Grid Magazine June 2016 [#86]

THE RELIGION ISSUE The faith-based case against fracking, Earth Quakers challenge PECO and Jewish Farm School lays down roots PLUS

TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE PHILADELPHIA JUNE 2016 / ISSUE 86 GRIDPHILLY.COM

INDEPENDENT BIKE SHOPS WE LOVE FIVE FOOD TRUCKS THAT LOOK GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

PLANTING THE SEEDS OF WELLNESS. THE DELEMA G. DEAVER WELLNESS GARDEN AT LANKENAU MEDICAL CENTER

At Lankenau, we are committed to fostering a healthy and sustainable community.

In collaboration with Greener Partners, we have planted a half-acre, year-round, organic garden—the only one of its kind in the Philadelphia region. The Wellness Garden will serve as a source of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs for our community, and serve as a hands-on classroom for thousands of students. Because teaching children where wholesome food comes from not only encourages healthy eating habits, it plants the seeds of wellness for life.

MAINLINEHEALTH.ORG/LANKENAU

Greener Partners Connecting communities through food, farms & education

IT’S YOUR TIME TO SHINE Personal fitness that gets you ready for life!

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liiing weights that I lost sizes.”

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into overdrive, achieving something that she could not have imagined possible: a pull-up.

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anks to Bones Fitness, I had the conndence and

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I WANTED TO TRAVEL ABROAD INITIALLY, BUT HAVING AN IN-DEPTH, 9-DAY Program ABOUT MY CITY MADE ME REALIZE Philly is THE PERFECT CITY To SPEARHEAD A SUSTAINABLE REVOLUTION… I HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIRECTION I WANT TO HEAD IN, AND I AM MOTIVATED TO FINISH SCHOOL STRONG.

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CONTENTS  John Bowie from Serenity Soular hopes to create jobs in North Philadelphia by putting solar panels on rooftops.

D EPARTME NTS

I NSI DE TH E I SSU E

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To-Do List

Salt of the Earth

While the weather is fair, commit to walking to work, and try your hand at installing a ceiling fan

Jewish Farm School’s Nati Passow believes Jewish spiritual traditions can help create a more just and self-reliant Philadelphia—for everyone

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Comings and Goings Find out which doors are opening and closing, and who deserves kudos

Meditation A brief meditation from Annie Dillard’s “Pilgrim at Tinker” reminds us of our place in the universe

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ON TH E COV E R

Opinion A multi-faith group in Pennsylvania calls for an end to fracking and all new investment in fossil fuels

15 Shop Local Every biker has a favorite shop.

Meet some of the peddlers who keep us pedaling

“Churches have to be in the equation. They are the foundational element of our community.”

— John Bowie, Serenity Soular

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Market Watch

Events

Strawberries are here for a short time and make for an unexpectedly good salsa

What to see and where to go

When will we admit that what we don’t know might do us in?

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The Big Picture

Homestead Acts

26 The Right Question

Buddhist spiritual leader Losang Samten talks with Grid about art, science and fighting without anger

Make summer’s bounty last longer by learning the basics of fermentation

32 Living on a Prayer Earth Quaker Action Team has successfully petitioned PNC Bank to stop investing in mountaintop mining. Can they get PECO to buy its energy from homegrown solar?

SP ECI AL SECT IO N

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Dispatch

Hot Wheels

A church’s quest to engage in a year of environmental advocacy sparks a spiritual awakening

Vivid food trucks that catch the eye and tantalize the taste buds

COV E R I LLUSTRATIO N BY CO RE Y B RICKL E Y AN D JAM E E L A WAHLG RE N ; P HOTO G RAP H BY AL BERT C . YEE

THROUGH AUGUST 14, 2016

Rodney McMillian: The Black Show Paper Louise Tiny Fishman Rock Descent Open Video Call

Free. For All.

•

Institute of Contemporary Art University of Pennsylvania icaphila.org

Free admission is courtesy of Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman.

T H E C L AY S T U D I O ' S

Hands on Clay

Join the fun in an array of free pop-up activities at The Clay Studio and around the city this summer.

Activities include throwing on the pottery wheel, clay animation and group sculpting.

THE CLAY STUDIO

SPRUCE STREET HARBOR PARK Columbus Blvd & Spruce Streets

JOIN US FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL CLAY FEST

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5:30PM – 7:30PM

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JUNE 3 | JULY 1

JUNE 10 & 24 | JULY 8 & 22

11:00AM – 5:00PM

AUGUST 5 | SEPT 2

AUG 12 & 26 | SEPT 16 & 23

SEPTEMBER 10

2nd between Race and Arch

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215-925-3453

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EDITOR’S NOTES

by

HEATHER SHAYNE BLAKESLEE

THE HALO EFFECT Do any of us really understand why we believe what we believe?

W

hen I was 6 or 7, I thought that Jesus was born in Pennsylvania.

My reasoning was this: Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a city in Pennsylvania, therefore Jesus was born in Pennsylvania.

It’s an argument form that seems so solid and obvious that logicians have a special name for it: modus ponens. But I had, in logician parlance, “affirmed the antecedent” too quickly. Due to my lack of knowledge of world cities—and experience with religion that consisted entirely of going to a small country church with my grandparents once a year—I failed to realize that another Bethlehem also existed halfway across the world.

I had also piled on a no-no from the realm of psychology: Since I already believed that Jesus was born in Pennsylvania, other information seemed to confirm that truth. In the city of Bethlehem, there is a Nazarene star lighted on the hillside at all times. Close by, there is also a town called Nazareth. Once again, I had fallen into a common trap with a special name: Psychologists call our tendency to collect “facts” that reinforce a belief we already hold “confirmation bias.”

Psychology and social science also tell us that once we believe something is true, it’s hard for us to unring the bell. And when we benefit from our belief? We’ll remain willfully and happily in the dark. (In this category, I would put the fact that we helped feed my Uncle Harvey’s pigs in the summer, but for some reason not in the winter—when, of course, they were feeding us.)

Beliefs with immediate consequences are easy to act on; no one wants to touch a hot stove. Those with a longer timeline, like smoking, especially when it’s perceived as cool? That’s a habit that’s much harder to snuff out. The last example gets at one of the reasons why advocacy around climate change is so difficult: Simply having more facts about

something that may affect us in the future doesn’t have a huge impact on what we do today.

But understanding our own psychology and biases could also help us. We may know that we have to live differently if we want to stop the most deleterious effects of climate change and environmental degradation. But to really make those changes, we need to be held accountable to other people, and it’s especially helpful if those people, for us, have a halo.

The “halo effect” is a subset of confirmation bias; it’s the instinct we have to ascribe positive characteristics, ideas or values to a person or organization that we already know, trust and like. The many communities of faith who are joining the ranks of climate activists are extremely powerful advocates because their followers already know and trust them, they are already organized, and they are already pre-disposed to help one another put their beliefs into action. A growing number of religious leaders and faithful are saying aloud a simple but powerful notion that has both faith and logic behind it: If we are part of the earth, and we destroy the earth, we destroy ourselves.

But whether that realization comes from your faith in a religion, your belief in science, the instinct to trust your gut or a combination of all three—it doesn’t really matter. The larger the proverbial choir, the more people will be attracted to the cause.

That’s just who we are as humans. The more people who lead, the more people who will follow.

editor-in-chief Alex Mulcahy managing editor Heather Shayne Blakeslee heather@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 107 copy editors Walter Foley Aaron Jollay writers Marilyn Anthony Peggy Paul Casella Jane Dugdale Anna Herman Emily Kovach Malkah Binah Klein Thomas Parry Cheryl Pyrch Jerry Silberman illustrators Corey Brickley Nicholas Massarelli James Olstein Jameela Wahlgren Laura Weiszer photgraphers Gene Smirnov Albert C. Yee

___________ sales & marketing manager Claire Margheim claire@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 103 ad sales Boston Gordon boston@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 100 distribution Megan Matuzak megan@gridphilly.com 215.625.9850 ext. 106 published by Red Flag Media 1032 Arch Street, 3rd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.625.9850 G R I D P H I L LY. C O M

heather shayne blakeslee Managing Editor

heather@gridphilly.com

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TO-DO LIST 1. commit to

walking to work once a week In between the chilly May mornings and the dog days of August, it’s perfect walking weather. Pick a different route each time to take in the scenery and new shops.

2. cool the kids

3. get your air

down with fun

Whether it’s the neighborhood ice cream truck or Rita’s Water Ice (maybe you’ll even brave the line at Franklin Fountain?), make some memories.

conditioner serviced

You don’t want bad air pumping into your home when the summer heat arrives. Make sure your filters are clean and it’s working as efficiently as possible.

4. spring your

5. weeding—

6. celebrate the

Those poor, sun-starved plants have made it through another winter of little light and a layer of dust gathering on their leaves. Give them a boost by washing them off in a good, drenching shower from the watering can, and give them some time outside. They’ll recover and gather strength in the sun so you can take them back inside when the weather cools.

The earlier you pull up the weeds in your garden, on patios and even on those famous cobblestone streets of Philadelphia, the fewer you’ll have to pull each year. Letting them grow allows them to go to seed, which will only cause you more work in the months to come.

Stake out your spot at the Manayunk Wall during the Philadelphia International Cycling Classic on June 5, join the celebrants at the annual Odunde Festival on June 12 for one of the largest celebrations of African culture in the country, and get your get your fill of the food trucks at the Callowhill Night Market on June 23.

For some of our favorite trucks, see page 46.

houseplants

just do it

arrival of summer

7. install

a ceiling fan If you already have a hanging light fixture, it’s not hard to replace it with a combination light and ceiling fan. Even a do-it-yourself newbie can probably switch it out by following the manufacturer’s instructions, and it will save energy (and money) to rely on a fan rather than an air conditioner.

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IL LUSTRATIO N S BY N ICHO L AS M ASSA RELLI

8. check for ticks

spend the summer with

It’s prime time for gardening, picnicking and hiking, but also for the deer ticks that cause Lyme disease. Make sure you’re checking yourself and your dog if you’ve been out.

Opening the first week in June 15th & South Streets Operated by:

9. train your

climbing plants Before you know it, that pretty clematis, Virginia creeper or trumpet vine will be pulling down your cable wires. Guide them to where you want them to go.

Designed by:

10. raise your

Sponsored by:

10th & Hamilton Streets

glass at a beer garden

Operated by:

Returning visitors to the Uptown Beer Garden at 17th and JFK will get treated to a new menu from chef Jonathan Petruce, and an exclusive IPA from Pizza Boy Brewing.

Independence Beer Garden is still going strong, as is Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Designed by:

#BuildBeauty

Supported by:

Two Spaces. One Mission.

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NEWS dreds of aligned organizations from around the country and local organizations—including religious groups such as Philadelphia’s Shalom Center—are collectively calling for a ban on fracking for natural gas and a “quick and just” transition to an economy run on 100 percent renewable energy. Other local groups that have signed on to the coalition include Bucks County Concerned Citizens Against the Pipelines, Coalition for Peace Action Pennsylvania, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Northeast Philly for Peace and Justice. Thousands of advocates from across the country are expected for the event.

PASSIVE HOUSE WINDOWS APPROVED BY HISTORIC COMMISSION, SOLAR ROADBLOCKS REMOVED BY STATE CONCERNED RESIDENTS, PORT AUTHORITY AND GOVERNOR’S OFFICE GATHER FOR TOWN HALL ON OIL REFINERY EXPANSION

that pays to pollute and is in violation of federal laws should not be allowed to expand,” said resident Myra Clemons. “Just because we’re poor doesn’t mean that you have the right to pollute us.”

Community activists demanded an end to the expansion of the Southport Marine Terminal during a town hall meeting at Kingsessing Recreation Center on May 19, two weeks after more than 350 people shut down the gates of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery in protest of plans to turn the city into a fossil fuel “energy hub.”

At the meeting, members of ACTION United and Green Justice Philly demanded that the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and the governor’s office disqualify Philadelphia Energy Solutions from the short list of proposals for Southport. Residents spoke about the health and climate impacts of fossil fuel expansion, as well as the thousands of jobs that could be created from investment in container shipping and warehousing at the site.

Earlier that week, the Green Justice Philly coalition submitted a letter to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority citing Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ history of noncompliance with the federal Clean Air Act and its health impacts of local residents as reasons to block any expansion.

“It is disrespectful that you put Philadelphia Energy Solutions on the short list.

They are poisoning people—and a company

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION APPOINTS NEW ACTING SECRETARY AFTER HASTY RESIGNATION

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John Quigley resigned as secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection on May 20 while criticizing his staff and the environmental community for insufficient action on oil and gas regulations. An email obtained by PennLive and dated April 13 shows the former Hazelton mayor using colorful language to voice his frustration over a perceived failure to fight back and create a media presence against the Legislature’s rejection of tougher oil and gas regulations. Patrick McDonnell, the DEP’s policy director, has been appointed acting secretary.

MARCH FOR A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION TO BE HELD ON EVE OF DNC Americans Against Fracking and Pennsylvanians Against Fracking are organizing a protest on July 24, the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Hun-

On May 13 the Philadelphia Historic Commission approved a proposal by BluPath Design and owners Laura Blau and Paul Thompson to use “passive house” certified windows at their property on the 1700 block of Pine Street. The pair shepherded the proposal through two rounds of hearings. This project sets a precedent for efficiency-minded owners of historic properties, which until now were required to use double-hung windows.

At the state level, a commission has removed roadblocks to solar installation options. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted in May to disapprove new regulations that would have limited the size of solar systems and other sources of renewable energy generation systems that customers could install, which some argue could have increased the administrative burden on solar installers who may then pass fees down to consumers.

“Like a solution in search of a problem, the [Public Utility Commission] sought to place unnecessary limits on clean renewable generation like solar power,” said Rob Altenburg, PennFuture Energy Center director, who testified at the hearing. “Homeowners deserve more energy options, not less.”

AL-AQSA ISLAMIC SOCIETY HOLDS PEACE MURAL DEDICATION AND COMMUNITY CELEBRATION Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, ArtWell and the Mural Arts Program hosted a community

celebration May 21 along with a dedication to the “Windows to Peace” mural—a sequel project to the 2004 collaboration that brought together the three partners to create the “Doorways to Peace” mural.

The organizations reunited with original school partners John Moffet Elementary and La Salle Academy to refurbish the original work and create new work on the walls of Al-Aqsa. Artists Parris Stancell, Joe Brenman and Cathy Cohen led the poetry and tile-making workshops that brought the project to fruition. The community renewed its support of Al-Aqsa after the mosque was desecrated last year in an act that drew the attention of federal authorities because of its potential as a hate crime.

POP-UP BEER GARDENS WILL DOT 14 PARKS THIS SUMMER Starting from June 29 to July 4 at Schuylkill Banks at Walnut Street Bridge, Philadelphia’s parks will host pop-up beer gardens.

The gardens will include food trucks, craft beer, nonalcoholic beverages and outdoor seating. The pilot program is a partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Fairmount Park Conservancy and FCS Hospitality; locations are listed at parksontap.com.

CLEAN AIR COUNCIL HONORS CLEAN COMMUTERS Yards Brewing Company and SEPTA rider Ted Cary were presented with Clean Air Council’s second annual Clean Air Commute Awards. Yards Brewing Company was selected as the Clean Air Commute Employer of the Year for offering employees sheltered bike storage, lockers, showers and a pre-tax benefit for mass transit riders.

GREEN ROOF WILL TOP OFF TEMPLE’S NEW LIBRARY Temple University’s new library will feature a 46,000 square foot green roof, which will include planting beds, rainwater harvesting cisterns and stormwater piping, made possible in part by a $6.7 million, low-interest loan from the state. The library is scheduled for a 2018 opening.

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EDITOR IAL

FAITH IN ACTION Opposition to fracking—and other new fossil fuel infrastructure—is a moral imperative

by The Rev. cheryl pyrch and rabbi malkah binah klein

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” jeremiah 29:11

A

low-level but corrosive despair and cynicism pervades our common life. We see it across the political spectrum, from politicians and CEOs who deny climate change, to ordinary folks who acknowledge the science but who feel too overwhelmed to do more than change lightbulbs. This despair is understandable. Predictions of ecological collapse are frightening. Moving to a new energy future is daunting, and it seems to move further out of reach with each presidential campaign speech.

It’s tempting to believe half-measures and incremental change will be enough.

It’s tempting to believe the claims that hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—offers us a “bridge fuel,” that industry estimates of methane leakage are correct, that taxes on fracking are the answer to the public school funding crisis. It’s tempting to believe that

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jobs and income from fracking will revive the rural economy, that water contamination is a minor problem that can be solved, that carbon sequestration or some new technological breakthrough will be the “answer” so we can continue with business as usual.

But these claims are false, as most readers of Grid know. The evidence becomes stronger by the day: Methane leakage makes natural gas nearly as dangerous as coal. Building new wells—and continued use of old ones—will lock us into a future of ecological and economic chaos where those who have contributed the least to climate change—the poor, the young and future generations— will suffer the most.

This injustice, along with the wanton destruction of plant and animal life, makes climate change a moral issue.

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light (PA IPL) opposes fracking because we are

people of faith and hope. We are individuals and communities of many faiths, drawing from the deep wellsprings of our traditions, inspired to work together for the sake of our collective future. We are strengthened by multiple ways of understanding hope: We may point to the divine light within, to the words of the biblical prophets, to the promises of Allah in the Quran, or to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As people strengthened by faith and hope, as people of many backgrounds who are learning to pray and work together, we believe that a clean energy economy is within reach. We believe that we can build a world where all people have enough to eat and clean air to breathe. We believe that we can live on this earth in a way that allows all creatures to thrive. We believe that we can make the transition in a way that is just, that provides jobs and guards the welfare of all people in the state of Pennsylvania. We believe in a future with hope, and we know that future cannot include fracking—or fossil fuels of any kind. We are therefore focusIL LUSTRATIO N BY N ICHO L AS M ASSA RELLI

ing our efforts on preventing new fossil fuel infrastructure, including—but not limited to—that for natural gas.

We are a founding organization of Green Justice Philly, a growing and diverse coalition committed to building a healthy, sustainable and economically just Philadelphia region that opposes the development of Philly as a fossil fuel hub. In our resolution, “Covenant with the Future,” we ask the commonwealth to halt the march toward new fossil fuel infrastructure.

We call for no building nor permitting of new fossil fuel power generation facilities, processing facilities or pumping stations and other infrastructure that would encourage additional drilling sites. We also call for a halt to new infrastructure for fossil fuel transport, including pipelines, port facilities, and additional road and rail routes designed primarily for fossil fuel transport.

All levels of government have a responsibility for halting new infrastructure. For example, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority approves projects for the Southport Marine Terminal, so we’re demanding that they refuse a permit for an expansion of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery. Statewide, the governor’s office, the state Legislature, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, city councils and departments of health all must establish and enforce legislation and regulations that will turn us toward clean energy.

We know the change to a new energy economy will not be easy, nor will it happen overnight—the people who have been courageously leading the fight against fracking can tell us that. But we are the generation that can make a difference. The moral response is clear: Choose clean energy and a just economy so that all children may enjoy abundant life.

We invite people of all faiths and beliefs to join us in working for the welfare—and not the harm—of people in Pennsylvania and around the world. Choose a future with hope!

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The Rev. Cheryl Pyrch and Rabbi Malkah Binah Klein are the co-conveners of the Philadelphia chapter of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light. “The Covenant with the Future” can be found on their website at paipl.us. Inquiries to join their work in Penn�sylvania can be directed to info@paipl.org.

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Did you know that one of America’s largest trail networks is in your backyard? Greater Philadelphia is the proud home of the Circuit Trails, a vast regional network of hundreds of miles of multi-use trails that is growing in size each year. The Circuit Trails connect our local communities, providing endless opportunities for recreation and commuting. So whether you bike it, walk it, or run it, the point is — just enjoy it.

Discover 100s of miles of happy at circuittrails.org Schuylkill River Trail is just one of the many trail segments in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that make up the Circuit Trails.

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Photo by R. Kennedy for VISIT PHILADELPHIA®

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MAGAZ

Let It Ride by emily kovach photos by gene smirnov

Local bike shops keep Philly cyclists, commuters and joyriders on the move There’s never been a better time to ride a bicycle in Philadelphia. Thanks to organizations like the Bicycle Coalition (whom every person in this story cited as the greatest positive influence on the progress of local bike culture), Neighborhood Bike Works and Indego, two-wheeled rides are more accessible, affordable and safe to ride than ever.

Compound that with the environmental and physical benefits—as well as the fun and freedom of movement— and you’re looking at a great way to get around.

Whether used for business or leisure, bicycles need regular maintenance and repair, and occasionally to be replaced.

We suggest patronizing your local bike shop, where knowledgeable mechanics will get to know both you and your bike, and—with any luck—become as valuable a resource as your favorite cheesemonger or baker.

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S H OP L OCAL

humanzoom MANAGER: Stanley Tworek OPEN SINCE: 2005 NEIGHBORHOOD: Manayunk and Ardmore VIBE: Big like a chain, cool like an indie.

“We have our tattoos and piercings, but we’re getting a little more clean-cut.”

REPAIR, RENT OR RETAIL: All three are available UNDERLYING VALUES : Service to all. “I just finished working on a really nice Italian Bianchi, and my next job will be a bike from Target. That’s what keeps us going and relevant.”

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SH OP L OCAL

philadelphia bikesmith 18

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OWNERS: Max Hamalainen (L), Lucas Drecksage (R) and Richie Cortez OPEN SINCE: 2013 NEIGHBORHOOD: Fairmount VIBE: Go, team, go! Daily huddle ups and frequent meetings are the norm.

“We don’t have interns, we don’t have junior employees… we have professionals.”

REPAIR, RENT OR RETAIL: Repair and retail UNDERLYING VALUES : Empathy and equality. “A bike shop is not just a place for men and boys… We ask our staff to treat everyone in our shop the same.”

SPECIALIZING IN BIKES FOR GETTING AROUND AND ENJOYING LIFE. Come visit either of our two shops for bikes, service, and accessories. We offer the best of old and new; vintage bikes brought back to life with love and new parts, as well as modern machines from FUJI, SE, KHS, and SURLY. We have the Fuji Tread for your commuting and gravel rides, the SE Big Ripper for Wheelies, and everything in between.

BICYCLES PARTS ACCESSORIES SERVICE 19th & Spring Garden 267-324-5910

Find us online at:

philadelphiabikesmith.com

Open 7 days a week Mon-Sat 10am-7pm Sunday Noon-5pm

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kater street bicycles OWNER: Joe Lambros OPENED: 2011 NEIGHBORHOOD: Graduate Hospital VIBE: Commuters, you have a friend.

“Our customers are working class… we don’t usually get the people on pro bikes.

It’s more Kmart bikes, or used stuff they buy around here.”

REPAIR, RENT OR RETAIL: Repair only UNDERLYING VALUES : Honesty. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. “People always think they have bike problems that they don’t actually!”

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Custom Shuttle pickups at local hotels near Lake Harmony, White Haven and Jim Thorpe are available, please call for pricing and availability.

VIP Shuttle Schedule & Prices: •Glen Summit $5* 10:00 AM

12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 PM

•Jim Thorpe $15* 5:00 & 6:16 PM

PoconoBikeRental.com 322 Main Street White Haven, PA 18661 P. 570-899- 5025

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BIKE RENTAL

•29ERS’ - $34.95 •COMFORT - $29.95

•Rockport $10*

POCONO

PoconoBikeRental.com Rates:

$1 OFF Coupon Code: GRID

•SPORT - $24.95 •ECONOMY- $19.95 •KIDS Bikes - $17.95 •Tag-a-long/Caboose - $14.95 *$5 off shuttle price with bike rental. Bike shuttles only, add $5. Glen Summit, Spring, Summer and Fall Foliage Biking Tours, $5 shuttle service, is an ONLINE ONLY SPECIAL. Fatbike shuttle pricing is @ $25 per bike and subject to availability.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Toro/PBR - Buttermilk Falls near Rockport Access Shuttle Point @ Lehigh Gorge State Park

SH OP L OCAL

gear up Five Local Bike Accessories You Should Know About

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1

LOCK HOLSTERS FROM FABRIC HORSE

No more locks rattling around on handlebars or shoved awkwardly in back pockets. $1o at fabrichorse.com, 1737 E. Passyunk Ave.

2

LOCKDOWN FOOT STRAPS FROM R.E.LOAD

Made from the same tough Cordura waxed canvas as their legendary messenger bags, these straps can be made in the color combo of your choosing. $52 at reloadbags.com, 608 N. 2nd St.

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INDUSTRIAL STEEL BIKE RACK FROM BLACKSHEEP METAL WORKS

2 4

These stylish steel handmade bike racks maximize space, perfect for small apartments and homes. $85 at etsy.com/shop/blacksheepmetalworks

4 5

FAIRMOUNT PARK HANDMADE POCKET MAP

Explore Fairmount Park with this beautiful pocket map, handmade by local artist Kim Alsbrooks. $12.95 at bilenky.com

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PHILADELPHIA CYCLING CAP AT FIRTH & WILSON TRANSPORT CYCLES

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Visit Philadelphia’s vibrant and unique community gardens.

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the RIGH T QUE STION

BLINDED

BY SCIENCE Believing that we can understand the world may be the reason we lose it by jerry silberman

question: Is sustainability a religious value? the right question: Can you have faith without respecting the world?

“If then you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day… I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain, and wine, and oil. I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and thus you shall eat your fill. Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods… for the Lord’s anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce… and you will perish.”

—taken from Deuteronomy, 11: 13–17, Jewish Publication Society translation

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Religious belief arises from the effort to understand and interpret the world, and to find our place within it. Trying to explain why the world is so capricious and at times gratuitously dangerous has led to belief systems as disparate as Christianity and Buddhism.

It’s important to note that all the major religions, which among them claim billions of believers, arose at a point in human history where the world appeared not only infinite in resources but beyond our ability to influence it.

In the above verses, excerpted from a biblical text recited at least daily by observant Jews, you can see the extent to which people felt at the mercy of forces larger than themselves.

The unvarnished goal of prayer, from its earliest traces, was to gain influence over processes that were mysterious to us, and yet central to our survival: rain for the crops and food for the livestock. It captures one way of understanding our relationship with the world on which we are utterly dependent, but similar sentiments are available in any tradition, even those without the concept of a Supreme Being. Whether read metaphorically or literally, they have a powerful message today that would require us to reimagine our place in the world.

Trying to explain the world has too often led to separating ourselves from it, but the real challenge to faith arose with the development of science and the competing belief that we could know the world. It has led us to a place that those living centuries ago never could have fathomed: the idea that we could know everything about how the world works, and therefore change it and make it bend to our wishes.

We have gone a step further in our current time, believing that we can bend the rules of the universe in service to our goals and aspirations without consideration for the rest of the community of life, or, from a scientific perspective, the biosphere upon which our lives depend. With all of our modernconveniences and infrastructure, particularly in urban environments, we have made it easy for many people to forget that we do not exist apart from nature.

In our collective ignorance of the limits of IL LUSTRATIO N BY JAM ES OLSTEI N

the world in ages past, we certainly caused extensive changes or damage to biomes and ecological systems—such as the extinction of many large animals in the western hemisphere and the deforestation of large areas of the Middle East. Destruction and alteration of the world around us is not a thoroughly modern phenomenon.

The rise of the faith in science, however, has allowed a much more vast disturbance in our biosphere than our past damage, even with the knowledge of the damage we are causing. Our sense of place in the world has been thoroughly dislocated, and overrated, even in the face of clear evidence that we do not control our environment.

Beliefs and faith both require—at the very least—separation from the scientific method. While we may attempt to justify things we believe or in which we have faith by scientific proof, true faith and true belief come before and exist independent of any “rational” proof. It’s how we are built.

In the throes of our modern hubris, we are only temporarily humbled, for instance, by the path of a storm that destroys broad swaths of our infrastructure, or destroys whole ways of life. But we rebuild, and we hope—have faith—in a different result.

I have faith that the world is too complicated for us to ever fully understand, let alone control. I am in awe of the beauty and complexity of the world of which I am a part.

Therefore I am obligated to take my place modestly within that world, learning from it, not attempting to teach it.

While I don’t believe there is an omniscient or omnipotent supreme consciousness guiding the world, I am quite sure that the subtext of self-serving science that implies those powers are within human reach is fatal arrogance.

Without the wisdom to recognize that there are parts of the world forever beyond our understanding and control, we will not be able to successfully adapt our ways to survive the processes of change we have, wittingly or unwittingly, launched in the world.

Jerry Silberman is a cranky environmentalist and union negotiator who likes to ask the right question and is no stranger to compromise.

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the BIG PICTUR E

COMPASSION PROJECT Buddhist spiritual leader Losang Samten discusses the ancient wisdom that’s written in sand interview by alex mulcahy

W

rapped in a brown robe and exuding a disarmingly calm manner, the Tibetan-born Venerable Losang Samten does not act like someone with a looming deadline. In a small building on the campus of the Plymouth Meeting Friends Center, Samten is working on a sand mandala, quietly arranging brightly colored grains of sand into an intricate work of art. It’s a Buddhist tradition, and the mandala must be finished today because tomorrow it, like all other works of its kind, will be dismantled—a reminder of the impermanence of all that is created. ¶ We asked Samten what, if anything, a mandala might say about sustainability, science and peace. While the piles of sand waited for his attention, Samten patiently answered our questions.

A Wheel of Life mandala. All sand mandalas are dismantled soon after completion

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What is the purpose of a mandala?

Generally the mandalas are a teaching tool.

Mandalas are a spiritual image, a visual image for an individual to improve their concentration. There are many different reasons and purposes for a mandala. The idea is for an individual to cultivate the highest level of compassion. When you see the mandala, the benefit… it can impact a person immediately or a little further down the road of their spiritual path.

Which mandala is this?

This is the Wheel of Life. In the middle of the mandala there are three animals—a pig, a snake and a bird—and they represent ignorance, anger and greed, which is what we call the poisons. Poisons to destroy our inner peace.

Some might argue that, while a mandala is beautiful, perhaps time would be better spent directly addressing an injustice, or acting politically.

The whole idea for any meditation is to discover how to help, how to improve society, how to improve the world. To help the community, first you need to make sure you are ready for that. Before you take on the job of lifeguard, you need to know how to swim well. Otherwise you might die, too. First you need to help yourself, then you can help others. So the meditators are in the cave, or in the home, but the fundamental aim is that the person comes out of the meditation, and meditates with the community, and then helps.

Anger, one of the three poisons, can motivate people to act. And it’s certainly difficult not to respond with anger when you feel that people are profiting from exploiting others, or the planet. How as a Buddhist do you handle that anger, or change it, without losing motivation to effect change?

The traditional Buddhist answer will be: Without anger, you have to fight. Without anger, you have to deal with the situation.

Because when we get angry, we lose the balance. Without anger, we can save everyone.

Anger is very much a part of our life. But the good side of the Buddhist view is that anger

In the Buddhist tradition, faith is of secondary importance.

Reason is important.

Logic is important.

is there temporarily, not permanently. If we meditate, and research, we can eliminate the anger.

An example to me is His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama does not get angry with the Chinese leadership, and he is doing his best to get more human rights in Tibet.

Change always takes time. Positive change takes a long time. We should not give up.

Many are skeptical of religion, and much more comfortable with science. Can the two work together?

Absolutely. In the Buddhist tradition, faith is of secondary importance. Reason is important. Logic is important. There are numerous conferences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Buddhist leaders and scientists, that discuss many issues—including the environment and mental sciences. The Mind and Life conference has been going for 30 years.

That is such a great legacy of the Dalai Lama.

Scientists can tell us what we see, more than ever, in the 21st century, but when it comes to our internal mind and thoughts, science is still very new. His Holiness the Dalai Lama encourages the holy masters in India in monasteries to have technology be part of their conversations. So they study a lot about modern science. We are searching for what the truth is.

Is religion a hope for the environmental movement?

Education is the key factor. Me, as one member of the world, to share this mandala, it’s not to promote religion or what I believe, but

The Venerable Losang Samten of the Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia

as education. How do we live more peacefully? When a person is educated, there is a chance to work for change. Some people do not see the problem of the environment changing until the issue comes to their backyard. Until then, the environment issue in the U.S. is treated as a political issue instead of a fact.

What can a religious leader do to help make change?

People have difficulty with religious leaders

THIS EXC ER PT ED INT ERVI E W H AS BE E N E D I TE D FO R CLA R I TY

who are saying something, but are living a different life. They should live as Buddha taught or Jesus taught. When last September the pope came, he drove a small car around town. For me, that was great symbolism. It’s a reminder to us to live in simplicity.

The Venerable Losang Samten is the spiritual leader of Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia, and the author of “Ancient Teachings in Modern Times: Buddhism in the 21st Century.”

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Mosaic is a place where diversity pools together and allows people like me to be involved in church. I don't feel like I'm on a journey to find God all by myself. - R. J., Teacher

PRACTICAL, INCLUSIVE, & JESUS-CENTERED

Block by block and faith by faith, Philadelphians are putting their ideals into action.

THE

RELIGION ISSUE

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HIGHER

POWER THE RANKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIVISTS ARE SWELLING WITH RELIGIOUS FAITHFUL FROM AROUND THE WORLD

IN PHILADELPHIA, A SMALL BAND OF QUAKERS, SPIRITUAL ALLIES AND SOLAR ENTREPRENEURS ARE FIGHTING TO GET THE REGION’S LARGEST ENERGY DISTRIBUTOR TO BUY ELECTRICITY FROM LOCAL ROOFTOPS story by

photography by

thomas parry

albert c. yee

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John Bowie of Serenity Soular stands on a block in North Philadelphia, where he hopes to put solar panels on rooftops

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ill cozzens had been skirting around the edges of the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT).

A Germantown Quaker himself, Cozzens had attended a demonstration and a meeting, but was looking to get more involved. On the evening of May 3, Cozzens showed up to the Friends Center, a large, red brick building in the federal style tucked back from the corner of 15th and Cherry streets in Philadelphia. A tree-lined courtyard offers respite inside its campus, and the building’s significant green credentials are most visible on its green roof, which is also adorned with solar panels. Dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt and hiking boots, Cozzens signed in at the front desk and made his way through the center’s modernist addition to the third floor where he and a half dozen other Earth Quaker initiates formed in a semicircle around EQAT coordinator Matthew Armstead, a tall young man with perfect posture and a welcoming smile.

“There are a million places to start,” said Armstead. Last summer, after five years of pressure, EQAT’s campaign on PNC Bank closed with success: The sixth largest commercial bank in the country divested from mountaintop removal mining. As the skies cleared, EQAT set its sights on PECO, a Philadelphia-based power distributor feeding the sockets and bulbs of a 2,100 square mile spread of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

A new Pennsylvania law requires the company to expand the amount of solar energy its dishes out to customers. Though slight, the increase provides an opportunity

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to stimulate green, living-wage jobs in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. EQAT set out to get PECO to buy its new solar from rooftop panels in North Philadelphia installed by North Philadelphians.

“The campaign merges economic justice, climate justice and racial justice,” Armstead told the new EQATers. “We are trying to do something that actually sets up the world that we want.”

To this end, EQAT showed up to PECO headquarters in September 2015 with an enormous puzzle portraying a sunstruck Philadelphia skyline, asking company ex-

ecs to come down and place the final piece.

EQAT formed the “PECO Choir” and filled the lobby with song.

They also gathered on the company’s patio and enacted a ritual known across the United States. On that rainy, early winter evening, rain let up into a mist, a generator came to life and speakers kicked out a beat: 56 Earth Quakers, ranging in age from 13 to 78, danced the Electric Slide.

Putting the soul in solar The campaign gained attention. POWER, Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower and Rebuild, joined the effort, bringing along the strength of an interfaith alliance claiming 40 congregations and 25,000 members. The Inquirer, The Phil-

Left: Bill Cozzens (R) and other EQAT members discuss strategy at Friends Center Below: EQAT coordinator Matthew Armstead stands to address the group

adelphia Tribune and WHYY each followed the campaign.

On Earth Day last April, PECO invited EQAT to the table of a Solar Stakeholder Collaborative to take place this summer.

“And of course,” Armstead told the new EQATers, “we’re very curious to see what that means.”

A young man with a crew cut wearing a dark suit asked Armstead whether the cost of solar was a barrier for PECO. Here, Cozzens spoke up. “The grid is required to dispatch the power that’s cheapest, that comes in at the lowest price first.

Solar is more expensive per megawatt. It may not get dispatched, except at peak load times, when air conditioners are running and such.”

A beat passed in which the new EQATers took a look at Cozzens.

“I worked as a consultant for a while, so I learned a pretty good amount about the regulatory framework,” he confessed.

A modest man, William A. Cozzens was underselling his expertise. Cozzens earned a doctorate in urban planning from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently spent 25 years as a consultant to energy companies.

“PECO’ll give all sorts of reasons why they can’t do it,” he told the meeting.

Yet there he was, looking to escalate the campaign with the self-described “Earth Quakers.” Despite over two decades in the industry, Cozzens believes that change is possible.

One reason PECO has given in resisting EQAT’s demands is the absence of solar panels on North Philadelphia roofs. But then, PECO hasn’t met John Bowie.

Bowie is a tall man, silver-haired, and his bearing suggests an intensity that is at once passionate and weary. He leans in to speak and leans back to listen. He weighs each word.

Bowie represents Serenity Soular, a new company aspiring to turn its neighborhood into a source of well-paying solar energy installation jobs, creating skills and wealth from the ground up.

“On this block,” he says of the 1200 block of Seltzer Street, a narrow stretch of two-story homes just north of Lehigh where he and I arranged to meet, “we’ve got 18 houses here with roofs that are solar-ready,” Bowie said.

Last year, the Energy Coordinating

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Agency, a nonprofit dedicated to weatherizing homes and businesses in the tri-state area, installed new windows, siding and roofs on all but four of the homes on this block. Typically, getting the residents to buy in, show mortgages and give workers access can take months, but with Bowie and Serenity House—a neighborhood outreach center and home to Serenity Soular—it took an afternoon. The 1200 block of Seltzer knew and trusted them.

“The only ones we couldn’t get were the four owned by absentee landlords,” Bowie said.

We started down the block. The sidewalk, even on a trash day, was swept clean.

Above us hung multicolored pennant flags strung between the roofs. Bowie motioned to the porches one by one. “Here’s the block captain,” he said. At another house: “The homeowner here is 92 years old. She’s got two generations in that house. If we could

get solar on that roof, reduce her bills by a couple hundred a month and make a few jobs in the process, that’d be my dream.”

The tour ended in front of the Morris Chapel Baptist Church at 12th and Lehigh.

Later this summer, the church would put up solar panels, Bowie told me. Serenity House would have a rooftop array in a matter of weeks. From our vantage point, five churches stood in view. “Churches have to be in the equation,” Bowie said.

“They are the foundational element of our community.”

It was primary election day—Morris Chapel was the polling station—and the corner had the air of a reunion party.

Years ago, Bowie was homeless. He went by the name “Carwash” for the discount scrubbings he’d give to get by.

One day, he left his cart and buckets and walked into rehab. The cart wound up in an abandoned building that burned down.

In the remains, his cart and a piece of ID were found. The neighborhood held a funeral for Carwash.

A few weeks later, he returned to North Philadelphia, clean and sober, back from the dead, ready to live again as John Bowie. Since then, he has devoted himself to giving his neighborhood new life. “This neighborhood can bounce back,” Bowie told me. “I am living witness that we can bounce back.”

Outside the Morris Chapel, a friend crossed the street to chat. Bowie said, “I’m working getting those solar jobs going.”

“Man, I need that,” the friend replied.

The neighborhood carries a 30 percent unemployment rate. When Serenity Soular raised the funds for two apprentice installer positions, word spread and 15 qualified candidates showed up.

Everything that Serenity Soular has achieved thus far it has financed through

An EQAT organizing meeting at Friends Center

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grants and crowdfunding. But to move forward, in order to gear up the capital-intensive proposition of a solar power energy company, Bowie needs more. His target is $200,000. “Give me that and six months, and I’ll have a team installing panels block by block,” he said.

“But whatever happens, we’re doing it anyway,” he added. “God made us to live, and to live you got to eat, and to eat you got to work. It’s our divine right.”

Serenity Soular grew out of Serenity House’s initiative to make the outreach center ecologically sustainable. The community-run center exists under the ministry of Arch Street United Methodist Church, and much of the day-to-day falls to O, a Quaker woman and self-described “love activist.”

I asked O how her religious faith informs her activism, and the question stirred her up to the point that she had to leave the room to grab a picture of the earth as seen from the moon.

“The earth is a single-celled organism within the heavenly body of the universe,” she said. “And we, as individuals, are organelles within that organism.”

O put her hand on my shoulder and stared into my eyes, as if to check that my channels were open.

The world and all its creatures are sacred, she explained. All of it is essential.

All of it has God’s love. We have the privilege and responsibility of stewardship.

When we abuse that position, we act against God’s love.

“Do you understand?” she asked.

The swelling choir Bowie’s “divine right” and O’s concept of a “sacred earth” are part of a larger movement, a rising chorus of religious voices lending strength and relevance to the fight against climate change.

While the roots of faith-based environmentalism go deep, 2015 witnessed a stunning bloom in its intensity. In the second half of last year, Pope Francis published his encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si’; an international symposium of Muslim leaders released the Islamic Declaration on

“God made us to live, and to live you got to eat, and to eat you got to work. It’s our divine right.”

— John Bowie, Serenity Soular

Global Climate Change; the National Association of Evangelicals, one of the largest Evangelical Christian organizations in the U.S., released its own Call to Action on Creation Care; and finally, on the eve of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Paris, more than 150 religious leaders, representing everyone from the Greek Orthodox church in Zimbabwe to Muslims in Norway, signed a statement saying, “We stand together to express deep concern for the consequences of climate change on the earth and its people, all entrusted, as our faiths reveal, to our common care.”

These voices affirm the “sacred earth.”

Citing 700 Quranic verses, the Islamic declaration urges the faithful in the duty to maintain mizan, the equilibrium of nature that Allah created, imbuing all with value.

John Bowie’s “divine right,” tying creation and social justice together, finds echoes in Laudato Si’, which frames the fight against climate change as a religious and moral struggle to stem the oppression of the poor. The contamination, flooding, drought and famine will hit the poor first, and it will hit them the worst, Pope Francis outlined in Laudato Si’.

What’s more, these declarations have weight, translating beliefs shared by billions into action. This year, Buddhist monks in India have braved bullets in demonstrating for clean water; thousands of Muslims across the world fasted in a “green jihad”; young Evangelicals rallied in North Carolina for clean energy. They carried signs reading, “The earth belongs to God, not to us,” hitting the same notes heard in EQAT and POWER’s campaign for green jobs in Philadelphia.

“The earth is entrusted to us for the

common good,” said Rabbi Julie Greenberg, POWER’s coordinator for green jobs.

“Each human being is a child of God who belongs to the web of life. We are here to care for one another, not to race for more, more, more—no matter the consequences.”

In focusing their faith-backed powers on PECO, the Earth Quakers and their allies believe that they can influence the energy company’s practices, much of which PECO has attached to a complex regulatory framework and its obligation to shareholders. So, the question remains: Can a band of believers compel the corporation?

Above it all At PECO headquarters at 23rd and Market, Philadelphians of all stripes come to clear up their electricity bills. They cross the concrete patio with babies on hips, canes in hand, or by the glide of a skateboard or bike. Above them rises 28 stories of PECO corporate office space, alternating in bands of matte black metal and glass of dark gold luster.

Inside, the lobby strikes a different tone from the formidable edifice. The hanging light fixtures are flower-shaped. Potted young trees populate the corners. Above the security turnstiles to the elevator bank, a banner declares, “Customers … Community … Environment.”

On Earth Day, PECO released an announcement touting its “creation and leadership of an exciting new Solar Stakeholder Collaborative,” inviting EQAT among others to the table.

In an office high in the tower, I asked PECO’s director of communications, Cathy Engel Menendez, what this collaborative might produce.

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“Look back to the leadership that PECO had with wind development,” she said, referencing PECO Wind, a program in which the company joined the majority of other service providers in the northeastern United States in allowing customers, at additional cost to them, to source their electric supply through wind power. In 2012, PECO canceled the program. Rate caps that had held the market to 1996 prices expired.

PECO Wind was no longer competitive.

“That clean market continued to grow and flourish,” Engel Menendez said.

“That’s a beautiful outcome.”

The solar market in Pennsylvania has not flourished. PECO, the largest electricity buyer in the state, buys no more solar than the law requires, which in 2016 to 2017 amounts to .25 percent of its default supply.

In pizza terms, you’d have to order 50 pies before you had one full slice to represent solar. In 2020, given the yearly uptick in the statutory requirement, 50 pies would yield two solar slices.

Could PECO buy more solar than the law’s bare minimum?

“We could certainly do more if it met the ‘least cost’ requirement,” Engel Menendez said.

That requirement comes, again, from the utility code. Every time PECO assembles a plan to buy energy, it has to run that plan by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and make the argument that the plan presents customers with the “least cost over time.”

Since this law hit in 2008, PECO has used a blind auction to make this argument, giving energy suppliers—frackers, coal plants, wind farms and more—a chance to bid on one- to two-year contracts to supply PECO’s power. The lowest bid wins.

I asked Engel Menendez whether the cost could factor in social damages. For example: tax dollars spent on treating fracking wastewater.

She shook her head. “It’s dollars per megawatt hour.” And according to PECO’s filings with the state, the company construes “over time” to mean the life of

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“Mr. Adams, we want to be clear.

We’re not just here for conversation— we need to do the dang thing.”

— Bishop Dwayne Royster, Living Water United Church of Christ

a one- to two-year contract.

The law—Act 129—does not define “least cost over time” in those terms.

But Engel Menendez is not wrong.

PECO has argued this narrow definition of “least cost over time” at every filing of every purchasing plan. The PUC has approved them all.

“We’re a one-hundred-some-odd-yearold utility that is constantly focused on innovation and the future,” she said as we wrapped up our interview. “What’s important to us is to continue to provide that leadership.”

Before heading to the elevator, Engel Menendez was kind enough to show me the view from the tower’s north face. “The city is growing and changing so much,” she said. “It’s nice.”

Beyond the rail lines into 30th Street Station, Fairmount’s trees spread, and further out North Philadelphia’s roofs went on uninterrupted, save for the derelict smokestacks and church spires.

“I feel like we’re in a snow globe,” she said.

This little light of mine PECO has options. The fact that the panels are not already on North Philadelphia roofs is not a deal breaker. PECO has awarded contracts on prospective supply, meaning that suppliers and PECO have signed on the dotted line without the energy producing panels or turbines in place, a source with over two decades experience in the energy markets told me. The supplier, with that contract in hand, can then get financing to make the necessary capital investments well before they have to deliver the kilowatts.

Furthermore, while the state has approved PECO’s use of the blind auction, the Public Utilities Commission does not insist on its continued use. The PUC is not interested in micromanaging PECO’s “acquisition framework,” a representative of the commission told me. Under the law, PECO’s obligation is to make the case that they have assembled a “prudent mix of contracts” in gathering energy at the “least cost over time.”

The meaning of least cost over time remains open, despite, in fact, lobbying efforts to the contrary. In 2010, Exelon Corporation, PECO’s parent company, Eileen Flanagan, board clerk, at the EQAT planning meeting for the May 10 action to push PECO to purchase more local solar energy Right: EQAT organizing materials for kids

lobbied Harrisburg through the National Energy Marketers Association, a trade group with members including Walmart and BP. The association asked PUC to nail the definition of cost down to dollars per kilowatt hour, and further asked that they be allowed to draft ever shorter contracts in securing supply.

PECO is tapped into a network of huge resources. Exelon pulled down $34.5 billion in revenues in 2015. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the energy giant drew these earnings from 159 companies. Exelon affiliates dot the United States and spread into Canada and Mexico (and, curiously, the Cayman Islands). Exelon includes other mega-distributors, such as Chicago’s ComEd, as well as Generation and Constellation, two of the country’s largest energy suppliers. This network of companies employs thousands of experts in the broad range of fields touched by energy production and transmission. These companies navigate a host of different regulatory fields, finding a way to make profits. As a company “constantly focused on innovation and the future,” PECO carries an enormous capacity to effect change.

“To whom much is given, much is required,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, quoting the Gospel of Luke. Royster, the executive director of POWER, addressed about 150 Earth Quakers, POWER members and their allies on May 10 in PECO Plaza, belting out his voice with a smile against the glass and metal of the building. Cheered by the announcement of the stakeholder collaborative, the campaign had returned to PECO with three new requirements.

They demanded that PECO make preparations to draw 20 percent of its default supply from solar by 2025, and that the energy come from rooftop panels not only in North Philadelphia, but from job-hungry towns and cities throughout PECO’s five county service area. Onto the plaza, EQAT carried a 28-foot color map marking Bristol in Bucks County, Chester in Delaware County, Coatesville in Chester County and Norristown in Montgomery County.

Finally, EQAT demanded that POWER, an equal partner in the green jobs campaign, be given a chair at the stakeholder collaborative.

“Mr. Adams, we want to be clear,”

Royster said, addressing PECO’s chief executive officer presumably somewhere up in the tower, “we’re not just here for conversation—we need to do the dang thing!”

Building up speed, Royster tossed out an “Amen, somebody,” and was met with a strong response: “Amen!”

“We need solar panels and we need them right now,” Royster said, laying down a refrain. “We need North Philadelphia to get engaged right now. We need PECO energy to invest right now so that we can have renewable energy that will carry us centuries into the future!”

As the action closed, one of the four business-attired police officers who had been watching the crowd shook Royster’s hand. Clasping each other’s shoulders, they talked. A PECO worker leaving the tower ran into a friend among the EQATers. The two young women hugged and laughed. Kids in highlighter-yellow EQAT T-shirts played tag among the concrete patio tables. EQATers passed around tiny cupcakes as a small celebration of PECO’s announcement of the Solar Stakeholder Collaborative. “Baby steps, baby steps,” said an elder Earth Quaker, taking one with blue and green icing.

The action then moved west, taking Market Street across the Schuylkill where the vista opened up to include the rising iron frames of four skyscrapers-to-be.

The crowd flowed between the bumpers jammed into the crosswalk before 30th Street Station and entered with a song.

Their voices mingled with the conductor calling, “All aboard for the Acela Express,” and came to a rest near the Amtrak destinations board. They sang “This Little Light of Mine.”

Commuters looked and pulled the earbuds out.

An extra-tall Earth Quaker with dreads in his long gray beard handed out pamphlets to commuters. Still moving, they scanned the pamphlets as they headed up the ramp to the regional rails.

Soon, they’d board and ride out to their houses in the counties ringing the city, where, as the sky darkened, they would click on the light.

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Jewish Roots

t h e r e l i g i o n i ssu e

A nontraditional religious leader in West Philadelphia believes that to repair the world, you have to get your hands dirty by marilyn anthony

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tanding at the jewish farm school (JFS) booth at the Philly Food and Farm Fest, Nati Passow, 37, welcomes a steady stream of visitors. His dreadlocks tucked up low at the base of his neck and his large, graying beard framing a broad smile, he handily picks up the child of yet another visitor. He trades stories about his own wife and two kids, who live communally with another family in West Philadelphia. ¶ Passow’s easy bearing is the bridge that carries you into his deep thinking about the world. In a style he might call “Jewishly,” his engaging conversation blends food, farming and the Jewish faith—ideas “brew” or “percolate,” programs are Jewish Farm School Executive Director Nati Passow

“rooted” or “fallow,” and activities as simple as weeding are undertaken with kavana, which is Hebrew for intention.

Described by many as “super smart,” Passow’s wry observations often incite laughter that he is quick to share. With characteristic humor, Passow summarizes the JFS mission tweet-style: “Jewish Farm School: Teaching Jews to do stuff with their hands since 2006.” Passow, who serves as executive director of the organization, doesn’t take himself too seriously.

He reserves gravity for what he’d like to accomplish.

Passow is part of a national wave of young Jewish social innovators who believe the Torah’s ancient ideas hold relevance today—about income inequality, food and social justice.

“When we table at events, we get a lot of strange looks,” he says, probably because people think “Jewish farmer” is an oxymoron.

Passow has taken a markedly different path than many in his family.

His two siblings are both rabbis, and his parents—both professors—raised them in an orthodox Jewish household in Bala Cynwyd. As a high school student in Lower Merion, Passow had already begun making connections between his faith and the physical world around him.

He co-founded an outdoors club, then majored in religion and environmental studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

He honed his outdoors and mentoring skills working summers at a Jewish wilderness camp in the Poconos and later at Vermont’s Institute for Social Ecology.

Passow’s grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, approved of Passow’s emphasis

PHOTOS COU RT ESY O F T HE J E W I S H FA R M SCH O O L JU N E 2016

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t h e r e l i g i o n i ssu e

on learning hiking and camping and his burgeoning manual skills. “Finally,” he told Passow, “someone in this family who knows how to do something.”

It was during a stint teaching at Connecticut’s Teva Learning Center that Passow experienced a community built on profound connections to nature and the Jewish faith. His seminal experience at Teva suggested how Jewish laws could provide a framework for sustainable practices in Philadelphia.

Back in the city, through his work with high school students in West Philadelphia’s Urban Nutrition Initiative, Passow witnessed the social injustice and food insecurity that characterize the neighborhood, and his training and experience began to coalesce around an idea: Jewish

Farm School would be a way to teach ancient Judaic agricultural principles, “The Order of the Seeds,” and to create a food system that would, he says, “ensure that the needs of all people are being met—and that they’re met with dignity.”

Though he feels that his path to activism combining Judaism, nature and sustainability can resonate with other young adults, Passow might not consider himself a religious leader, but he’s honoring the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, or performing acts of kindness that will “repair the world.”

Passow is the kind of person who seems to be at the center of gravity in any group, affably drawing everyone near to him and expanding his community at the same time—he is both firmly planted in place

“I ended up falling in love with Philadelphia and all the great social justice work happening here.”

— Bridget Flynn, JFS Repair the World fellow

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and in constant motion. Repairing the world is a lot of work.

Not just farming, not just for Jews Passow co-founded Jewish Farm School with friend Simcha Schwartz, and it’s evolved well beyond what its name suggests. The pair originally planned a farm for summer youth programs and launched one with Eden Village Camp in the Hudson Valley. In 2013, when Passow returned to Philadelphia, he applied his considerable talents for cultivating partnerships.

He found venues for Jewish Farm School’s sustainability education within communities of need, rather than operating in what he describes as a “Jewish bubble” of idealism.

JFS’ larger purpose strives to ensure survival through the creation of a pragmatic, inclusive social safety net. Philadelphia’s JFS offers skill-based workshops and farming opportunities to Jewish and non-Jewish young adults. Programming aims to give participants an awareness of our food system and its inequities, coupled with the practical “shtetl” skills to live sustainably—to grow your own food, build your own house or make your own clothes. It’s an approach with a long history in the region.

Jewish farmer education first took root locally in 1896 when Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf, acting on advice from Leo Tolstoy, purchased 100 acres of farmland in Doylestown to establish the National Farm School for young Jewish men, where students helped run the farm and grow their own food. The National Farm School became Delaware Valley University, where a farm remains part of the campus. Meanwhile, in 1909, young Eastern European Jewish immigrants founded the first kibbutz in present-day Israel to create a self-sufficient farm community. The kibbutz movement grew through the 1970s, attracting many Jewish-American teens to connect with their heritage by living and working on Israeli farms.

JFS’ summer program, Philly Farm Crew, coordinates volunteer labor for urban farms such as Teens 4 Good and Grow

Philly. Philly Farm Crew is not just about weeding. JFS educators explain Judaic beliefs, exploring their relevance to social justice. Volunteer Dirk McGurk appreciates the insights into Judaism, though he admits beautiful sunsets, interesting co-workers and growing food also draw him to Farm Crew. Forager David Siller, self-described as “culturally Jewish,” teaches JFS workshops. Siller thinks that many young adults grew up like him, without a meaningful connection to nature. “Gardening to me meant weeding the patio,” he says. He believes JFS fosters real connections, regardless of religion.

Passow recently began hosting Shabbat and Jewish holidays like Sukkoth, the harvest festival, in the West Philly backyard his family co-owns with neighbors. The modest lot shelters raised vegetable beds, children’s play areas, and a community table for sharing meals. These events help convince Passow that JFS can connect with millennials in important ways—by creating a community of practice for those with a religious imperative, and by offering a rich, spiritual context for secular activists.

Bridget Flynn, a Repair the World fellow at JFS who is not Jewish, feels that “Nati does a really good job of contextualizing Judaism in food justice, exploring universal values that everybody believes in… I’ve gotten to see how religion moves people and builds community in that sense.”

Mobilizing the next generation of advocates Since 2006, more than 100,000 new millennials have made Philadelphia their home, which presents an opportunity for cultivating young social activists. Sarah Horwitz, a native Philadelphian, “took a year off from Judaism” as a City Year volunteer in Los Angeles. Wanting to reconnect with her faith and her hometown, she applied to JFS, where she realized that “the point of religion is to give you morals and ethics to live by, and it’s ethics and morals that guide people to create social change.”

Horwitz’s colleague Flynn, a native New Yorker, adds, “I ended up falling in love with Philadelphia and all the great social

Above: Jewish Farm School volunteers pickle Napa cabbage Below: Fresh seasonal tomatoes from grown by the JFS program Opposite page: Jewish Farm School students learn how to make a cob oven with mud and bricks with Nati Passow, in blue

justice work happening here.”

JFS board chair Carly Zimmerman cites studies showing young adults’ lack of connection to Judaism. Millennials are not joining their parents’ synagogues or contributing to traditional philanthropies like The Jewish Federation. Startup Jewish initiatives across the country involve young adults in service-based nonprofits like JFS and Zimmerman’s organization, Challah for Hunger. Alternative Jewish philanthropies such as the Joshua Venture Group, a major funder of JFS, offer financial support.

“Those of us… in the nonprofit world believe that a powerful idea with people

behind it can change the status quo,” says Zimmerman.

Passow wants to help all Philadelphians prosper. He hopes the Jewish Farm School can expand its influence by creating a nonsectarian “urban sustainability center”—a permanent location that can model new urban technologies, offer workshops, Shabbat and holiday gatherings, and provide an inclusive alternative to the traditional Jewish community center.

The young visionary looks forward to a time when ancient Jewish beliefs form the basis for contemporary social justice, a time, he says, when people say, “Oh, Jewish Farm School—that makes sense.”

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REFLECTION i lay, open-mouthed in bed, my arms flung wide at my side to steady the whirling darkness. At this latitude I’m spinning 836 miles an hour round the earth’s axis; I often fancy I feel my sweeping fall as a breakneck arc like the dive of dolphins, and the hollow rushing of wind raises hair on my neck and the side of my face. In the orbit around the sun I’m moving 64,000 miles an hour. The solar system as a whole, like a merry-goround unhinged, spins, bobs, and blinks at the speed of 43,000 miles an hour along a course set by Hercules.

Someone has piped, and we are dancing a tarantella until the sweat pours. I open my eyes and I see dark, muscled forms curl out of water, with flapping gills and flattened eyes. I close my eyes and I see stars, deep stars giving way to deeper stars, deeper stars bowing to deepest stars at the crown of an infinite cone.”

annie dillard, from the essay Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

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A Movable Visual Feast We love the art on local food trucks almost as much as their delicious cuisine by emily kovach

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ourmet food trucks are everywhere in Philly, dishing up creative, restaurant-quality fare around town at lunchtime, festivals, concerts, farmers markets and street fairs. While it’s the cuisine cooking inside the trucks that entices us—melty deep-fried cheese curds, overstuffed tacos, authentic Southern barbecue and decadent cupcakes, just to name a few— many local trucks flaunt bold and engaging artwork on their exteriors. Much like the restaurant world, the mobile food industry is a competitive one, and creative graphics can help trucks stand out from the pack. We found a few of our city’s snazziest food trucks and asked their owners some questions about life on the road.

Mom-Mom’s Polish Food Cart

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THE TRUCK

Farm Truck THE OWNERS:

Kris Pepper and Eliot Coven farmtruckphilly.com @Farm_Truck on Twitter

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Cuisine: Seasonal, farm-to-table. We buy locally whenever possible and serve an eclectic mix of American, Asian, Mediterranean and fusion cuisine.

We often get asked if everything on our menu is healthy. To which we say, “It isn’t health food, it’s whole food.”

We’ll find you…? Roaming the Philadelphia area.

We do all sorts of events, from corporate lunches to food festivals. But most of our business is weddings and parties.

Who is your favorite customer? We have a wedding client from the beginning of last season who has so far recommended us to two more weddings.

He’s our biggest fan and we really appreciate him!

Tell us about your truck’s design: Our truck’s

paint job was designed and painted by Gabe Felice, an artist out of Pittsburgh. We saw a mural of his at a restaurant there and got in touch right away about coming out to do the job. It was great to see his process throughout the project: He made great use of layering spray paint and other media, such as paint markers. He also used found objects like milk crates to create stencils and add to the texture.

We get a lot of positive feedback from customers and clients, as well as the occasional negative comment from the “traditionalists” in the industry who prefer a branded wrap to a creative paint job. But what can we say? We’re kind of rebellious.

THE TRUCK

Mom-Mom’s Polish Food Cart THE OWNERS: Kaitlin Wines and Ryan Elmore

(they’re engaged!) @MomMomNomNom on Twitter Who is Mom-Mom? We are named after Kaitlin’s Mom-Mom (grandmother), Rita Chmielewski, a second-generation Polish immigrant and thriving 93-year-old. We could have called ourselves Babcia’s (the Polish word for grandmother) but Kait grew up eating/cooking/baking with Mom-Mom—it seemed best to represent both the Polish and American sides of us with our name and our food.

Cuisine: As Philly’s only Polish food truck, we offer scratch-made, natural, local-when-possible specialties that satisfy traditionalists, adventurous eaters and people who have never tasted a pierog (“pierogi” is plural) before. Primarily, we are known for our handmade pierogi, which are Polish dumplings seared on our grill, made with our tender dough.

They’re stuffed with everything from the traditional potatoes and white cheddar cheese and topped with caramelized onions and served with sour cream, to other varieties like cheesesteak pierogi, pastrami Reuben pierogi in rye dough with homemade Thousand Island dressing, pepperoni pizza pierogi and more.

We have sweets, too, like our “Elvis” pierogi: peanut butter fudge dumplings topped with bananas, bacon and honey.

The combinations of what pierogi can be are endless, and it’s fun to experiment. We also always

carry a variety of amazing kielbasa (Polish sausage) from awesome Philly purveyors; golabki, which are cabbage rolls stuffed with beef, pork and rice and baked in a buttery tomato sauce and topped with fresh dill. Our golabki have a cult following. We always have a rotation of soups and stews, like chlodnik, a chilled beet and buttermilk soup for summer, or bigos, a hunter’s stew, or pickle soup when we are feeling random.

Your usual parking spot: We bounce around, but generally we’re at the Headhouse Square Farmers Market on the first and third Sunday of every month, at every Night Market; sometimes at local breweries (Yards, Philadelphia Brewing Company, Flying Fish, 2SP... we serve great beer food!); lots of festivals, catering/events, etc.

Favorite customer(s): We love our customers who are from Poland or have grown up preparing and eating Polish food. One reason is that they know the time, effort and love that goes into making this food.

The other reason is that they are so connected and passionate about Polish cuisine (read: skeptical), and it’s fun to win them over. Our other favorite customers are those who have never tried Polish food before; we like to try to enlighten people.

Inspiration for your cart’s art: Our truck was designed by us in collaboration with Brands Imaging in West Kensington. We wanted to feature wycinanki on our cart, that colorful floral design which is based off of traditional Polish paper-cutting art. The color red is featured in part to represent the Polish flag. We wanted the cart to look attractive and fun, and for the colorful design to evoke Polish culture without immediately giving away the type of cuisine we make from afar. You have to approach us to know what we serve, and when people do, they’re usually pleasantly surprised that it’s something unique. It works to rope ‘em in!

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THE TRUCK

Dump-n-Roll THE OWNER: Peter Tong

dumpnroll.com @DumpnRoll215 on Twitter

Specialty: We’re the only world fusion inspired creative dumplings and spring rolls food truck!

Where we can find you? On social media, because I’m all over the tri-state area. But I’m often at Frankford and Girard in Fishtown, or in University City at 34th and Market streets, by Drexel University.

Customer favorite? Our Far West wontons: chipotle turkey bacon cheeseburger tempura wontons with honey bourbon barbecue sauce.

Who designed your truck?

The truck was designed by my friends Gain and Texas—they are two well-known graffiti artists in Philadelphia. I approached them with this chal-

lenging project, and they accepted it. We settled on a Philly skyline scene with the glow of a sunset backdrop and anime pop art.

The hardest part was to find an enclosed area that would fit the truck. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a place, so we had to work outside in the elements, which made it very difficult and prolonged the project for months.

After it was all said and done, I believe we have one of the most eye-catching and beautiful food trucks ever. Everyone says it’s different and beautiful. They love standing by the mouth while taking a picture—it’s like they’re about to get eaten by the character!

THE TRUCK

El Guaco Loco THE OWNER: Rafael de Luna

elguacoloco.com @ElGuacoLoco on Twitter Specialty: Mexican food/mole and guisados Your spot: Temple University, Monday—Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Most popular dish: Chicken with mole Who designed the truck?

My brother Ronaldo and I did it with help from our parents and Brands Imaging. We were inspired by the imagery of luchadors, Mexican wrestlers. Our customers tell us, “It’s the coolest looking truck on Temple’s campus!”

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SHORT AND SWEET A summer affair with strawberries

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arge, watery, cone-shaped strawberries are available any time at the grocery store, but if you want the real thing—fragrant, red all the way through, with juices that dribble down your chin—you have to wait for that sweet spot in the year, when late spring meets early summer.

Strawberries have one of the shortest growing seasons in our region, spanning from mid-May to mid-June (late June if we’re lucky). They belong to the rose family of plants and are the only fruit that bears its seeds on the outside. (If we’re being technical, those seeds that get caught in your teeth are the actual fruit of the strawberry plant; the fleshy part is nothing more than an engorged receptacle, similar to the white cone that remains on the stem when you pick a raspberry.)

by peggy paul casella

Look for plump, shiny, deep-red strawberries with green stems still intact, and pass on those that are dull, wet-looking or pale green in spots. Always be sure to check the bottom of the container for mold, too, as strawberries are extremely perishable, especially when packed closely together.

USES: Add them to agua fresca, lemonade, sangria, and other beverages and cocktails. Stir them into pancake and waffle batter. Buzz them into smoothies and shakes. Slice them for parfaits and sweet and savory salads. Chop them finely for salsas and gazpacho. Cook them down to make jellies and preserves. Churn them into ice cream or purée and freeze for granita. Bake them into cakes, muffins, scones, clafoutis, crumbles, cobblers and other desserts.

Peggy Paul Casella is a cookbook editor, writer, urban vegetable gardener, produce peddler and author of the blog Thursday Night Pizza.

Strawberry Jalapeño Salsa Makes about 2½ cups

Ingredients yy 1 pint strawberries, hulled and finely diced yy 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced yy 3 spring onions, white and light green parts only, finely sliced (½ cup) yy 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives yy Zest and juice of 1 lime yy ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt yy Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the strawberries, jalapeño, spring onions, chives, lime zest and juice, and salt. Add a few grinds of black pepper, toss well, then taste and add more salt or lime juice as desired.

2. If you’re not using it right away, transfer the salsa to an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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HOM E STEAD ACT S

COUNTER CULTURE Pickles and cheeses are among the many ferments you can try at home by anna herman

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any of us with yards have those small animals that are dubbed micro-livestock—chickens, ducks, rabbits and honeybees and the like—as part of our urban homestead and hyper-local food sources. But even apartment dwellers can improve their nutrition and cultivate microorganisms by fermenting food.

So many traditional and popular foods and beverages from cultures past and present are the result of the process of fermentation. Grapes become wine and then vinegar; honey can become mead; barley turns into beer; milk into cheese; tea transforms into kombucha; cabbage becomes kraut or kimchee. You may not know that salami is fermented meat; miso, tofu and tempeh are all different forms of fermented soybeans.

Cocoa beans are fermented before being used to make chocolate. Coffee and vanilla beans must be fermented between harvest and use. And where would we be as humans without the yeasts that transform wheat into bread?

The basic idea is to harness microorganisms. They can be the kind that are native to the surfaces of fruits and vegetables, those already present in milk or the kind that have been isolated, cultivated and packaged in a freeze-dried form. Once chosen, we create an environment for these cultures of yeasts and beneficial bacteria to thrive.

The resulting product is a magical transformation of simple ingredients into complex, flavorful foods.

Fermentation preserves food with less energy than freezing or canning, and the process increases nutrient availability and in many cases adds other health benefits.

Many delicious probiotic-rich fermented 54

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foods are easy to make at home in small batches. As the local growing season kicks into gear, it’s time to learn what used to be called “puting by”: taking the bounty of local farm markets, community and backyard gardens and making it last all winter by preserving what you can. Let’s start with a basic understanding of the art and science of fermentation.

As Wild Fermentation blog author and fermentor guru Sandor Katz states in his book “The Art of Fermentation,” the process is as simple as “chop, salt, pack and wait.” Basic vegetable ferments require sliced or grated vegetables; light salting or soaking in brine, mixing and mashing the contents till the veggie juices flow, and then packing into a jar or crock tightly so the vegetables are below the level of the liquid. If there is not enough liquid, some water or brine is added to the mix—and the jar or crock is then put aside.

Ambient temperature, as well as salt levels, influence the time it takes to ferment a given batch. The slower the fermentation process, the longer the ferment will last.

Some people like the fresh flavors of quick ferments, others enjoy the tang and depth of long fermented foods. Taste often and

experiment. If your kraut is too salty, you are free to rinse it before serving. If a heat wave has your kvass bubbling too quickly, pop it in the fridge. Watch out for tap water—the chlorine may inhibit the flourishing of microorganisms. I leave tap water out overnight and haven’t had a problem.

Be aware that dark green vegetables, such as collards and kale, can be very stinky and strongly flavored. I make small batches of almost any veggies I have extra of. Thinsliced savoy cabbage, minced spring garlic, sliced radishes and grated carrots mixed together and packed into wide-mouth quart-size mason jars are a special favorite.

Chard stems, often too tough to saute, ferment beautifully. The most alluring ferment might be beets, garlic and dill with horseradish—sweet, spicy, tart and pink! Later in the season, the bounty of tomatoes and peppers can be turned into fermented salsa; and the sweet root veggies such as parsnips and turnips make delightful pickle chips to accompany winter roasts.

If you’re looking for an easy way to add to your homesteading skills, join in the community of fermenters who span the globe by making friends with the unseen organisms that make our food flavorful.

Fermentation preserves food with less energy than freezing or canning, and the process increases nutrient availability and in many cases adds other health benefits.

P HOTO BY G E N E SMI RNOV

HOME STEAD ACT S

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Join us for active summer days filled with creek adventures, arts and crafts, creative play, picnics, woodland explorations, games, sports, and more on our beautiful 425-acre campus.

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2016 programs run from June 27 through August 19.

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+ +

Join InLiquid for their 17th installment of Art for the Cash Poor on June 3-5, 2016, one of the longest running art festivals in the Kensington/Fishtown area and held at Crane Arts.

Plus, relax in an outdoor beer garden with brews from Philadelphia Brewing Company.

Friday, June 3 Kickoff Party doubles as a benefit for InLiquid and the AIDS Fund. Tickets are $30, $120 for 5, or $40 at the door, with proceeds split 50/50 between the two non-profits.

Free and open to the public, Saturday & Sunday, 12-6pm.

At Crane Arts | 1400 N. American St. | InLiquid.org

J une 3 Brown Bag Lunch with Chief Curator Anthony Elms Bring a lunch to the Institute of Contemporary Art mezzanine for a new educational series with curators about the process behind organizing exhibitions, as well as discussions about shows currently on view at ICA. icaphila.org WHEN: Noon to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th St.

Cooking with Judi at Linvilla Orchards

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Learn some fresh ideas for utilizing herbs in your kitchen. Classes fill quickly, so please call 610-876-7116 to register. Linvilla.com

The Roots Picnic

WHEN: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Linvilla Orchards, 137 West Knowlton Road, Media, Pa.

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Art for the Cash Poor Nothing is priced above $199 at this block party showcasing the work of more than 100 artists with ceramics, photography, paintings, live music and food truck fare. inliquid.org WHEN: June 3, 5:30 to 9 p.m.; June 4 and 5, noon to 4 p.m. COST: June 4 and 5 is free; June 3 preview is $30 in advance; $40 at the door; $120 for a group of five WHERE: Crane Arts Building, 1400 N. American St.

The legendary hip-hop group and “Tonight Show” band will back headliner Usher for its ninth year at Festival Pier in Penn’s Landing. Other acts include Swizz Beatz, DMX, Willow Smith, Future, Leon Bridges and more. rootspicnic.com WHEN: Noon COST: $100 to $125 WHERE: 601 N. Columbus Blvd.

Fairmount Avenue Arts Crawl Participate in all sorts of family friendly craft projects or come and enjoy live entertainment and exhibits at various shops, galleries and venues in this thriving scene. fairmountaveartscrawl.com WHEN: Noon to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Art Museum Area, between 16th and 26th streets

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EVENT S A student at work in the Field Journal Fun class at Morris Arboretum

Morris Arboretum Discovery Series: Field Journal Fun

Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Seminar

Before you venture through the colorful gardens at Morris Arboretum, visit the discovery table and create your own field journal to document your discoveries, observations and notes about the day. morrisarboretum.org

U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research and Development is hosting one-day seminars on everything there is to know about the Pennsylvania medical marijuana system.

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. COST: Free with admission, $0–$17 WHERE: Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Ave.

WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: $350 per person WHERE: Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market St.

Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championships

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The Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship is back again at Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park). The festival area will include live music, food trucks and DJs. usasevenscrc.com

21st Annual Arts in the Park

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. COST: $33–$99 WHERE: 1 Stadium Drive, Chester, Pa.

East Park Strawberry Harvest Festival Philadelphia Orchard Project is holding its eighth annual East Park Strawberry Harvest Festival, a family event featuring lots of food, crafts, games and other activities. phillyorchards.org WHEN: Noon to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Historic Strawberry Mansion, 2450 Strawberry Mansion Drive

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uscprd.com

Join Friends of High School Park for a day filled with live music, jury-selected artists, food, Sustainable Cheltenham exhibits, kids’ activities and more. This event helps support the restoration of this 11 acre park located in Cheltenham, half a block from the Elkins Park Train Station. Rain date: June 12. highschoolpark.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. COST: $5 WHERE: 7910 High School Park, Elkins Park, Pa.

Philadelphia International Cycling Classic More than a dozen men’s and women’s teams will compete in separate races along the same 12.3 mile course, looping

through the city and ending at the Manayunk Wall. Check out the website for the best locations to view the action. philadelphiainternationalcyclingclassic.com WHEN: 8 a.m. COST: Free WHERE: Lyceum Avenue and Pechin Street

Trail Steward Hike The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association invites nature enthusiasts to see the ins and outs of local trails through the eyes of trail stewards. Led by Michael Kleiman, this hike downstream will explore the Green Ribbon Trail around Germantown Academy, the newest steppingstone creek crossing and the newly restored wetlands. wvwa.org WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Germantown Academy, 310 Morris Road, Fort Washington, Pa.

J une 7 Read & Pick Strawberries Parents and young children are invited to read books about strawberries, learn how they grow and when they should be picked, and then go out and gather some to take home. Registration requested. terhuneorchards.com WHEN: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to noon COST: $7 per child WHERE: Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, N.J.

EVENT S

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Philly Farm Crew: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education

Philadelphia Latino Film Festival

The Philly Farm Crew, a joint initiative of the Jewish Farm School and Repair the World: Philly, volunteers throughout the city on urban farms and gardens. jewishfarmschool.org/phillyfarmcrew WHEN: Noon to 2 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road, Philadelphia, Pa.

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Screenings and discussions of groundbreaking works by Latin American and Latino filmmakers promote and celebrate a cross-cultural dialog and understanding. phlaff.org WHEN: June 10, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; June 11 and 12, noon to 7:30 p.m. COST: $0 to $30 WHERE: Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad St.

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ICA Brown Bag Lunch with Associate Curator Kate Kraczon Bring a lunch to the Institute of Contemporary Art mezzanine for a new educational series with curators about the process behind organizing exhibitions, as well as discussions about shows currently on view at ICA. icaphila.org WHEN: Noon to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 118 S. 36th St.

Philly Farm Crew: Teens 4 Good at East Poplar Farm The Philly Farm Crew, a joint initiative of the Jewish Farm School and Repair the World: Philly, volunteers throughout the city on urban farms and gardens. jewishfarmschool.org/phillyfarmcrew WHEN: 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: North 8th and Poplar streets

In this hands-on class, students watch side-by-side demonstrations of making ricotta two ways, then creating a savory lasagna lunch with a sweet ricotta dessert using the cheese made in class. Participants will have time to ask questions over lunch and a tasting of Cherry Grove Farm treats. shopcherrygrovefarm.com WHEN: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. COST: $70 WHERE: 3200 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrence Township, N.J.

Summer Love Fest Victory Brewing Company hosts a fivehour, family friendly event of summertime activities, live music from local bands and outdoor lawn games. Prizes will be raffled and the Parkesburg Brewpub will feature a special limited menu. victorybeer.com WHEN: 1 to 6 p.m. COST: Pay as you go WHERE: Victory Brewing Company, 3127 Lower Valley Road, Parkesburg, Pa.

A Bird in the Hand: Banding at the WVWA MAPS Station Visit Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association’s banding site and see bird banding in action. Learn about avian conservation and research techniques and find out what information can be collected by catching wild birds. Limited to 12 people. WVWA members only. wvwa.org WHEN: 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. COST: Free WHERE: Crossways Preserve, Cathcart Road, Blue Bell, Pa.

Open Hive Days Join apiarist Dan Borkoski, of the Land Conservancy of Southern Chester County, for an inside look at the busy, buzzy world of honeybees. Participants will get a close-up look at a hive during routine inspection while gaining practical beekeeping knowledge. tlcforscc.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: Members $5; nonmembers $10 WHERE: New Leaf Eco Center, 776 Rosedale Road, Kennett Square, Pa.

Homeschooler Days: Telling the Bartram Story The historic Bartram house will be open after a year of restoration. Participants will get a look at the renovations, then put on their curator hats to design museum exhibits that might tell part of the Bartram story. This program serves home-schooled students, ages 5 through 13, and meets monthly with morning and afternoon sessions. bartramsgarden.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. COST: Free for members; $12 for nonmembers WHERE: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Ave.

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EVENT S

A vendor offers her wares at a Food Trust Night Market

Gallery Opening: Bryophilia

Philly Farm Crew: La Finquita

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education’s gallery will display Marion Wilson’s digital photographs of microscopically enlarged moss species. schuylkillcenter.org

The Philly Farm Crew, a joint initiative of the Jewish Farm School and Repair the World: Philly, volunteers throughout the city on urban farms and gardens.

WHEN: 4 to 6 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road

jewishfarmschool.org/phillyfarmcrew

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Philly Pride Parade and Festival This year’s theme is “Are you connected?” at the region’s largest LGBT festival, which annually attracts more than 25,000 revelers for food, drink, entertainment and solidarity. phillygaypride.org WHEN: Parade starts at 11:30 a.m. and arrives at festival location around 1 p.m. COST: Festival admission $15 WHERE: Gayborhood to Penn’s Landing

Heartwood Music Festival The Philadelphia Folksong Society is celebrating Awbury Arboretum’s centennial year with live music, circus performances, a petting zoo, a pop-up disc golf course, kids’ crafts, face painting, food truck vendors, a craft and flea market, and more. awbury.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. COST: $10 in advance, $15 at the gate; free for children under 12 and residents in 19138 and 19144 WHERE: Awbury Arboretum, 1 Awbury Road

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WHEN: Noon to 2 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 428 Master St.

Odunde Festival The 41st celebration of African, Caribbean and South American culture will feature more than 100 food and craft vendors along a 12-block radius of Graduate Hospital.

Getting Rid of Plastic Bags in Your Life Sustainable Haddon Heights offers a demonstration on plastic bags with a visit from the Plastic Bag Monster. Win a reusable produce bag. Borrow reusable bags to use at the market. sustainablehaddonheights.org WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Station Avenue, Haddon Heights, N.J., adjacent to the farmers market

Workshop: Herbs for Heart Health

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 23rd and South streets

Explore how these plants can strengthen the heart muscle, reduce blood pressure and tone the cardiovascular system. The workshop will also touch on how these plants can affect emotions of joy, grief and heartache.

Illustration Workshop: Bartram Trees

WHEN: Noon to 2 p.m. COST: Free for members; $15 for nonmembers WHERE: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Ave.

odundefestival.org

From the stately Yellowwood to North America’s oldest ginkgo tree (ginkgo biloba), Bartram’s Garden plays host to a diverse array of trees. In this workshop, explore the garden and learn to render key elements of many different species of tree, from bark to crown. Step-by-step instruction and materials will be provided. bartramsgarden.org WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. COST: Free for members; $18 for nonmembers WHERE: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Ave.

bartramsgarden.org

Creekside Bird Garden Tour This self-guided tour features experts at each of five Cheltenham sites. Learn how to attract birds to your yard and protect local creeks at the same time. ttfwatershed.org WHEN: Noon to 3 p.m. COST: $15 suggested donation WHERE: Pick up the tour guide at Creekside Co-op, 7909 High School Road, Elkins Park, Pa.

EVENT S Flower Show and Rain Garden Presentation Hosted by Horticultural Society of South Jersey. Mike Haberland, associate professor and environmental agent for Burlington and Camden counties, will present the program Rain Gardens for Homeowners. HSSJ.org WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 820 Mercer St., Cherry Hill, N.J.

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Permaculture Design Course

The Bird Feeding Garden

Have you considered becoming a certified permaculture designer? Permaculture expert Wayne Weiseman will be teaching this nine-day, comprehensive course.

Join Steve Saffier of Audubon Pennsylvania and learn what plants our native birds look to for food, shelter and nesting and how you can turn your traditional landscape into an eating garden for birds in a short period. wvwa.org

J une 15 Natural Lands Management Workshop Experts present a variety of tools/ procedures to assist public and private land managers in developing best management practices. Morning lectures on ArcGIS software, forest and stream restoration projects, and invasive species control programs are followed by afternoon tours of Mt. Cuba Center’s natural lands projects.

WHEN: 7 to 8:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Four Mills Barn, 12 Morris Road, Ambler, Pa.

Philly Farm Crew: Bartram's Garden The Philly Farm Crew, a joint initiative of the Jewish Farm School and Repair the World: Philly, volunteers throughout the city on urban farms and gardens.

permacultureproject.com WHEN: June 18 to 26 COST: $800 per person WHERE: Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

Free Plant Clinic Bring your plants or a piece of a diseased plant to get identification and suggestions on treatment and other gardening tips. Bring a sample in an empty pill bottle of any insect from your garden that requires identification. camden.njaes.rutgers.edu WHEN: 9 a.m. to noon COST: Free WHERE: Camden County Environmental Center, 1301 Park Blvd., Cherry Hill, N.J.

jewishfarmschool.org/phillyfarmcrew WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 5400 Lindbergh Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pa.

Community Gardens Day Celebrate the benefits of community gardening with the Neighborhood Gardens Trust.

More than 40 community gardens across Philadelphia will welcome the public for tours, gardening advice, demonstrations and more. Walking, bike and bus tours available with pre-registration. ngtrust.org

mtcubacenter.org

Summer Solstice Celebration

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: $90, (lunch included) WHERE: Mt. Cuba Center, 3120 Barley Mill Road, Hockessin, Del.

Celebrate the longest day of the year and the kickoff to summer with live animal shows, field games, a campfire and crafts with Wayne Arts Center. riverbendeec.org

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WHEN: 6 to 8:30 p.m. COST: $20/family, free to Riverbend members WHERE: Riverbend Environmental Education Center, 1950 Spring Mill Road, Gladwyne, Pa.

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Various locations

Three Ring Circus Fundraiser for The Resource Exchange

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mtcubacenter.org

Acrobatic and theatrical performances, an outdoor movie screening, food, beer, and music by West Philadelphia Orchestra and Chickabiddy help raise funds for The Resource Exchange to continue its mission to promote creative reuse, recycling and resource conservation. theresourceexchange.org

WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: $185 WHERE: Mt. Cuba Center, 3120 Barley Mill Road, Hockessin, Del.

WHEN: 6 to 10 p.m. COST: $15 WHERE: The Resource Exchange, 1701 N. 2nd St.

Native Plants of Summer Learn to identify 60 beautiful and functional native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials chosen by Mt. Cuba Center’s horticultural staff. Through lectures and outdoor labs, examine the key identifying characteristics of each plant, their preferred site conditions and environmental value.

This is a six-session course on Thursdays.

Movie Night: ‘A Sense of Wonder’ Rachel Carson, in the final year of her life and struggling with cancer, recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people as she emerges as an advocate for the natural world. GMOFreeNJ.com WHEN: 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Collingswood Library, 771 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, N.J.

J une 18 Juneteenth In commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, Juneteenth will kick off with a ceremony and parade on Germantown Avenue, with historic sites hosting entertainment, discussions, vendors and educational exhibits. freedomsbackyard.com WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: 6300 block of Germantown Avenue

Treat Dad to an afternoon at New Jersey’s largest estate vineyard overlooking the Musconetcong Valley. Visitors will enjoy wine tasting, a cellar tour, live music and more. Bring a lawn chair, blanket or beach umbrella. No pets or EZ-Up shelters are allowed. albavineyard.com WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. COST: $10 for adults 21 and over; $5 for ages 13 to 20; free for children 12 and under WHERE: Alba Vineyard, 269 Riegelsville Warren Glen Road, Phillipsburg, N.J.

Waste Not, Want Not Sundays on Station with Sustainable Haddon Heights presents a demonstration on canning, freezing and drying food as a way to preserve the local summer harvest. sustainablehaddonheights.org WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Station Avenue, Haddon Heights, N.J., adjacent to the farmers market

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EVENT S RiverFest & Schuylkill River Boat Parade Come to Bartram’s Garden for a day of fun on the river and shoreline. There will be kayaking and rowboating on the river, ice cream, music, pony rides, a bike clinic, farmers market and more. bartramsgarden.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Ave.

J une 21 Free Time Adventures This interactive outdoor nature activity is designed for children ages 5 through 12.

Each day will feature a different theme, focusing around activities such as bird watching, searching for salamanders or letterboxing. This program is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer. tlcforscc.org WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. COST: Members $10; nonmembers $20 WHERE: Bucktoe Creek Preserve, 432 Sharp Road, Avondale, Pa.

Read & Pick Cherries Celebrate everything wonderful about cherries by reading books about this delectable fruit. An educational component follows.

Farm staff will show you how cherries grow and how they should be picked, and children will have a chance to gather and take home some of their own. Registration requested. terhuneorchards.com WHEN: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to noon COST: $7 per child WHERE: Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, N.J.

J une 25 Repair Fair #8: Philly Fixers Guild The public is welcome to carry in their inoperative/damaged/broken possessions and learn how to fix them. A talented team of fixers will be on hand to help and inform on how to create less waste and be more self-sufficient. phillyfixersguild.org

Callowhill Night Market The Food Trust brings back its beloved street festival that will pack the streets with fans of fine local cuisine and entertainment. thefoodtrust.org WHEN: TBD COST: Pay as you go WHERE: Exact location TBD

The third annual Hoedown is an evening of locally sourced, farm-fresh food, live music and outdoor games, set against the backdrop of the Weavers Way Farm on the grounds of Awbury Arboretum. Guests are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket. weaversway.coop/hoedown WHEN: 5 to 9 p.m. COST: $15 to $85; free for children 5 and under WHERE: 1011 E. Washington Lane

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Portside Arts Center, 2531 E. Lehigh Ave.

Great American Backyard Campout

Summer Native Plant Sale

Spend the night under the stars in the woodlands. The Schuylkill Center is joining the National Wildlife Federation to host the 12th annual Great American Backyard Campout.

Go hiking, tell stories around the campfire, canoe and meet animals from the Wildlife Clinic. Picnic dinner and breakfast are included. Registration is required, and rental tents are available. schuylkillcenter.org

Celebrate summer by adding pollinatorfriendly native plants to your garden. The Schuylkill Center nursery is stocked with a wide selection of flowering shrubs, vines and perennials that provide important food for insect larvae and pollinators throughout the summer. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to help you select appropriate plants for your garden. schuylkillcenter.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. COST: Pay as you go WHERE: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road

WHEN: 3 p.m. COST: $40 WHERE: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road

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Soap Making Workshop Nichole Gerding from Thankful Sage Farm School will teach participants the recipes and techniques for both cold process (lye based) and pour-and-mold soaps. Everyone will get hands-on experience making meltand-pour soaps and receive a bar to take home. jewishfarmschool.org WHEN: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. COST: $10 suggested donation WHERE: Jewish Farm School, 5020 Cedar Ave.

‘The Art of Gardening’: Book Signing with R. William Thomas

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Third Annual Hoedown

Join Greensgrow in celebration of the release of the new book “The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration and Innovative Planting Techniques from Chanticleer,” which helps unwrap and explain why Philly’s public garden is so beloved. greensgrow.org WHEN: 11 a.m. to noon COST: Free WHERE: Greensgrow Farms, 2501 E. Cumberland St.

Whitesbog Blueberry Festival The 33rd annual celebration includes blueberry picking, wagon rides, a music stage, 40 crafters and artists, local food vendors, blueberry baked goods, native plants and cases of blueberries to take home. whitesbog.org WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. COST: $10 per car WHERE: 120 Whitesbog Road, Browns Mills, N.J.

J une 26 Mozzarella from Scratch Learn the basics of using rennet to turn milk into cheese in a mozzarella-making demonstration, then stretch fresh curd into your own fresh mozzarella. Wrap up class with a cheese tasting and instructor-led comparison between fresh mozzarella and aged Cherry Grove Farm cheeses. shopcherrygrovefarm.com WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. COST: $70 WHERE: Cherry Grove Farm, 3200 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrence Township, N.J.

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Save the Pollinators Sundays on Station with Sustainable Haddon Heights presents a demonstration on ways to save the pollinators that keep our biosphere buzzing. sustainablehaddonheights.org WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Station Avenue, Haddon Heights, N.J., adjacent to the farmers market

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Wineberry Harvest Bring your family and harvesting pails out to gather sweet, delicious wineberries—an invasive plant that the Schuylkill Center needs help removing from the forest. Take home your harvest and make wineberry pies, muffins and pancakes, or simply eat them fresh from the bramble.

Ricotta Lunch Class In this hands-on class, watch side-by-side demonstrations of making ricotta two ways, then create a savory lasagna lunch with a sweet ricotta dessert using the cheese made in class. Then, ask questions over lunch during a tasting of Cherry Grove Farm treats.

schuylkillcenter.org

shopcherrygrovefarm.com

WHEN: 10 a.m. to noon COST: Free WHERE: Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. COST: $70 WHERE: Cherry Grove Farm, 3200 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrence Township, N.J.

Summer Lawn Care Sundays on Station with Sustainable Haddon Heights presents a demonstration on summer lawn care. Learn how to save time, energy and water. sustainablehaddonheights.org WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: Free WHERE: Station Avenue, Haddon Heights, N.J., adjacent to the farmers market

J uly 5 Read & Pick: Monarchs, Swallowtails and Honeybees—Oh My! Learn about butterflies, bees and other helpful pollinators. Parents and children will read books about flowers, gardens, honey and insects followed by an educational component. Everyone will then make his or her own butterfly to take home. Registration requested. terhuneorchards.com WHEN: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to noon COST: $7 per child WHERE: Terhune Orchards, 330 Cold Soil Road, Princeton, N.J.

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Haddonfield Crafts and Fine Art Festival This annual celebration is one of the area’s premier events, attracting crowds of more than 100,000 people enjoying food, music and art. downtownhaddonfield.com WHEN: July 9, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and July 10, noon to 5 p.m.

COST: Free WHERE: Kings Highway and Tanner Street in Haddonfield, N.J.

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Camp Make It and Bake It This five-day, half-day camp will instruct kids ages 6 through 11 how to bake and cook. Camp includes a camp journal, recipes to use at home and lots of tasty samples.

March for a Clean Energy Revolution On the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, join thousands of clean energy advocates from around the world who will gather and demand a more hopeful future for our planet. Hundreds of local, regional and national organizations will join together in downtown Philadelphia. If your organization would like to join the march, or if you want to add your individual voice, keep up to date on protest meeting times and locations by visiting the organizing website. cleanenergymarch.org WHEN: July 24 COST: Free WHERE: Center City Philadelphia

city-kitchen.ticketleap.com WHEN: July 11 through 15, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. COST: $250 WHERE: Reading Terminal Market, 51 N. 12th St.

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D IS PATCH

WEB OF LIFE Can we find a connection to the cosmos through our personal action on climate change? essay by jane dugdale

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wo years ago, my congregation, Central Baptist Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania, decided to focus on climate change as a moral and spiritual issue through its Ecology Mission Group. I had been a member of this activist congregation for decades, but my spiritual journey from growing up as a Southern Baptist in the ’50s had been like a gradual awakening from traditional orthodoxy: God is up there, we are down here, Earth is something else, and those pagan religions that see gods everywhere in nature are wrong.

With encouragement from PA Interfaith Power & Light, grant money from a local bequest and congregational consensus, we organized more than a year of activities, trekking together to the NYC Climate March, organizing educational workshops and conducting a carbon emissions reduction campaign, Getting to Zero, at our church. I was excited to be a part of the planning, but had little understanding of how the activities, readings and speakers might take me from activism to a deeper spiritual practice.

Through our readings and discussions, I came to see how the Bible is infused with a sense of God in nature, that our civilization has been based on the idea that humans can dominate nature and each other because they see everything as separate. I opened up to the possibility that from the very beginning, cosmic evolution has been based on cooperation as much as competition.

“New science” describes an intelligent, purposive universe much in line with the stories of indigenous peoples who believe in the inherent connection among all things.

It has been liberating for me to get acquainted with these ideas, which have given me “permission” to connect my spirituality directly to nature. God as Creator has taken on new meaning for me. Instead of Some One “out there” creating the Universe, I now see the Universe Herself as the Creative Force that I can call God. I believe there is scientific substance to the biblical teaching that God is Love, working from the beginning of the universe to bring about and support life in all its abundant diversity.

Now that I see that God—that Spirit—is in everything, all is sacred: Everything that is, is made of stardust, an idea born out in what we have learned from physics, so we are indeed sisters of the trees and rocks. If God’s Spirit is in the rocks, how can we recklessly frack the Earth’s crust? If God’s Spirit is in the soil, how can we destroy it with chemicals? If God’s spirit is in the air we breathe, how can we poison the air with carbon? If God’s spirit is in chickens and cattle, how can we buy eggs and meat from animals reared and slaughtered on factory farms?

Love is cooperation and caring, working together for a greater purpose. Love was in the Mother Star that exploded to make our sun, planets, earth, volcanoes, oceans and life. It is our moral and spiritual duty to take care of God’s creation, not by presuming to dominate, but by cooperating with and loving nature.

Jane Dugdale is a congregant at Central Baptist Church and an Ecology Mission Group member. Find out about their Getting to Zero campaign at www.cbcwayne.org.

Each month, Dispatch features personal reflections on adventures in sustainability. Have a story you’d like to share? Email getinvolved@gridphilly.com

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IL LUSTRATIO N BY L AURA WEI SZER

AUG

18 @

WHYY

150 S 6th St

2016

The first city-wide sustainability celebration honoring Philadelphia's leaders & unsung heroes.

Awards. Munch & Learn. Local Fare & Drinks. Music.

Presented by

TICKETS ON SALE SustainPHL.COM

A springboard for success How one Penn alumni turned his academic pursuits into a thriving career.

Tom UyBarreta Master of Environmental Studies ’04, University of Pennsylvania To read more about Tom’s experiences in the federal government, visit www.upenn.edu/grid

“Coaching is one of those things in life where you feel like you have a direct effect on people’s lives,” says Tom UyBarreta (Master of Environmental Studies ’04), a swimming coach for the Center City Master’s team The Fins. It was swimming that first brought Tom to Penn as an engineering major and eventually to a master’s degree and a career with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After taking an environmental studies course during his first year at Penn, Tom changed lanes to a new major and path.

Staff from Penn’s MES program are here to answer your questions face-to-face on the

As an undergraduate, Tom interned with the EPA’s waste minimization group and continued to volunteer with the EPA through his graduate education. “The MES program helped me get my career going,” he adds, “The broad perspective it gave me in policy and on-the-ground science focused my understanding of how the EPA functions.” Today, Tom’s position with the EPA is centered on the National Environmental Policy Act, where he also has a direct effect on people’s lives and the environment. “I work for a good cause every day with the EPA. It’s a great place to work, there’s no doubt about that.”

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