Grocery Variety and Sustainability Go Hand-in-Hand

By Dan Grifen, a guest blogger for Veggie Revolution

"In other environmental issues we tell people to stop something, reduce their impact, reduce their damage," - U.S. Ecologist Gary Nabhan

Since the beginning of the green movement, there has been a rise in the number of organizations and businesses that are doing their part in the promotion of sustainability through conservation. As human beings, we're told to reduce our carbon footprint, consume less unhealthy foods, and spend less time in the shower! But let's take a minute to step back and look at this from a different perspective; one that Gary Nabhan strongly suggests.

Gary Paul Nabhan, PhD, is an Arab-American writer/conservationist whose extensive farming work in the U.S./Mexico borderlands region has made him world renowned. Specifically speaking, Nabhan is known for his work in biodiversity as an ethnobotanist. His uplifting messages and attitude towards life and culture have granted us access to multiple beneficial theories including his latest of eat what you conserve.

According to The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, about three quarters of the genetic diversity of crops has been vanishing over the last century; a dozen species now provide 90% of the animal protein eaten globally. In accordance, just 4 crop species supply half of plant based calories in the human diet.

Nabhan claims that by eating the fruits and vegetables that we are attempting to conserve/save, we're promoting the dissemination and conservation of these same plant species. But this goes beyond what we typically buy in supermarkets, particularly because of price and abundance. We must remember to try new things and immerse ourselves in the very concept of diversity. Keep in mind - the benefits of splurging for that costly fruit/vegetable supremely outweigh the cons. Not only are you promoting biodiversity and further eliminating the needs of farmers to remove rare, less purchased crops off their agenda, but you're also effectively encouraging healthier lifestyles.

Agriculturist Marco Contiero mentioned, "Biodiversity is an essential characteristic of any sustainable agricultural system, especially in the context of climate change." With sustainable crop efforts being lead by the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) and the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) the duo plans to provide a more sustainable crop that can withstand natural disasters, avoiding food shortages like Haiti is experiencing. Contiero goes on to state "We need to ensure this is the basis for the future…" – This is exactly what Doug Band, the CGI, and the IRRI are doing by engaging in sustainability efforts.

So remember, next time you're in the supermarket picking out a common varietal of navel oranges or strawberries, turn your attention to something that's a bit more exotic in nature. The same goes for salads/salad ingredients; shop outside the norm, picking spices and vegetables that you wouldn't normally incorporate into your everyday diet. During such economic downtime it isn't always easy to maintain the same level of grocery shopping intrigue, but we must also not forget that in this sundry of foods we can find fun!

Written by Dan Grifen – Supporter of all things green and progressive

Dan Grifen blogs at http://everythingleft.wordpress.com and is a guest blogger for Veggie Revolution and SallyKneidel.com

Key words: sustainable food conservation Gary Nabhan Dan Grifen Everything Left everythingleft  sustainable farming biodiversity seed diversity crop diversity shopping sustainably FAO genetic diversity of crops

Audubon's annual bird count: even in the city, some species show up year after year

Orange-crowned Warbler, courtesy of www.whidbeyaudubon.org

Article by Clay Barbour for the Charlotte Observer
Dec. 28, 2008
cbarbour@charlotteobserver.com


Taylor Piephoff and Greg Hayes came to the Renaissance Golf Course Saturday in search of birdies.

Of course, there's nothing unusual about that.

But unlike the others traipsing around the greens in the early morning fog, Piephoff and Hayes were using binoculars instead of 9-irons.

The two men were among a group of 22 area birders helping with the National Audubon Society's 109th annual Christmas Bird Count, a national effort to catalog bird populations among growing metropolitan areas.

More than 120 Carolinas bird groups are taking part in the count this year, which started Dec. 14 and runs through Jan. 5. Results are due by mid-January. The Mecklenburg Audubon has held

an annual count every year since 1941.

The group has traditionally focused on a 15-mile circle, centered at the intersection of Woodlawn Road and South Boulevard.

Sticking to the same area allows for a controlled count that can be used to give researchers a better idea of the health of different species.

“We contribute to a data set that is used nationally and internationally to track birds,” said Ken Kneidel, an experienced birder in charge of Charlotte's count this year. “Without volunteers like we have, I don't know how this kind of research would ever get done.”

Kneidel said the Queen City's bird population has remained fairly steady since the mid 1970s, in part because of the city's protection of its tree canopy.

The chapter recorded 93 different species of birds last year, a little shy of the record of 96 set in 1983.

Birders have noticed trends in recent years. Some species have thrived as the city has grown. Others have diminished.

For example, the chapter counted 21 Canada geese in 1967. Last year, they counted 687.

Meanwhile, it recorded more than 280 purple finches in 1981. Last year, they found one.

Such numbers are rough estimates at best, relying as they do on a one-day count by volunteers. But Kneidel said that observed over time, they give researchers a good idea about population changes.

Piephoff, 48, works for Mecklenburg County's natural resources department and writes a regular column on birds for the Charlotte Observer. He started birding in 1972.

Hayes, 38, works for Bank of America. He has been birding for about 10 years.

Both men say they grew up fascinated with nature – birds in particular.

“It's a fun way to connect with the world around you, the seen and unseen,” Hayes said.

Most birders develop a keen eye for spotting birds from great distances and through thick brush. But sometimes they rely on their trained ears.

With a cold fog hanging low over the course Saturday, visibility into the woods was poor. Piephoff walked to the edge of the trees and let out a bird call that mimics the sound some make when distressed.

“Shhhwt, shhhwt, shhhwt, shhhwt, shhhwt,” his voice echoed off the trees.

A few seconds later, the woods erupted into a chorus of calls, as the birds answered.

Hayes and Piephoff rang off the names of the birds they heard as easily as others list familiar songs on the radio. A mockingbird, a white-throated sparrow, a Carolina wren and a swamp sparrow all called back.

The two men mentally logged the birds and continued on.

“In a lot of ways it is like a sport,” Kneidel said. “Finding a rare bird is like hitting a three-pointer or sinking a putt. It's exciting."

Keywords:: Audubon Christmas bird count annual bird census bird conservation Charlotte Mecklenburg Audubon Clay Barbour Ken Kneidel Taylor Piephoff Greg Hayes Alan Kneidel

Volunteers for Audubon's Christmas Bird Count collect valuable conseravtion data

photo courtesy of www.birders.cornell.edu

This year I inherited the job as “compiler” for the Charlotte Christmas bird count. If you’re unaware, the Audubon Society has sponsored annual bird counts for the past 108 years. In Charlotte, we’ve had a count since 1941. My job is to see that the count runs like it has in previous years, and to collect and submit the data we collect to a national database.

I just got a phone call from a staff writer from the Charlotte Observer putting together a piece for tomorrow’s paper. He asked “why do you do this?” It might seem odd – why would 21 people spend all day trying to count all of the birds in a 15 mile wide circle? When people first hear about the count they often express confusion – how can you possibly count every bird in an area that big? How do you avoid counting the same bird twice? The truth is, we never expect to count every bird. What we try to do is get a representative sample. We know what places to focus on to see the birds we suspect are in the circle that day. We avoid overlap by forming 8 groups, each responsible for different sections of the circle.

But that’s more about “how” than “why”. I’ve got three answers to the latter question. Number one for me is the value of the records. Over 100 counts will be carried out in North Carolina alone; thousands internationally. We birders amass a monstrous invaluable data set. Over 30 acres per day have being developed in Mecklenburg County during the past several years. All this development, plus global climate change, are having a significant impact on wildlife – we know so because data sets like the Christmas bird counts show trends.

Another reason is “sport”. For me, what we do feels like a sport. I’m reluctant to admit it, but for me there’s competition. Not so much with other birders – more with myself. Just like a golfer tries to improve every round, I like to see more birds and better birds each year. I’m reluctant to admit this because the perfect effort in doing the count would be to repeat exactly what you did the previous year so the data will be reliable. It’s important to be able to conclude that if you see more birds one year compared to another it’s because a change in bird abundance and not due to fluctuating effort. But it’s hard not to try to do “better” each year, that is, find more birds and especially more rare ones. Last week, for example, while doing a different count, my group was the first to ever see a Common Raven in Mecklenburg County, NC. For me, spotting that raven was like sinking a 150 yard iron shot from the rough on a windy day. It felt great!

Thinking about the bird count as a sport led me to notice that, from the outside, traditional sports seem a little odd too. Don’t take me wrong – I’m an avid sports fan. But hitting a white ball up and down fields with clubs might seem strange to the uninitiated. Or football – 22 grown men “fighting” to get a leather ball to one end of a large field? Maybe counting birds in a 15 mile diameter circle seems strange to some, only because they’re outside looking in. From the inside, it’s sport-like. Twenty-two people working together to achieve a difficult goal that’s challenging and requires lots of skill. Most of us will identify the majority of our birds by sound, and many not by their songs. Sometimes we’ll rely just on simple “call notes” that differ only in sound quality and pitch (we’ll struggle to decide whether we’re hearing “tseeet” or “seeep”).

Reason number three (and as important as the other two) can also be appreciated by sports fans. I’m sure that many who are obsessed with traditional sports enjoy the camaraderie and the atmosphere while watching the sport as well as the action. We 22 birders are also friends; we often bird together throughout the year, and “tailgate” every month at Audubon meetings. And our “atmosphere” tomorrow will be hard to beat. Birding requires walking slowly through natural areas, looking at and listening to everything. As you do this, you become more aware of the differences between seasons, not only in terms of the birds, but also in the vegetation, weather, and sound. The differences between places also become more obvious – field versus forest margin, thicket, or deep woods. You also see that a place of little apparent value to humans can be priceless to wildlife. For example, I’ll look forward tomorrow at seeing Savannah sparrows at an abandoned development along Shopton Rd. To anyone driving by, that lot is a “wasteland” – a “strip of pavement to nowhere”. To the sparrows it’s perfect habitat for the winter – as is the Hilton Hotel in the center of downtown Charlotte for a Peregrine Falcon! We birders know that a Peregrine has been using that hotel as a winter stopover the past few years. It likes to sit on the ‘i” on the red sign high on the side of the building. The skyscrapers of downtown Charlotte offer equivalent habitat to cliffs and open areas out West, and pigeons are good prey. After I saw that falcon, the city’s never felt the same. There’s indescribable joy in seeing a beautiful animal acting according to its nature, oblivious to human activity surrounding it. I’ll see that over and over again tomorrow in many contexts.

So that’s why. For me, I’m excited because I have a big game tomorrow. The weather will be fresh and crisp, spirits will be high. I hope we score at least “80”. I can’t wait.

Written by Ken Kneidel, PhD
Charlotte Audubon Society

Keywords:: Christmas bird count Charlotte Audubon Society Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology bird conservation North Carolina Bird Count 2008 Ken Kneidel