and run horticulture and catering training with prisoners to improve skills and employment prospects.

Boosting the amount of locally grown food in London makes economic sense at a time of rising food prices, and it also has a range of health and environmental benefits, such as improving access to nutritious food in urban areas and helping to increase flood protection. There is rising interest in self-grown food and inner London boroughs have waiting lists for allotments that can be decades long.

Boris Johnson said:

Linking up currently unloved patches of land with people who want to discover the wonders of growing their own food, delivers massive benefits. It will help to make London a greener, more pleasant place to live whilst providing healthy and affordable food. This will aid people to reconnect with where their fruit and veg comes from and cut the congestion and carbon emissions associated with the transportation of food from miles away. Capital Growth is a win-win scheme - good for our communities and good for our environment

Rosie Boycott said:

London has a good deal of green spaces -- some derelict or underused - but not being used as well as they could be. We also have a veritable host of enthusiastic gardeners who are well equipped to turning derelict or underused spaces into thriving oases offering healthy food and a fantastic focus for the community. Capital Growth will identify spaces across the capital -- often in surprising places such as roof gardens - and help London's communities grow their own food.

Monty Don, gardening expert and TV presenter, said:

Growing your own is the most direct route to delicious, healthy food. It is also immensely satisfying. Anyone can do it, anywhere, and if we all grow a little then together we can make a huge difference to our food supply.

Capital Growth will be run by London Food Link, part of the charity Sustain who are working for better food and farming to enhance people's health and welfare and the environment. The pilot stage of the scheme running until March 2009 will identify and support the first 50 spaces, and is being funded by the London Development Agency. Beyond this, Sustain will be seeking future funding for Capital Growth, with the support of London Food.

Ben Reynolds, coordinator of London Food Link, said:

We are delighted to be working with the Mayor of London to transform our city with 2,012 new food growing spaces. People from all over London are already contacting us, keen to be involved in Capital Growth.

Bonnie Hewson, a housing estate resident from Blenheim Gardens, the first new food growing space in the Capital Growth initiative, said:

Residents on my estate are very excited about Capital Growth -- everyone from children to older people will be growing more of their own fresh food. Being part of Capital Growth will help to raise the profile of our work and get more people involved.

For more information visit Capital Growth.

Dear UCS supporter,
 
What a night! On so many levels, this is a historic moment. President-elect Barack Obama promises positive, productive leadership on many issues members of the Union of Concerned Scientists care deeply about--building a clean energy economy; reengaging in international negotiations on global warming and nuclear weapons; and restoring the integrity of science in federal policy making.
 
With your continued support, UCS is poised and ready to do what we do best: use top notch science and analysis to help Congress and the new administration craft the most effective policy solutions--actions that will make our world cleaner and safer while strengthening our economy and enhancing our national security.

With your help we will:

• Take bold action to put the brakes on global warming by working with President-elect Obama and the new Congress to implement strong emissions reductions that are in line with what the scientific community has deemed necessary to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. We'll also work to realize the new administration's commitments to invest $150 billion in alternative energy over 10 years--revitalizing our economy and strengthening our national security; further increase vehicle fuel economy standards; and reengage the United States in international climate negotiations. 
   
• Work toward a world free of nuclear weapons by working to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia before it expires next year, finally end the Pentagon's wrong-headed plans for a new generation of nuclear weapons, build Congressional support for long-overdue ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and halt further development of an unproven missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
   
• Restore scientific integrity in government by working with the new administration and Congress to guarantee federal scientists' freedom to publicly communicate their findings, publish their work, disclose misrepresentation and censorship, and have their work evaluated by peers--all without fear of retribution.

Even with a supportive president, we still have our work cut out for us. With uncertainty on Wall Street, automakers and those in the oil and coal industries are already playing the politics of fear, hoping to delay action on many fronts. We know from experience that we cannot underestimate the power of entrenched corporate interests and the legislators who support them. This is a moment of enormous opportunity, but real change doesn't just happen. We must work hard to ensure the important groundwork we have laid becomes reality. 
  
Together with your support, we are ready to make real change. Let's get to it.
 

Sincerely, Kevin Knobloch President

As students settle back into school, a law designed to protect their health in the classroom received a failing grade in the first report card of Act 125.  Act 125 was charged with reducing environmental health hazards in schools through the creation of a voluntary program called Envision: Promoting Healthy School Environments.  According to the report card released by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), Act 125 has failed to protect the majority of Vermontâ& #128;& #153;s children and school personnel from polluted indoor air.

Under Act 125, the State was required to create a model school environmental health plan and award environmental health certificates to schools that voluntarily excelled in improving indoor air quality.  Passed by the Legislature in 2000, Act 125 established a goal of having at least 50% of schools qualify for an environmental health certificate by January 2005.  Only 7% of schools had received a certificate by the end of 2006.

VPIRG recommends that Vermont turn to new opportunities and solutions for creating healthy learning environments including: 1) implementing a comprehensive healthy schools program; 2) requiring schools to purchase environmentally preferable cleaning products; and 3) eliminating high-risk pesticides and establishing strong integrated pest management programs at schools.

To read the full report, click here. To read VPIRG's news release, click here.

A Sense of Wonder
The acclaimed play based on the
life of Rachel Carson, written and
performed by Kaiulani Lee
to benefit
The Nature Connection/AAI
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008, 7:30 pm
The Emerson Umbrella
Center for the Arts
40 Stow Street
Concord, MA 01742
Advance Tickets: $15/$25/$50*
*Premium seating & post performance
dessert reception with Kaiulani Lee

Tickets available at The Concord Bookshop
or by calling AAI, (978) 369-2585.
www.aai-nature.org

All proceeds directly benefit nature
programs for people with disabilities,
youth-at-risk and elders.

"You cannot watch Kaiulani Lee
without reflecting on universal
themesâ& #128;& #148;life, death, the power
of place, courage in growing old
and in speaking the truth.
You cannot walk away unmoved."
â& #128;& #148;Bill Moyers, PBS