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Back Page: The Joy of a Local Living Economy

by Judy WicksI had just turned six when my family moved to the small town where I grew up in western Pennsylvania. On the first day in my new community, I collected all the extension cords I could find and connected them down the driveway, where I set up my child-size dining table with two

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2 mins read
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Book Review: Power Trip

Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells--Our Ride to the Renewable Futureby Amanda LittleHarper, $25.99
Cycling into work on the Brooklyn Bridge on September 11, 2001, Amanda Little witnessed the horrific attack on the World Trade Center. Two years later, on August 14, 2003, Little was in her Manhattan office when the Northeast Blackout left

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1 min read
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Recipes: Squash Your Hunger

Barley Pilaf Stuffed Squash recipe by Tara Mataraza Desmond(serves four) Barley is a common ingredient in hearty dishes like soup, stew and stuffing. Here, the grain is the base of a pilaf-like filling for soft roasted butternut squash.

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2 mins read
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In Season: Brussels Sprouts

On reality tv cooking competitions, producers often can’t resist the urge to structure a challenge around making traditionally maligned foods palatable for kids. Bring on the brussels sprouts! Every time they hand a bushel of these little green balls of goodness to a reticent cheftestant, I get a touch worked up. What did these verdant

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2 mins read
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Feature: A Bike with Petals

On a roof or in a yard, Grace Wicks grows gardenersby Char VandermeerIt was easy to pick Grace Wicks, sole proprietor of Graceful Gardens, out of the horde of stern-faced suits bustling by the Four Seasons Hotel in Center City. She was the one wearing a great big grin and carrying a giant green gardening

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2 mins read
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Feature: A Fresh Start

Prisoners and community gardeners help feed Philadelphia's hungry by Natalie Hope McDonald
Adjacent to a soccer field in fairmount park, in view of what’s left of the Delaware River’s wetlands, the Philadelphia Prison System operates eight correctional facilities for men and women along State Road.

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6 mins read
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Philadelphia, The Once and Future Workshop of the World?

Once known as the Workshop of the World, Philadelphia lost 400,000 manufacturing jobs over the last four decades. But according to the Emerging Industries Project (a report presented by the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia’s Green Economy Task Force), there is potential to redevelop local manufacturing in a more sustainable way.

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1 min read
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Cover Story: Upstairs Downstairs

Sa Va Fashion Brings buying local to a new levelby Lee Stabert
Upstairs from a posh center city boutique is a small garment factory. There is a hefty metal cutting table along the right wall and a couple rows of sewing machines. There is a machine that folds collars, and one that attaches clasps to pants.

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5 mins read