Dear Friends and fellow Gardeners,

This year we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. My son, Michael, asked me what I thought the meaning of Earth Day represented. I told him that Earth Day is celebrated to help people connect and to reconnect to the wondrous and incredible world in which we live, to pause in our busy lives to give thanks for the beautiful planet in which we are inhabitants.

The idea for Earth Day came from Senator Gaylord Nelson who used the successful anti-Vietnam war teach-ins of the 60’s as a model to bring awareness to problems in the environment. The first Earth Day was held on April 22 1970. Today, thousands of us on April 22 demonstrate how we might live in peace and harmony with our fragile environment. We celebrate the Sun by showing how to use solar energy, how to harness the winds and geothermal forces to create cleaner energy sources. Demonstrating more environmental friendly means using water, heating our homes, alternative transportation, (Hooray for the bike ! Boo on SUV’s.) How to reduce, reuse, and recycle. How to make compost and grow an Organic Garden garden.

These early years of Earth Day bring back many memories. It was during this time I became involved in a dispute with an MJC professor over an article in the Modesto Bee showing broccoli grown with pesticides and commercial fertilizers was superior to what he called "organically grown." The result of my investigation and letters to the editor of the Bee led to being asked by Modesto Junior College (MJC) to teach a class in Organic Gardening. This came as a surprise, because at this time just the word "organic" caused many of those involved in agriculture, including the colleges and universities, to become very defensive and angry. Although I had never taught before, I accepted the challenge and proceeded to fill Organic Garden Classes for seven wonderful years at MJC. I am now teaching again and beginning my fifth year of teaching Organic Gardening at Woodland Community College.

Much still needs to be done but during this thirty-year span I have seen many positive changes that I would have considered impossible given the attitudes of the time. Thirty years ago mention biological control, composting, and companion planting to those involved in agriculture and you inevitability were going to be in an argument. Terms such as Sustainable Agriculture, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) would have drawn a blank from most gardeners and farmers. Today they are important to every farmer.

For those of us who love our Earth there will always be a need to celebrate Earth Day if for no other reason than to celebrate and give thanks.

By DON MCMILLAN

Although he has neither driver's license nor a car of his own, Beyer High School freshman Matt Slentz exhibits confidence in his ability to get where he wants to go, and he sounds largely satisfied with his present transportation choices.

That doesn't mean he sees no room for positive change in our transportation systems. He finds that high capacity highways "look ugly as anything." Partly this blight could be eased through more attention to roadside plantings. On the other hand, Slentz believes that part of the responsibility for reducing highways' adverse impacts lies with individuals and families. The need to continue widening highways would diminish if people would "try and cut down on the heavy usage."

By contrast, increasing people's use of public transit would strike Slentz as a positive change. He believes promoting transit riding is an important antidote to ever-growing demands for space on already congested roads. He reacted positively to recently elected Modesto Council Member Bruce Frohman's idea that students be issued free bus passes. "If I could get a free ride to the mall, I'd definitely take it," Slentz said. He noted as well that as youth gained confidence in their ability to get around town by bus, parents could feel less burdened with having to shuttle them around.

Still, Slentz' willingness to consider increasing his use of bus lines may be exceptional among his peers. Assuming they'd earned their licenses and had a car at their disposal, "I think most of them would still want to drive," he said.

Slentz seems satisfied with transit available in Modesto. "It's a pretty good system," he said. However, his needs for bus rides appear to be moderate. In an ordinary month he would use the transit system, but he would average less than a ride per week.

Modest expectations for mobility may contribute to Slentz' satisfaction with local transportation. He said that most of his trips now can be carried out on foot or by bicycle even though he estimates that most destinations he reaches by bicycle are within a two-and-a-half mile radius of home. He walks to school and reports that most of his friends live within walking distance.

Slentz doesn't report significant barriers to his mobility on foot or by bicycle. "I ride fairly often," he said. "Drivers are usually pretty respectful." He reports more harassment from disrespectful drivers while walking than while pedaling.

Citing the expenses associated with car ownership, Slentz said, "I have no use for one. I can take a bus or a bike."

It may be some time before he feels pinched enough to accept these expenses. He expects at least to finish college before committing to a car of his own. He doesn't see his peers following the same path. He believes that most of the youth he knows plan to get a car of their own as soon as they can. "A lot of them already have their own cars," he said, even though many haven't yet earned driving privileges.

Slentz, however, doesn't feel left behind. "They've got no problem with it," he said of his friends' attitude towards his persisting without a car.

By MYRTLE OSNER with INDIRA CLARK

Of high interest since last fall’s disastrous tire fire in Stanislaus County is the on going disposal of used tires. (Please see Special Section in this issue.)

Citizens haven’t seen much movement in this category; in fact, the tire-burning facility at Westley has shut down, citing high prices for the tires they burn. The plant has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for some time. A spokesman for Stanislaus County landfill expressed doubt that the plant would ever burn again.

What to do with used tires? We can’t just stockpile them in the hills anymore. But they keep on coming.

One bright spot is the Golden Byproducts Co. in Ballico. This is a tire-shredding operation. Shredded tires can be used in building roads and in covering landfills, among other things.

Both Stanislaus County and the City of Modesto are running tire "amnesty" programs quarterly through the year. When those times come up, any resident can bring tires into collection points free. Any other time you have to pay dumping fees.Tires are accepted at the Oakdale Corporation Yard, the County facility on Morgan Road, and the Fink Road landfill.

Last September, Modesto held its first ever amnesty program, collecting about 2500 tires The next event will be April 1 at Davis High School parking lot and is for city residents only. You need proof of residency and a coupon which you can get at City hall downtown, City Hall at the Mall, or any Police Command Center. Call 577-5494 for further info.

The Stanislaus County has held amnesty events over the years, the most recent one in March.

California Integrated Waste Management Board helps fund the amnesty program, but that is just a drop in the bucket of all the tires that need to be used.

Recycling, Blue Bags or Cans?

The picture with regard to recycling other items is mixed in this thirtieth year of Earth Day. While many items can be recycled, the mechanisms aren’t always working. Modesto has atwo garbage cans system with the blue bags tossed in. Residents load their glass, cans, plastic, and paper in separate blue bags and stick them in with the regular garbage. These are then picked out by hand at the tipping floor at the garbage transfer stations and sold by the garbage companies. The haulers, however, say that they only recycle what there is a market for and that varies immensely. Stockpiling recycleables until they can be sold is a major space problem.

Turlock and Oakdale have a third can in which to put trecyclables, so at least the stuff isn’t contaminated by garbage. This method is nicer, but more expensive. It pollutes the air one third more; garbage trucks have to make three trips around town instead of two. Garbage trucks are also hard on roads; they are so heavy; and it’s expensive to repair streets. The second garbage can in Modesto's system and the third in Turlock and Oakdale's is used for green waste, yard clippings. This makes up about 40 percent of our garbage and makes wonderful compost.

Recycling green waste has been one of the successes. Modesto produces compost from various cities' green waste. It is sold to residents of Modesto by the yard. Fine, if you have a truck,\. Modestans may even pick up an annual ration free at the composting facility. Or you can buy compost at the nursery. This finished product come is two varieties: with or without bio-products, a.k.a. sewage sludge. (The new U.S. Organic standards outlaws the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer, as do many European countries.)

Remember to put only yard clippings in the green waste can; no plastic pots, paper, metal, glass, pet poop, only "clean" green stuff.

Clean? Remember landscape grass, lawns and golf courses, are the largest consumers of pesticides in the nation.

Tradeoffs abound in decision making. The City of San Jose has seven categories of residential garbage pick-up. You may not like the decisions your city makes, but don’t criticize till you have the facts.

Pre-cycle before you buy: Do you really need this item?

Reduce consumption.
Reuse.
Recycle.

ACTION: You can do your own green waste composting at home, if you have room. See back issues of Connections on-line: our gardening friends, the Pollocks have given you plenty of advice in their Mud Pies and Purple Onions columns on how to do it at home. (Over the decades Dan pioneered the use of compost as a method of weed control in his day job with CALTRANS.) Classes are also offered by the Modesto Junior College and the City of Modesto.

John Muir's Birthday, April 21!

By INDIRA CLARK

Due to popular demand, including some very vocal Stanislaus Connections subscribers, Modesto Certified Farmers Market will open a month earlier in 2000 than ever before. Saturday, April 15th will be the first day. Earth Day will be celebrated the same day nearby in Graceada Park.

The Market sets up every Saturday on 16th Street between H and I, next to the Modesto-Stanislaus Library, 7 a.m. to noon.

The Market Board of Directors anticipates the first market will offer fresh spring vegetables including asparagus, greens, artichokes, and potatoes; strawberries; flowers; plants; dried fruits and nuts, jams and other preserves (made locally from locally grown fruit); and an even wider array of breads and other baked goods, some still hot from the oven.

Come early for the best selection.

There will be some new faces on the street, first time sellers, along with the familiar, longtime Market members.

"Chef of the Week" was a huge success at Saturday markets last year. Robert West of the new restaurant 1505, will start the 2000 season with a cooking demonstration at 10 a.m. Some of last year's popular chefs are scheduled for spring market days: Lance Marler of Dewz, on April 22nd; Stan Dimond of Mallard's, April 29th; Erica Ferioli of Mediterranean Market and Grill, May 6; and Thomas Moon of Jonathan Bar Room and Fine Catering, May 13.

This will be the 22nd year for Modesto's original Farmers Market. It is certified by Stanislaus County under California State regulations. Farming members are also individually certified by the County and health department rules abound.

The first few markets in April and May will be different due to the earliness of this year's opening opening: fewer vendors, different fruit and veggies. Customers will just have to wait for such favorites as apricots, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, and grapes to ripen. Thursday markets will begin in mid-May. (Please see next month's Stanislaus Connections for the date. Modesto Farmers Market will continue until Thanksgiving.

Come meet the farmers who grow your food.

ACTION: Support your local farmer (and baker and . . .) by buying direct. For more information, phone Steve Christy, Market Manager, 537-9322.

By MYRTLE OSNER

Friends of the Tuolumne is a non-profit organization that has been working hard, though largely unnoticed, to restore riparian (river) habitat along the river that separates Modesto and Ceres. Ever since Europeans settled this valley, the rivers have been treated as if there was no tomorrow. They are our lifeblood, literally, since without water, humans die.

To preserve the habitat along the river is to keep it clean and useful for future generations. The Friends have been granted funding for acquisition of about 280 acres of floodplain called Bobcat Flat. It is in jeopardy of gravel mining (which destroys the natural flow of the river and has consequences for silting downstream, among other deleterious effects). A tour of the area will be held and ideas for restoration accepted in the near future when the process is finalized.

Board members have been working hard on the restoration of 140 acres of floodplain on the Grayson River Ranch. This property was once known as the McClusky Ranch. As recently as 1937, it was covered with a variety of native floodplain, densely forested. Since then, the upper land has been developed for fruit trees. A perpetual conservation easement has been negotiated with willing sellers on the lower land. This property will never again be removed from its ecological function as a floodplain. Beneficiaries of this project also include a wide variety of wildlife. Habitat will be created for birds, small mammals, reptiles, fish, and all the building and orchard planting block organisms from the bottom up. Long-term monitoring will be implemented to evaluate the success of the project. Construction is scheduled for August 2000, with planting in the winter of 2001.

The Friends are partners on this project with the East Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, the Anadromous Fish Restoration Program, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and CALFED. Plans include planting several varieties of native trees, such as oak, cottonwood, sycamore, Oregon Ash, button bush, and willows thus restoring the area to its original forest, as well as some channelization. Friends hope to have a public tour this year to show some of our government money doing good work.

waters were to their structures.

ACTION: For further information on Friends of the Tuolumne River, contact Dave or Alison Boucher, 537-5628 or 537-7533.

By CAROLINE MITTON

What kind of a park do you want along the Tuolumne River? Do you picture a place with trees and paths to walk on, some open areas for picnicking and a friendly game of catch? Or do you envision a large open area for festivals with amplified music, vendors’ booth and a huge amphitheater? This decision is being made for you now in the planning for the old Podesto property by 9th and B Streets. This is to be the Gateway to the Tuolumne River Regional Park.

The property was bought with funds from the California Wildlife Conservation Board with the understanding that 185 feet along the river would be restored to riparian habitat. The plans, as now drawn, show three boat ramps cutting through the strip. Parking is across the property, close to B Street, encouraging parking on the meadow areas, damaging them. There is river access for boats just a mile upstream so this is unnecessary as well as being harmful.

The plans also show a large paved area in place of the 185-foot strip at the confluence of Dry Creek.

In addition, the plan includes a 5,000-seat amphitheater (Graceada’s is 2,500) to accommodate large festivals. The vendors’ booths, people and cars would trample the grassy areas and the amplified sound and night lighting would discourage wildlife from living in the restored area.

Strangely enough, the firm hired to draw up a plan that would make the most of the property, threw out all earlier plans for expensive, single-purpose, non-river-based facilities and said that the park should have a river-based concept with low-impact, low-cost, general-purpose facilities that would be flood-proof since the area will be subject to annual flooding. The amphitheater fails all of those criteria.

The rationale for the amphitheater is that an minority of people at the first public meeting said they would be interested in an INFORMAL amphitheater. This then became a demand for a 5,000-seat one. Likewise, the dirt path that people have beaten to the confluence has become a need for a 200 x 400-foot paved area. The reason for putting the amphitheater there was that it is close to downtown and the property is already degraded. But, the property was bought with the objective of restoring it, and it could provide a much-needed quiet oasis from the noise and bustle of downtown, if it were developed into a quiet park as the majority of people have said they wanted it to be.

There are other places already set up for large gatherings and festivals - we do not need to sacrifice a valuable piece of riverfront property in order to make another festival ground. However, there are no other pieces of property like this one along the river that would make lovely parks.

At public meetings and meetings with stakeholders, the over-all desire was for a quiet place where you could take your children for a picnic and an informal ball game. There will be two more public meetings, one in early April and one later this spring, for input to the plan. Please watch for the announcements, then come and make your preferences known.

ACTION: More information is available on the consultant’s web pages or from the Modesto Parks Department.

The Tuolumne Regional Park public meeting will be held Monday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m., in Harvest Hall at the County Agricultural Center, 3800 Cornucopia Way (intersection of Crows Landing Road and Service Road). For further information on Friends of the Tuolumne River, contact Dave or Alison Boucher, 537-5628 or 537-7533.

Two-Hearted Oak

For Roman

They start out as two hapless acorns
Planted by a jay who knew all about
Delayed gratification; uneaten, unfound,
Forgotten perhaps, they lean easily
Into the sun until only a slight blade
Of light separates their lichen furs.
At what instant, in what slow surge of
Vernal hope do the cells decide to knit
Themselves into just one ring of bark?
The groove is now a line only the practiced
Eye can see in the single trunk with two
Melting cores, each with its own choirs
And architecture, each with its own
Crooked grasping for light.

- Lillian Vallee

By BARBARA ENITI

Today as I write, the Modesto Garden Project is gay with bloom of peaches, plums, pluots and daffodils, and that other sign of spring – grass which needs mowing every four days. Spring showers also seem to occur daily in the early afternoon. The sun is rising earlier, and plants are responding eagerly to the increase in light and warmth. We too, are feeling that resurgence of life and hope that makes spring such an exciting season. Are you enjoying this miracle of rejuvenation as much as we are?

This week we transplanted our last broccoli crop for the season, and today we are moving strawberries into new beds. The peas are climbing their trellis, and lettuce is almost ready to cut, so we see welcome additions to our diet of winter greens which have been sustaining us.

On another note, our garden was envisioned as primarily a training program for the disadvantaged to teach them a life skill, as well as make them job ready. We now have trainees who are coming off welfare. They are learning how to grow healthy food while protecting our soil, water, and air. Our training is focused on preparing them to set up a customer service route of backyard vegetable plots, so that homeowners can step outside their kitchen door to harvest totally fresh vegetables, herbs, and flowers, cared for on a weekly basis by their veggie gardener. How many of you have professional care for your landscaping? Do you have an area four feet wide and twenty feet long in a sunny spot which you could devote to growing some lettuce, carrots, herbs and flowers? We’d like to set up a test plot for you, and show you how plantings can rotate with the seasons so you always have fresh food in your own yard. Call us to set up an appointment to find out more about this.

In the meantime, we are harvesting those aforementioned winter greens, with all the goodies of spring coming. Come out to the Garden to harvest your own, or call us and we’ll deliver to your door food freshly picked that same day with flavor and nutrition at its peak. It’s Spring – try it!

The Modesto Garden Project is Community Supported Agriculture, grown organically. We need shareholders who will sign up for regular weekly shares of produce NOW. Food may be either delivered, or you may pick it up on Fridays at the Garden, end of Sutter Street in Modesto. If you would like to see the garden, call for directions. A full weekly share costs $10 if harvested by shareholder, $20 if harvested by staff and picked up by shareholder, or $22 weekly harvested and delivered by staff. Half a share, for smaller families, costs half as much, and it’s still a lot of green stuff. Prepayment monthly by check only.

Modesto Garden Project is a non-profit volunteer organization.

ACTION: Contact the Modesto Garden Project at 604-6011 to sign up for weekly veggies or to set up an appointment for a garden in your own yard.

By VASU S. MURTY

The health advantages of a vegetarian diet are well-known in the American medical community, but are just beginning to gain acceptance in mainstream society. The moral, nutritional and environmental reasons in favor of vegetarianism have been well documented by author John Robbins in his Pulitzer Prize nominated book, Diet for a New America, which makes vegetarianism seem as mainstream as recycling.

It’s healthier to be a vegetarian. During the period of October 1917 to October 1918, war rationing forced the Danish government to put its citizens on a vegetarian diet. This was a "mass experiment in vegetarianism," with over three million subjects. The results were astonishing. The mortality rate dropped by 34 percent. The very same phenomenon was observed in occupied Norway during the Second World War. After the war, heavy consumption of meat resumed, and the mortality rate shot back up.

Studies done at Yale University by Professor Irving Fisher demonstrated that flesh-eaters have less endurance than vegetarians. A similar study done by Dr. J. Ioteyko of the Academie de Medicine in Paris found that vegetarians have two to three times greater stamina than flesh-eaters and they take only one-fifth the time to recover from exhaustion.

In recent years, there has been widespread concern about osteoporosis, which is epidemic in America, especially among older women. The popular myth has been to solve the problem by consuming more calcium. Yet this doesn’t attack the root of the problem. Osteoporosis is caused by excess consumption of protein. Americans overdose on protein, getting 1.5 to 2 times more protein than their bodies can handle. The body can’t store excess protein, so the kidneys are forced to excrete it. In doing so, they must draw upon calcium from the bloodstream. This negative calcium balance in the blood is compensated for by calcium loss from the bones— osteoporosis. The calcium lost in the bones of flesh-eaters is 5 to 6 times greater than that lost in the bones of vegetarians.

Excessive protein intake also taxes the kidneys. In America, it is not uncommon to find many over 45 years of age with kidney problems. A strong correlation between excessive protein intake and cancer of the breast, prostate, pancreas and colon has even been observed.

It must be pointed out that meat, fish and poultry are the most acidic forming foods; heavy consumption of these foods will cause the body to draw upon calcium to restore its pH balance. The calcium lost from the bones gets into one’s urine and often crystallizes into kidney stones, which are found in far greater frequency among flesh-eaters than among vegetarians. Studies have found that vegetarians in the United States have less than half the kidney stones of the general population.

The high consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol leads to atherosclerosis—popularly known as "hardening of the arteries." Plant foods contain zero cholesterol, and only palm oil, coconuts and chocolate contain saturated fats. Lowering the cholesterol and fat intake in one’s diet lowers the risk of heart disease — America’s biggest killer.

As far back as 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, "A vegetarian diet can prevent 97 percent of our coronary occlusions." William S. Collens and Gerald B. Dobkens similarly observed: "Examination of the dental structure of modern man reveals that he possesses all the features of a strictly herbivorous animal. While designed to subsist on vegetarian foods, he has perverted his dietary habits to accept food of the carnivore. It is postulated that man cannot handle carnivorous foods like the carnivore. Herein may lie the basis for the high incidence of human arteriosclerotic disease."

Much has been said about the advantage of polyunsaturated fats as a means of lowering cholesterol in the blood. Unfortunately, this also has the adverse side effect of driving the cholesterol out of the blood and into the colon; contributing to colon cancer. The best way to prevent heart disease is to avoid foods high in fat and cholesterol.

Up to 50 percent of all cancers are caused by diet. Meat and fat intake are primarily responsible. The incidence of colon cancer is high in regions where meat consumption is high and low where meat consumption is minimal. A lack of fiber in the diet also contributes significantly to colon cancer. It’s important to remember that plant foods are high in fiber and carbohydrates, while animal flesh has none. The highest incidence of breast cancer occurs among flesh-eating populations; flesh-eating women have a four times greater risk of developing breast cancer than do vegetarian women. There is also a greater risk of cervical, uterine and ovarian cancer—all linked to diets high in fat. Men who consume large quantities of animal fat also have a 3.6 times greater risk of getting prostate cancer.

Diabetes is known to be treatable on a low fat, high fiber diet. Incidence of diabetes balloons among populations eating a rich, meat-based diet. Hypoglycemia is caused by the excessive consumption of meats, sugar and fats. Multiple Sclerosis is also treatable on a low-fat diet. MS is prevalent among populations where consumption of animal fats is high and is least common where such consumption is low. A brain tissue analysis of people with MS found a high saturated fat content.

Ulcers occur most frequently in diets which are acid forming, low in fiber and high in fats. Meat, fish and poultry are the most acid forming of all foods, and animal flesh has no fiber and excess fat. Low fiber, high-fat diets are the principle cause of hemorrhoids and also diverticulosis—which affects 75 percent of Americans over the age of 70. Similarly, 35 percent of Americans are afflicted with some form of arthritis by the age of 35. Over 85 percent of all Americans over age 70 have arthritis, yet it is treatable on a fat free diet.

The United States Public Health Service estimates that some 60 million Americans are overweight. Exercise is helpful, but so is proper diet and nutrition. Foods high in fiber, low in fat and moderate in protein are most conducive to maintaining proper body weight.

Excess cholesterol forms gallstones. Gallstones, as well as gallbladder disease and gallbladder cancer are usually found in people with low-fiber, high- cholesterol, high fat diets. Hypertension is virtually unknown in countries where the intake of salts, fat and cholesterol is low. At the University Hospital in Linkoping, Sweden, even severe asthma patients were found to be treatable on a vegetarian diet. Flesh foods in America are also contaminated with coliform bacteria and salmonella. Much healthier and humane alternatives exist.

"I have no doubt," wrote Henry David Thoreau, "that it is part of the destiny of the human race in its gradual development to leave off the eating of animals, as sure as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came into contact with the more civilized."