Sep 30: FRESH screening at EEFC

The documentary film FRESH will be shown at the East End Food Co-op in Point Breeze, accompanied by discussion -- and fresh-popped organic popcorn.


Sep 30: Majora Carter talk at CMU

Talk by Environmental Justice Advocate Majora Carter: The Heinz College's Institute for Social Innovation and School of Computer Science's Project Olympus invite you to join us on September 30th for an evening with Majora Carter. Majora simultaneously addresses public health, poverty alleviation, and climate change as one of the nation's pioneers in successful green-collar job training and placement systems.

Born, raised, and continuing to live in the South Bronx, Majora founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to achieve environmental justice through economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. Her work has garnered numerous awards and accolades including a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, one of Essence Magazine's 25 Most Influential African-Americans in 2007, and one of the NY Post's Most Influential NYC Women for the past two years.

Majora is a dynamic and engaging speaker, and we hope you will join us for this exciting event. Majora's full bio is available at
http://www.majoracartergroup.com/bio/360-word-bio.aspx.

6-7:30 p.m. in Newell Simon Hall, room 3305, Carnegie Mellon campus. Free and open to the public.

Sep 17-29 Events related to the G20 meeting

It'd be hard to come up with an exhaustive list of events surrounding the G20 meeting and the coal conference just before it, but here's a stab at it. Check out 3riversconvergence.org for updates, the ULS site for CMU events, find a list of permitted demonstrations at this City website, and look here for transportation information.


Tuesday, September 29 4:00pm – University of Pittsburgh

International Week Event Lecture: Today’s Interdependent World Order

http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html


Saturday, September 26 9:30am – The Waffle Shop, 124 South Highland Avenue

COINTELSHOW: A Patriot Act--an evening with Larry Bogad and Special Agent Christian White

Hosted by Michael Chemers, Associate Professor of Drama, Carnegie Mellon

http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html


Friday, September 25

Third Annual Rachel Carson Legacy Conference

When Chemicals Disrupt: Managing Our Risks

RachelCarsonHomestead.org



Thursday, September 24


Press Conference with testimony by monks from the Saffron Revolution in Burma, followed by a Peace Walk.

9 am on the roof of the City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, at 330 Sampsonia Way on the North Side; walk begins at 10.

3 pm -- the venerable U Kovida will speak at People's Voices/Public Tribunal.


5:00pm – Rangos Ballroom, University Center

The Honourable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia

http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html



Wednesday, September 23

http://www.cmu.edu/g20/community/

8:30am-4:30pm - Rangos Ballroom, UC

Renewing Globalization and Economic Growth

www.cmu.edu/universitypress (report)

http://www.cmu.edu/g20/ac-event.html (registration)

Organized by Kiron Skinner, Carnegie Mellon University/Atlantic Council

G-20 Event

4:30pm – Margaret Morrison 103 (Breed Hall)

Power, Protest, Performance: A Panel Discussion

http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html


SustEnable: Outdoor screening of Carolyn Savery's SustEnable, a web-TV series depicting one woman's attempt to live a totally sustainable life in the city. The series provides educational DIY segments explaining how to craft a sustainable lifestyle, analyzes what strategies worked and failed, encourages grassroots action to combat climate change, and provides insight into a deep definition of sustainability. (One of the episodes features Maren's own green renovation.) 8 p.m. on the main quad of the CMU campus.


Burma VJ film screening -- documentary about the Saffron Revolution at the Mattress Factory, 500 Sampsonia Way on the North Side. Panel discussion and reception to follow, with monks from the Saffron Revolution.

G20 Bingo with Bill Peduto and various celebrity bingo callers, in support of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and The One Campaign. 7-10 p.m. at Cappy's Cafe on Walnut Street in Shadyside, with a live DJ, specials, and of course - bingo!


Monday, September 21

11:30am – Singleton Room, Roberts Hall of Engineering

Media Covering the Summit, Featuring Howard Fineman
http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html

ACP/USW Climate Roundtable at Steelworkers headquarters -- 4pm at 5 Gateway Center

Coal Country film screening -- documentary on mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. 7pm at the Melwood Screening Room, 477 Melwood Ave. Music to follow at the Sierra Club offices. (http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com)

The Age of Stupid film screening (premier). 7:30 pm at the Pittsburgh West Showcase Cinemas, 301 Park Manor Drive.


Sunday, September 20

G-6 Billion www.g6billion.org
Procession on 9/20, 2pm, and more
A collection of spiritual, religious, and other groups & individuals have come together to organize a procession on Sunday, 9/20 that will start on the North Side at 2pm and end near the Convention Center. They are also organizing educational activities and prayer in the days leading up to the G20 Summit as well as an event on 9/21, the UN's International Day of Peace.
Press Contact: Wanda Guthrie, wanda.guthrie@gmail.com, 412-596-0066

Coal Country film screening -- an important documentary on mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. 2pm at 120 David Lawrence Hall (3942 Forbes Ave) at Pitt (http://www.coalcountrythemovie.com)


Saturday, September 19, 2009

8:30 am on at the Twentieth Century Club

7:00-10:00pm, McConomy Auditorium, University Center

The Peoples' Summit presents: Art & Humanity: Another World is Possible

The Peoples’ Summit, a program of informed dialogue about the economic, social and political problems facing the world, will take place from Saturday, September 19 to Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at several locations in the city of Pittsburgh. For more information, please visit www.peoplessummit.com

Friday, September 18 4:00pm – Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland

Challenges for G-20: Is the City of Champions the Black and Gold Standard for Global Economic Recovery?

http://www.cmu.edu/uls/september/g-20-events.html



Thursday, September 17


4:30pm – Porter 100, Gregg Hall

Joel Berg, New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Why We Have Hunger in America and How We Can End It


5:00pm - Posner Center

Constitution Day Celebration with Scott Sandage, Carnegie Mellon

Abraham Lincoln and the Lazarus Effect: The Death and Rebirth of the U.S. Constitution


Sep 25: Rachel Carson Legacy Conference on Endocrine Disruptors

The third annual Rachel Carson Legacy Conference will address the potential risks and solutions to human and environmental exposure to endocrine disruptors, from bisphenol A in plastics to phthalates in shampoo.

babies in bath
Almost 50 years after Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring warned the public, government agencies and even industry about the dangers associated with widespread use of synthetic chemical toxicants, we are now faced with daily exposure to substances that the chemical industry and some regulatory agencies say are safe, while scientists and researchers link exposure to hermaphrodization (male fish carrying eggs), low sperm count, breast cancer and more.
From flame-retardants in carpets, furniture and clothing, to phthalates in children's toys and shampoos to bisphenol A (BPA) in soft-drink, beer and food can linings, plastic water bottles, dental sealant and other consumer products, endocrine disruptors are now present in more than 90 % of the U.S. population. Their ability to fool the human endocrine - or hormone - system into over-producing or under-producing normal levels of hormones are of particular concern when it comes to fetuses in the womb and young children during critical development stages.

You can read more about endocrine disruptors in the
Rachel Carson Health & Environment Series brochure (PDF).

For more information and to register, go to the
RCH web site.


Sept 22: How Green Will Your Funeral Be?

“How Green Will Your Funeral Be? Green up your departure from the planet," a class at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve.

We all will die. Some of us have made wills to cover the disposition of our property. Some have gone further and made living wills and provided specific funeral plans. But few of us have given detailed instructions to our families on our wishes for reducing the environmental impact caused by the disposition of our bodies.

If you don’t make a choice, your body will likely end up being disposed of in one of two ways: 1) it will be cremated in an unregulated and unfiltered crematorium that spews CO2, mercury compounds, NOX, dioxins and other poisons and carcinogens into the air and uses enough fossil fuels to drive a car 4,800 miles, or 2) it will be pumped full of toxic formaldehyde (about 2 gallons), displayed in a non biodegradable steel, bronze, and wood casket lined with synthetic pads and fabrics, dropped into a hole in the ground, dug and filled by a gas-guzzling backhoe and lined with a concrete burial vault, and then the grass on your grave will be weed-whacked, fertilized and mown in perpetuity by more gas-guzzlers. And the formaldehyde from your grave will eventually leach out and find its way into our drinking water sources, where it will need to be filtered out.

But you do have choices. Options range from simply eschewing embalming (it’s not required by law) to new processes like alkaline hydrolysis or freeze-drying to being shot into space or to simply being buried, unembalmed, in a biodegradable casket in a ‘green cemetery’ where you can become plant or tree food.

During this seminar Pete McQuillin, board president of Green Burial Pittsburgh, will explain all the ways you might green up your departure from the planet, and he will give us a progress report on GBP’s plans to start a green cemetery here.

7:00 - 8:30pm at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve (614 Dorseyville Road in Fox Chapel). For more information, email jbonner@aswp.org .

Sept 20: Art Harvest at EEFC

4th annual Co-op Art Harvest at the East End Food Co-op, part of Local Food Month. Peruse and purchase handmade wares by local vendors, enjoy local food and live music, and be creative with kids' crafts and other art-making opportunities for folks of all ages.

12-5 p.m. at EEFC, 7516 Meade St., 15208. 412-242-3598.

Sep 18: Green Drinks

Green Drinks, the third Friday of every month. 5-9 p.m. at various locations around town.

Sep 9: Sierra Club on Sustainability, pre-G20

Sustainability -- Do We Have What It Takes to Make It Happen? The Allegheny Group Sierra Club's monthly public meeting will be a prelude to the G-20 Conference, an open forum led by Court Gould (executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh) and Bill O'Driscoll (environmental reporter and columnist for Pittsburgh's City Paper).

Sustainable Pittsburgh has been all over the news in the run-up to the G-20 Conference, as a “go-to” source for information on Pittsburgh’s plans for a sustainable future. Bill O’Driscoll has written for some 20 years on environmental matters, most recently about the facts, myths and challenges of sustainability. Join us for an open conversation with these two community leaders to clarify your own thinking in this vital area of environmental principles. There’s lots of hot air in this subject. Let’s see if there’s anything solid!


We’ll also have a fascinating update on August’s Gamesa wind turbine program.

7:30-9 p.m. at the Phipps Civic Garden Center (5th & Shady Avenues in Squirrel Hill); free & open to the public. Conversation and refreshments will follow the program. For more information, email Donald L. Gibbon or call 412-362-8451.

Sep 7: "Time for Lunch" Eat-in & Day of Action

"Time for Lunch" Labor Day Eat-In in Mellon Park: A national campaign to get real food into school lunch programs. Slow Food Pittsburgh will jump on board on Labor Day, Sept. 7 with a "Time for Lunch" Eat-In.

More than 200 chapters across the nation
will join us in inviting civic groups, educators, PTA groups, clergy,
school garden and urban agriculture advocates, growers,
local officials and legislators to sit down together
to have this
important conversation
about
getting real food into school lunch programs.

We are spreading the word to our friends, families and neighbors too.

This will be a moment to send a clear message to our nation's leaders that our children deserve better school lunches.


JOIN US!
COMMUNAL PICNIC: We will sit down together on Labor Day,
Monday, Sept. 7, 1-4 pm, in Mellon Park.

BRING: a chair, a potluck dish to share, your plate, implements and a cloth.
We will have some tables. More folding tables are welcome.

INVITE:
Friends and neighbors.


This is a National Eat-in and Day of Action.

That means that we also want to make a dramatic statement,
so our campaign gets noticed.

We will all use our cell phones to call legislators during the event, phone numbers
and talking points provided. All will be asked to sign the Slow Food petition:
I believe that change can't wait: It's time to provide
America's children with REAL FOOD at school.

Online signup:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/

What you can do now:
--Forward this email.
--Read the "Time for Lunch" Policy Platform detailing actions legislators need to take.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/downloads/campaigns/time_for_lunch-platform.pdf
or here:
Slow Food's Time for Lunch Policy Platform
Every school day, we have an opportunity to build a strong foundation for our children's health by serving them real food at school. Children who grow up enjoying food that is both delicious and good for them learn healthy habits that last throughout their lives. Each year that we fail to satisfy our children's right to real food is another year we deny our children good health, we diminish their ability to learn and we close the door on their opportunity to succeed.
The need for real school food has never been greater. Today, one in four children is overweight or obese, and one in three will develop diabetes in his or her lifetime. In the face of this crisis, our schools are financially struggling to feed children anything but the overly processed fast food that endangers their health. For many children, school lunch is their only guaranteed meal of the day. Right now, those children are forced to choose between going hungry and being unhealthy.

We can do better.


The National School Lunch Program provides a meal to more than 30 million children every school day.
By giving schools the resources to serve real food, we can grant 30 million children the freedom to be healthy. By teaching children to eat well, we can make a down payment on health care reform. By providing children with locally grown fruits and vegetables, we can support local farmers and create green jobs in our communities. By purchasing local food, we can stop wasting oil on transportation and start curbing global warming. By raising children who enjoy real food, we can start laying the foundation for America's future prosperity.
This fall, the Child Nutrition Act, which is the bill that governs the National School Lunch Program, is up for reauthorization in Congress. By passing a Child Nutrition Act that works for children, our nation can take the first step towards a future where no child is denied his or her right to be healthy and where every child enjoys real food.

That's why it's time for Congress and the Obama Administration to:

1. INVEST IN CHILDREN'S HEALTH.
Give schools just one dollar more per day for each child's lunch. Under the National School Lunch
Program, the USDA reimburses schools for every meal served: $2.57 for a free lunch, $2.17 for a
reduced-price lunch and 24 cents for a paid lunch. Since these reimbursements must also pay for labor, equipment and overhead costs, schools are left with only $1.00 to spend on food. How can schools be expected to feed our children and protect their health with only a dollar a day? It's time to build a strong foundation for our children's health by raising the reimbursement rate to $3.57.

2. PROTECT AGAINST FOODS THAT PUT CHILDREN AT RISK.
Establish strong standards for all food sold at school, including food from vending machines and
school fast food.
At most schools, children can buy junk food in vending machines, at on-campus stores and in the cafeteria as "a la carte" items. These overly processed, high-calorie "fast" foods sneak under the radar of federal nutrition standards. They undermine the National School Lunch Program's investment in children's health and allow food companies to profit from selling obesity. It's time to take the first step towards making real food the standard by approving Rep. Woolsey's and Sen. Harkin's Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009.

3. TEACH CHILDREN HEALTHY HABITS THAT WILL LAST THROUGH LIFE.
Fund grants for innovative Farm to School programs and school gardens. This spring, 30 fifth-
graders joined Michelle Obama in planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. "What I found with my kids [is that] if they were involved in planting and picking it, they were much more curious to give it a try," Mrs. Obama says. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn healthy eating habits at school.
I
n 2004, a section was added to the Child Nutrition Act to provide schools with grants to cover one-time grants that enable them to purchase local foods and to teach lessons on healthy eating in kitchen and garden classrooms - but Congress never appropriated funds for it. This year, it's time for Congress to guarantee $50 million of mandatory funding for Farm to School programs.

We also ask that Congress and the Obama Administration:

4. GIVE SCHOOLS THE INCENTIVE TO BUY LOCAL.
Establish financial incentives that encourage schools to buy food from local farms for all child
nutrition programs.
Buying fruits and vegetables from local farms is an economic engine for creating jobs in our communities, rebuilding rural economies, and supporting family farmers. By shortening the distance food travels - from farm to table - it also saves oil and ensures school foods are as fresh and healthy as possible.

5. CREATE GREEN JOBS WITH A SCHOOL LUNCH CORPS.

Train underemployed Americans to be the teachers, farmers, cooks, and administrators our school cafeterias need. We can't serve real food in schools without investing in school kitchens and the people who prepare and serve lunch. This spring, President Obama signed the Serve America Act, which expanded Americorps and reinforced his call for Americans to serve their country. Right now, our nation has an opportunity to train young and unemployed Americans to be the teachers, farmers, cooks and administrators we need to ensure the National School Lunch Program is protecting children's health.

President Obama has called for an end to childhood hunger by 2015; let's answer that call by putting Americans to work building and working in school kitchens nationwide.
___________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION: EMAIL
Greg Boulos
greg@pasafarming.org or Barrie Mars barriemars@comcast.net______________________

Sep 7: Wild Art, Wild Trails Festival

The Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation will host the first Wild Art, Wild Trails Festival on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, at Mt. Washington Park (1:00 PM to 4:00 PM) (548 Norton St., Pittsburgh, 15211). Come celebrate Labor Day in the great outdoors with a day of recreation, art, food, and fun! The festival will kick off in the morning (9:00 AM to noon) with a clean-up of an illegal dump site in Mt. Washington Park. During the festival, local artists and designers will transform dumpsite items into works of art as spectators look on. Additional recreational activities for all ages will be a central part of the afternoon, with a climbing wall, ultimate frisbee, and boxing activities. A Health Trail Walk—marked by signs containing tips for healthful living and disease prevention—will be installed along the wooded trails. Area youth have been at the core of creating this festival. Working with the Community Trail Art Initiative of the Steel Valley Heritage Trail, they designed a Beginner’s Quest (Treasure Hunt) complete with a map and prizes, and painted colorful banners depicting the plants, animals, and history of Mt. Washington. The Quest will be one of the festival’s features, and the banners will be prominently displayed during the event. Healthy alternatives to standard barbeque fare and refreshments will be available. The public can reach the park by automobile or bus. Admission to the festival is free. For those interested in helping with the cleanup portion of the event, please register with Rebekah Keating atrkeating@mwcdc.org or 412 481 3220 x 200. For more information on the Wild Art, Wild Trails festival, contact Ilyssa Manspeizer, Park Manager for the MWCDC at imanspeizer@mwcdc.org, 412 481 3220 x204.
Web site -
www.mwcdc.org