Hello! I’m happy to announce I’ll be moving to a new interface, more dynamic easier to share and much much slicker. You can try it too, it’s called Typepad, a new information sharing system of the future? Share what’s interesting to you:

http://eddiemill.typepad.com/#

<<Designed to be the first post-twitter news source. Check in! One more post here later this week. -Eddie

I am going to go ahead and say that I am in support of the Whole Foods model, but I don’t shop there. (It’s like Cap-and-trade..) The key reason is this: the agriculture they support there is sustainable, and the demand they capture is mainstream. Thank you, Whole Foods, for supplying fresh and sustainable produce to Boston and the surrounding areas. I just wish I could afford it..

more: Whole Foods!

I was dismayed to enter the store and find almost nothing local. The title of my post therefore couldn’t capture it’s local name without a question mark. There was some Cambridge Apple cider, but even apples which they could easily obtain locally, (or mint) came from Washington, (or Peru..) Thanks JJGonson for the mention! A few aspects though afford clarifying, so here is the company profile this week from a #profood aspiring professional.

1. Distance Organics

Whole Foods specializes in a niche of varieties that are produced “sustainably” (with sustainability in quotes), because it comes from all over the world. This means that I can get a Costa Rican Pineapple in the winter which, in fact, is not a big problem. The big secret here is that it more matters on how it was produced than the transportation, in this case by boats. In terms of food miles, this Pineapple may have more, but in emissions it’s comparable (if it weren’t trucked through the wholefoods distribution center in Austin first!) to something conventional, local. 80% of emissions are actually on-farm. For an educational and well-done study on the Carbon footprint of local versus organic, visit Worldwatch Institute, in short it’s the Life Cycle Analysis that needs to happen.

Fig 2. For now, don’t be afraid to buy Organic if it’s something you want, unless..:












2. Large farm Organics
This is the bigger problem. The Dole organic bananas are still farmed in a monoculture, still use the labor model of exploitation from colonial days, take a huge amount of land and resources, even if they don’t spray some chemicals. These plantations are not helpful to the environment (birds won’t land there), or to the people in any way really.. jobs alone is not sustainable. Having a market does not mean sustainable. Whole Foods needs to watch out for this in their own model, in general anyone whose company has an “Environmental sustainability” profile tacked onto what they already do is not doing it right. Big organics is a big problem, and will distort the vocabulary of good organics or organic integrity more so than sending them over a distance. Fortunately, if you still want Bananas Fair Trade is a good way to go, Equal Exchange just got into these in MA! http://www.equalexchange.coop/bananas

Fig. 3: Check out this new Whole Trade guarantee label. Wish I coulda got an interview to see how this program works. I will look into it.








3. Waste in the industrial food chain
This analysis is the most important one that supermarket chains have to come to accord with. I observed distinct attempts to go “green” with waste, (like my compostable coffee bag?) but it’s a culture thing that keeps waste out of the system. Slow Foods dumpsters and donation programs are notorious jackpots for gleaning programs, which help it some. However, you cannot do mainstream commercial products without creating a large amount of waste. I was stunned to learn that almost 50% of our country’s harvest is wasted. Indeed, some Anthropologist measured food waste in dumpsters for ten years. FYI, convenience stores come out the worst.

Is it possible to produce and distribute food without waste? Perhaps, but that requires a separate actor called food gleaners, who take and redistribute food where it is needed. Whole foods is a notorious target for donation groups because they waste SO much. What goes in must come out, and Whole Foods must adhere to strict regulations for shelf-life of produce and breads. There is so much bread every day wasted, and all this produce they ship in? Much of it is wasted. I took a card of the produce manager there for future donations, and go by every Friday with the BU Student Food Rescue group to donate to local food banks and organizations like Food not Bombs that will use it to serve to the public.

4. People in charge
The Whole Foods company culture is probably the most jarring aspect for the locavores I know. Whole Foods is primarily a food retail company, driven by the trade of green products to mainstream America. I know it hurts, but they have to make money. The way they choose to do this is by increasing demand, heavily marketing-oriented, and keep strong top-down management. “Somehow,” it just doesn’t seem “organic” to me and some of the people I know in comparison to, say, Trader Joes. Hm, thoughts on this?

5. People that love it. (The WL Analysis)
“Moms prefer Whole Foods.” Such is a quote I saw in my research for this article, and it’s probably true. Their model allows for the most variety, the “green” products you need (where else can you find toothpaste, chocolate, paper towels, and eighteen types of eco-friendly hommus?) at a fair (to them) price. It’s not really so much a college student store, I realized, but it has it’s niche. True eco-heads, look elsewhere?

There’s something, though, about the power of these “WLs” as Paul Farmer lovingly calls the Whole Foods niche, White Liberals to change the world. The extra income does transmit some to the farmers and to the environmental benefit of what they’re doing. The green packaging will be more likely to be recycled, which helps keep local landfills at capacity. Most importantly, the White Liberal market is unabashedly mainstream so it represents a huge growth niche. Good for you, Whole Foods for finding that niche.

Just be sure to keep in mind your vision in sustainability in all the marketing!

Check out Whole Foods online:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Facebook Page
Twitter @WholeFoods

Stores in and around Brighton, MA Map:
wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/StoreLocations.php?storeabbr=BRI

Continuing in Local in Boston series: Mapping Local food around you!
with the Sustainable Business Network of Boston and New Entry Sustainable Farm Project

Your writer, and Student,
Eddie Miller
Sustainable Business Profile (new!)
Home
About

Hello,
Each week, I like to visit and write about one local group in Boston. It’s part company profile, part a tribute to great food everywhere. Check in each week for a new destination in the local food movement!

Also, be sure to visit my pages for more updates on different projects. (top bar). If you want to be featured or work together, email eddiemill@gmail.com.
-Eddie

This week: Local in Boston, Part 2: City Feed and Supply! Specialty Grocery Store and Cafe in Jamaica Plains.

Where is it:
672 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain – (617) 524-1700
66A Boylston St, Jamaica Plain – (617) 524-1657
How to get there: Bike to Jamaica Pond Along the Greenway/Jamaicaway path, AKA Charles River Reservation starting south of South Campus. Go about halfway around the pond to get to Pond St, and then turn left. Pond will take you to Centrre, 672. JP Licks (the original) is also right there.

What makes City Feed and Supply unique is it’s offering of zero-waste, local processed, fair trade, and specialty foods. The front table offers deals on tomatoes, squashes, and honey produced locally. I was happy to see the organic-local varieties actually very price-competitive with the distance stuff they were selling from Florida. Massachusetts (and City Feed) has a great local organic farm community, highlighted on their “Meet the suppliers” page and in little cards around the store. My favorite had to have been Enterprise Farms, which had been producing organically from 2 acres to 75 in S. Deerfield, year round. I’d like to go visit them someday. I bought brocolli, tomatoes, and winter squash from them.

Local processed is an interesting food variety, because it gives jobs. If you don’t have a farm (or do but in the winter), wheat germ, rolled oats, sodas, and biscuits/energy bars/granola can all be made from the same materials! Cabot Dairy Farms in Vermont, “owned by” farmers has been making maple sugars, cheeses, specialty foods for years now. Must-stock from the processed foods include coffee, kettle chips, spices, honey (beekeepers!), and Fair Trade bananas, chai, chocolate, cocoa, kambucha, mangos, sugar, tea and vanilla (Not local, but Equal Exchange is in Ma.. and very politically active http://smallfarmersbigchange.coop). I picked up a ginger root beer. Ah!

Conclusion: City Feed and Supply is a great place to go and pick up two or three items, stop by The White Haus, and grab a beer/coffee in J.P. Their website is pretty good, http://cityfeedandsupply.com/, as well as they’re also on Twitter and Facebook.

Look forward to shopping there soon! It’s great, all my lunches for this week are prepared after cooking up a storm this weekend. Tuesday’s a farm market day, at MIT Stata Center, first floor! (Massachusetts Avenue).

http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

Oberlin- Check out http://commongoodsohio.com/ for your local wholesale needs.
Everyone else- Check out my new Startup profile! @Younoodle. I swear, it’s like the Facebook of startups. Talk to you soon!

Eddie Miller
A Global Organic Mindset
http://twitter.com/eddiemill

Need fresh produce around Boston? It’s not only healthier to eat closer to the food chain, it’s also more sustainable and personally rewarding. Treat yourself, because this is about to be good:

I just got back from a unique and one-of-a-kind alternative wholesale grocery store. Russo and Sons, located in Watertown, is a generations-old farm market turned unique distribution for retailers and consumers.

It has a unique feel from the start with the larger shipping bays. I count six cargo bays, packed with trucks owned by Russo (12′) and one or two that are contracted out to a larger service. Pallets of produce from local farms and, yes, I spotted a Dole case, are unloaded here to the side of the building, which has the basic wrapping and processing needed. Three of the docks are occupied by rental freezer storage units, which extend the size and storage capacity of the main area.

Russo and Sons

Walking in, you know instantly that the supermarket is a unique exhibit. It’s in a greenhouse for the first part, which I wonder whether it’s the original or an afterthought add-on. Regardless, it’s filled with tables of squash, cut squash, local pear, tomatoes, cut flowers, and bags of onions or potatoes in bulk. Most is produced in the USA, special tags denote local. National production is a priority, as it should be to support farmers during the recession. Local is a priority over organic here, which is a rare sight for being such a big market. Interesting that still not many of these farmers are doing it, from generations of partnership selling here.

The organization of the inside of the store is in long tables, on wheels, about 18′ divided into sections, down both sides. The signs say “Summer squash”, “Butternut Squash,” “Acorn Squash,” with location placks (Produce of USA) made out of white paper and transparent plastic. Down below the tabletop are all the processed goods, canned this, coffee, maple syrup up front, more obscure requirements around back, as well as basic processed foods such as bagged items. The tables dominate the majority of the building, with cheese and bakery, salad bar, and cut flowers around back. There is also a kitchen, supposedly, where they prepare foods to pick up or to go? Also a good amount of baked goods, which are presumably local from farms. Around the side are ornamental plants.

Russo and Sons is based on years of tradition, and recently won Best of Boston for Produce. They have an exceptional record, a busy-bee feeling, and a dedicated customer base. While it is in Watertown (560 Pleasant Street) which is a distant bike, with a car you could make it out. Their number is 617-923-1500 and website at http://www.russos.com/. There’s a video of the restaurant showing off for their award available online.

Finally (the part you wanted to hear about Boston), they do a fresh market in Boston. It’s near BU actually, at the Stata center in MIT. They continue throughout the winter, and set up shop for fresh produce. Find out where the Stata Center is here on Google Maps (It’s the one with the weird architecture near Mass ave past the crosswalk). The market goes every Tuesday, from 12-6 and is open to the public.

Thanks Michaela for the tip on Russo and Sons, it was a trek but well worth it for the trip back along the Charles. Next week, I’m looking at the farm market (I’ll update on here) and City Feed and Supply, another model of local agriculture where the farms are nearer. These posts are both on my facebook and blog, an Organic Mindset.

This weekend: follow @NewEntry on Twitter for organic agriculture!

Home? http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

-Eddie Miller
BU ‘10
New Entry Farm Project, Common Goods Ohio?

Edward Miller | Quality leadership | “A Global Organic Mindset”

Seeker, planner, collaborative visionary.
Last Post, Connect now.
Linkedin
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Work profile: http://profiles.google.com/eddiemill

I am working on reforming my online media distribution profile. This page will be the focus, please stay in touch! Eddie’s new page! http://eddiemill.typepad.com/#

Please, take your time and browse.

Blog Categories Table of Contents:

Economy
Economic Recessions- 12/22/2009
The Next Globalization is Local- 12/19/2009
Ecological Economics, the Science of Sustainability-3/8/2009
Echoing Green and Social Entrepreneurship-2/23/2009
Agricultural Trade Doesn’t work for Poor People-12/09/2008
Plan, and Structure (Original Post)-
Transition- 11/6/2008

Farming
“Tell Me About Your Home” Maximus of Gladiator – 12/17/2009
Paul Farmer, Haitian Doctor for the Poor- 12/7/2009
Let’s be Thankful- 11/23/2009
From Thoreau, a Business Mentality- 11/16/2009
Food and Climate Change-10/3/2009
The Community Reality-6/11/2009
Julio- 4/28/2009
International Assessment on Agricultural Knowledge, Science, Technology and Sustainability (IAASTD Paper)- 12/12/2008
The Organic Development Paradox-11/03/2008 *Over a year ago and still actually one of my best posts*
New Entry Sustainable Farming on Twitter-(Current)

Climate Change and the Environment
MAPSBLOG: The Day Copenhagen Failed- 12/18/2009
MAPSBLOG: I support Tradeable Emissions Permits for Greenhouse Gasses- 11/29/2009
350 for the Economy- 11/21/2009
MAPSBLOG What Could have Been: Uniting Diverse Groups for Social Change.-10/29/2009
October 24th post: 350 as an Inspiration- 10/24/2009
Reconnect with your Greenfire
Awakening the Dreamer-10/27/2008
StepItUp09 on Twitter (Current)

Experiences, Journal
“A Million Little Pieces”-12/01/2009
My Life at Small Planet-10/02/2009
If I was..-9/15/2009
Back in Boston- 9/08/2009
“A Different Perspective: Participatory Action Research”-6/7/2009
Anda Tranquilo: Nicaragua-3/27/2009
Into the Wild (Weekend Away with Nietzche)-3/14/2009
My “intellectual” Baggage was Stolen!-2/23/2009
“Culture Shock”-2/8/2009
In Defense of the Word.-12/17/2008
A Day in the Life- 12/09/2008
On Exploring10/25/2008

CHANGE to SUSTAINABILITY: The POWER OF IDEAS
Group-led versus revolutionary change- 11/10/2009
Visions of a New Moral- 10/10/2009
If I Were an Anthropologist..-6/29/2009
Paulo Coehlo: Ser como el Rio Que Fluye
Cultivate a Worldview!
Change to the Masses (!)
Reconnect with your Greenfire
Enough of What’s Wrong-11/19/2008
My Reactions to Change, the Election, and Barack Obama- 11/6/2009
Bioneers, Humans and Development10/26/2009

PERMALINK TO THIS POST: http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/contents/ Please, take your time and share your favorites.

Eddie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/eddiemill
Eddie’s new page: ???

Economic Recessions Post 12/22/09
With the failure of Copenhagen (my MAPSBLOG post), it’s time to start thinking about serious depression, causes and strategies for when it gets worse. Click on, if you want. This may be my last post of this certain style as I’m considering changing the blog to be more real-time deadline appropriate. Hopefully a well-researched and justified account of the times we are living in as Americans right now, click:

Whatever you think the cause was, “evil speculators,” hedge funds (interesting group in ag speculation), “swashbuckling financial raider” like George Soros who make bets against the economy, or the confining rules of the Economy itself, the market is in trouble. Consumer confidence is down, jobs and national savings are lower than ever, and above all the Fed’s financial ability to bail the economy and the market out of any crisis. Real recovery takes production, and stability takes growth. I’m afraid that our chance in clean energy may have just passed to countries like Sweden. Currently, 1 in three wind turbines is deployed in Sweden. Most of the steel and auto production in our country is no longer competitive.

If for example you have problems in the financial underpinning your real liabilities (like houses) the Economy is perfectly able to continue itself on momentum alone. Financial and economic underpinnings of a real economy, like budget, is offset by the present ability to take loans. The arrangement of a loan fundamentally requires three things: 1) a buyer (China) and seller (US) of debt. 2) reasonable expectation it will be paid back (not default in case of a run), and 3) formal sanctions in case of default (the IMF). So far, we haven’t had problems with any of the three assumptions. But, if anyone were to start doubting our credit-worthiness – or a disaster, or attack – the loans would stop. This is called a “sudden stop” on loan money, and in terms of consumption it means a lot.

Effects.
It’s hard to find material on the effects of a recession, but one is that things become more local and conservative. The worry is a depression with high taxes and climbing rates. What it’s going to look like from a business perspective if things get worse is plunging prices and imploding balance sheets– “a vicious cycle of deleveraging.” The Return of Depression Economics 135. Oversupply means they are forced to lower prices and cut back production, which means jobs, and services. It’s hard for businesses to lead out of a recession. From the consumer point of view, there’s less money available unless the government tries to stimulate us, which means prices rise while production falls: a cycle called stagflation.

How can financial systems fail? Largely based on the myth that they’re rational and based on real growth. There are quick fixes and props. Al Gore’s economy says you need more than just cash.

There’s no quick fix or prop any more. What’s the telling statistic? “Job market was still getting worse”! Money manages itself, but it’s only a statistic. If you are still unsure, check out: ‘Ponzi scheme,’ wikipedia.

Food
So crisis of currency-growing food still has a demand at the time of a real economic recession. Food demand is inelastic, which means it’s more about your shopping habits than the price. Evidence shows that the local growers are doing better in the recession so far: better control over a more personal market, ability to barter, ability to save costs. Talk about “real production growth” is abstract in other fields like IT: in food it’s real, production, and growth! And talk about competitive advantage: other countries are looking at our land.. if it’s not going to be wind turbines we’re growing there like my first dream, it better be something useful! Evidence is already “growing” for the people taking up farming and gardening, lead by (of all places): [Detroit]! Before that? (of all places): Cuba and the urban oil-free agriculturalists!

Climate
A few words to kick out to my climate activists on a financial perspective. The only thing you need to talk about is gas. Almost all of our production is tied to oil prices, so Gas price inflation drives up costs and lowers production/jobs further. According to my recent tweet from national Geographic, most experts expect a peak in oil by 2015. This is like the world effect of a sudden stop in finance. The binge stops. HUGE spark in oil prices, everyone drives hybrids, oil-based industries no longer competitive. Economic effects of peak oil: continued unemployment, and losing competitiveness in middle-class jobs. Organic farming flourishes.

Policy
What will be next?
a. relocalizing (see last post)
b. more cutting back (see a wartime culture, or during the great depression)
c. global macro, one that accounts for environmental limits. Let’s sure hope we can convince developing countries, because we definitely failed to model restraint when we had power..

Other countries that are coming up right now= say we have a lot of land.. invade? challenge our resource hegemony? begin spending their reserves= all of these actions could lead to a global resource war. Fortunately war leads an economy..

To you, dear reader:

What are you going to be doing in 3-5 years?

comment:
back: EddieMill.wordpress.com
New Entry farm project (my current internship: http://nesfp.org/)

Like any good Economics student, I start this article with a quote by Thomas Friedman in his definition in awkward-titled essay on “Glocalization”: “To absorb influences that naturally fit into and can enrich a culture: to resist those things that are truly alien and to compartmentalize those things that, while different, can be enjoyed and celebrated as different.” I now proceed to show the Economic justification for a more stable next generation of destructive free trade policies… [yes, it's more than just a trend.]

It’s a small world/
But it’s turning so fast.
-Phish, “Twenty Years Later”

In a world dominated by “distant, centralized corporate and government power,” (Frances Moore Lappe, Liberation Ecology) we may acknowledge the urge to retreat into our liberal news circles, shop at whole foods on the weekend, and focus on our own family’s consumption this holiday. That’s the consumer’s role in an Economy, and it’s what got us into this financial mess. As long as we’re working, it’s justified that we be able to spend money however we choose. But shopping cheaply in global supply chains doesn’t actually add value to anything! The resources are exploited, the worker is paid minimum wage, the truck drivers are “just” doing their job. In an age where our machinery is collapsing, it is going to take more than that. From businesses, but people especially.

It’s enhanced mindfulness, with a bias towards the local that will cause us to be resilient in the face of recession.
Justification:
- It’s much less oil-intensive. If any CEO plans to be dependent on intensive global supply chains, he or she will find a sharp spike in marginal costs, which means price is less competitive. Most of the effects of oil (insurance claims from sea-side houses, agricultural losses, flooding in other areas of the world) are externalized anyway.
- Living local is more practical. Simply put, it’s easier to stay in your city if you don’t have to drive out to the nearest supermarket or mall. It’s more pleasant, too: get to know your neighbors.
- Technology changes let local businesses represent just as well and even more competitively with issues that people care about. New media is more responsive, more targeted, and more like a “conversation” than just seeing billion-dollar billboard New York Times McDonalds ads.
- There’s a demand for it. The popular sentiment of altruism is largely an unknown in the economy. Humans are not altruistic, they are selfish. And they only shop for the lowest price. But wouldn’t you rather pay $8.50 for the locally grown salad mix? The outcome still remains to be seen what kind of effect people being willing to pay more for items that are sustainable or local is going to have on the economy.

In the less-developed free trade world, holding too much faith in the free market caused problems. Rather than the US, who buy indiscriminately to create a negative trade balance, Latin American countries struggle to keep up a positive export flowing of material goods to satisfy banks and consumers. For the majority of Latin American countries they only developed growing one or two main crops such as sugar, and it [collapsed the economy.] Often, Costa Ricans can’t afford to buy Costa-Rican made, that’s destined for export. Although it’s a farm work culture, they will eat imported food and take the second-rate export crop. We are still in a period of neoliberalism; urban office or factory work what the experts [IMF] are recommending right now for growth. But isn’t it healthier to keep a community model??

Economic globalization isn’t working for us. It’s making more Americans overweight by eating too many calories, overproduction of goods that harm the environment, and for climate change “the U.S. is borrowing money from China, to pay for oil, which goes to the Middle East.” We’re using oil at an unprecedented rate. And it’s mostly America that’s doing it. Isn’t that unfair? But.. the systems level doesn’t hold up in the face of what you can do now, in the space around you to improve. (Have you weatherized your window yet?) Start from a perspective of community, and our work (or economic activity..) is much more constructive. What do you want to do your part?

Farmers market.
Eat well- reducing the use of Meat in your diet and replacing it with beans and soy and greens is lower on the food chain, and healthier.
Transition town- Transition towns is an effort to reduce oil consumption and carbon emissions by coordinating locally (http://www.transitiontowns.org/).
Reduce waste- Recycle and maintain a compost bin by your sink. (It goes in the woods)
Ride a bike- 10 Reasons Any Driver Can Understand- Why Bike? [Former post] Or a motorcycle?

A revolutionary new economic model (not like communism’s “overthrow,” but in values maybe..) better serves the interest of people, and people-owned business in the US and abroad. Rather than rely on Economic privilege to save us in global sustainability chains, let’s look at the pure advantages of buying domestic.

• It’s more self-sufficient, which is an economic value as much as an environmental one, because it keeps big international debt flows under control.

• Keep money local: has the advantage that the town or city multiplies its own income. Shopowners (owners of capital) are not elite, and will spend back in the market.

• “Social Value”. What this means is that it’s more than just picking and receiving the product that matters to you. If I go to Wal-Mart, it has nominally lower costs but almost no social value because that product works on extracting every bit of value along the way. Workers, resources, distribution people, sales. Are all taxed with no reward. I go to Dave’s Army Navy in Oberlin when I want to talk to someone.

• It’s growing. Sales at UK farmers’ markets jumped 18 percent last year.

I hope you will all consider this, and at least look out for a new cool trend in ag!

-Eddie

My other sections have somewhat to say on this, http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/

Maximus, Gladiator
- my house is in the hills, a very simple place. Pink stones that warm in the sun, kitchen garden that smells of herbs in the morning, jasmine in the evening. Through the gate is a giant poplar, figs, apples, pears, and soils, Marcus, black. Black, like my wife’s hair. Grapes on the south slope, greens on the North.. wild ponies play near my house we tease my son he wants to be one.

Ceaser, Emperor of Rome: “I envy you, Agustus.”
Eddie: I want to live there. The Producer, the Farmer.

Farming @ the New Entry Sustainable Farm Project now: http://nesfp.org
On Farmville my home, neighbor. http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm/

From his (great) biography, Mountains Beyond Mountains, the character of Paul Farmer:
“Ophelia thought that Paul had a fairly complex personality, built of oppositions — a need for frenzied activity that verged, she though, on desperation, and a towering self-confidence oddly combined with a hunger for affirmation. She thought she understood; he took on more than he could fix, so of course he wanted reassurance. And yet he also seemed “terribly simple.” She thought he had never experienced true depression, a freedom so enviable she almost resented it. It was as if in seeking out suffering in some of the world’s most desperate locales, he made himself immune to the self-consuming varieties of psychic pain. He’d told me back in Haiti, I may be a more sunny, cheerful person than you. No one believes that I’m cheerful because of what I say and write, but I only say and write those things because they’re true.” He was often sad, of course, but it didn’t take much to cheer him up.”

Paul Farmer has affected change in thousands, and prevented probably over a million deaths in his work with Multiple-drug-resistant Tuberculosis, mainly in the poorest areas.
Questions to think about:
1. Is the quest for perfection always a good thing? What negative character consequences do leaders sacrifice in order to solve immense problems bigger than themselves?
2. If you were [Paul Farmer, Brett Farve, Che Guevara, Indira Ghandi] and had the chance, would you jump off the treadmill? or Be at the top of your game in an international world-scene, even if it necessitates being stressed and demanded under the eyes of a million people?
3. Would you write your own biography? (or press releases..) Or let someone like Tracy Kidder follow to represent your legacy in print? What are some advantages and disadvantages to either way?

-Eddie Miller
BU ‘10

SO242 students, chime in!
Systems Change Visionary

OH, BOSTON!

For those who can’t tell from the blog post history, I’m just about getting grounded here. Adjusting to Boston is hard, and adjusting to being [anonymous] again after a long sojourn in [Costa Rica] proved even harder. I came in lagging behind technology and friendships, which lost me the competitive edge at [Small Planet]. Most of my files for [Massachusetts Power Shift] are [lost in Panama], my [paid radio advertisements] there never returned results. But: despite technology, work, and communications failure, this has been one of my best semesters yet.

How? A hundred little failures means another year out of personal recession; another year avoided the mainstream dullness of small talk and classes, and a new resiliency that proceeds with the confidence of experience. Confidence, and decision making. Upon personal failure, one learns a perspective of infinite possibility and creativity. (as anyone who’s been [searching for a job] can attest.) Join me, for a post that is both revelatory and informing, revolutionary in a word and inspiring in its clarity.. What’s wrong and powerful reframes.

Technology
You hear it all the time: people are more “distant” these days, people are always rushed here; unfriendly; no real connection, easily distracted.. and becoming more so. It’s a glassy-eyed haze that has decended over the city, and I’m wondering if I dare enter and work from within it. Coming from pura vida [Costa Rica], my own set of technology (travel netbook and old laptop) was grossly unprepared for the frontlines of Boston. This new one (HP 10.1 from Verizon, running Ubuntu and Google Chromius) has been a good workhorse, though.

I guess my work with technology could be described as from the edge of new media, not as content consumer but as producer and influencer of trend. I manage a few twitter accounts regularly, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/eddiemill or add @Stepitup09, and @NewEntry (new project!) for clean energy or farm updates. I use facebook, but will skip the “social” front-page news to work on my farmville, a beautiful organic coffee farm. Has all this technology brought me closer to my goals? Probably not, as it’s alienated the only girl I love, but I hope that by finally having control over technology that it does not control me. It’s been proven to be good social capital ..

Political Frustration
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/science/earth/24climate.html

This party feud is silly. Environment stands a chance, if health care moves on or goes to hell before December. I hope to god that Clean Energy can pass. The urgency of the situation isn’t dire yet, but it will be in 10-15 years without action. It’s a test of human capacity to act on something where [impacts- Hansen article] are largely still unknown. But, it’s also good for the Economy. My work in the #StepItUp movement says the key to our messaging, lobbying, and activist efforts are in clean energy stimulus plans. After all, do you want a job in energy efficiency, sustainability, or reducing the impact of Capitalism? #Cop15 Copenhagen represents a chance… visit their to learn and get involved: http://bit.ly/TfpEa [link]

Communications
SJSF has really got me down. Every time I work on a message that will be really effective, I get an email in my inbox saying that I don’t have the right to speak for the group. Communications, that which was one of the foundational pillars of human society has been lost from the heart. In a time of struggle, we need real meetings, real listening, being together just for fun, small talk and social circles. Strained through technology and the heirarchy, it loses it’s appeal. In an end to this section and post, I’ll reference you to something I found useful: Communication and leadership. It’s an online version of my reading in Paul Farmer, May You be the Mother of 100 Sons, and Barack Obama, trying to be a Leader.

A leader needs his people support. Thanks for reading!
What have I learned?
Flexibility,
getting one hundred things half-right
flexibility
best practices
hard lessons
Getting the small things right:
inner peace
clear eyes
clear mind, reset once a day
Health:
whole foods
cooking
the joy of healthiness
yoga
mindfulness meditation
Respect
language
context
business
system
..all but my superiors.

Home: http://eddiemill.wordpress.com/
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-Eddie Miller
BU ‘10 440-935-5434L