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La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!

Notable Diaries

- Recent Congressional Hearings
- 2008 By The Numbers
- The 2007 Ag Census
- Why I Oppose GMOs
- My Visit to Growing Power
- My Trip to a Hog Confinement
- Why We Grow So Much Corn and Soy
- How the Chicken Gets to Your Plate

Politicians To Know

USDA

Senate

Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)

Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)

Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)

Senate Hunger Caucus

House

Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
*=House Organic Caucus member
B=Blue Dog Democrat

Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI)
Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA)
*=House Organic Caucus member

P=Congressional Progressive Caucus

Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC)
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus

House Organic Caucus
Congressional Progressive Caucus

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Spring Now Comes 2 Weeks Earlier... Thanks, Global Warming!

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM PDT

So here's your scary fact of the day:

Did you know that in 1965 the U.S. Department of Agriculture planted a particular variety of lilac in more than seventy locations around the U.S. Northeast, to detect the onset of spring - in turn to be used to determine the appropriate timing of corn planting and the like? The records the USDA have kept show that those same lilacs are blooming as much as two weeks earlier than they did in 1965. April has, in a very real sense, become May.

That factoid comes out of a book called Early Spring by ecologist Amy Seidl. I kinda want to read it, even though I think it will probably scare the @%#$ out of me.

Jill Richardson :: Spring Now Comes 2 Weeks Earlier... Thanks, Global Warming!

Tags: Global Warming, spring, (All Tags)

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Spring Now Comes 2 Weeks Earlier... Thanks, Global Warming! | 8 comments

Early spring (4.00 / 6)

Aaaah!! I'm so behind on my garden!!!

by: Regina Terrae @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 15:10:39 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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Cue... (4.00 / 5)

Cue random moron here to say something like -

"nuh-uh! It was cold last night! Al Gore is teh sux!!1!"

Heh.

The book looks interesting, and yes, scary as shit...

"Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization." - Eugene V. Debs

by: JayinPortland @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 16:53:20 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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Couldn't tell it here in Seattle (4.00 / 5)

It's been coldish and rainy right up through a day or two ago. It's not raining now but it's still in the 50s.

I haven't paid much attention to the lilacs, though. Back where we lived before we moved into our current house there were some pretty good-sized liiac trees that always smelled like heaven in the spring. Now I don't think we have any in our neighborhood, which is a shame because it was one of my mother's favorites. Maybe the landlord would let us put in a lilac if we asked nice . . .

I have succumbed to the Twitter craze. @Omir55

by: Omir the Storyteller @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 17:28:10 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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You know, climate records are funny things. (4.00 / 4)

My husband used to work on Mt. Washington, home of the world's worst weather, as a weather observer; his uncle is a meteorologist studying global weather patterns. And there are cycles that put 1965 at a low-temp point.

I am convinced global warming is real. Ocean temps are rising.

but 15,000 years ago, where I live was covered by a mile of ice, too.

My fear here is that sensationalist claims that aren't based on scientific research are actually a hindrance to promoting sane measures to deal with climate change. And I just happen to be suspicious, since I know the mid-60s was a particularly cool time in a 70-year cycle.

Much more alarming now is that the last ten years are each amongst the hottest on record.

And I feel like I've turned into the site's conservative wingnut now.

by: zic @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 18:06:53 PM CDT

by: you @ soon

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Factual information can be a real downer (4.00 / 4)

I was enjoying this spring two weeks early thing. I blamed my garden failures on it... now what/who can I blame?

by: Curtis Abbey @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 18:58:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Mother Nature is fickle. (4.00 / 4)

She's always looking out for a new way to take advantage of your tasty vegetables. Blame her. Blame Ronald Reagan for not doing more to combat oil use. Blame me for being a wing nut.

But don't blame yourself and give up on your garden!

by: zic @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 19:14:32 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Thanks (4.00 / 2)

I'm giving up on part of round 1 of this year. Moving towards round 2 with some well learned lessons. Not everything is ruined, my herbs are just fine and I have hopes that my cauliflower will flower one of these days. Ditto for the brussel sprouts. The bok choy failed, but the romaine is looking nice. My strawberries are better than ever with many flowers all over them and little berries forming. My boysenberries are flowering. The marigolds are getting eaten by something. I found a local farm that sells yards of (what I heard is) the best compost in da world. So hopefully I can get a couple yards and really take it up a notch in round 2. The disappointments so far have been my orange trees, which I'm certain came from Home Depot with at least two types of insects. I know because I went back and they have the same problem in the remaining trees. I had one red raspberry bare root that didn't leaf out, but many others that did. The bok choy and the radishes were the biggest failures, but I now believe I know why. Poor soil and overcrowding. I think I mixed in too much of the native clay, and too much on top. It really confined the radishes. Goddamn Reagan! Cheers thanks again for the encouragement.

by: Curtis Abbey @ Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 22:25:36 PM CDT

[ Parent ]