Preface:  

Our Sarah, at age 12, won an essay contest put on by a local Earth Day Coalition in Cleveland.  As we travel, I continually talk about the threat of global warming.  I told the Wellington (OH) Enterprise newspaper that Liz and I are running as "concerned parents."  And one of the things we're most concerned about is leaving a planet that is habitable for our kids.  Sarah is concerned about that too.  --Joe

 

 

 

A Local Solution to End Global Warming :

"City Fresh"

 

 by Sarah Schriner

 

 

 

            City Fresh is something new.

 

            I live right across from a City Fresh Farm in Cleveland. My mom's friend is the organizer.

 

            What is City Fresh?

 

            City Fresh is a program to bring small farms into the city.  This will help end global warming.

 

            Read on and find out how.

 

            What City Fresh does is work with neighborhood organizers to change old abandoned parking lots into small farms.

 

             First they put down two feet of wood chips on the cement. On top of this they layer leaves, composted vegetables and bread, then manure.  They spread soil on top and start growing vegetables, fruit trees and berries.

 

            How does this help end global warming?

 

            With City Fresh, food is grown in the city. If we grow food in the city, trucks don't have to drive miles to deliver it.

 

            Trucks give off carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is greenhouse gas. It gets trapped in the atmosphere, which heats up the planet.

 

            What can you do? 

 

            Start in your backyard. Start composting to build up good soil. Build garden beds. [You can research gardening at your library.] Pick out seeds - not just for flowers, but vegetables, berries and fruit. So you are not depending on these to come by truck.            

 

            Talk to your friends and encourage them to garden. Talk to your parents about starting a community garden or City Fresh in your neighborhood. Other ways we can work on stopping global warming is to plant trees to absorb carbon dioxide. We can use ethanol in our cars or walk and bicycle more.

 

            If we don't stop global warming now, we will become an endangered species.