PROFILES
In celebration of folks involved in MOTHER-type doings around the world.
May/June 1983
By the Mother Earth News editors
GARY GUNDERSON AND ANDY LOVING: SEEDS
RELATED CONTENT
Growing trees and shrubs from seed takes time, but has its own rewards...
Save money and connect with local gardeners by exchanging garden seeds through organized seed swaps...
As soon as seed catalogs start arriving in the mailbox, gardeners face some difficult choices. What...
Timely gardening tips for where you live...
Grow Your Own Vegetable Seeds The Professional Way
How to choose parent plants; cross pollin...
Six years ago Gary Gunderson and Andy Loving set up shop in Decatur, Georgia's Oakhurst Baptist Church ... and put together the first issue of a newsletter devoted to calling attention to the problem of world hunger. Since then, Seeds has grown into a bi-monthly magazine, which informs its 3,300 subscribers about the plight of underand malnourished people ... both in rural and innercity areas of America and in other countries.
The goal of the publication—which recently won a World Hunger Media Award for an edition that underscored the role of women in feeding the earth's people—has been to present information that could lead to practical solutions. Articles have featured such topics as how to start food coops and how to promote political action on the local and national levels (indeed, the magazine keeps a close watch on how our country's legislators vote on hunger-related issues).
Today, the journal's staff numbers six ... with costs paid by a $9,000 annual allowance from the church, a sideline typesetting business, individual contributions, and $10-per-year subscriptions (write to Seeds, Dept. TMEN, 222 East Lake Drive, Decatur, Georgia 30030). But the creators of Seeds ask more than money from their readers. "We're trying to plant seeds in people's minds and hearts," says Andy. "Hunger," adds Gary, "is caused by what people do to people, and not just by what nature does to people."—JV.
IVAN MARTIN: FARMLAND IN PERPETUITY
Last September, Ivan Martin made farm history ... when he became the first Lancaster County, Pennsylvania property owner to insert a provision in the deed to his farm requiring that the land be kept in agricultural use "in perpetuity". Under the agreement, which was signed between Martin and the county, the restriction stays in effect unless and until both parties decide to break the partnership.
About two years ago, you see, officials in Lancaster County (one of the country's top nonirrigated farm districts) decided to set up a program to help put a stop to the area's estimated 3,000- acre-per- year loss in farmland (a result of residential and commercial development). The county's Agricultural Preserve Board has since worked to interest municipal leaders in writing zoning laws beneficial to farmers, and was responsible for conducting the educational campaign that convinced Martin to include the landuse restriction in his deed.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
Next >>