Category Archives: sustainable agriculture

Heifer increases goat productivity in Nepal

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In January Heifer launched its dream project for Nepal, Strengthening Livestock Value Chain (SLVC). Its goals are to increase meat and milk production to substitute current imports and create a unique value chain for meat and milk that incorporates smallholder farmers not only in the production phase but also in marketing it. But there was a glitch. Over the years degradation of genetic merit in goats resulted in lower levels of productivity. In layman’s terms, they had fewer babies who did not grow as well and farmers could not sell them for good prices.

Farmers of Ladavir in the Sindhuli district in eastern foothills of Nepal are a part of a unique classroom under the Community Initiative for Genetic Improvement in Goats (CIGIG). Here they learn about how to improve production of goats through selective breeding. These farmers are not new to rearing goats but what they learn in this classroom will teach them to do so in a more scientific way through observation and intervention. To put it simply, it’s the Mendel’s Law in action. A pool of healthy genetically superior does and bucks will be produced by the end of the project and will be marketed across communities around the country to in-turn increase their production. Ladavir will be a training ground and resource village for genetically superior high productivity goats.

Heifer’s work around the world is not just limited giving animals and agricultural inputs if farmers but also extends to doing what needs to be done to bridge the gaps between the present that the future that Heifer envisioned together with the families it works with. CIGIG is one such initiative.

Participants of the first CIGIG class mull over a poster that depicts how to select a good male and female goat from physical traits for breeding.

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Heifer CEO in Nepal: First Steps into Sustainability

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On his first day in Nepal, Heifer International President and CEO Pierre Ferrari found himself among a group of withdrawn yet excited women in an unused classroom in the village of Kabilash in Chitwan district, a jostling 45-minute drive uphill on a dirt track that was patched up from recent landslides especially for his visit. The ethnic tribal women spoke of the challenges of and their aspirations for Heifer’s signature project, of which they were going to be a part. This was a first for Ferrari. Having traveled through Nepal in February 2011 and having heard about the country’s achievements in implementing transformational projects ever since he joined Heifer, Ferrari was more accustomed to strong women displaying confidence. “It validated the time and money we put into trainings to build the social capital to strengthen and transform women,” said Ferrari.

The women in Kabilash are part of a groundbreaking effort in Nepal that will scale up Heifer’s work to end poverty and hunger by increasing goat and milk production by helping women farmers increase production and enabling them to take part in the value chain through cooperatives formed and led by women. The overarching goal of the project, reducing importation of live goats and milk, will increase income for smallholder farmers through increased production and participation in the value chain, which will ensure that they get a fair share of the profits.

Heifer’s plan in this beautiful but resource-poor community is to establish sustainable partnerships with the local government, which is a co-funder of the project. “Our five-year plan consists of improving livestock and agriculture to help the people of this village escape poverty,” said Village Development Committee Secretary Pradhumna Khadka. “So when Heifer came to me with an opportunity to partner, I accepted it without any reservations.”

This is a partnership that works for all. Because after Heifer completes its work in Kabilash, it can be assured that the impacts will be exponential. “By this time, Heifer will have strengthened the farmers, the cooperative they form, and the agents of development, the government organizations, who are there to stay,” said Parbati Rawal, executive director of SRAM, a Heifer local partner NGO that will implement the project in Kabilash.

Heifer Nepal is geared up to implement similar projects in 28 districts of Nepal in the next five—an ambitious plan that has already been able to seek support in forms of resource leverage and collaborative partnerships from the national and local government and other development agencies.

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An Ode to Bolivia

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This monkey named Boris chased chickens and stole sun-dried beef in the village of San Jose del Cavitu, so the locals now keep him as a pet. Boris is well cared for, but will happily pickpocket strangers given the chance. Photo by Jason Woods

I’ll hedge and say that it could have something to do with jet lag, or changes in altitude, or even something in the water, but anytime I visit a new country where Heifer works, auspices of magic immediately distract and I spend much of my trip wondering if, perhaps, I’m hallucinating. It’s never anything ghostly or alarming, just sights so surreal that I’m bewitched, amazed, delighted. Is there such thing as a traveler’s high?

My first surprise, upon landing in Santa Cruz, was the flurry of kisses that didn’t let up the entire 9-day trip. The customary Bolivian greeting between two women or a man and a woman is a kiss on the cheek. It’s a bit awkward at first, but who can quibble with such a charming welcome? Far superior to a handshake, in my book.

Clusters of butterflies gather on roadsides and on trails in the Amazon region of Bolivia. Photo by Jason Woods

And then, consider the capybara. These squee-worthy creatures populate the roadsides and riverbanks of the Bolivian Amazon. The world’s largest rodent, capybaras look like sleek, super-sized guinea pigs and can grow up to 100 pounds. When startled, capybaras emit kazoo-like sounds and immediately belly flop into the nearest body of water. Seriously! Neither I nor my travel companions managed to snap any capybara photos, leaving me to question, in retrospect, whether such an adorable creature actually exists.

We were further enchanted by the pink dolphins splashing in the rivers and the parrots and toucans flying overhead. “Is that an emu?” I asked our driver as we zipped down a muddy road. Turns out it was a rhea, a giant bird native to South America that can reach up to 90 pounds and nearly six feet tall.

Monkeys whooped at us from the trees as we sped by on motorbikes, headed to the shadowy chocolate forest where giant blue butterflies looped through the trees. Did you know that the juicy white fruits inside chocolate pods turn a bright purple when you chew them? I must report, however, that the charm of the chocolate forest ebbed under attack from the clouds of mosquitoes that nibbled our faces and left bloody specks on our clothes. We were also under siege from chiggers, although we didn’t realize that until hours later when we peeled off our socks.

But back to the kisses. The best part of the trip, of course, was the people we met. The purpose of our visit was to chronicle the work and progress of Heifer project participants who are amping up chocolate harvests, protecting the forests and working together to process cocoa at high quality and large quantities to secure good prices. They’re doing a pretty phenomenal job of it. This success story will appear in World Ark magazine later this year, although I may give a few glimpses of their work on this blog before then.

Hilaria Moye of San Jose Del Cavitu displays the skull of a jaguar her husband killed while out hunting. Photo by Jason Woods

Pastel dolphins and snuggly rodents aside, Bolivia is a real place with real challenges. Our visit was limited to the lowlands of Bolivia, where wild fruit is abundant and starchy crops like corn, yucca and rice grow easily, but malnutrition is still a problem because protein and nutrient-rich vegetables are harder to secure. Jobs outside the agriculture sector are rare, so incomes are low to non-existent. Some of the project participants are prosperous enough to live in houses made of bricks, but others live under palm thatch roofs held up by sticks.

The tools Bolivians have to overcome these hardships are a culture built on community and a fruitful ecosystem that can provide ample food and incomes if it’s well protected.

Elizabeth Franco Rodriguez, the president of the chocolate gatherer’s group in northeastern Bolivia’s Jasiaquiri village, is well aware of both her country’s charms and challenges. The hot, hard work of chocolate harvesting isn’t so great when you come home covered in ticks, or when the mosquitoes infect you with dengue fever, she said. But it’s a family event, and she usually brings children, nieces and nephews along. At her home, shared with extended family, everyone stays busy. Chocolate seeds ferment in the sun, children grind yucca to make starch, and Rodriguez’s sister-in-law makes cheese in the breezeway. But that evening, when the work is done, the whole family will go into the nearby town of Baures to spend a couple of hours mingling and resting in the plaza, along with hundreds of others. It’s back to the forest to harvest chocolate again the next day, and the mosquitoes would no doubt be waiting. Rodriguez never complained.

“I just find it so exotic and beautiful,” I told her as we tromped through vines and underbrush. The translator conferred with Rodriguez, and she nodded. “She says yes, it’s that way for us, too.”

Check out this tree trunk covered in thorns. Amazing! Photo by Jason Woods

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Container Gardens From Malawi

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Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrHere’s a clever idea from the industrious women of Gideon village in Malawi, who grow heaps of healthy greens right beside their front doors.

Grace Banda, a 28-year-old mother of four, keeps a line of burlap sack gardens planted with cabbage in front of her house. It saves her from trekking to her garden when she needs something green for cooking, and it could save you a trip to the grocery store.

To make your own container gardens using Banda’s method, you’ll need a large burlap sack, gravel, a tin can with both ends cut out, potting soil and goat berries. If you’re plum out of goat manure, compost works fine, too.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrStep 1: Put the can in the bottom of the sack and fill it with gravel. Pour equal parts soil and compost around it, up to the top of the can.

Step 2: Slide the can up to the surface of the dirt, refill it with rocks and fill the area around the can with the soil and compost mix.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management Pr

Step 3: Repeat step 2 until the sack is full.

Step 4: Cut staggered openings about 6 inches long along the sides, and plant seeds in the holes.

Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management PrThe cylinder of gravel inside the sack helps distribute and drain the water, ensuring that none of the plantings get too wet or too dry.

If you try your hand at sack gardening yourself, please send us a photo. Thanks!

Photos by Russell Powell

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From the CEO: Fighting Poverty Locally

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When some people think of hunger and poverty, they picture people struggling in different parts of the world – many of the countries where Heifer is already working. Very rarely do we picture families and individuals that are living in the United States, but it is a reality we need to recognize.

Many Americans are just one major illness or job loss away from sliding below the poverty line, and millions are already there. Roughly 46 million people in the United States live below the official poverty line. One in every five children in the country is food insecure, meaning he or she may have to forgo nutritious foods or meals all together because there’s not enough money to pay for them.

I think we overlook the poverty here in the U.S. because it is difficult to accept and it is even embarrassing. With all the abundance of resources we have, why are people still hungry? Whatever the reason is – perhaps lack of knowledge or lack of access – it is undeniable that families are struggling.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. And it is not a problem that “someone else” can fix. I want to ensure that we rid the world of hunger and poverty, and sometimes that means that the work starts at home.

I’ve received many letters or met with donors that have asked me how they can support Heifer’s work in the United States. Heifer USA recently kicked off Seeds of Change, a five-year project to support and cultivate sustainable community food systems and create jobs in Arkansas and Appalachia. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners, Heifer USA will build a food system value chain that connects farmers with businesses , markets and their communities. I’m so excited about the outcomes from this project and most important is that this project links healthy local food and meaningful work.

Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International

Now this work will not happen overnight. It will take a lot of time, dedication and effort – from ourselves and from our participants – but change is coming.

Hunger and poverty aren’t tomorrow’s problems. We need to address them today, and with your support we can help families and individuals in need become empowered, self-reliant and economically stable.

I invite you to read the latest issue of the World Ark to read more about Heifer’s work in the United States and how you can support Heifer USA’s Seeds of Change.

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World’s Tiniest Heifer Project

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A miniature model of a portable clay stove demonstrates how improved stoves preserve wood by using significantly less fuel.

Photos by Russ Powell

In Chiponde Village, in the brushy savannah of western Malawi, 38-year-old Nashoni Zimba is celebrating the success of a local Heifer project in his own small way. The father of five is delighted by the improvements that reforestation efforts and improved cook stoves brought since Heifer started the Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Project here last year.

Zimba spent roughly a week crafting two miniature versions of his village out of mud.He said he hoped the model would show that someone who cares for trees and forests is better off than someone who doesn’t take care of natural resources.

The first version of the village, the “before” model, includes a barren stand of stumps to depict deforestation resulting from the constant need for firewood. Without enough trees to serve as wind breaks, the grass roof on the miniature house in this version is blowing away. An open fire is stacked tall with kindling, and a truck hauls away more wood to produce charcoal.

Nashoni Zimba holds a model of a logging truck filled with wood slated to be made into charcoal in Chiponde Village, Malawi.

The “after” model features improved stoves, both the fixed version made of bricks and the portable clay stove. Both use only about a third as much fuel. A larger house features a metal roof, and a raised corral keeps goats from roaming free. Animals drink water beneath a healthy stand of trees.

Although the project is only a year old, participants say the benefits are already easy to see. Women report the amount of time they spend hunting firewood is significantly cut thanks to their new, more efficient stoves, which not only use less fuel but also cook more quickly. Many of the participants who received meat goats already have kids to pass on and plans to sell future offspring. These sales will produce much-needed income in a tobacco-growing region where farmers are finding the market for their crops is quickly drying up.

Zimba's model depicts metal roofs, efficient stoves and other improvements that come along with Heifer's sustainability measures.

 

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One Family’s Favorite Stones

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Photo by Kheang Sokleng, Courtesy of Heifer International

By Kheang Sokleng,
Heifer Cambodia

In October 2009, Tes Hen, her husband Meas Phy, and their three children joined the Strey Mean Samnang, or Lucky Women, self-help group (SHG) in Tropang Thlork village, Chantri commune, Rormeas Hiek district, Svay Rieng province, Cambodia. Their group is one of seven participating in the Improving Marginalized Groups Livelihood and Values-Based Holistic Community Development project.

Within a few months of joining the group, Hen was selected to be a Literacy Facilitator. In this role, she facilitates literacy classes to women members, providing numeracy and literacy skills based on Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones.

Hen practices the 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development with her family before sharing them with her group. This helps her to develop and implement effective lesson plans. During training sessions, she encourages her students to internalize the 12 Cornerstones. “I want to be a role model in my group and community,” said Hen. 

Hen’s youngest daughter, 11-year-old SreyPov, joined the SHG’s children’s group and said

Photo by Kheang Sokleng, Courtesy of Heifer International

her mother taught her all the “Stones.” “My group is named Yovakchun Ponlork Thmei, or New Sapling Children Group,” SreyPov said. “We have monthly meetings and a savings scheme. We save 200 Riel, or 5 cents, a month. We use our savings fund for buying books and pens.”

Hen’s husband and children love the Cornerstones values and mindfully practice them, especially the Cornerstone of Gender and Family Focus. Meas Phy said he is inspired by this Cornerstone, which brings peace, harmony and respect to his family.

Improving the Environment is SreyPov’s favorite Cornerstone. “Every morning, I clean my house and animal pens,” SreyPov said. “Sometimes, I help my parents bring animal manure to fill up the biogas unit. Since we have a bio-digester, my kitchen is clean and I can help my mom cook without being afraid of the house burning.”

Hen’s family does a great job living out the core values of Gender and Family Focus and Improving the Environment, their favorite Stones. With a strong belief that internalization of the Cornerstones changes people’s lives, they enthusiastically share these values with others.

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Weekly Article Roundup: A Sustainable Cup of Joe

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This week on the Heifer Blog we’ve taken a closer look at how chronic hunger is a common challenge in coffee-growing communities all over the world. Heifer helps ease food insecurity by helping to diversify coffee farmers’ income as well as by providing food sources through our model for sustainable community development.

In other Heifer news:

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A Word About the Word Campesino

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Today is International Day of Peasant Struggle, a day commemorating the massacre of 19 landless farmers in Brazil who were demanding land and justice in 1996. Every year on this date, people around the world unite through actions that support the rights of “peasants” and small-holder farmers.

The event’s creation owes a lot to La Via Campesina, an organization that Heifer sometimes collaborates with in our Americas Area Program, and the event is called Dia Internacional de la Lucha Campesina in Spanish. I wanted to take a second to talk about the translation of the word campesina (or campesino), because it’s an important word in relation to Heifer’s work in the Americas, and I think a lot of meaning is lost when the word is translated to English.

Campesina Gregoria Ichu Moye, 71, Trinidad, Bolivia. Photo by Russell Powell

I think it’s safe to say that, in Heifer’s Latin America projects, just about every one of our project participants would identify themselves as a campesino or campesina. But what does that mean, exactly? The most literal (and frequently used) translation is “peasant,” but that’s not really a word we use much in U.S. English anymore, unless it’s found in a history book. “Small-holder farmer” isn’t a bad translation, but it misses some of the word’s richness in Spanish.

Sara Koopman, who is a PhD candidate in geography at the University of British Columbia, writes a wonderful blog called Spanish for Social Change that focuses on social justice terminology for translators and interpreters. She has several posts on the term campesino and points to Via Campesina as an example of the complexity of the word. Via Campesina defines itself as “the international peasant movement” (clearly translating campesino as peasant) that brings together (and here’s their extended, de facto campesino definition) “millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world.” In subsequent posts, Sara also offers “family farmer” and “farmworker” as translations she has come across.

That’s a mouthful for just one word in Spanish. Sara’s recommendation for campesino is to import the word to English, then educate about it so that it is understood at all of these groups are included when the word is used. I agree… hence, the blog post.

For more context, Fernando Larrea, Heifer Brazil country director, said, “In general terms, (the word campesino) refers to people who live and work in rural areas and everything associated with that way of life.” More specifically, campesinos are rural producers who often do not own land and work small plots, with the family constituting most or all of the labor. The food they harvest is for their own consumption and sale to the market, but both activities are aimed to maintain the life of the family as opposed to accumulation of capital.

Another important aspect, Fernando said, is the presence of specific values and cultural elements of rural areas, such as reciprocity and the redistribution of production in community relations.

Unfortunately, campesinos often suffer from marginalization, exploitation via sale prices that do not represent all of the work invested or, as mentioned above, restricted (or no) access to land. Heifer and our project partners/participants are working together to overcome these obstacles while moving forward on the path to end hunger and poverty.

“Small-scale farmers have been pushed aside in many places because people don’t see their contributions to a globalized world,” said Adriana Garcia-DeVun, program manager for the Americas Program at Heifer. Adriana added that, despite this marginalization, there is a lot of pride behind the word campesino.

“Being a campesino/a is beginning to be seen as an honorable profession,” she said. “(You can see) the same pride you get by saying you’re a doctor, police officer or school teacher, someone (who) contributes to the well-being of society. The use of a simple word, campesino, (makes) them a part of a movement (that is) feeding the world, not just a peasant trying to make it day to day.

“The work of organizations like Heifer and Via Campesina help people regain or further develop their sense of pride in cultivating the earth for the benefit of their children and sometimes their community.”

The issue of land access–or more specifically land grabbing–is the focus of this year’s Dia Internacional de la Lucha Campesina. For more information on today’s event, visit La Via Campesina.

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Weekly Article Roundup: Working Toward Sustainability

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On Thursday, Heifer participated in the Little Rock Sustainability Summit next door to our headquarters at the Clinton Presidential Library. Our Director of Facilities, Erik Swindle, spoke on a panel and discussed all of the steps that Heifer takes at HQ and globally to stay a sustainable organization.

Heifer HQ is a platinum LEED rated building that was not only built out of recyclable materials, but also has restored wetlands. To reduce our energy consumption, we’ve recently installed solar panels that help produce 8-10% of our total electricity that we use on campus.

Watch this video for more information about our headquarters building:

Globally, we also work with our projects partners to have sustainable programs while still caring for the Earth. Read more about our work in sustainable projects with our most these blog post:

 

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Heifer Ranch Trains New Farmers

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Some residents of the Arkansas Delta – potential participantsin Heifer’s new Seeds of Change project – got their first look at functioning organic agriculture last weekend at Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark.

Trainer Chuck Crimmins shows off new seedlings

Because there are few examples of chemical-free agriculture in the Delta, where cash crops dominate, the four visitors had a lot to learn. Some have already grown crops on the fertile Delta land and others are first-time producers. They were intrigued by niche animal agriculture, including goats, chickens, and bees.

Farmer Everette Woods
Everette Woods of Colt, Ark. currently farms 240 acres of wheat, soy, and sorghum. “When I was young, I swore I’d never go into farming,” he chuckled. But eventually the family business called him back.

Now, as Woods feels himself being squeezed out of the industry by larger players, he’s looking to try a different style of farming. Heifer is a natural partner. Seeing the breadth of knowledge needed to keep an organic farm in balance without chemicals he marveled, “This is hard work!”

The Ranch has been in Heifer’s hands since 1971, originally used to raise livestock that was shipped overseas. Since Heifer began locally sourcing its animals within other countries, the Ranch has been used mainly to educate the public and Heifer supporters. The training day represents a chance for the Ranch to participate directly in Heifer’s mission, as a training facility and resource for project participants.

In one day, trainers Chuck Crimmins and Paul Casey could only skim their detailed knowledge of sustainable agriculture. Every question that the participants asked only cracked another volume of unique challenges and clever solutions. Rotating crops for healthy soil? Chuck could spend days on it. Sheep parasites? Paul could write a book.

Trainer Chuck Crimmins and Chris Johnson of Hughes, Ark. talk chickens.
The participants got more out of their trip than technical instruction, though. Their eyes were opened to opportunity. They learned about the sizzling market for locally-produced food and saw the potential for earning money with Earth-friendly farming. “I feel like a kid again, going on a field trip,” said Antoine Burks, from Hughes, Ark. “Except this was a field trip of dreams.”
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A Just Life for Honduran Coffee Farmers

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Heifer International Senior Grant Writer Catherine Scott recently spent time in Honduras visiting some of our projects. Below, Catherine shares with us a little about her visit.


“I wanted to come back to work with people in my own community” – Jonan Daniel, agricultural advisor.
Jonan Daniel.
Jonan Daniel is a young, enthusiastic, and highly trained agricultural advisor whose role is to visit 60 RAOS Coffee Cooperative member families per month. As part of the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters partnership aimed at “Improving the Sustainable Production and Food Systems of Small-Scale Organic Coffee Farming Families in Honduras,” Daniel visits these families to ensure they are meeting not only their own family food security needs, but also to ensure they are receiving the necessary training in organic coffee production to meet the RAOS coffee co-op standards.

Since 2002, Heifer has had a valued corporate partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). Most recently, GMCR has partnered with Heifer International to provide income diversification for small holder family farmers in the coffee production supply chain in Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua. After the coffee harvest, farmers have a hard time making ends meet. This period, from April to September, is called the “thin months” – when it becomes necessary to find another source of income. This is where Heifer comes in. We are working with families who supply coffee to GMCR to help the farmers through the thin months. By providing livestock, seeds, training and equipment, the farmers are able to better sustain their families and produce an income throughout the year.

Harvested coffee beans.
GMCR works with the RAOS co-op in Honduras. RAOS’ vision is to produce healthy, ecologically sustainable food – but also to gain a “just life” for its members. They want to be able to share the fruits of their labor amongst member families and the wider community. Their work is conducted in harmony with nature, while working towards economic, social, physical, and spiritual health.

The co-op started with just 16 men and 4 women. Over the past few years, the co-op has grown to include 123 families (200 individuals); they receive 10-20 applications for membership per week! Accountability was also readily apparent, with an elected co-op board that includes a specific Gender Committee to ensure the inclusion of women.

Preparing the coffee for shipment.
Why does RAOS exist? Because its producers know that there can be strength in numbers. Without the co-op working to secure fair trade pricing, the coffee producers and ‘’cutters’’ (those who harvest the beans) are at the mercy of the buyers. An average 100 lb bag of beans fetches a price of $6/bag. A fair trade bag? That garners the producer $20/bag. In a country where many people exist on less than $2/day, getting fair trade prices makes a huge difference in a family’s income.

During the project site visit, several Heifer staff members tried their hand at harvesting the beans. Within a 30 minute period, we harvested a paltry sum. Many jokes ensued over how many Americans it takes to harvest a single coffee plant! Our host, and one of the original members of RAOS, teased us that he had a quota and if we didn’t meet it, we couldn’t leave the farm! In contrast to our untrained hands, a skilled cutter can harvest 250 lbs of coffee per day. It is back-breaking work.

RAOS co-op president with eggs from
his Heifer chickens.
When we asked Daniel why he had returned when so many young adults leave the rural areas, he replied simply that he grew up in this area harvesting coffee. Now, by working with Green Mountain Coffee Roaster and Heifer International he has the opportunity and the training to Pass on the Gift to members of his own community. Through this partnership, families in the RAOS co-op (and others in Honduras) have a better chance at moving beyond subsistence and creating strong economic futures for their children.
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Definition: Sustainability

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Here at Heifer, we have a set of fundamental principles to guide our work, called the 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development. One of these Cornerstones is Sustainability and Self-Reliance, and for our project participants, the focus is two-fold: one is for families to continue to thrive after direct support from Heifer has ended; the other is to use their resources in a way that will not deplete or permanently damage those resources, so they and their successors can continue to benefit.

But what does sustainability really mean? As a writer, reader and skimmer of various texts, I know how easy it is to get caught up on certain words.

To say the least, sustainability is a hot-topic, jargoney word (in fact, it was on Advertising Age’s top list of “Jargoniest Jargon” Words of 2010. Here on Heifer Blog, we’ve even got two categories dedicated to it: sustainability and sustainable agriculture.

In an effort to help make sustainability a more digestible–and livable–concept, Douglas Gayeton and Laura Howard Gayeton embarked on a three-year journey across the United States to dissect and define the myriad of terms that shape what sustainability means, resulting in the Lexicon of Sustainability.

From the website:

The Lexicon project is based on a simple premise: people can’t be expected to live more sustainable lives if they don’t even know the most basic terms and principles that define sustainability.

It’s a pretty impressive project. Watch the above video to learn more about it, and check out this page to get their full, artful glossary of terms, which includes several we like to use here at Heifer (biodiversity, CSA, food security, to name a few). Their blog includes terms that aren’t included yet in the gallery, like food sovereignty, another Heifer favorite.

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