letters RAD MAG
GREAT COOKIES
I’m a photographer based in New
Last week I saw a copy of The Iowan.
York City. I’m taking a trip home to
I really enjoyed all of the articles,
Des Moines to visit my folks for a
especially the one by Mark Tade about
that is looking into the possibility of
couple weeks. I wanted to reach
the shellbark hickory trees and nuts.
starting a sustainable community in
out and let you know how rad the
I am 91 years old and have been
this area. We would greatly appreciate
magazine is — my folks have issues
picking up shagbark nuts on our
any contacts or list of communities
dating back a couple years, and I
farm since 1951. I made a batch of
like this in Iowa, also contacts for any
always catch up when I visit.
Grandmother Tade’s cookies, and we
organic farms and gardens. We would
thought they were great. I was hoping
love to communicate with like-minded
you could ask Mark Tade if it would be
people that have formed to pursue a
possible to buy a few nuts from the
common goal of living and working in
shellbark tree just to try.
an intentional community.
— Nils Ericson, Brooklyn, New York
BAD HOG Sometimes I wonder if Storm Lake, Iowa, is like so many other places.
—Jo Otta, Garwin
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY I am with a group here in Des Moines
—Donna Eddy, West Des Moines donnajeddy@yahoo.com
Other times I don’t. Yesterday I rode my motorcycle on the smooth county
Mark Tade doesn’t sell nuts, but
roads around town to look at prairie
there are lots of folks who do, and
There’s a long history of intentional
life and enjoy the air saturated with
they’re listed in the Iowa Nut Growers
communities in Iowa, most famous
the thick smell of Iowa topsoil and
Directory, produced by the Iowa Nut
among them the Amana Colonies.
the wind blowing through where my
Growers Association. We’ve mailed
Perhaps the best-known sustainable
hair would have been were I not bald.
Ms. Otta a copy; others can find it at
community in the state now is
Once I got my fill, I pulled into Al’s
iowanutgrowers.com. —ed.
Abundance Ecovillage in Fairfield:
car wash to rinse off the dust. From
abundanceecovillage.com. The Iowan
the coin machine, I gazed over my
ran a story on that community on
shoulder at the busy intersection
LOCA-WHAT?
behind me and observed three police
Please inform me the definition of
available at 877-899-9977 or from
officers attempting to wrestle a hog
“locavore,” found on page 37 of the
iowan.com. There are organic farms
— a big, strong, fast, fat hog. After a
November/December 2013 issue. It is
and gardens statewide; a good place
great amount of evasion by the hog,
not in my 1909 unabridged dictionary!
to start looking for them is the Iowa
the blocking of the intersection, the
—Hobart Belknap, Austin, Minnesota
stopping of many amused onlookers,
page 4 of the May/June 2008 issue
Organic Producers directory, where you can search by location:
the help of some locals, and some
Sure! Merriam-Webster defines
idalsdata.org/iowadata/organics.cfm.
animal snares, the hog submitted and
“locavore” as “one who eats food
Good luck! —ed.
waited for “Jimbo,” who eventually
grown locally whenever possible.”
showed up with a livestock trailer.
Its first known use was in 2005, so
I mounted my now-clean motorcycle
we’re not surprised your 1909
and rode west into the sunset
dictionary doesn’t list the word.
thinking how much it all looked,
That’s probably because 105 years
smelled, and felt a lot like Iowa.
ago, most people were locavores —
— Jonathan Ehrlich, Storm Lake
only after most of us started eating food that traveled long distances did we invent a word to describe what used to be common practice. —ed.
January/February 2014 | THE IOWAN
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