Wes Jackson

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Wes Jackson, "President of the Land Institute (founded in 1976) was born in 1936. After attending Kansas Wesleyan (B.A. Biology, 1958), he studied botany (M.A. University of Kansas, 1960) and genetics (Ph.D. North Carolina State University, 1967). He was a professor of biology at Kansas Wesleyan and established the Environmental Studies program at California State University, Sacramento, where he became a tenured full professor.

"Dr Jackson's writings include both papers and books. His most recent works are Rooted in the Land: Essays on Community and Place (1996), co-editd with William Vitek, Becoming Native to this Place (1994), and Altars of Unhewn Stone (1987). Meeting the Expectations of the Land (1984) was edited with Wendell Berry and Bruce Colman. New Roots for Agriculture (1980) outlines the basis for agricultural research at the Land Institute.

"The work of the Land Institute has been featured extensively in the popular media, including The Atlantic Monthly, Audubon, "The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour." and NPR's "All Things considered." Life magazine named Wes Jackson as one of 18 individuals they predict will be among the 100 "most important Americans of the 20th century." He is a recipient of the Pew Conservation Scholars award (1990) and a MacArthur Fellowship (1992)." [1] Interview

Affiliations

Chez Sludge

Jackson is on the Advisory Board of the Chez Panisse Foundation. The Food Rights Network released a major investigative report on July 9, 2010 titled: Chez Sludge: How the Sewage Sludge Industry Bedded Alice Waters. [6] It examines collusion between the Chez Panisse Foundation and the SFPUC based on an extensive open records investigation of the SFPUC internal files. (To view the internal documents see: SFPUC Sludge Controversy Timeline.)

Foundation Mired in 'Sewage Sludge on Gardens'

In 2009 and 2010 a major controversy erupted in San Francisco involving Chez Panisse Foundation Executive Director Francesca Vietor when the Center for Food Safety (upon whose Advisory Board sits Alice Waters) and the Organic Consumers Association called on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, of which Vietor is Vice President, to end its give-away of toxic sewage sludge as 'organic compost' for gardeners. [7][8] [9][10] [11] In advance of the OCA's March 4 sludge protest at City Hall, the SFPUC temporarily halted the give-away. [12]

The misleading labeled "organic compost," which the PUC has given away free to gardeners since 2007, is composed of toxic sewage sludge from San Francisco and eight other counties. Very little toxicity testing has been done, but what little has been done is alarming. Just the sludge from San Francisco alone has tested positive for 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (a.k.a. DBCP), Isopropyltoluene (a.k.a. p-cymene or p-isopropyltoluene), Dioxins and Furans. [13]

The Organic Consumers Association conducted a noon hour picket of Chez Panisse April 1, 2010, after Alice Waters refused a request to oppose growing food in sewage sludge. [14] The industry front group ACSH is now making Alice Waters a poster-child for toxic sewage sludge.[15] [16]

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. Wes Jackson, umich, accessed January 5, 2009.
  2. National Advisory Board, Sustainable Settings, accessed December 8, 2011.
  3. Nature Institute People, organizational web page, accessed May 28, 2013.
  4. Edible Schoolyard Project Advisory Board, organizational web page, accessed May 28, 2013.
  5. Solutions Journal Editorial Board, organizational web page, accessed June 18, 2013.
  6. John Stauber, Chez Sludge: How the Sewage Sludge Industry Bedded Alice Waters, PRWatch.org, July 9, 2010
  7. Catherine Bigelow, And across the bay, Francesca Vietor is the new executive director of the Chez Panisse Foundation, Social City, SFGate February 7, 2010.
  8. Heather Knight, Nonprofit calls PUC's compost toxic sludge, San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 2009.
  9. Barry Estabrook, Sludge Fest: Center for Food Safety vs. San Francisco. It’s a battle that may be coming soon to a city near you, Politics of the Plate, November 30, 2009
  10. Barry Estabrook, Free Compost--Or Toxic Sludge?, The Atlantic, December 1, 2009.
  11. Jill Richardson, Food Sunday: Toxic Sludge as 'Organic Fertilizer', FireDogLake, March 7, 2010.
  12. Chris Roberts, News Farmers Call PUC's Shit, Will Dump it on City Hall Today, San Francisco Appeal, March 4, 2010.
  13. Jill Richardson, What San Francisco Found in Their Own Sludge, La Vida Locavore blog, April 8, 2010.
  14. Leora Broydo Vestel, http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/food-groups-clash-over-compost-sludge/ Food Groups Clash Over Compost Sludge, New York Times Green Inc. blog, April 9 2010.
  15. Jill Richardson, Oh Alice, Don't Let Them Do This To You, Lavidalocavore blog, Apr 12, 2010
  16. Barry Estabrook, Alice Finds Herself in Troubled Waters, Politics of the Plate, April 26, 2010.