WorldWaterDay is 22 Mar 2021

Posted on March 3, 2021 by 100 Grannies

#WorldWaterDay is Monday, March 22, and the 2021 theme is “Valuing Water.”. In honor of the theme, the City of Iowa City will highlight a different topic and “call to action” every Wednesday in March, and we invite the community to learn and celebrate with us! Here is the “Water Wednesday” lineup: 🔵March 3: Use water wisely. 🔵March 10: Appreciate water treatment and wastewater treatment plants. 🔵March 17: Do not litter. 🔵March 24: Be a wise consumer. 🔵March 31: Celebrate water’s importance in our lives.

from Jane Wilch, Iowa City Recycling Coordinator  jane-wilch@iowa-city.org

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Time to cut loose from Big Ag’s factory farm

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Charlene Lange

published Iowa City Press Citizen 2-24-21

Time to cut loose from Big Ag’s factory farm stranglehold

Despite powerful evidence and years of opposition from many citizens, numerous county boards, small nonprofits and leading environmental groups, “factory farms” continue to proliferate across the state. Calling these operations “farms” is a misnomer.  “Industrial Animal Factories” is more accurate. They are destroying our rural communities, displacing traditional family farms, defiling our land, air and water, and putting us all at risk. Iowa’s landscape is riddled with more than 13,000 of these installations with rows of long, narrow sheds containing thousands of abused animals packed in together in toxic, cruel conditions. And they just keep coming.

Just a few of the many reasons to support a moratorium:

  • Widespread noxious, harmful odors.
  • Drastic reduction in nearby property values.
  • Harmful health impacts — breathing problems (especially in children and the elderly), risk of antibiotic-resistant infections, depression and more.
  • Poisoning of wells and groundwater.
  • Potential hotbed for the emergence of another devastating pandemic.
  • Manure spills and runoff contributed to over 750 polluted waterways.

This movement is NOT anti-farmer. Rather, it seeks to support traditional, independent farmers who care for their land and our environment, reflecting values of responsibility, respect and regeneration. The unsustainable factory farm model is quite the opposite, placing corporate profits above all else. As Iowans, we must find our way back from this destructive, polluting precipice and lend our voices to demand a moratorium on new or expanded factory farms.

— Miriam Kashia, North Liberty

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2021 Barbara Schlachter Memorial March Lectures

Posted on February 27, 2021 by 100 Grannies

100 Grannies Barbara Schlachter Memorial March Lecture Series

Register online:
http://apm.activecommunities.com/iowacityseniorcenter/Activity_Search/16101
or call the senior center:  319-356-5220
========================================================
March 8: Climate Change and the Paris  Agreement – Jerry Schnoor;

March 15: Facts behind factory farms – Miriam Kashia, Sandy Alper, and Mackenzie Aime, Iowa Food and Water Watch

March 22: Focus on eliminating single use plastic – Becky Ross

March 29th: Solving Sustainability Challenges Through Equity – Stratis Giannakouros, Dir. of the U of IA Human Center Sustainability and Environment

Lectures are from 6:30 to 8:00 (with time for Q&A) – you need to register for the lecture, but you do not need to be a member of the senior Center.

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Cream of Broccoli Soup

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Charlene Lange

Ingredients:

4 cups veggie broth (water w/2 teaspoons of better than bullion)
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into ½ in pieces  (approx. 12 ounces)
1 onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
4-8 cloves of garlic, minced
4-6 cups broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 teas basil, dried
1 cup of cashews
1 cup water
1 ½-2 teas salt
½-1 teas pepper

 Cook the first 5 ingredients for 5 minutes.

Add in the broccoli and basil for about 7 -10 minutes more (or until they’re barely tender)

Blend the cashews with 1 cup of water.  (If you do not have a Vitamix, soak the cashews first.)

Scoop about ½-1 cup of hot soup into blender with cashews and blend until smooth.

Pour the puree back into the pan.

Note:  You can blend all the soup in batches until smooth if you prefer.

Stir and enjoy!

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Sandy Alper 10 Feb 2021 PC

Posted on February 10, 2021 by 100 Grannies

Officials are right – factory farms are bad for Iowa

Mackenzie Aime and Sandra Alper

Special to Iowa City Press-Citizen USA TODAY NETWORK

Just before the new year, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted for a ban on factory farms in their 2021 legislative priorities. This week, legislators will introduce statewide bills that, if passed, would establish a moratorium on new and expanding factory farms. The movement to stop factory farms in Iowa is homegrown, with roots here in Johnson County. Over the past few years, Food & Water Watch and 100Grannies for a Livable Future have rallied our fellow Iowans around the urgent need to stop factory farms. It’s time that our state legislators carry the torch on this priority into the General Assembly.

Iowa is in a factory farm crisis. The events of 2020 brought to light many of the consequences of our hyper- consolidated food system, which is dominated by the factory farm industry.

Factory farms render our rivers too dirty and dangerous to serve as public water supplies. For three months in 2020, the Des Moines River was virtually unusable because of high concentrations of microcystin. Microcystin are the toxic result of blue-green algae caused largely by the overuse and misapplication of manure and other fertilizer that run off from factory farms into our rivers and streams. Microcystin pose a serious health threat that includes the potential to cause both kidney and liver damage if ingested, and drinking water utilities are unable to filter this toxin out. Will our rivers eventually be entirely too polluted to serve as a source of drinking water? What will we do then? Our elected officials must take action to address this crisis before it’s too late.

Factory farms also put the health of our communities at risk. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the dangerous conditions that food system workers toil in daily. Widespread reporting has uncovered systematic denials of access to basic safety measures including PPE for meatpacking plant workers. As a result, over 6,000 Iowa meatpackers contracted COVID- 19 — and many have died — while corporations like Tyson and JBS profited. Unsafe conditions are driven, in part, by consolidation in our food supply. Exploding numbers of factory farms across Iowa are a large part of the ongoing consolidation that puts workers at risk. We can and must change this.

What’s more, factory farms are bad business for our state. Since factory farms monopolized Iowa’s ag sector, the state’s lost more than 85% of

its small- and medium- sized hog farms. Those lost farms were economic pillars for many rural communities, and rural voters know this. A recent poll by RuralOrganizing.org shows that 88% of young people and 82% of independents in rural areas support a moratorium on factory farms and corporate monopolies in our food and farm system. Many of those who adapted to the consolidated system and own factory farms became entrenched in debt, struggling to make ends meet while trapped in predatory corporate contracts. Clear momentum is growing around a food system that invests not in the corporate giants whose stranglehold brought us the factory farm crisis, but in the workers and independent farmers that bring food to our tables.

In calling for a ban on factory farms, Johnson County Supervisors have appropriately responded to the demands of their constituents. Johnson County’s state legislators must follow suit. Bills to establish a moratorium on new and expanding factory farms will be introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly this week. Co-sponsoring these bills would honor the wishes of Johnson County constituents as well as the county’s Board of Supervisors. The time for our state legislators to act is now.

We need bold policy solutions that protect our clean water, our health and Iowa’s remaining independent farms. When legislators announce factory farm moratorium bills this week, we will rally with the Iowa voters to stop factory farm expansion and corporate monopolies in our food system. Will you join us?

Mackenzie Aime is an Iowa City resident and organizer with Food & Water Watch and Sandra Alper is a member of 100Grannies for Livable Future

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Miriam Kashia with Ed Fallon – radio interview – 1 Feb 2021

Posted on February 4, 2021 by 100 Grannies

Granny Miriam Kashia was interviewed on the Fallon Forum radio show on Monday 2/1 about the CAFO moratorium project the Grannies are currently working on in partnership with Food & Water Watch. (Link)

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Eggless Salad Sandwich Filling

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Charlene Lange

by Carol Throckmorton

Yield: approx.. 8 half cup servings

3/4 C vegan mayonnaise
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. kala namak salt (black salt or Indian salt)*
½ tsp. onion powder
½ tsp. garlic
½ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp white pepper
¼ C nutritional yeast
1 – 2 green onions, thinly slicked
1- 16 oz. Package of tofu, firm or extra firm

In a medium sized bowl, combine mayonnaise and mustard. Stir until well mixed. Add dry ingredients and slicked onions until blended

Drain and rinse tofu; pat dry with paper towel. Crumble into bowl and mix with other other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving to allow seasonings to blend with tofu.

Use ½ cup of filling for two slices of whole grain bread (or sever on crackers).

*Kala namak salt is also called black salt or Indian salt. It is primarily sodium chloride, but also contains sulfur compounds, which provides a hard boiled egg aroma and taste. It is used in vegan dishes to mimic the taste of eggs. It can be purchased at specialty grocery stores. This is an optional ingredient; other salt can be substituted.

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10 Oct 2020 Connie Mutel op ed in today’s PC

Posted on October 10, 2020 by 100 Grannies

Click here

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Linda Quinn’s LTE on CAFO’s in Little Village

Posted on September 10, 2020 by 100 Grannies

Linda Quinn’s LTE on CAFO’s in Little Village

Letter to the editor: Iowa needs a moratorium on factory farming

By Linda Quinn, Iowa City

Recent reports showcase the severity of our water quality crisis in Iowa. In the midst of a drought, the Des Moines River is now virtually unusable as drinking water because of pollution. Our elected leaders are putting forth half-measures while pollution runs rampant and emissions continue unabated. Factory farms have expanded rapidly in Iowa, pushing out independent family farms in favor of mega operations. Today, with more than 25 million hogs, we house one-third of all factory farm hogs nationwide and absorb all the costs. That cost is our water, our health, and our future.

Food & Water Watch reports that in 2017, factory hog farms in Iowa alone produce 72 billion pounds of manure, which is equal to two and a half times the weight in human sewage produced by New York City. All of that manure has to go somewhere, and all too often it ends up in our waterways, leading to widespread pollution. We cannot afford to put our water on the line for the sake of corporate profits.

As a fourth-generation Iowan, I come from a farming family. The impacts of the factory farming industry are clearly visible in the massive confinement buildings dotting the landscape to polluted creeks.

Iowa was a bastion of independent family farms before the rise of factory farms, and can be again. Creating a better food and farm system starts by establishing a moratorium on factory farms. With the election fast approaching, as a constituent, I thank Sen. Bolkcom for previously supporting a moratorium in the legislature and I urge whoever fills the seat for House District 85 to fully support a moratorium come the 2021 legislative session.

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Grannies Gems No. 7

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Charlene Lange

Consider switching from conventional shampoo to a natural shampoo bar.  According to Lush, one of the industry’s leading beauty brands, shampoo bars can last up to 80 washes. This is equivalent to two to three bottles of conventional liquid shampoo. One of the best things about shampoo bars is they are great for the environment. Since 2010, close to 10 million shampoo bars have been sold across the globe saving the environment approximately 30 million plastic bottles that would have ended up landfilled.  Here are three that are moderately priced:

Love Beauty And Planet – This organic, naturally sourced bar with plant based cleansers, is safe for color treated hair. It is not tested on animals and contains no sulfate cleansers, silicones, parabens or dyes. lovebeautyandplanet.com

J.R. Liggett’s All Natural Shampoo Bar – This shampoo bar is made from an old New England bygone era recipe. They also make earth friendly shampoo bars for pets. J.R. Liggett’s is a ZERO WASTE company. jrliggett.com/shampoobars

Heali Kiwi from Ethique – This shampoo bar is 100% soap-free and completely vegan. It is made from ingredients which work in tandem to prevent your hair from drying out while nourishing and hydrating it in the process. One Ethique conditioner bar = 5 plastic bottle. ethique.com/shampoobars

TruEarth.com and MightyNest.com makes/sells many types of ecofriendly products.

Shampoo and conditioner bars will turn to mush if left wet. Stand them up to dry, hang them in a soap bag, place them on a piece of dry flannel, or place them in a draining soap dish. You can also put them in a tray on a window ledge. The fresh air will dry them in minutes.

If you are interested in making a natural rinse for your hair, mix ½ to 4 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar with 8 oz. of water. Dry hair likes less – oily hair likes more vinegar. Or mix 1 Tbsp. of lemon juice with 2 cups of water.

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