Nittany writes in…

With the first nice day of spring ,the police have started ticketing those cars parked illegally on Nelson Ferry next to the park. Park visitors will need to more closely abide by the no parking signs and/or park in the designated lot offered by the church.

Here’s something I’ve been wondering…why are the new “no parking signs” facing the other side of the street?  Aren’t most signs usually perpendicular to the street, facing down the road so oncoming drivers can see them upon approach?

With the publishing of Michael Pollan’s unintentional mission statement “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” in 2006, interest in the local food movement has exploded over the last 3 years.  Across the country, many different factions of farmers and eaters began to take a critical look at what they ate and where it came from.

But still in its infancy, the movement is endangered of being defined by its own extremes.  Stories about local food that float into popular culture often focus on the efforts of the wealthy, featuring recently retired corporate executives buying up old farm houses and producing goat’s milk cheese or local high-profile chefs taking up the food-to-table cause.   Outside of our own Atlanta, Serenbe sits as an upper-class community/utopia focused as much on food sustainability as on the principles of New Urbanism.

And while these high-profile efforts remain vital components of a larger picture, four-star restaurants and $4 heirlooms are often mistaken as the end goal of foodies everywhere.

Luckily, that’s not true.

The end goal is actually a lot more complicated and a lot less Utopian.  This month Mother Jones magazine details the struggle of locovores nationwide as they turn their attention away from their own habits and toward the habits of our agriculture policy.  While the first step was personally enlightening, the second is bound to be a seemingly endless slog through the mud of agribusiness subsidies.

And while this effort won’t provide as many great garden photo-ops or opportunities to sample great cuisine, it should never be forgotten that this is ultimately the more important and impactful goal of local food advocates everywhere.

Luckily, Pollan keeps reminding us of this.

DHS Students Speak w/ Senator David Shafer

Kids and the GA Capitol seem to go hand-in-hand today.

DHS teacher Chris Billingsley writes in…

Thirty Decatur High School students from Mr. Beau Dominguez, Ms. Ann Coleman, and Mr. Chris Billingsley’ 9th grade government classes spent the past three days at the state capital learning about state policy issues.  Besides meeting Governor Perdue, students spent time with lobbyist Mo Thrash (a Decatur resident), Senators David Adelman and David Shafer, Representatives Mary Margaret Oliver and Stephanie Stuckey- Benfield, Mayor Bill Floyd and Commissioner Fred Boykin, and many others.

Three days is quite impressive!   All I can remember from my day at the CT capitol in high school is hitting my head on the ornate detailing of the Charter Oak chair.

Jeff and Greg of Whit’s End send along info on a new “club” they’ve just started…

On your next stop in to the store to purchase something, let us know you want to join our Frequent Shoppers Club. For every $250 pretax dollars you spend, we will reward you with a $25 gift certificate/store credit which will be good for 6 months. No need to do anything but let us know, we will keep track of everything.

Spring items are here, and more is arriving weekly. The remaining winter items are so discounted, it hurts! So, come and get em! For a limited time, if you buy a clearance item, we will give you 10% off your purchase of a new spring item.

Kids from left to right: Max Holland, Noah Watts-Hull, Paul Coiron, Emily Sciarrone, Terry Cronic, Jude Holmes, Boyd Brim, Brogan Ellis, Jack Bricker and Sienna Elliott

This past Tuesday, cyclists from all over metro Atlanta headed to the Capitol to promote bike awareness.  And while many of the photos and stories I’ve seen thus far about the two-wheeled campaign have focused on area political leaders sporting smart-looking helmets, there was another group from Decatur that was perhaps even more unique.  Kids.

Cathy writes in and sends along a great photo (above)…

10 kids from Glennwood Academy along with several parents, joined the Georgia Rides to the Capitol campaign.  Riding behind a 12-motorcycle police escort, the kids joined Mayor Bill Floyd and hundreds of other cyclists to raise awareness about the need for the development of a regional-scale bicycle network of both on-road facilities and multi-use-trails, and a pedestrian network focused around major transit facilities and activity centers and near schools.

Thousands of cyclists converged on the Capitol to hear legislators speak to this effort.

The only kids there were from Decatur.  Pretty cool.