Begging at the Temple

This morning I was approached by a homeless person in front of Temple Square asking for money. This experience reminded me of a trip to Temple Square many years ago when I was young and saw a sign on the wall near the entrance. The sign asked Temple-goers not to give money to the panhandlers on the street but rather to give to charitable organizations. After my experience this morning, I looked for the sign but was unable to find it. Regardless of a person’s view of the various ways of how best to help the poor and homeless, there seems to be something significant about a person coming to the Temple begging for help.

-In Acts we read of the story of the lame man who was carried each morning to the gate of the Temple in order to ask alms of them that entered into the Temple. (Acts 3:2) This beggar at the Temple asked the Apostle Peter for money. Peter responded saying he had no money but could offer a physical healing of his ailment. He did this and then entered the Temple with the man.

-The speech King Benjamin gave his people was at the Temple. They were living in tents around the Temple begging for a remission of their sins. With the building of the tower and all the burnt offerings performed, they were likely there for several days, if not longer. Camping there for so long, they probably looked pretty ragged, prompting Benjamin to refer to them as beggars. Here was a group of homeless beggars living in tents at the Temple. (Mosiah 2-4)

In similar ways all of us are beggars when we go to the Temple. Is there any distinction between someone coming to a Temple begging for alms versus someone begging for a remission of sins, versus someone begging for guidance from the Lord? Does it matter that some of the beggars remain on the outside of the Temple and some go inside?

Unless we are going for the first time, Temple work essentially involves a service to others; to those who have already lived and died. I find it interesting that we so easily pass the living beggars in the street in order to get into the Temple to help the beggars who have already died achieve salvation.

According to Malachi we rob God when we don’t pay tithing. And according to Nephi we rob the poor with our beautiful buildings and fine clothing (2 Ne 28:13). Ironically in the Church our most beautiful buildings are Temples and we wear our best clothing to attend. Does this change how we should approach or respond to the beggars we see at the Temple?
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Thank you Rush Limbaugh

The local news last night shared the story of the One World Everybody Eats Cafe in Salt Lake and how Rush Limbaugh attacked it during his show because they are a not-for-profit restaurant. It’s true the restaurant model is very different than others. They let people choose their own portions and then pay what they feel it’s worth. The vision statement includes goals of feeding and including all members of the community, only using organic unprocessed food, eliminating waste in the food industry, and ending world hunger. I simply ask – what is so wrong with this? You can choose not to eat there, but is there anything wrong with a place that has lofty ideals for bettering our community? He stated in his broadcast,

“I’m probably doing more for the One World Café than anybody possibly could. I’m sure there’s people in Salt Lake that listen to this program and despise me and hear me making fun of this humanitarian effort here that it’s an embarrassment to American business and they’re going to go flood the place now and make sure that it stays open. I’m giving them free advertising. They’ll probably overpay for what they’re getting…I doubt that. Liberals don’t go that far. They still want other people’s money to pay for what they do and what they get. But they’ll still stream in there to show a measure of support…” (Rush Limbaugh radio program 10 Nov 2008)

He’s right there. My curiosity was killing me so I had to try it out during lunch today. I thought the food was delicious and the service very friendly. Seeing as how Rush Limbaugh has never been there, I’m not sure how he can say the following,

“I don’t want [beef from Allen Brothers] wasted on a bunch of long-haired maggot-infested dope-smoking FM types walking in to the One World Café.” (Rush Limbaugh radio program 10 Nov 2008)

Interestingly, the idea for the restaurant began with an epiphany. Denise Cerreta developed the café to nourish both the body and the soul. She began the restaurant in 2003 and, “After a couple of months, and a lot of mental anguish, she had an encounter with the divine. She calls it inspiration from a higher power, her own ‘Field of Dreams’ experience, where she ‘just knew’ if she followed it, customers would come…It told her to get rid of her price board and cash register and let customers decide how much to pay for their food…‘I think we all have that ability’ to hear a prompting from a higher source. ‘But I don't think we listen to it.’” (source)

According to the Deseret News, the café doesn’t even do any type of advertising. “Her clientele has simply grown by word of mouth.” Why would she need to do any advertising when she has Rush Limbaugh advertising for her for free…so thanks for lunch Rush, I guess God really does move in mysterious ways…


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Hydroponics, Urban Farming and LED Lighting

You know how you learn a new word and then all of a sudden you see it everywhere? I learned the term ‘locavore’ last week from a post on Latter-day Sustainability. And now I’m seeing it everywhere. Above is an image from an unusual, but fantastic, competition entry idea for creating an urban farm. ‘The Locavore Fantasia’ by the architect WORK AC is an apartment building topped with a working farm.

"We thought we’d bring the farm back to the city and stretch it vertically," says Work AC co-principal Dan Wood. "We are interested in urban farming and the notion of trying to make our cities more sustainable by cutting the miles [food travels]," adds his co-principal (and wife) Amale Andraos. The design would have different crops on each floor while four large water tanks would collect rainwater for irrigation. Crops would face south towards the sun.

VERTICAL FARM advantages:
-Ability to feed 50,000 people from one building
-Save significantly on transportation costs
-Stimulate economy by providing local jobs
-Build a stronger community
-Reduce rural agricultural land use
-Allow the return of farmland to forestland

The most published vertical farm design can be seen below. Interestingly, this has erroneously been reported all over the web as a building that is being developed in Las Vegas. However, the originator of the building is not aware of this, and is unsure how the false rumor was started. Still, it remains a great concept for urban food production.


Image from Chris Jacobs blog


Image from NY Magazine


Hydroponics
With the possibility of indoor farming, we can look to hydroponics rather than using soil-based methods.

HYDROPONIC advantages:
-Provides constant temperature and light to maximize crop yield
-Extended growth seasons
-Minimizes use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, improving the health of people and ecosystems
-Water is used efficiently
-The most environmentally friendly method of growing plants
-Cheaper and more efficient than soil gardening
-Removes risk of erosion and allows land to return to natural state
-Eliminates most bacteria, pathogens, protozoa, and plant nematodes improving the health of the plants
-Automatic watering and feeding
-Simple weed control
-Eliminates intricate soil-management strategies and guesswork
-Provides a balanced formula of nutrients made for the purpose of optimizing plant growth


Agro Housing by Knafo Klimor Architects
Winner of 2nd International Competition for Sustainable Housing (China 2007)
Chinese apartment tower utilizing hydroponic gardens at each unit


Agro Housing by Knafo Klimor Architects
Winner of 2nd International Competition for Sustainable Housing (China 2007)
Chinese apartment tower utilizing hydroponic gardens at each unit

"Specialty crops such as tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and hot peppers, which cannot be grown conventionally all year long, are being grown hydroponically year ‘round. These vegetables that were previously scarce in winter are now plentiful. Since hydroponically grown vegetables can be continuously harvested, even regions that have harsh winters or short growing seasons can grow these specialty crops." (Source)


Lettuce growing Aeroponically

The most rapidly evolving type of hydroponic system is the ‘Nutrient Film Technique’ where a thin film of nutrient solution flows through a plastic-lined channel containing the plant roots. This system has the advantage of a using a significantly reduced volume of nutrient solution.


Strawberries growing in ‘Polygal hanging bed-pack’ troughs suspended at a height of 1.8 m above the ground level


LED Lighting
With the possibility of indoor farming, we can also look to LED lighting as an energy efficient light source.


Arclinea Indoor Greenhouse
Arclinea's innovation, based on technology developed by NASA, incorporates a specialized LED lighting system that mimics the movement of the sun from rise to set, allowing small herbs to grow indoors in the dead of winter.

LED advantages:
-Allows efficient indoor gardening - even in the kitchen
-Safe to use
-Low voltage
-10 to 12 year bulb life
-Operate 24/7 all year long
-No mercury, glass, or UV
-No ballast or reflector - light goes straight to the plant
-Produces only 25% visible light - minimum heat and glare
-Eliminates wasted light and heat

Good testing site for LED lighting and indoor gardening


LED Grow Master Global

(Primary source for much of the research taken from http://www.verticalfarm.com/plans-2k4.htm)

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Manhattan Wheatfield

(Agnes Denes in her Wheatfield)

In the Summer of 1982, Agnes Denes began planting wheat on two acres of landfill at Battery Park in Manhattan. Two hundred truckloads of dirt were brought in and two hundred eighty five furrows were dug by hand and cleared of rocks and garbage. Only two blocks away from Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, the field was maintained for four months. The harvested crop yielded 1000 pounds of healthy golden wheat. For this brief period of time, the activities of the city and the countryside came together.

“In planting and harvesting a wheat crop in the midst of an urban environment, Denes called attention to human values, misplaced priorities and ecological concerns. The paradox of growing wheat on an area of land worth $4.5 billion, called attention to the hunger and mismanagement of resources which afflicts some parts of the world whilst others thrive.” (From ‘Land and Environmental Art’ Ed. Jeffrey Kastner, Phaidon Press Limited, London, 1998.)


(Wheatfield being harvested)

Denes’ intention with this project was to show the potential of the site, and the economic disparity between land use and its value in the city. Hunger is just as applicable today as it was in 1982 with worldwide food shortages making headlines and food price escalations on the rise. Last December officials from the United Nations warned, "In an ‘unforeseen and unprecedented’ shift, the world food supply is dwindling rapidly and food prices are soaring to historic levels"


(Wheatfield and Statue of Liberty)

In spite of this short supply and rising cost of food, much is being wasted. There is a culture of food waste that is prevalent in many countries. Recently reported is that half of all food readied from harvest never makes it to a dinner table. In the USA, 14 percent of all food purchased for household use is thrown away. In England the number is 18 percent. The article concludes, "ultimately the problem is a cultural one. We have grown accustomed to an uninterrupted bounty and the economic impact has not yet grown severe enough to change peoples’ habits significantly."


Wasted food

The LDS Church has a great tradition of working towards alleviating hunger in the world. As of last year the Church has donated over 58,000 tons of food through its welfare services. Church members hold a fast once a month by skipping several meals and giving the money they would have spent on that food to the hungry. During one such fast in January 1985, the Church raised $6 million in a single day to help famine-stricken East Africa. Another fast in November of the same year produced another $4 million.

After visiting Welfare Square in Salt Lake City, James T. Morris, executive director for the United Nations World Food Program said, "If we all made a little sacrifice, there would be no hungry people. If others did what the Mormon Church does, the (hunger) problem could be solved." Morris said the total number of hungry people in the world is estimated to be some 840 million people and that "twenty-five thousand people die every day from hunger in the world." (source)


Edible Estates: front yard garden in Los Angeles by Fritz Haeg

In spite of the ‘charity’ of various people and groups today, where does the real answer lie? "We will have to find in the next 25 years, food for as many people again as we have been able to produce in the whole history of man till now." (source) How can we align the values and priorities of humanity with that of how we are collectively living? With all our innovation and technology, we still have not figured out how to properly feed the world.


Where space is tight, try a rainwater harvesting Vertical Garden by Michael Tampilic

Spencer W. Kimball said, "Every family should grow a garden" while Marion G. Romney stated, "We will see the day when we live on what we produce." Small gardens at the scale of the household may well provide the answer to world hunger problems. According to Sylvan H. Wittwer in a BYU Studies article, "The science and art of food production in home gardens should be exploited. Production is at the site of use. Wastes and by-products can be utilized as fertilizer. Energy expenditures from fossil fuels are minimized. Marketing, packaging, and transport problems are eliminated. High production and top quality are possible. Home gardening can be the most intensive food production system on earth." And as Agnes Denes has shown us with her Wheatfield in Manhattan, when it comes to food, any piece of land will do.


Roof Garden by Patrick Blanc The Vertical Garden was conceived after many observations in natural environments. The Vertical Garden relies on a new way to grow plants without any soil. Since its weight is very light, it is possible to set up the Vertical Garden on any wall, whatever its size.
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