Cardinals

Nov 18, 2013

Fall Classic 2013 – Baseball and Squash

Beyond the Midwest, Cardinals, Food Recovery Challenge, food waste, Gleaning, sustainability 0 Comments

By Jim Callier

A few Mondays ago, I fired up my computer to check email and plan my work for the week. It had been a good weekend. I watched the World Series games between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox. Each team took one game. We know how the series ended, but in my mind both teams are champions and winners on and off the field. Both teams recover food following games for donation to hunger relief organizations or composting as part of their commitment to EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Numerous other sports teams, have also established other programs and activities that benefit the environment and focus on sustainability. Earlier in the year I got a chance to visit with the Cardinals and see firsthand how they are working to keep food waste out of landfills.

Hosei Maruyama, St. Louis Cardinals stadium management, explains recycling effort at Busch Stadium to Jim Callier

With wasted food on my mind, I read an email from one of my staff members, Marcus, about a charity event he attended on his own time outside of work. He explained that a local not-for-profit, the Society of St. Andrews – West, or SoSA-West, was organizing a “gleaning” event for next week and plans to donate all of the food to pantries, shelters and other organizations that feed people. Gleaning, is where a farmer opens up his fields after the harvest to individuals and organizations to gather food that remains in the field for use. Gleaning can also occur at Farmer’s Markets, grocers, and other places that have surplus food.

In this case, SoSA – West received permission from a local farmer to glean his field, and recruited over 1000 volunteers to glean. The goal was to collect 1 Million pounds of food for charities, weather permitting. The product in the field is over ten different varieties of squash, including acorn, butternut, cushaw, buttercup, turban hubbard, delicate, spaghetti, banana, cheese pumpkin, kobacha and pumpkin and more.

A variety of squash collected by SoSA – West

Hearing this , I clearly see the connection to our National Sustainable Materials Management Program and the Food Recovery Challenge (FRC). How can I use this information to raise awareness about the world-wide issue of food to good to waste, and encourage others to join EPA, USDA, and others in the FRC?
I’ll let you know what steps we took in next blog in this series. Please come back to see what’s next!

Jim Callier is Chief of the Resource Conservation and Pollution Prevention Section at EPA in Kansas City and has thirty years of experience working at EPA, primarily in Region 7. Jim has both working and management experience in many of EPA’s programs including hazardous and solid waste, brownfields, and pollution prevention. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri at Rolla with a B.S. Degree in Geological Engineering and is a Registered Professional Geologist in the State of Missouri.

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Feb 28, 2013

Our Friendly Feathered Friends

birdfeeders, birds, blue jays, Cardinals, rodents 10 Comments

Haga clic en la imagen para unirse a la conversación en nuestro blog en español... ¡No olvide de suscribirse!

By Lina Younes

Ever since the beginning of the year, I have been noticing more the comings and goings of wild birds around my home. For the past weeks, I’ve been hearing an increasing number of bird calls as well. While I didn’t quite recognize the distinct chirps or calls of the different birds, I can tell that they are coming from a wide variety of bird species.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, there is a pair of cardinals that is frequently visiting my backyard. I’ve seen blue jays and other birds in the wooded area behind my house, but they don’t seem to come to my garden while I have been around. I discussed the situation with my children and they suggested that I put bird feeders. “You can even put peanut butter on an acorn. That’s what we did at school,” proclaimed the youngest.

Frankly, I had been resisting the idea of bird-feeders for the longest time. I thought that by creating a bird-friendly environment in my backyard birds would visit regularly. I’ve prided myself with planting flowering plants, shrubs and trees that will provide birds and other pollinators with habitat, food and rest areas. There’s even a little creek nearby to provide water. I was opting for a natural approach. Personally, I didn’t want to get bird feeders because I didn’t want to feed the area squirrels nor did I want to attract unwanted rodents.

To feed or not to feed, that was the question! So, in the spirit of National Bird-Feeding Month, I finally decided to get a couple of bird feeders and birdseed for wild birds. I will be placing them strategically in my garden this weekend. I stress the word “strategically” because I don’t want to put them in location that will give easy access to those pesky squirrels. Nonetheless, I want to have them in a location where my family and I may feast our eyes with the site of the colorful avian visitors that will be flying by.

I hope to take some nice pictures of some blue jays, orioles and in the summer, some golden finches. I am looking forward to sharing the experience in future blogs. Stay tuned.

Do you have any bird-watching suggestions? Would love to hear from you.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and currently serves the Multilingual Outreach and Communications Liaison for EPA. She manages EPA’s social media efforts in Spanish. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.