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MUM courses:
Grinnell College courses: Resource Center |
Show NotesMusic Credits: “Basic” by Epicte the Elemental. Want to hear more of his music? E-mail him at epicte [at] gmail [dot] com. Interview with Lonnie Gambe Intro This is a local economy interview for January 28 2008 Hello everyone, I’m your host Soren Pearson. Today I'm here with a very special guest, Lonnie Gamble, who is an engineer, educator, farmer, and community activist. He is the founder of Abundance Ecovillage in Fairfield and Big Green Summer, a 10-week summer intensive in sustainable design, where students live what they learn. He is also a professor at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA where he teaches courses in the Sustainable Living program, the first program of its kind in the United States. Welcome to the show, Lonnie, I'm glad to have you. We are here to talk about local economy. But before we get started, I would like to ask you how you first got interested in sustainability, what was the initial spark? What got you interested in Transcendental Meditation in the first place? I would like to ask you about your Big Green Summer program, and what got you interested in this project? How long has this been going for? What is the best thing about it? Do you invite important people to come or call? Anybody famous? What is your plan for the future of this and where do you think it’s going to go? You are a founding director of Sustainable Living Coalition, tell us more about it? I heard about your house, what’s best about it, and that you haven’t had to pay an electric bill in 15 years, how is this possible? How are you able to do that? Do you have a garden? Do you think other people could do this? About your farm in Hawaii, is anything special about it? Do you plan to go back at some point? Lonnie, you used to be the president of Hydroelectric Power Development what is it and what does it specialize in? Is it still around today? You are an expert on wind and solar power, could you explain a little bit more about how Fairfield could move in this direction? Do you think the old system, like coal and energy and that kind of stuff, will it just fade away? In what ways could we strengthen our local economy in our community? What do you see for the future of Fairfield? I’ve been to the local farmers market, a couple of times and it’s quite crowded, what is the potential of this? Do you think the farmers market will start expanding? What attracted you to becoming a full time teacher at Maharishi University of Management I know that you practice Transcendental Meditation, could you tell us what this is and how it relates to sustainability? If you could advice a community to do one thing, what would you advise them to do? What would be the easiest thing a community could do if they don’t have much money? Outtro How could people contact you for more information about Big Green Summer and strengthening their local economy? Is there anything else you would like to say to our audience before we sign off? We’ve been speaking with Lonnie Gamble. Thank you Lonnie for joining us and everything you do for Fairfield, and thank you to all our listeners. Signing off from Fairfield, IA, this is Soren Pearson |