by Cathy Fornwalt

On Saturday, September 29, interns Jacob Bortman, Matthew Glenn, and Seth Bond attended the Lancaster Organic Food Expo on behalf of Maysie's Farm Conservation Center. Held in Lancaster, PA, the event was sponsored by the Lancaster Green Party and open to the public in an effort to promote awareness and dialogue on the issues associated with organic food. The morning consisted of vendors and exhibitors advertising things such as biodiesel co-ops, grass-fed livestock products, and community supported agriculture. There were also workshops on topics such as alternative building techniques and passive solar greenhouse construction. The afternoon portion of the conference consisted of five speakers who talked about the incentives of organic agriculture and food distribution as well as the benefits that come with community supported agriculture. Jacob Bortman represented Maysie's Farm CSA and spoke about the importance of community supported agriculture in conjunction with building community to promote environmental education and conservation. Jacob spoke of the values of intern labor as well as the valuable experience of being an intern on an organic farm. He also talked about the importance of networking in the field of organic food production and distribution. In the end, the conference gave Maysie's Farm Conservation Center a chance to contribute to the networking that needs to happen and is happening among Pennsylvania's farmers, consumers, and conservationists.

"One does not act rightly toward one's fellows if one does not know how to act rightly toward the earth." — Liberty Hyde Bailey in The Holy Earth

Earth Charter Summit
by Amy Bruckner

Two CSA members (Amy Bruckner and Paul Morgan) went to an Earth Charter Summit meeting at Drexel University in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 29. There were about 200 participants in Philadelphia as well as participants in 12 cities in the U.S. who were linked via satellite. The meeting focused on the Earth Charter, an initiative about promoting change for a sustainable future.

The Earth Charter recognizes that humanity's environmental, economic, social, cultural, ethical, and spiritual problems and aspirations are interconnected. It affirms the need for holistic thinking and collaborative, integrated problem solving. The goal of sustainable development is to allow human development to reach its full potential while protecting the ecosystem.

As a peoples' document, The Earth Charter was first proposed in 1987 for use at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. At this "Earth Summit" the governments were unable to agree on language for an Earth Charter and instead adopted the Rio Declaration. Following that conference, there was a hiatus in the Earth Charter process until May 1995 when a meeting was called by Maurice Strong, Secretary General of the 1992 Earth Summit and chair of the Earth Council, Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union and president of Green Cross International, and Ruud Lubbers, Former Prime Minister of The Netherlands. Over the next two years, regional drafting committees met in Africa, Central Asia, the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific.

The drafting process picked up steam in 1997 with national committees formed in 40 countries. In the U.S., over 2000 people were involved in more than 40 meetings in homes, religious centers, universities, labor halls, and community centers. The Earth Charter International Secretariat located in Costa Rica held three Earth Charter drafting sessions over the Internet that brought people together from 73 countries. The consciousness raising process that took place during drafting sessions held throughout the world may prove to be as meaningful as the actual document.

(It's worth noting here that Wangari Maathai, who spoke at West Chester University on October 16, 2001 in an appearance co-sponsored by Maysie's Farm Conservation Center and WCU's EARTH Group, is a Commissioner of the Earth Charter. She is a biologist and environmentalist, former Chairperson of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Nairobi, Director of the Kenyan Red Cross Society, Director of the National Council of Women of Kenya, and Coordinator of the Kenyan Green Belt Movement. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 as a grassroots organization that fights deforestation and erosion in Kenya by planting trees and empowering women. She served on the Independent Working Group on the Future of the United Nations and has received numerous distinctions, including Woman of the Year award in 1983.)

The May 2000 Millennium NGO Forum called on the UN General Assembly to adopt the charter, the final draft of which was released in Paris in March of this year. Organizers hope that it will be adopted by 2002, the 10th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit.

In light of the events of September 11, 2001, this summit meeting in Philadelphia and other cities was very timely and poignant. The preamble of the Earth Charter seems eerily prophetic of the world situation as a result of the events of that day.

For more information about this vital and urgent initiative, visit www.earthcharter.org.