We are in process of building an organization that will bring opportunity, information and new ideas focused on ecological solutions for the pressing economic, social and environmental challenges we face here in Western Nevada and across the country.
SunLife is being grown from the boundless energy and ideas that are springing up all around the world, as people collectively discover that there truly are ways to create a future we actually want to be part of and to care for the precious, fragile and finite planet we inhabit.
SunLife is focused on evolving high-desert permaculture methodology to develop the most environmentally sound solutions for producing, food, fuel source stock, clean energy, clean water, educational opportunities and non-exportable employment careers that will benefit our region in perpetuity. Leveraging a community supported organization model, SunLife will demonstrate and deliver best-practice solutions and guides to help our members and our community develop truly sustainable lifestyles that will support ourselves, our families, loved ones and neighbors.
What is a CSA? Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is a socio-economic model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals – while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. It provides a means for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to develop locally supported, small-scale markets. Traditional CSA’s focus on a system of subscription farming, delivering weekly produce, including eggs, vegetables, fruits, herbs flowers and even milk or meat products that have been produced using organic agriculture practices. The CSA system CSAs generally focus on the production of high-quality foods using organic and ecologically or permaculturally-based farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods, produce, byproducts and in the case of SunLife Institute, clean energy fuel as well. The SunLife farm budget will leverage support from our member subscribers and neighbors as well as near-by markets and consumer outlets based on what services and goods we ultimately produce for delivery. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality thus reducing the risk of food waste or financial loss. In SunLife’s case we will literally have no waste as every possible surplus will be studied and repurposed for food, fuel or byproduct merit.
“As environmental issues become more pressing, there are two possible responses: forget it and hope that government and corporations will figure it out, or take action yourself. The two most abundant forms of power on earth are solar and wind, and they're getting cheaper and cheaper.”
Ed Begley, Jr. actor/activist
“Under the rule of the "free market" ideology, we have gone through two decades of an energy crisis without an effective energy policy. Because of an easy and thoughtless reliance on imported oil, we have no adequate policy for the conservation of gasoline and other petroleum products. We have no adequate policy for the development or use of other, less harmful forms of energy. We have no adequate system of public transportation.”
Wendell Berry
“Massive food system failures happen with surprising frequency. California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation's second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling a portion of the roasted nuts it has been shipping since last fall that a Setton spokeswoman said amounts to more than 2 million pounds of nuts. We just went through the Toxic Peanut recall affecting millions of tons of food products. In the 80’s there was an outbreak of aflatoxin in the nation’s corn supply, which made most of a full year’s crop carcinogenic. During the California medfly crisis, and Florida freezes much of the citrus crops go to the dump.
We can use and repurpose these resources. Turning waste into valuable fuel, works best in smaller local alcohol plants. These plants are more nimble than the behemoth Ethanol plants that rely exclusively on corn. By having flexible material handling at the start of the distillation process, they are able to use smaller lots of different materials. The fermentation, distillation and Alcohol Fuel produced are the same regardless of whether we use corn, beets, cellulose, old bread or poison nuts.”
David Blume author Alcohol Can Be A Gas!
“With its array of gadgets and machines, all powered by energies that are destructive of land or air or water, and connected to work, market, school, recreation, etc., by gasoline engines, the modern home is a veritable factory of waste and destruction. It is the mainstay of the economy of money. But within the economies of energy and nature, it is a catastrophe. It takes in the world’s goods and converts them into garbage, sewage, and noxious fumes—for none of which have we found a use.”
Wendell Berry
"I haven't been to a gas station in years. It feels so good not to be a slave to gas, playing the whole game of war for oil."
Daryl Hannah actor/activist
"Rely on renewable energy flows that are always there whether we use them or not, such as, sun, wind and vegetation: on energy income, not depletable energy capital."
Amory Lovins founder Rocky Mountain Institute
“It is time for a sustainable energy policy which puts consumers, the environment, human health, and peace first.”
Dennis Kucinich
Federal policy over the past century has largely failed to promote an energy system based on safe, secure, economically affordable, and environmentally benign energy sources. The tax code, budget appropriations, and regulatory processes overwhelmingly have been used to subsidize dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear power. The result: increased sickness and premature deaths, depleted family budgets, acid rain destruction of lakes, forests, and crops, oil spill contamination, polluted rivers and loss of aquatic species and the long-term peril of climate change and radioactive waste dumps–not to mention a dependency on external energy supplies.”
Ralph Nader
“Here's what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we're hooked on.”