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Slow movement picks up speed in the Bay Area (“Slow Fashion”)
Tim Holt, San Francisco Chronicle
… a new vital center is emerging from the dustheap of a crumbling economy: the Bay Area, the nation’s new Slow capital.
It started with Slow Food, and now we have Slow Fashion, imported from the East Coast but getting its own Bay Area spin. The central idea is to get away from the advertising hype and the assembly line, to move toward a more thoughtful and ethical consumerism, one that has health benefits for the individual as well as the planet.
Slow is a natural fit for this region, given its intellectual iconoclasm, progressive politics and environmentalism.
… Slow Food in the Bay Area has its origins with a Berkeley restaurant owner, Alice Waters, who had the simple idea of growing her own herbs and sending out foragers to local farmers’ markets. The fledgling grow-local movement also defined itself by what it wasn’t, drawing on the inspired activism of Italy’s Carlo Petrini and his opposition to the opening of a McDonald’s in a central square in Rome. Petrini and his allies fought back against the Big Mac with a public potluck featuring traditional Italian dishes.
Slow Fashion is a relatively new concept. It was first given clear and forceful expression in a 2006 essay by New York writer Sharon Astyk, who lives on a farm in upstate New York and hand-knits her family’s socks. Her essay appeared in the online Groovy Green Magazine and amounted to a declaration of independence from the country’s multibillion-dollar clothing industry and its “exploitation of poor people … toxic pesticide use and the inhumane treatment of animals” – the same arguments that have been made against fast food.
Astyk challenged every U.S. household to go back to old-fashioned stitch-and-mend ways and make at least one handmade outfit for every family member. And to buy fewer clothing items, but ones that are high quality and “environmentally sound.”
(15 March 2009)
New documentary Heather and Goliath (woman takes on the Corps of Engineers over Los Angeles River) (PDF)
press release
“Heather and Goliath” – a short film about the LA River controversy and the famed Army Corps whistleblower – will screen in LA at The Reel Women’s International Film Festival March 30th, and as part of SWAN Day 2009.
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In the spring of 2008, Heather Wylie, a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers, leaked an internal document in which her agency was quietly designating the LA River as not eligible for Clean Water Act protection. A media storm descended on the issue, while local and national environmental groups scrambled to reverse this potentially devastating decision. “Heather and Goliath” is a gripping short documentary that follows this unwitting heroine’s journey through the maze of water rights in California.
Covered extensively by news outlets nation-wide, Heather’s story of courage and integrity continues to inspire people all over the country. “When I leaked the memo I was not thinking I was putting my job and career on the line,” quips Heather Wylie, the Army Corps whistle blower. “The river is one of our most important natural resources, and it needed to be protected.” Harassed by her employer after she joined the un-permitted expedition down the entire length of the LA River, Heather eventually sued the Army Corps through a whistle blower defense organization, and they reached a settlement.
“Initially we were covering an absurd and illegal boating expedition that aimed to rehabilitate the LA River as a great natural resource and a local recreational destination,” says director Thea Lucia, “but the more we filmed, the more complex the issues, and the more involved the question over water rights and responsibilities became. Now we’re working on full-length film about this story, and we’re thrilled that the short will show in LA, where it can move people to action.”
Heather and Goliath is a humorous and inspiring short film in which people risk their livelihood or freedom in order to stand for what they feel is right.
(16 March 2009)
Related:
Heather Wylie speaks (YouTube)
When kayaks are outlawed, only outlaws will have kayaks (EB)
You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie (audio and video)
John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard, The Submarines
Here I am with all the pleasures of the first world
Laid out before me, who am I to breakdown?
Everyday I wake up, I choose love, I choose light
And I try, it’s too easy just to fall apart
… Plastic bottles, imported water
Cars we drive wherever we want to
Clothes we buy, it’s sweatshop labor
Drugs from corporate enablers
We’re not living the good life
Unless we’re fighting the good fight
You and me just trying to get it right
In the center of the first world
It’s laid out before us, who are we to break down?
Everyday we wake up, we choose love, we choose light
And we try, it’s too easy just to fall apart
Love can free us from all excess
From our deepest debt
‘Cause when our hearts are full we need much less
(March 2009)
YouTube
Another YouTube
Lyrics
Lyrics here too
Wikipedia
Interview podcast (The Sound of Young America)
Recommended by Atrios (Duncan Black) at Eschaton.
UPDATE (March 18) Reader LV writes:
This Submarines’ song was prominently featured in Apple iPhone advertisements on television. Promoting buying more gadgets kind of undercuts the lyrics!
