If you look at the Earth Haven Mission Statement [HERE] you can get a good idea of how this foundation would would address the needs of children with Special Needs caused by pre-birth substance abuse. There are many other children with special needs who would benefit from the solutions proposed in that Mission Statement and one should not look at Earth Haven Foundation as being exclusively focused solely on a strict definition of special needs based on drug babies. The needs of 'Drug Baby' children was merely our introduction to Special Needs children for which the number of these children alone is massive and for whom their needs are largely ignored.
The vision for which we would like interested parties to focus on is acquiring a large hunk of land, 500 to 1,000 acres or more, where we can employ methods of self sufficiency, sustainable farming, green energy, and a general eco-friendly lifestyle. Everything that goes into setting up and maintaining such a self sufficient farm/ranch involves skills that children can learn which will later transfer into solid career opportunities for their future. It also involves an unlimited number of economic opportunities for income generation that could easily transform the farming operation from a non-profit vision for helping these Special Needs children into a economically sustaining, operation.
There is an unlimited number of individual profit making enterprises that could result from the efforts of one well planned farm of this nature. These endeavors could provide youth training for valuable future careers as well as provide a significant number of jobs. The various possible separate enterprises that could all be integrated into the context of one farm of this nature include, but are not limited to:
GREEN ENERGY - Instead of merely getting a windmill and/or solar panels and/or other possible green energy production that would be merely sufficient to meet the needs of the farm, it would be an even better idea to have production capabilities that would allow the sale of electricity into the grid for the surrounding community. The production of Green Energy involves both blue-collar construction skills, mechanical maintenance skills, and various high-tech skills. For more info on green energy, check out my blog called Energy Nation
[HERE]
ORGANIC VEGETABLES - People world wide are becoming increasingly aware of the nutritional benefits of organic food and the hazards of eating food grown the petrochemical way. As a result of this increased awareness there is an increase in the demand for organic produced that means that organic produce can now demand a higher price. Organic gardening has added advantages of super nutrition, restoring land vitality, recycling through composting, and water conservation. A relatively new organic farm I just became aware of that is a prototype for this farm is Tara Firma Farms of Petaluma, CA. Check out their site with price list, info, and some great videos
[HERE]
LIVESTOCK - Pastured livestock that are moved frequently to new "salad bars," offer landscape healing and nutritional superiority. Most livestock are raised in cruel un-natural conditions and fed growth hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals that are passed through the animals, where they are concentrated, into the human diet. The outbreaks of E, Coli bacteria food poisoning, Mad Cow disease and other contamination of our food supply are a direct result of the despicable conditions of overcrowding and un-natural conditions under which most livestock are currently being raised. Principals of 'Sustainable' farming heal the land and make the food produced nutritionally superior to large-scale corporate farms. Some of these techniques of 'Sustainable' farming are being pioneered by Joel Salitan of Polyface Farms in Virginia. He has authored numerous books on the subject, all of which can be found, along with an exhaustive list of resources on their Polyface Farm website
[HERE]. On March 17, 2010 Joel Salitan of Polyface Farms was invited to do a lecture and consultation at Tara Firma Farms of Petaluma. RussianRiver.TV was there and the visit resulted in four in depth videos which are an excellent source for learning more on 'Sustainable Farming' beyond organic. You can watch these great videos
[HERE].
POULTRY AND EGGS - Everything listed above in terms of the cruel and unhealthy conditions of livestock is true about poultry. If one were to see first hand these conditions it would keep you from ever eating anything from these mass produced corporate farms. The recent recall of millions of eggs from the Salmonella outbreak
[HERE] is just one of many reasons the consumption of these products is unhealthy. In contrast, the 'Sustainable Farming' practice 'free range' chickens and turkeys produces a far superior, infinitely more nutritious product. The eggs from free range chickens have yokes that are orange (the natural color) rather than the nutritionally depleted yellow yokes of most store bought eggs. These superior poultry and egg products demand a higher price at the marketplace as well. In the RussianRiver.TV videos of Joel Salitan's visit and consultation (see Livestock section above) the forth video, 'Part 4 - The Onsite Consultation' has footage of the Sustainable Farming techniques for superior poultry and egg production
[HERE].
GOAT MILK AND CHEESE -
MUSHROOMS -
LIVE HERBS -
WORM FARMING -
HONEY BEES -
More to come, hurry back for more!
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