Two articles to read:

David Brooks: Where's the landslide?

William Kristol: Be Afraid. Please

These are both difficult topics for me to handle. As an avid Obama supporter, my enthusiasm is being drained by the running commentary of the election. Both of these articles come from the New York Times, where I have been reading outstanding articles in support of Obama all summer. Now, however, perhaps in the face of a sluggish economy or maybe because we finally got rid of Clinton, many of the editorial contributors I have read all summer are practicing caution when speaking about Obama. 

One of the most interesting issues I find myself contemplating (I am not one for judging the economy, so I avoid that hurdle) is offshore drilling. A recent conversation with a friend revealed how much I truly don't understand about how deeply this in entangled with the economy. My friend feels drilling needs to occur to lower gas prices and stimulate the economy (let's pretend that offshore drilling would actually help in the next year), and I argued the point of Thomas Friedman, that oil prices need to stay high in order for the economy to find different ways of functioning.  He argued back that just talk about drilling lowers the price of oil because speculators back off. I argue that if not now, when? 

Here is Friedman's article. One of many, I should say. Friedman does have his critics, but I have to support the way he manages to find practical examples and analogies to strengthen his arguments. 

What is interesting for me is that I have done research on green jobs this summer for an article I wrote. The industry is growing at such a rapid rate that community colleges in Florida (not known for its advanced education programs) are adding "green" tech programs to their curriculum to help fill the need for installation and development of solar water heaters and other products. Workforce Florida is shelling out half a million dollars to get the program started, and training a the colleges has already begun. This investment supports the fact that alternative energy sources can also be a source of economic stimulus.

Just reading about the "slow movement" puts a cog in the gears of my brain. My eyelids drop and I read a little slower. Slow Food. Even the sound of the word has an amazingly calming effect--and there is a reason for that. The word "slow" begins with a soft "s" followed by a rolling "l," then comes the interesting vowel pairing of the "ow." This pairing sounds different in a word like "vowel" than in a word like "slow" or "row." This is a linguistic combination that forces the brain to stop and think about it. Having the ability to slow someone down just by reading a logo gives a movement like this a pretty serious advantage.

Slow Food is an excellent example of a successful grassroots movement. Whatever fault you may find with the organization, it does a lot of good with very little opportunity for harm, and for those involved I believe that it is actually an extensive learning process. Even if, as critics say, members of the organization are little more than food snobs, they are certainly learning something and spreading it to all parts of the world. After all, how do you start a trend? With the cool kids.

The next step would be to teach these cool kids how to be political left-wing vigilantes, so to speak. If we can sneak in just one bleeding liberal to start political organization, how effective could we be? According to a recent NYT article, Slow Food has a $39 million budget, and the group has a decentralized organizational structure--perfect for hitting multiple political centers at the same time.

But let's not get too far ahead, why even become a member of Slow Food? If these are people with money to spare, why not just head over to Del Frisco's? It's become some poor, passionate, addicted friend dragged you there. And the passion is contagious. 

The leadership of Slow Food America is organizing what they hope will be the "Woodstock" of food in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. And wasn't 1969 the last time we saw a major uprising  in this country? Now we are a little older, a little wiser, and much more in control.

Where the protesters of the late 1960s failed to turn America into an egalitarian utopia, dismissed as troublemakers and unsatisfied yuppies, the enthusiasts (still yuppies) of Slow Food have the ability to demand change (albeit economical and social rather than political) with their wallets.

In Orlando, I am seeing a parallel movement to Slow Food, made for those more down to earth and a little more like the 1960s generation. These people have already made the connection between sustainable, local agriculture and economic drive, and they are working with what they have.

Julie Norris and Emily Ruff are two headstrong activists who I would love to see break the barrier into the Slow Food movement, carrying with them their business sense and focused goals. Norris owns an organic, vegan cafe in Downtown Orlando, and Ruff runs the Florida School of Holistic Living next door. 

Norris understands the bottom line is the most important thing about running a business and argues that sustainable, local agriculture is the cheapest way to get great-tasting produce. By carefully keeping track of the organic produce she uses in her cafe, she can place orders with local farmers so they know there will be a demand for what they grow.

Ruff is a better fit for the Slow Food model, concerned mostly with the holistic advantage of carefully prepared meals and organic foods. She also understands economics, and wants to bring fresh food to the opposite side of the Slow Food spectrum--the Holistic School's co-op will soon be accepting food stamps.

With the activism and drive shown by Norris and Ruff, combined with the passion and finances of the Slow Food movement, this could become the most successful grassroots movement in history. What I am envisioning is a movement designed by someone like Norris,sponsored and organized by Slow Food leadership that would reach all 85,000 current members of Slow Food, and there is no reason why citizens could not change the way we view agriculture and sustainability.

For Jason, and my sanity

I am spending this summer as an intern at the Orlando Business Journal, a weekly publication focusing on small-business interests in Central Florida. Although I am plodding along, picking up as much as I can about researching and reporting, I was stalled a bit when my editor threw me an assignment about what he called "the hippie commune" in Downtown Orlando, on the corner of Colonial and North Thornton ave (right by Colonial and Mills). My editor and I had clearly different views on what the viewpoint of the story should be, and of course he won out. But here is what should have been published.

The co-founder of Dandelion Communitea, Julie Norris, is a woman on a mission. Inspired by her community and the idea of sustainability, she is instrumental in helping organize the local grassroots movement called Ourlando. Norris calls it "a movement to take pride and embrace Orlando as our own," and aims to create an alliance amongst the independent storeowners, musicians, and artists in Orlando.

Does this sound to idealistic to be functional? Small business owners involved in the movement think that with the price of oil rising and the slump in the economy, sustainability has ironically become the new frontier.

"People are feeling a need financially and spiritually to become more independent and personally sustainable," said Emily Ruff, director of the Florida School of Holistic Living. "The pressure is on, now."

FSHL opened in 1999 as the Florida School of Herbal Studies, and taught students the science of using herbs and holistic living. The school changed its name to reflect the emphasis in sustainability the program advocates. In addition to general courses and the herbal certification program, FSHL offers workshops on topics such as Introduction to Worm Composting, Organic Pest Control, and a course called, "It's Easy Being Green."

"People in the community seem hungry for knowledge on how to put green programs to use in an urban setting," said Ruff.

Ruff, Norris, and a number of other small business owners have set up shop on the corner of Colonial Highway 50 and North Thornton Avenue, and are a leading example of how the revitalization of Downtown Orlando is taking place through community initiatives to strengthen the local economy.

For example take Dandelion's monthly Green Drinks event, which according to the website mixes "eco-minded folks+local organic beer" to equal "green synergy." The event brings together local business owners and community leaders to discuss how to make Orlando a more sustainable community.

Emily Rankin, founder of the Audubon Park Community Market and a featured speaker at Green Drinks, sat with me recently to explain why small businesses are clear and more environment friendly. Reduced shipping costs and reduced waste are two major factors that not only help a company be green, but also reduce the cost of running a business. Rankin explains that "It's all about the bottom line--for a business to be successful, it must be sustainable."

To get an idea of the kind of sustainability Norris and Ruff are promoting in their community, you can walk out behind Dandelion and take a look at the "Vermi-caster," a commercial worm compost made by the Apopka-based company Our Vital Earth. The Vermi-caster takes organic waste and turns it into worm castings, which can then be used as organic fertilizer. At Dandelion, this fertilizer is then used in the community garden run by FSHL. The school uses the garden to teach instructional classes on gardening and herbs, opens it to schools for fieldtrips, and for other community events. The garden could grow herbs to be sold at FSHL's co-op, Homegrown, or could be used to grow vegetables to help supplement Dandelion's vast vegan menu. 

Although some of the businesses did not set out to become part of the Thornton community, they have had success in the area largely because of the open atmosphere and attitudes of nearby storeowners. The cluster resembles the circle of life more so than a typical competitive business model--but the owners prefer it this way.

"This is not about competition, but working together," said Norris. "When one of us succeeds, it helps raise the community as a whole."

Many of the managers have seen a boost to their business simply by being associated with other businesses in the area, especially Dandelion. The director of the Misty Forest Enrichment Center, Leah Fairchild, says that despite not doing any advertising, their day camp is at full capacity. Little Green Spa owner Lisa Behrens agrees that most of her customers hear about the spa through word-of-mouth, or by coming to events at Dandelion.

Julie Norris and co-founder Chris Blanc opened Dandelion in 2006 with the intention to be as "green" as possible. This meant using an existing building as their storefront and carefully choosing materials when working on renovations. All of the furniture in the teahouse is secondhand or built from secondhand materials, and the kitchen saves energy by only using small household appliances.

Owners of the businesses surrounding Dandelion are also careful to be eco-friendly. Little Green Spa uses completely organic skin care products and the Florida School of Holistic Living runs a co-op for members to purchase local produce. Ninety-five percent of their organic products in the store come from Florida, cutting down on energy during the shipping process.

Norris understands the business of agriculture, and hopes to bring small farms back to life. By keeping track of the produce she uses on a daily basis at Dandelion, she can lay a basis of demand for local farmers.

"I can start talking about building," said Norris. "I can say; I have a need for 100 pounds of spring lettuce a year, and farmers can work to fill that demand."

Norris notes that the spread of salmonella and the flooding in the mid-west that occurred in June 2008 are perfect examples of why local growth is more important than ever. Norris says that these events skyrocketed food prices and created a widespread effect that could be minimized if markets were not completely depended on one geographic location.