Staunton Green 2020

Don’t miss King Corn this Thursday (6/17) at the Mockingbird Restaurant (123 W. Beverley; Downtown Staunton). Film begins at 7pm, but come early to enjoy a special dinner in the Music Hall featuring food from local farmers (call 540.213.8777 for reservations).

In King Corn, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, best friends from an east coast college, move to the American heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most productive, most subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions, about how we eat — and how we farm.

kingcorn.net has great info and links.

King Corn is part of the local motion film series presented by Transition Staunton Augusta in partnership with Staunton Green 2020.

Get your Staunton Green 2020 bumper sticker, take our “emboiled by Gulf Oil” survey, learn about Green Loans, chat with fine folks  and nosh on some locally sourced food and drink. See you at 5pm at Zynodoa (115 E. Beverley St. – downtown Staunton).

Staunton might seem far away from the Gulf of Mexico, but our dependency on oil is inextricably linked to the millions of gallons of oil gushing into the gulf. The proportions of the Deepwater Horizon environmental and human tragedy grow each day which makes looking at this immense disaster even more overwhelming. Nonetheless, consider viewing this underwater footage from ABC news on the Repower America web site to get a sense of the impact of this gusher.

Commentators locally, like Ed Scerbo, and elsewhere have smartly pointed out that calling the disaster in the gulf a “spill” is misleading. A spill suggests an accident with a finite amount that can be cleaned up. The gusher in the gulf is a result of decades of decisions (and indecisions) and our addiction to oil.

Let’s work locally to reduce our dependence. Use the comments section to identify one or two ways you are going to lessen your use of petroleum.

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• Gulf Oil Spill: New Plumes EXPOSED In Video (huffingtonpost.com)
• Criminal Investigation Under Way in BP Gulf Spill, U.S. Says (businessweek.com)
• BP Gulf Oil Spill No Barrier to $3.8 Billion Refinery Expansion (businessweek.com)

Staunton Green 2020 logo

Oil spill in the gulf got you down? We’re frustrated and bummed out too. We can sit on our hands or we can take some action and come together. Here are some ways to help to get things going locally:

Next Thursday, June 10 at 5pm head over to Zynodoa (115 E. Beverley) in downtown Staunton for Green Drinks. No, not  shots of algae biofuel, but getting together in a fun and hip spot with some of the best local food and drinks, while meeting others interested in greening our environment, energy and economy.  We hope you’ll come. Let us know if you plan to swing by: RSVP to stauntongreen<at>gmail.com (replace the <at> with an @)

I’ll be wearing my recycled 1974 green blazer from Stuyvesant Thrift Store (you don’t have to wear green, but let’s make Staunton Green).

On the following Thursday, June 17 at 7pm it’s King Corn, the first installment of the local motion summer film series sponsored by Transition Staunton Augusta, in partnership with Staunton Green 2020 at the Mockingbird Restaurant at 123 W. Beverley. Free admission.

Come early to enjoy a special dinner in the Music Hall featuring food from local farmers (call 540.213.8777 for reservations). King Corn is a feature documentary about two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation.

On July 3 Staunton Green 2020 will again be driving a hybrid vehicle in the Staunton July 4th parade. We hope to see you at Gypsy Hill Park.

local motion summer film series

June 17 King Corn

July 15: Save Our Land, Save Our Towns

Aug. 19: A Crude Awakening

Sept. 16: The Green House

Soon will be sharing more information about our fall “re-skilling” workshops and additional efforts to reduce our carbon footprint here in Staunton.