Foo - Coming Soon: Organic Food Forums

Hello Bikers,

This is certainly off the Biking topic, but since there are many forum users here, and I am almost certain a decent number of you are interested in food, I would like to share an idea with you. I am about to start an online discussion forums website similar to Bikeforums but that will focus on topics relating to the advocacy of Organic and Sustainable foods and agriculture.

I have a list of forum topics or subforums I have thought to include and would like to have some feedback from you guys on others that should be included or some positive or negative feedback on the current topics.

Thanks a lot. I will let you know the website name when the site is up and running. Until then, I appreciate all feedback.

Peace!

Dave

Sustainable, Local, Organic (SLO) Foods Forum

Introductions
News & Current Events
Garden & Farm
Composting
Food History & Politics
In the Kitchen (Recipes, Food lifestyles, Heath and Nutrition)
SLO Communities (Regional discussions: What grows in your area and what to support when)
Farmers Markets (Listings, Links, and discussions)
Green Construction (Green building techniques and Links)
Alternative Energy
Volunteer and Job Opportunities
Community Service
Site Suggestions and Feedback
Links

Here is a description of Sustainability by SAN (Sustainable Agriculture Network), the communication arm of SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education), a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded initiative that sponsors competitive grants for sustainable agriculture research and education in a regional process nationwide.
Sustainability:
Achieves the integration of natural biological cycles and controls,
Protects and renews soil fertility and the natural resource base,
Optimizes the management and use of on-farm resources,
Reduces the use of nonrenewable resources and purchased production inputs,
Provides an adequate and dependable farm income,
Promotes opportunity in family farming and farm communities, and
Minimizes adverse impacts on health, safety, wildlife, water quality and the environment.

According to the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) the following defines ‘Organic’ relating to food:
Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.

Keep us posted, I'll be intested. You might want to consider separating gardening and farming. Two very different scale of operations. Also consider small and large animal raising, although the veggie crowd would probably have a fit.

Keep us posted, I'll be intested. You might want to consider separating gardening and farming. Two very different scale of operations. Also consider small and large animal raising, although the veggie crowd would probably have a fit.

No, that is a very good suggestion. Thanks for that. I think it is important to talk about animals and our connection to them. Many people chose to be vegetarians for many different reasons and it is important for people to at least have the opportunity to make educated decisions. The site is for both veggies and meat eaters. I am no expert, but I am pretty sure there are many ways to eat meat in a sustainable manner. Now, if you can't stand killing an animal, that is another story. Personally, I wouldn't have survived Alaska's mosquitoes with those kinds of ideals, much less touring all those miles on a veggie diet.

Admitted mosquito killer,

Dave

I second the animal idea.Free ranging animals killed humanely reducing stress hormones ties in with sustainability and healthy food suppy.Also more health concious people are looking for raw unpasturized dairy products and as they are illegal in many states you are starting to see more cooperative dairy farms develop with the customers each owning a share of the farm thus obtaining raw dairy in their state to feed their sick pet of course.The later ties in with the animal idea but also another idea for a forum or subforum is raw foods (including meat and dairy).You would probably want to seperate this from the raw vegie only crowd to avoid major political/ideological fighting.Another forum idea might be nomadic hunting and farming/gathering as many believe truely wild food(even if purposely stocked/seeded by humans initially)is the ultimate in sustainability though admitedly idealistic in any large scale implementation due to world (over)population trends.I have a few groups and personal websites that tie into your topics and usually have wandering tied into them somehow that I will PM you for information,just interesing websites and leads to people who might be interested in your forums.

I would be very interested in a forum like the one you describe.

Even though I don't eat meat, I think you should include forums that might appeal to meat eaters as well. After all, if it turns out that there is no interest, then the forum will "die" all by itself. It is probably not a good idea to rule it out at the beginning.

Besides that "Vegetarianism" includes folks of all stripes from vegans to ovo-lacto vegetarians.

The forum topics you start with will probably not be the same ones you have a year later. They will change as a community develops.

Dan

I would be very interested in a forum like the one you describe.

Even though I don't eat meat, I think you should include forums that might appeal to meat eaters as well. After all, if it turns out that there is no interest, then the forum will "die" all by itself. It is probably not a good idea to rule it out at the beginning.

Besides that "Vegetarianism" includes folks of all stripes from vegans to ovo-lacto vegetarians.

The forum topics you start with will probably not be the same ones you have a year later. They will change as a community develops.

Dan

True. I think it will be important to organize the forums and subforums well. One idea is to use certain icons that label the thread as Vegan, Vegetarian, or Meat, say when talking about recipes or whatever. This will allow for over packing the forums with subforums.

You guys have some great ideas. When I put up the site, I think we can work on organization a bit more. Right now I am trying to get some kind of logo organized. That is about all that is keeping me from debuting the site. Thanks for the support. I look forward to continuing comments.

Dave


Here is how I have reorganized the Forums so far: (numbers signify forum topics with hyphens as subforums)

1.Introductions (New members introduce yourselves)
2.News & Current Events
3.Home Gardening
-Composting & Recycling
4.Farming
-Small and Large Animal Raising
5.Hunting
6.In the Kitchen (Recipes, Food lifestyles, Heath and Nutrition)
-Raw Foods
7.SLO Communities (Regional discussions: What grows in your area and what to support when)
-Farmers Markets (Listings, Links, and discussions)
-Volunteer & Job Opportunities
-Community Service
8.Go Green
-Construction (Green building techniques and Links)
-Alternative Energy
9.Food History & Politics
10.Site Suggestions and Feedback
11.Links

Sounds like an interesting idea. I would visit the site. Couple of things I'd be interested in; 1. Canning
2. Drying/dehydrating
3. How to use foods preserved these ways in interesting tasty ways.

Great idea Dwagenheim!

I'm not sure if I noticed a planned separate area devoted to nutrition. Obviously that would be a common subject in the other subforums, so not sure if it would need its own, but it could be valuable if people have specific nutrition questions or concerns. I like your idea of designating icons to label threads veg, vegan, or whatever...

www.brothersorganic.com