"The Enlightened Woodstock for Women" Expect the Unexpected!

I have been to a lot of women’s festivals over the years….self discovery, empowerment, herbal medicinals, energy healing, tantra….but I have yet to find a circle of “conscious” women overlapping their interest in women’s health & well being with that of the planet. I am thrilled to be participating at one such event – The Grail Lady Faire at Grail Springs in Ontario - Canada's 1st Ever Festival for Women Who Care About Our Planet! This HERSTORIC event will weave together concepts of sustainable living while brainstorming the possibilities on how we can use our positions, power & numbers to make a difference! A gathering of women on the cutting edge of a movement that can’t yet be named -only felt in our bones. We are coming together to strategize, mobilize and energize.

Meet renowned authors and change makers, have lunch with green business leaders, discover new passions with Janet Attwood, get inspired by the dynamic Dale Allen, bring your drum and join evening drumming circle by the waterfront led by transformational recording artist Pamela Gerrand, and Alisa Starkweather founder of the Red Tent Temple Movement, Minnie Matouch from Canada's Cree Nation. And so many more amazing, inspiring women who will touch your hearts, minds and Spirit!

Awaken the Dreamer!...7 days of celebration, creative activism, peace, ceremony, music, art, culture, green business, provocative learning and sharing, and co-creating the New World! I will be presenting “Women Taking Back the Planet – Viva la MAMALUTION” on Saturday, July 3^rd.  How can we do that? As women, we are driving the markets with our dollars, we are birthing and raising the future generations and we are infiltrating into positions of power. It is our responsibility to take action. We have easy access to information that other women around the world may not have. We have the resources to make a difference!

The United States makes up 4% of the world population yet consumes 25% of the world’s resources. Women make up 51% of the United States population and make more than 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions. We are the silent voices in the “green” movement, and as consumers, we have the greatest impact on the economy. Now is the time for the feminine voice to be heard!

A movement that supports increasing numbers of women stepping up as creative entrepreneurs and demanding more sustainable choices for their families is needed. By developing strategies to enable existing and up and coming green businesses to efficiently work together through joint marketing and branding efforts, we will build a stronger presence in the marketplace ultimately making it easier and more affordable for consumers to buy green.  It’s time to Up the Revolution!  Practical, sustainable and savvy style is shaping a future generation of conscious consumers with the power to create change in the world. Our intention is to weave together grassroots efforts initiated by women visionaries of living more sustainable and fulfilling lives with ACTION.  As one collective unified voice we are unstoppable. The Goal:  5 million consumers who will affect the marketplace with how they choose to spend their dollars and who will define how business is done in the future.  LET’S TIP THE SCALE!

Tickets for Grail Lady Faire on Sale NOW ~ Includes Vegetarian Buffet Picnic Lunch:
Attend all 7-days from June 27-July 4     $495 pp Best Buy!
First 5-days from June 27-July 2               $395 pp
Last 2-days from July 2 to July 4              $225 pp
Single days from June 28-July 1                $95 pp

www.grailsprings.com 

www.grailsprings

ॐ Imani

Author of The Absence of Soil &

Visionary behind The MAMALUTION

www.mamalution.com

www.alchemyjuicebar.com

www.growinggreenevents.com

To contact Imani call 860.983.5276

Follow her on Facebook @ the Mamalution & Twitter.com/Mamalution

Nutrient Dense Food Campaign Workshop CT.wmv

Slow Money Gathering

“The world will be saved by the western woman” – The Dalai Lama

We talk about conscious consumerism but few of us realize the power that we, as western women, have as a whole to create change on this planet simply in the ways we shop. One area that is still frequently overlooked pertains to the food we buy. Increasing interest in farmer’s markets, CSA’s and local foods is steadily growing. It’s popular, tastes good and builds community. But it is more than that. 

Supporting local small food enterprises grows the local economy. There is an international movement based on the book Slow Money by Woody Tasch. The mission is to build local and national networks, and develop new financial products and services, dedicated to:

• investing in small food enterprises and local food systems;

• connecting investors to their local economies; and,

• building the nurture capital industry.

Soil fertility, carrying capacity, sense of place, care of the commons, cultural, ecological and economic health and diversity, nonviolence -- these are the fundamentals of nurture capital, a new financial sector supporting the emergence of a restorative economy. These are the fundamentals of the Slow Money Principles. Slow Money's goal is: a million Americans investing 1% of their assets in local food systems within a decade. Let us, as western woman, be part of that 1 percent!

The second national Slow Money gathering is happening at Shelburne Farms in Vermont on June 9-11th. For more information about Slow Money go to www.slowmoneyalliance.org

Slow Money Conference

I will be at the SLOW MONEY Conference! Will you? Would love to meet you! Shelburne Farms, Vermont - June 9-11, 2010

Slow Money… It’s not an ISM (as in capitalism, socialism, consumerism, market fundamentalism…).

But it is a new way of connecting investors to local food systems, catalyzing new forms of social investing and philanthropy for the 21st century. Join the emerging
network of investors, donors, entrepreneurs, farmers, and activists who are giving birth to the nurture capital industry.

Come to Shelburne Farms, a working farm and forest and National Historic Landmark -- a setting uniquely imbued with the history of capitalism and a nonprofit organization dedicated to forging a new future through sustainability education, creating social enterprises and strengthening local food systems. Enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Champlain. Meet thought leaders and change agents from around the country who are joining in this exciting project: designing capital markets that go beyond extraction and consumption all the way to preservation and restoration… starting with food and soil fertility.

Food Security - this is what I am talking about!

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4aba91207fc5c33a

Grow Food As If Your Life Depended On It

 One way to secure a future for our children is as simple as growing our own food. Sounds pretty basic but the power of such an act is unfathomable. This can be as simple as planting a few tomato plants on your deck, a window box full of herbs or trying your skills with raised beds in your backyard. Live in the city and don’t have a yard? Then look into community gardens in your neighborhood!

Remember the Victory Gardens of WWI? Also known as food gardens for defense, Victory Gardens were fruit, vegetable and herb gardens planted at private residences, rooftops, vacant lots and public parks designed to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. 

A sense of empowerment and patriotism grew out of the effort and the US Department of Agric

gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables.

A similar movement is taking hold again today with an insurgence of community garden, urban food growing programs and woofing opportunities (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, www.wwoof.org). A great urban success story teaching local youth the power in growing their own food is Growing Power in Milwaukee (www.growingpower.org). 

 
Other things you can do if growing a garden isn’t possible this season….

Buy a CSA Share (Community Supported Agriculture) – CSAs link farmers with the local consumers in their region seeking real food! It is a shared risk model where you as the consumer invest in the seasons harvest by supplying the farmer with the up front capital to grow food. Most are a 16-20 week season ranging anywhere from $450-$600 share depending on the region, what they grow and whether or not they are growing organically. Some have pick-your own (berries, peas, tomatoes) in addition to the weekly box of harvested food. CSAs are great learning opportunities for kids and adults alike. You become more in tune with the seasons and become aware of what crops when; you get to experiment with produce that you may not typically buy and you get to experience the taste and health benefits of fresh food. Some CSAs even offer work share where members can help on the farm.

Live in Connecticut? Support our effort to save a 30 year local organic farm by investing in a three year CSA share! Alchemy Acres will serve as a learning center for growing nutrient dense food, provide such foods to the community as well as be a sister site for our urban permadise project! Email for details at Imani@thegreenvibration.com

Support SFEs (Small Food Enterprises) such as an organic café (like mine! www.alchemyjuicebar.com) or your local health food store or farm stand! “Family farmers are the microorganisms in the soil of the restorative economy…(and) local entrepreneurs are its earthworms” from my current favorite read: SLOW MONEY – investing as if food, farms & fertility mattered by Woody Tasch. Check out the website at www.slowmoneyalliance.org

Know where your food comes! Support your local suppliers of fresh, organic, real food! This simple act may just be the one thing that elicits the change our planet needs!

Urban Permadise

Check out these videos - one on my birthday this past weekend - to establish the ROOTS of our community as we embark on a journey to co-create a permadise in the middle of Hartford, the captial city here in CT. Stay tuned as we turn this place into an urban jungle with a little bit of information, a lot of passion &  inspiration.



The second video is from my trip to Miami - it is a 2 acre permadise in the middle of the city...check it out!




Urban Permadise from Imani TGG on Vimeo.
Permadise in Hartford from Imani TGG on Vimeo.