Alan Scott's Ovencrafters provides DIY masonry oven plans and hardware (doors and pyrometers) for bakers wanting to start their own small business, or just to bake large amounts of bread and other food for family and friends. It was set up on Gandhian principles of “Policy with principles, commerce with morality, wealth through work, and science with humanity." Many ovens and many small bakeries now feed good bread to their communities as a direct result, and the book Alan inspired and co-wrote, The Bread Builders, has become a bible for a growing circle of builder/bakers. Alan, an Aussie . . .
Living More with Less
We've been attending a local fellowship consisting of an interesting mix of Mennonite families (almost all of whom have left agriculture for more "professional" pursuits), as well as baptists, quakers, and a bunch of folks I won't try to categorize. Many of them are self-employed, live fairly simply, and try to uphold basic principles of love and justice. We sing and share potluck every week. That, to me, is the essence of "learning by doing," and as such means much more to me than any creed. And I'm filling in a big gap in my education, which didn't cover this whole realm that makes up one of . . .
Mural Video, student-made, Woodburn High, 2005
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