Farming

Struck by the impression that peak oil would bring about harsh changes for industrial society, I have been working towards teaching myself and others basic self-sufficiency skills that might mitigate such harsh changes. I'm not a big fan of the apocalyptic mindset; I don't think that escaping to the woods with 300 years of wheat berries and sawed off shotguns is a solution to our problems. But, at the very least, we could all do a little better in our efforts to prepare for a future of decreasing fossil-fuel availability.

So, what to do? I co-founded the Alemany Farm, a 4.5 acre urban organic farm in San Francisco. There, we host workdays for people to come learn food growing techniques. I teach a year-long course in Ecological Horticulture. Sometimes I teach with the San Francisco Permaculture Guild and Institute, and at other local food projects like the Free Farm Stand and Hayes Valley Farm.

I also made a movie, called In Search of Good Food, in an effort to explore what constitutes a truly "sustainable" food system. Really, the movie is my attempt to get people interested in food systems and sustainability to look deeper at the barriers which prevent positive change. Unfortunately, these barriers, as so much in modern life, are entirely political in nature and not solvable without a reinvigorated functional democracy.

To create a functional democracy requires engaged participation. I hope that the recently-created San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA) serves as a catalyst for some of that local participation. While I appreciate the do-it-yourself aesthetic and the "personal is political" belief, which lend themselves to attempts to regain control of one's food intake (through buying better produce/meat and/or growing your own), I know that to substantively change the food system, we need to communicate, participate, protest, and promote far more publicly and politically than we do now.

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Writing and Publishing

I like Art. I like Politics. And I'm bullheadedly committed to seeing the two intermingle a little more than is usual these days. For that reason, I published San Francisco Art and Politics, a newsprint magazine.

I also was once involved in a group of silly friends who thought it useful to make a series of zines about us, by us. We called it Family Style Jamboree. You can also find one my early political comics, the 2004 "Peak Oil Tract", through Family Style's website.

Since 2009 I have been a regular contributor of essays, reviews, and commentary to Civil Eats, a food politics blog. I also post writings on the In Search of Good Food movie blog.

Currently, I'm trying to finish a piece on efforts to create "real wealth" in today's ultra-capitalist society. It's an attempt to fashion some sort of philosophy of "post-capitalist" action, through which we can see how change in capitalism can actually be achieved, vetted, and constantly improved. Let me know if you'd like to provide feedback on the initial draft.

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Organizing

The SFUAA is my most recent effort at organizing. Other attempts to organize include:

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Music

A well examined life is not a complete one if it isn't enjoyable, and so I'm very conscious of maintaining personal traditions of enjoyment, including the playing of music for its own sake. I have played drums and guitar since I was 13, in the early years mostly for punk bands (Sacrilicious, the Human Beans, Chiavajina, Shotwell, and Ppavartaana/Hello Noisy), later on for lesbian singer-songwriter (Dear Nora), world fusion (Perranosperous), cow punk (Cow People), and noise rock projects (NRSZ). Currently, I am playing drums for the friends Future Twin.

Every year since 2003, with exception of 2009, I have released an album of my own creation/songs. Originally titled by my initials (AMMRA), those projects included:

In 2008 and 2010, my birthday releases (so-called because I finish them on time to give out to my friends during my birthday celebration) were recordings of my newest band, People People.

I have also contributed to the musical efforts of others, such as playing drums for Dark Dark Dark, on artist Chris Duncan's "The SUN" project, and for Tina Gordon's "The Rambler".

Besides playing drums and guitar, and singing in the all-male, Leonard Cohen cover choir The Conspiracy of Beards, I have also recorded and released musical efforts, including:

Manhaterrr (engineered)
Boomtown Compilation (recorded and released on CD)

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Education

While I attend a traditional, institutional, bureaucratic university (University of California, Berkeley), I am always making efforts to educate and be educated outside of that sphere. So I am involved in the Autonomous University of the Mission, as well as teaching farming skills via non profit urban farm projects. I also read a lot and write horribly ambitious treatises on topics of human nature, environmental sustainability, and social change.

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Services

I am available, in many forms, with many functions, for many purposes. For example, I can design and implement sustainable and food producing gardens with my old employers, San Francisco Landscapes. I can play drums for your recording session. I can consult regarding the process of starting, organizing, or maintaining a community food project. I can draw things for fliers, posters, movies. I can write things for you, or edit them. I can teach farming skills, privately, or through an organization that you are involved with. I am available to speak at public events. My movie is available for screenings [please write antidogmatist@gmaill.com].

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Friends

Farming:

Music:

  • Trainwreck Riders
  • Slow Motion Cowboys
  • Asada Messiah
  • Devotionals
  • Gilded Rooks
  • Grass Widow
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