“That movie was life-changing,” said one of the attendees about an 83-minute film called “Dirt! The Movie” that attracted about 40 persons to the Community Room of the Evanston Public Library Sunday afternoon.
The showing was sponsored by the Friends of Evanston Farmers Markets, in cooperation with Campus Kitchens at Northwestern University, that explained the wonders of the food-growing process and warned that human activities were a threat to the ability of the earth to feed its growing population.
Narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis, the movie was a call to action, and panelists that discussed the film’s message at its conclusion suggested that Evanston would be wise to consider bringing back composting of leaves, as it once did.
Gareth Proctor, founder of Evanston-based Endless Greens, an organic urban farmer, said the city once composted its leaves in the fall at James Park, “but now they’re trucked off to someplace in Wisconsin.”
His fellow panelist was Chicago Botanic Garden soil conservationist Louise Egerton-Warburton, who recommended that residents raise more native plants that would provide “a diversity of root structures.”
Panelists Proctor and Egerton-Warburton at Sunday’s film.
Proctor said that home composting produces better additives for Evanston’s home gardens, “as most compost you buy in bags is dead anyway,” he asserted.
“Dirt” was the first of three Sunday movies to be shown at the library in the next few weeks.
Next Sunday, “Food Stamped” will address the issue of programs that enable low-income families to afford purchasing the kind of healthy vegetation typically sold at farmers markets.
Then on April 12, “A Season of Change on Henry’s Farm” will give an up-close look at an actual Illinois farm that for years has been a regular participant in Evanston’s summer farmers market.
Both films will be shown at 2 p.m. at the library, located at Church Street and Orrington Avenue in downtown Evanston.
Additional information is available on the Friends website.
A way to move the composting
A way to move the composting issue forward in Evanston would be for the City and ETHS to design and implement a yard maintenance training program. Such a training program would include a variety of “green” techniques, including soil conservation, less fossil fuel consumption, being a good neighbor, etc. It could also include other property maintenance skills, such as fence installation, etc. All of these are basic skills that can be used to build a variety of careers and conserve Evanston’s soil.
I believe that Evanston is filled with gardeners, landscapers, property maintenance people, farmers, educators, designers, etc., who would be glad to help put a curriculum together, identify seed funding, and identify clients who would want to use such a “homegrown” service.
Debbie Hillman
Semi-retired gardener and public policy strategist