permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

3rd Annual California FRUIT TREE TOUR
Celebrating the transformation of concrete jungles into urban orchards.
SANTA CRUZ- February 21st is the first day of school for the 3rd ANNUAL 
FRUIT TREE TOUR. Thirty
earth educators from northern California travel to schools from Los Angeles 
to San Francisco in the
largest known vegetable oil-powered caravan: six vehicles, including three 
busses. The all
volunteer crew travels as a nomadic community visiting schools to plant 
1000 fruit trees with urban
youth. The three month tour is divided into day-long programs at each 
school featuring cultural
story-telling, West African agricultural drumming, earth-conscious hip-hop, 
and hands-on
involvement in the stewardship of the student's school yard.

WHO
Common Vision: 30 all-volunteer earth educators
www.commonvision.org
WHAT
FRUIT TREE TOUR 2006: A six vehicle, vegetable oil-powered caravan planting 
over 1000 fruit trees at
urban California schools.
WHEN
February 20-April 25
WHERE
February 20-March 13: Los Angeles Area
March 13-20: Ojai, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo
Mar 15 Wed Mar 15  6:30- 9:30pm Common Vision Dinner , Drumming, Story 
Telling and Slide Show
the Goleta Valley Community Center 5679 Hollister Ave, 
margie@sbpermacultiure.org
March 21-26: Santa Cruz Area
March 27-April 1: Alameda County
April 2-9: Bay Area and Hayward
April 10-15: Mendocino
April 15-20: Upper Lake
April 21-25: Grass Valley

WHY
To inspire urban youth through planting and caring for fruit trees.
Fruit Tree Tour is a fusion of arts, culture, and ecology that rekindles 
relationships with the
earth and empowers proactive change. The planting of fruit trees with urban 
youth embodies the
vital connection between our health and the health of the planet. As school 
yard landscapes grow
and thrive, so do the communities that unite to plant orchards amist the 
asphalt and chain-link
fences,  shares Common Vision founder Blair Philips. We visit schools to 
try to get
students in touch with what's under all this concrete.

The Fruit Tree Tour Experience:
Students of all ages are awed and inspired by three vegetable oil-powered 
school busses,
hand-painted in landscape murals depicting indigenous communities, rolling 
into the schoolyard and
breaking the monotony of their regular school routine. Symbolic 
storytelling, strong West African
Dun-Dun-Bah agricultural rhythms, and the planting of fruit trees explodes 
into a celebration of
life and interconnectedness focusing on respect for the earth.
In the spirit of native oral tradition, FRUIT TREE TOUR storytellers bring 
to life tales from the
past of living in harmony with the earth and the process of how society 
forgot our connection with
the earth. Dancers draped in African mud-cloth fabric and drummers ornately 
dressed set the stage
for the storytelling to unfold. A bold cast of characters and musicians 
brightly portray these
events with minimal words from a narrator and an elaborate display of 
culture and color.

FRUIT TREE TOUR Earth educators teach ecological concepts by relating 
ancient and modern Native
American stories and performing ecological hip-hop that makes caring for 
the planet both relevant
and personal for the students.
At some schools, FRUIT TREE TOUR volunteers and students will plant 
indigenous Mayan corn in school
yard gardens. The corn seed is not genetically modified and has been passed 
down from generation to
generation. Students will grow corn to save seed and conserve culture in 
solidarity with idigenous
farmers in Mexico.
In a tree planting celebrations students will drum earth rhythms, while 
working in intimate groups
with FRUIT TREE TOUR facilitators to dig holes, prepare the roots, and 
plant the trees. Facilitators will engage students in dialogues around key 
ecological and cultural concepts such as
nutrient cycles, interconnectedness, diversity, and respect.
Students, teachers, principals, and FRUIT TREE TOUR volunteers gather for a 
closing circle. The
circle takes a moment to give thanks for the dayâ??s experience.
Philosophy: A Healthy Harvest
Only 11% of children in California are eating the recommended 5+ servings 
of fruits and vegetables a
day, according to a study conducted by the California Department of Health 
Services.

FRUIT TREE TOUR provides students with an opportunity to experience growing 
their own food in their
own schoolyards. Planting fruit trees can open student to a lifelong 
appreciation and
understanding of our relationship with nature. FRUIT TREE TOUR orchards 
provide healthful foods,
create microclimates, beautify local environments, and are living examples 
of seasonal cycles.

FRUIT TREE TOUR inspires an awareness of our interconnection with all of 
nature and focuses on how
we can take steps locally to realize and honor this connection between our 
health and the health of
the planet.
The integration of traditional drumming, earth education, hands-in-the-soil 
experiential learning,
and planting fruit tree creates a healthy, holistic experience students 
remember for a lifetime.

FRUIT TREE TOUR cultivates the students appreciation for the earth that can 
serve as a foundation
for environmental responsibility, a key element of the next generation.
The participation in creating and maintaining a school yard orchard 
provides a space to engage a
stewardship ethic as something personal and local, not a distant 
abstraction. Students are able to
provide their school and extended community with beauty, health, and 
abundance.

Common Vision:
Founded in 1999, Common Vision is a solution-focused nonprofit 
organization, a project of
International Humanities Center. Common Visionâ??s mission is to cultivate 
ecological
awareness and respect for the Earth while generating social and 
environmental changes towards
sustainable lifestyles. We integrate concepts of ecology with the 
traditions, music, and art of
cultures that live or have lived in harmony with the Earth.
Common Vision infuses public schools and spaces with inspiration, 
infrastructure, and experience to
support solution-focused environmental education for urban youth. Common 
Vision facilitates
hands-on projects with students and community leaders that serve to 
retrofit public schools and
spaces into models of sustainability.


Media Advisory:
February 15, 2006
Contact:
Julia Trunzo
831-325-9652
julia@commonvision.org