Transition SF Update #1
Monday, January 25th, 2010

“I just dropped in, to see what condition my transition was in.”
- with apologies to Mickey Newbury, 1940-2002

Hello everyone,

We are starting a newsletter for Transition San Francisco
to keep everyone informed of our activities and progress.

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested and
cc me at TSFupdate@gmail.com. Also please send questions
and comments. 

Nevada City Wild and Sceanic Environmental Film Festival

Last weekend some of us went to the annual Wild and Scenic
Film Festival in Nevada City. (Web site with film summaries
here.) The nation's leading environmental film fest, it
featured more than 100 movies, including many premieres, in
six timeslots, at six venues, over three days. Many directors
and stars/subjects of the film made appearances as well.

The films were amazing, with the lineup even stronger than
last year. This unfortunately reflects worsening problems,
as well as a greater response through more effort on both
solutions and filmmaking. Mass extinctions, overfishing,
ocean acidification and peak oil were among the problems
reported in vivid, if painful, detail. Solutions were
strongly represented as well. Permaculture and efforts to
mobilize youth were among the highlights.

Transition was not on the schedule but did come up. Deborah
Lindsay, a peak oil colleague, is now a city councilperson
in Pacific Grove. She highlighted Transition in her
workshop presentation on getting local government to act.
And Reinette Senum, Mayor of Nevada City, got Transition
training as well. (She started by founding the city’s
Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy, which has a
nice center in the middle of Nevada City.)

We have some To Do's from this:
- Encourage Transition California or Transition USA to
get a film on the schedule for next year.
- Check how to get relevant films from the festival for
showings by TSF and/or other Bay Area groups
- Keep up our own efforts!

Visioning

We are starting a visioning project.  We are planning to
capture videos that summarize the visions of San Francisco
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), residents,
communities, and transition members.  These will be posted
to our website.  If you are interested in participating in
the project, please contact us.

Hayes Valley Farm

Working with the mayor's office, the City has loaned a
nearly one-block vacant lot in Hayes Valley for a community
urban farm. The San Francisco Permaculture Guild, along with
several other groups, are taking the lead on the design and
implementation for a truly urban farm.  It's located at 450
Laguna Street (a few blocks north of Market and east of Van
Ness).  Check it out on Google maps.  This used to be a
highway off-ramp that was removed several years ago.  Now the
group is studying the soil for toxicity, finding methods to
remediate the soil (mushrooms and other plants), and
designing a nursery.  There may also be a farm stand once the
farm has production.  This space is withing walking distance
for thousands of people.  If you live nearby, stop by on
Sundays for a tour of the space and opportunity to volunteer.

This space needs a lot of work.  Their plan is to use the
project for education on farming and gardening, research on
local crops, and community building.  We'd like to film the
tour and the vision for the space.

Transition official status--application process

Transition SF is applying for official recognition by
Transition US. We're currently fielding a few follow-up
questions and will be resubmitting the application this
week.

Up next on the calendar, or of interest

New Member Meeting: This Monday we will meet with new
Transition group members and give everyone an update on
where we are in the mulling stage. Hope you can join us:
Samovar, Mission-Castro location, on Sanchez and 18th
Street at 7pm.  Ask for the Transition Group.

Speakers' Training: The peak oil speakers training group
is wrapping up their final week of readings on Tuesday,
February 2, at 7pm. Subsequent meetings will focus on
creating presentation materials and delivering
presentations in our communities.

Of interest: Michael Pollan speaking in Campbell
Author, The Omnivore's Dilemma, at the Commonwealth
Club,in Campbell, near San Jose; next Wednesday,
January 27th; tickets still available.

Next issue will follow Monday’s New Members Meeting.
It will include a summary of current projects and
opportunities for involvement.

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested and
cc me at TSFupdate@gmail.com. Also please send questions
and comments. 

Cheers,

Bud