Gil Friend and David Morris of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance

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MORRIS: Now wait a minute, Gil. That's all true, but I don't want people to think we're moving backward. I don't believe we're moving backward at all . . . I think we're moving forward by using new technologies based on ecological concerns.

I don't want the decentralized neighborhoods we're working toward compared to medieval cities. They had moats and battlements around them, and they didn't know what was going on in the next city unless travelers or wandering jugglers happened to come by. In future self-reliant communities, there will be a great transfer of information and knowledge. Real information and knowledge.

As it is, it's our current cities—the ones we're trying to change—that are like the medieval towns. People are sealed off from real life. They don't know what's going on in the next city . . . or even down the block.

You turn on the television and you see Walter Cronkite, who tells you what the President ate for breakfast. But you don't know what happened down the street unless there was a rape or a murder. That's called a human-interest story. And those stories are almost the only ones that concern you and me. Everything that's considered news is about national leaders. We need direct communication between communities to help distribute useful information and know-how.

PLOWBOY: What new projects have you planned for the future?

FRIEND: Right now we're preparing for a future project by working with the Cooperative Extention Service of Federal City College on a survey of all the vacant city-owned lots in Washington. Once we get that, we'll be able to estimate with some accuracy how much food can be produced on land which currently serves no useful purpose.

For example, just a little ways from here is the 14th Street corridor where block upon block has been filled with nothing but abandoned cars, broken glass, and bricks since the 1968 riots. It could have been growing food all that time. It'll probably be vacant for at least another five or ten years, and we want to make sure it's used to grow food during that time.

We intend to present this information to the city and get a commitment from the proper officials that all land not being used will be available on request to citizens who want to put it into food production.

MORRIS: But a lot of people here don't have experience growing food. So we'd like to establish a series of neighborhood agricultural centers staffed by individuals experienced in food production, food processing, nutrition, and the organization of co-ops. They could demonstrate composting and gardening procedures. They could loan out tools . . . especially expensive tools like rototillers and shredders. These centers—in short—would function much like the Cooperative Extention Service, which aids farmers in rural areas.

FRIEND: Then, in conjunction with these neighborhood agriculture centers, we'd like to grow a number of demonstration gardens during the next year. We'd like to introduce some of the more sophisticated organic techniques . . . such as the bio-dynamic/French intensive method or Ruth Stout's no-dig, heavy mulching approach to gardening.

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