Iron Cafe, a pastel painting of the corner of Clinton Street and River Road in the historic Village of Montgomery. See more of my work at www.ShawnDellJoyce.com

By Shawn Dell Joyce

New York is near the top of the list of states in terms of depressed residents. Much of this holiday malaise can be traced to a sagging economy and unrealistic holiday expectations. A parents’ group, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, wrote letters to 24 leading toy companies and retailers to state their concern about ads aimed at kids. These parents expressed dismay that they can’t afford the pricey toys that toymakers are heavily advertising to children, and said children feel diminished when they don’t get those pricey toys.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we are descended from settlers’ children who rejoiced at receiving a penny and a stick of candy as their main holiday gifts. In the 1800’s, people earned $1,500 per year and would have had one nice set of clothes for church, and one shabby set for daily life. They worked twice as hard for a simple diet because they had to grow most of what they ate. Over the course of 200-plus years, we have grown an average of 4 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier, our houses have more than doubled in square footage, and we no longer delight in a penny and a stick of candy.

We need to reclaim our holidays as times of family togetherness and joy, no matter what shape the economy is in. Even if you don’t celebrate the Christian holiday, or the Jewish Hannukah, or African Kwanzaa, you can still celebrate a “Secular Sabbath,” in the words of New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman. A secular Sabbath is a break from email, cell phones, television, and all the other distractions of modern living that keep us alienated from each other.

“You need not be elderly to remember when we had no choice but to reduce activity on Sundays; stores and offices — even restaurants — were closed, there were certainly no electronics, and we were largely occupied by ourselves or our families,” writes Bittman.

Here are some inexpensive  ways to get more joy from the holiday season:

—  Find joy in the mundane moments. Notice the details of the season, new fallen snow, laughing children off from school, glittering icicles and the sparkle of a lit tree.

— Avoid comparing your decorated house with your neighbors or your co-worker’s holiday plans with your own and so forth. Instead of comparing, which is almost always unfavorable, be genuinely glad for your fellows, delight in their joy, and you in turn will feel greater satisfaction.

— Bring holiday cheer to neighbors by baking cookies and then delivering them. No neighbors? Drop in at the Montgomery Nursing Home or another near you.

— Put gratitude in your attitude. Start your holidays off with a gratitude list noting all the wonderful tangible and intangible blessings you have in your life. Counting your blessings will keep you focused more on what you do have

— Keep the spirit of the holidays in your heart all year. Remember to give often and generously. Make volunteerism part of your daily routine. Research indicates that both the giver and the receiver of a good deed get an endorphin boost from the act.

Shawn Dell Joyce is an award-winning columnist and founder of the Wallkill River School in Montgomery. Shawn@zestoforange.com 

By Shawn Dell Joyce

We have all heard the old saying that it is better to give than to receive, but recently, a new study proved scientifically that the real key to happiness is generous giving. In times of economic stress, it is even more important because giving actually builds your wealth, and the wealth of the local community.

People who give charitably are 43 percent more likely to say they are “very happy” than non-givers, while non-givers are three and a half times more likely to report they are “not happy at all,” notes Arthur Brooks in his new book, “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism.”

In a surprising turn, Brooks proves that giving also increases personal and well as national prosperity. Brooks quotes a survey that controlled for education, age, race and all the other outside explanations for giving and income increases. The survey proved that a dollar donated to charity was associated with $4.35 in extra income for the giver. $3.75 of that was due to the dollar given to charity, and the multiplier effect it has in the local economy.

But we really don’t need a study to show us how giving benefits our local community.  Many of us lot our jobs and/or homes this year. In fact, one out of eight of our neighbors needs unemployment benefits, and one in four children relies on food stamps. If you are having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit because of reasons like these, it is especially important to give.  

         There are angels among us who do this every day, without fail, and regardless of the economy. I won’t embarrass them by using their full names, and it really isn’t important “who” so much as “how.”

Take grocery clerk Karena who volunteers at the Montgomery Food Pantry and organizes food drives in her place of employment. She strengthens a safety net for 181 local families, and stands between them and hunger. Not a wealthy person herself, she manages to make a huge difference in people’s lives by giving her time and energy.

Edie is a local farmer who is always there when 4H or other children’s organizations need help. Her service to the community has furthered many of our youth’s understanding of our agricultural heritage.

Marion is an octogenarian who (almost single-handedly) has preserved much of Montgomery’s history. Without her vast volunteer hours; stories and treasures of our recent past would be lost to future generations.

Bob is a volunteer fireman who also volunteers his time and energy to at least three other nonprofit community organizations. Volunteer firemen have to be ready on a moment’s notice to place their life on the line to serve our community.

Finally there’s Lily, a senior who volunteers much of her time and resources to local nonprofits. I happen to run one that benefits from her generosity. She also doesn’t have a vast fortune, but still manages to give of herself through hundreds of random acts of kindness in a single day.

           Start by listing at least 25 things you are grateful for, from the food in your belly to the clothes on your back. Then follow in these folk’s footsteps and find your way to make Orange County a better place.

Shawn@zestoforange.com

By Shawn Dell Joyce

It’s hard to think of global warming when our region is blanketed in new-fallen snow and looks like a winter wonderland. But right now, delegates from around the world are converging on Copenhagen to hash out a global climate treaty that will affect all of us, and our future generations.

Climate change activists are not hopeful, as there is still much disagreement between industrialized and developing nations that centers around four main points according to Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):The authors of the IPCC reports sponsored by the UN, released a special report called The Copenhagen Diagnosis to draw delegate’s attention to seven main points:

1. How much are the industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
 
2. How much are major developing countries such as China and India willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
 
3. How is the help needed by developing countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?
 
4. How is that money going to be managed?

“If Copenhagen can deliver on those four points I’d be happy,” said Yvo de Boer in recent interviews.

The last global treaty; the Kyoto Protocol was ratified in 1997 and will expire in 2012. It set binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for 184 countries. The most notable exception is the United States, and Yvo de Boer told the press he is “really happy” to see the U.S. back in negotiations.

1. Greenhouse gas emissions are surging: Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in 2008 were 40% higher than those in 1990. Stabilizing global emissions at these levels is too low, and may lead to global warming of 2 ^{degrees or more, crossing the catastrophic threshold.Temperatures have increased at a rate of 0.19 (C) per decade for two and a half decades. There have been natural, short-term fluctuations, but no change in the underlying warming trend.Satellite and ice measurements now show beyond doubt that both the Greenland and Antarctic ice-caps are losing mass at an increasing rate. Melting of glaciers and ice-sheets has also accelerated since 1990. Summer-time melting of Arctic sea-ice has accelerated far beyond the climate models. This area of sea-ice melt during 2007-2009 was about 40% greater than the average prediction from previous IPCC models. Satellites show global average sea-level rise (3.4 mm/yr over the past 15 years) to be 80% above past IPCC predictions, due to the more rapid melting of glaciers, ice caps and ice-sheets.  Sea-levels are expected to continue to rise for at least a century after global temperature have been stabilized, and could rise several meters over the next few centuries. The most vulnerable elements of our biosphere such as continental ice-sheets and rainforest could be pushed towards abrupt or irreversible change if warming continues at its current rate. The risk of passing a tipping point increases the longer that we wait. It’s time to evoke the Precautionary Principle, meaning that we cannot delay action hoping for scientific certainty or we may run out of options.: If global warming is to be limited to a maximum of 2 degrees above pre-industrial values—considered the catastrophic threshold, global emissions need to peak between 2015 and 2020 and then decline rapidly.}

2. Recent global temperatures show human-based warming:

3. Melting of glaciers and global ice is accelerating:

4. Rapid loss of Arctic sea-ice:

5. Sea-levels are rising faster than predicted:

6.  By delaying action, we risk irreversible damage:

7. Peak carbon must be now

By Shawn Dell Joyce

It seems as if after Thanksgiving, the major news in our country is shopping and whether retail sales will top last year’s sales. And spend we will! We spend an average of $856 per person on the holidays, according to the American Research Group.

Unfortunately, most of our hard-earned dollars will go straight to China because more than 70 percent of the goods on store shelves are from there. If we multiply that by the current U.S. population, that’s about $180 billion leaving home for the holidays.

A recent economic study conducted in Austin, Texas, found that if each household in Travis County (population 921,006) simply redirected $100 of planned holiday spending from chain stores (carrying cheap imports) to the stores of local merchants, the local economic impact would reach approximately $10 million. Imagine how $10 million would boost your community’s economy.

On average, we spend between 20 and 40 hours shopping for holiday gifts and waiting in long lines. You easily could make most of your holiday gifts in that time and have the added bonus of time shared as a family. If you are buying gifts or giving money, you are cheating your loved ones. Instead, give gifts of time. Offer to change your elderly relatives’ light bulbs to compact fluorescents, or give them coupons good for a free day’s worth of caulking and winterizing. Those are things they could really use, and time spent together will benefit all of you.

Holidays should be about time well spent, not money. In the land where we have plenty of food, noise and gizmos, those are the things we cherish.
Here are a few ideas for adding more joy to your household and community this holiday season:

— Spend less time shopping, and make gingerbread men with your children one afternoon. Put the gingerbread men on decorative plates, and drop in on each neighbor to spread cheer.

— Pump money into the local economy by making donations to the food bank. That money will help families in your neighborhood more surely than money spent at a national chain store.

— Ask young children to pick out toys to buy and donate them to one of the Toys for Tots programs.

— Have a family meeting to decide on a spending limit, and figure out what imaginative gifts you can make together.

— This time of year is craft fair season and most churches and community groups offer at least one. Craft fairs are great opportunities to support local producers directly and keep your holiday spending local.

— On Christmas Day, once the gifts are opened, don’t let it be anticlimactic. Instead, spread birdseed and crumbled cookies outside for the wild things. Take a plate of food to a neighborhood shut-in or someone who has to work.

— Do something wonderful for someone else — anonymously.

Shawn@zestoforange.com

By Shawn Dell Joyce

Growing the food that feeds our country is one of the most thankless and low-paying jobs a person could have. In 2002, the median net income for a U.S. farmer was $15,848, and hired hands and migrant workers averaged about $10,000 per year. Farming has become so unpopular that the category was removed recently from the U.S. census,?and federal prison inmates now outnumber farmers.
Migrant pickers often put in long hours, up to 12-hour days, earning about 45 cents for each 32 pound bucket of tomatoes. This amount hasn’t risen in more than 30 years. At that rate, workers have to pick 2.5 tons of tomatoes to earn minimum wage. Most farm workers don’t get sick days, overtime or health care. Farmers often don’t fare much ?better.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. If we stopped putting such an emphasis on “cheap” and instead put an emphasis on “fair,” maybe those hands that grow our food could afford to eat, as well. Raising farm wages would have little effect on supermarket prices, mainly because farmers and farmhands are paid only about 6 cents to 9 cents of?every retail dollar spent.
If we raised farm wages by 35 percent and passed that cost to consumers, it would raise the retail price by only a few pennies, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. The total cost to consumers for all fresh produce would add up to less than $34 per year, per family. If we raised wages by 70 percent, that cost would be about $67. Divide this over 52 weekly trips to the supermarket and you’re looking at spending barely a dollar more each week. Wouldn’t you spend that much to know that people didn’t suffer to feed you?
In January 2001, the U.S. Department of Labor informed Congress that farm workers were “a labor force in significant economic distress.” The report cited farm  workers’ “low wages, sub-poverty annual earnings, (and) significant periods of un- and underemployment,” adding that “agricultural worker earnings and working conditions are either stagnant or in decline.”
In 2005, Taco Bell ended a consumer boycott by agreeing to pay an extra penny per pound to farm  workers for its tomatoes. Soon after, McDonald’s made a similar pledge, effectively raising tomato pickers’ wages to 77 cents per bucketful. Burger King steadfastly refused to pay a penny more until public pressure and political officials pushed the second-largest hamburger chain into doing the right thing. “Fast Food Nation” author Eric Schlosser, in a?recent New York Times editorial, described Burger King’s penny-pinching as “a spectacle of yuletide greed worthy of Charles Dickens.”
Most of us do not take the time to wonder why our food costs so little. Instead, we notice how expensive organic or locally grown produce is in comparison. This year, as you and your family gather around the Thanksgiving feast, offer a prayer of gratitude for our small farmers and farmworkers. Give thanks that we still have people willing to grow quality food in a market flooded with cheap imports. Support these hard-working folks by eating locally grown foods at the holiday table and year-round.
— Buy your produce from local farms where you can meet the workers and see for yourself whether they are treated fairly. The smaller the farm, the more likely it is that the workers are treated well. Some farms have only family members working them.
— Support an increase in farm workers’ wages by joining the Alliance for Fair Food,  a network of human rights, religious, student, labor, sustainable food and agriculture, environmental and grass-roots organizations that work in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Shawn can be reached at shawn@zestoforange.com

By Shawn Dell Joyce

Eating local embodies the spirit of the first Thanksgiving, where Puritans and Wampanoags sat down together to share a meal that consisted mainly of shellfish, eels, wild fowl (including swans and eagles) and other local foods that they could gather or grow.

When we get our foods locally, we eat in season and celebrate what’s available. Absent from the first Thanksgiving feast were modern traditional dishes like corn on the cob (all corn was dried by that time), pumpkin pie (they had no sugar), cranberry sauce (no sweetener other than Maple syrup), and stuffing (they served pudding).

We have altered the menu over the years to the point where we rehash and serve the same dishes over and over. This year, why not have a real Thanksgiving by celebrating the local harvest and the hardworking hands that grew it? Buy your dinner ingredients from local farms and prepare what is seasonally available in our area. Your food dollars will stay local, nourishing the farm family, farm hands, and local community. This is an act of gratitude that bolsters the local economy during tight times.

Right now, you can find turkeys that live the way nature intended, chasing bugs, scratching in the grass and frolicking in the fall leaves instead of penned up one-on-top-of another in factory farms. These turkeys will cost a little more than their supermarket counterparts because they are not mass produced, or government subsidized. They also taste more “turkeyish” because they are not force-fed an unnatural diet. As a result, free-range birds are healthier, and better for you as well.

We Americans are used to cheap and plentiful food; we spend less on food than any other developed nation in the world. On average, Americans spend only 2% of their disposable income on meat and poultry, compared to 4.1%  in 1970. This quest for cheap and plentiful has seen the average size of a farm bloat while the number of farms and farmers has decreased. In the 1960s, one farmer supplied food for 25.8 persons in the U.S. and abroad. Today, that same farmer feeds 144 people.

For farming to be an economically viable profession, we must make it more profitable for the farmers by eliminating the middle man. Right now, farmers get around eight cents of every dollar we spend on food in chain grocery stores. When you buy direct from the farm, the farmer gets the whole dollar, and that dollar has the economic impact of two dollars in the local community.

 
To find local Thanksgiving dinner ingredients:
www.localharvest.org
Sweet Potatoes, potatoes, onions, squash and other vegetables (farm stores):
Blooming Hill Farm, 1251 Route 208, Washingtonville 782-7310
Hoeffner Farms, 405 Goodwill Rd., Montgomery 457-3453
Jones Farm, 190 Angola Rd. Cornwall, 534-4445
Lawrence Farms & Orchards, 39 Colandrea Rd. Newburgh, 562-4268, www.lawrencefarmsorchards.com 

Pies and Cider (many of the stores listed above also carry these):
Soons Orchards, 23 Soons Circle, New Hampton, 374-5471, www.soonsorchards.com
Walnut Grove Farms-285 Youngblood Rd. Montgomery, NY, Ned Roebuck, www.walnutgrovefarms.net
845-313-4855

 
shawn@zestoforange.com