We had our first meeting on September 9, second Tuesday of the month, using our new format for education - action meetings.

Peter and Donna started us off with updates on the world energy situation. Already there are many places in the world with significant energy shortages. Our jobless rates hit hits highest point in 5 years. State and federal governments have less revenue as people are driving less which is lowering the amount gathered by gas taxes. And, the price of oil is going down, but, not the price of gasoline at the pump...for various reasons.

Cal then gave a presentation on food production concepts for the years ahead when food will not be so easily available in grocery stores. Cal covered subjects of gardening, composting, community gardens, food storage and cooking. Peter, by the way, gave us all lots of tomatoes from his garden.

We ended with a discussion about our organizations' name and if it is a barrier to people wanting to come to the meetings. The main outcome of the discussion is that the choosing of a name has to do with the purpose of the group, and maybe it is time to redefine or reclarify the purpose of our organization. Nathan and Ivy agreed to be a subcommittee on this topic and have since posted a forum piece to foster discussion over the coming weeks until our next meeting.

Thank you to all who came and to everyone who contributed to the meeting!