“Good Tidings”
The Earth, Spirit, Action Team Newsletter
St. Matthew’s United Church

November 3rd, 2024 No._26_____
Welcome to the Fall 2024 issue of “Good Tidings”, the ESA Team newsletter that provides
information on local and global environmental and climate change issues; suggestions for
personal and political actions that will build a healthy planet; information about resources, and
actions from other environment and climate change organizations; and faith reflections on
creation, climate and environmental issues, and our calling as stewards of creation.
We welcome feedback from readers who would like to share their thoughts with us.
Our email is: earthspiritaction016@gmail.com
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In this Issue…
Welcome to this Fall Issue of Good Tidings. With political turmoil here at home and south of
the border; and with ongoing war and threats of expanded war overseas; even with the
calming effect of a beautiful and warm fall, anxiety is in the air and in our minds over the
impact of political decisions and policies, our political choices, and escalating wars on the
environment and climate change. We are living amidst serious issues.
This Fall Issue discusses “taking action” in a variety of ways, to deal with the anxiety we feel
at problems that seem too big to solve. “Taking action” to “build a better present”, to live in
ways that are right for the environment and for one another (suggested in all the articles in
this issue), is the antidote to anxiety. This is because “taking action”, doing the right thing, on
whatever level, is grounded in hope. We hope you will find hope in this issue.

“Building A Better Present.” A Fall Event hosted by SCOCANS and the Ecology Action Centre
this Saturday Nov. 2 nd .
The Spiritual Coalition on Climate Action NS (SCOCANS) is inviting those interested to its Fall
event “Building a Better Present” on this Saturday Nov. 2.  This free event brings people of all
faiths together to share knowledge, to learn and to take action on climate issues. 
The morning will be filled with storytelling. In the afternoon we will hear about projects in
community and funding opportunities.  

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Morning storytellers include Dr. Saad Dabbous, Geologist and Imam & Director of Ummah
Masjid; Bradley Knockwood, Geography student, Aquatic Ecosystem Research Assistant, and
VP of SMU Environmental Society; Curtis Whylie, Social entrepreneur and founder of the
Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust; and Thierno Diallo, Atlantic Canada
Advocacy Officer for the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
Those leading Afternoon Discussions on Community Actions include Dr Tony Charles, Director
SMU School of the Environment: Communities in Action; Rev'd Marian Lucas-Jeffries, retired
Anglican priest: EV Charging Stations in faith building parking lots; and Dr Camilo Botero,
visiting scholar, coastal explorer & researcher: Healthy Coastline project in Sheet Harbour.
Attendees need to register so we will know numbers for lunch. See link below.
Accessibility: There is a large parking lot for onsite parking, direct access via Halifax Transit
bus, and the building is wheelchair accessible. The event will be held on the main floor. 
Date: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 
Location: Grace Chapel (255 Ross St, Halifax, NS, B3M 4B3)
Registration link: https://ecologyaction.ca/get-involved/events/building-better-present 
Ed. Note: We regret that this event took place before hard copies of Good Tidings were
available. The electronic version was available by email earlier this week. Please let us know
if you would like to be on our email list.
With notes from Anne Marie Dalton (SMUC), and Hannah Minzloff (EAC).

*****

Community Garden 2024
This was the second year for our community garden on the North lawn but was much more
successful than last year. All 8 beds were used, 4 by St. Matthew's and 4 by friends of the
church. We established a time on Tuesday mornings to meet to plant, weed, water, and pick
the food that was ready. Many bags of produce were harvested and shared in the pantry.
Tomatoes were the favorite, but the bags of greens, beans, beets and radishes were also
snatched up quickly.
A composter was donated at the beginning of the summer, and it was put to use. We need to
learn a bit more about how to use it most effectively and will do so over the winter months.
The strawberry patch really filled in this year but needed to be picked more than once a week
so we will encourage people to look for ripe berries on Sundays as well as the Tuesdays when
the volunteers come. Perhaps we can share the harvest with the other friends who have plots
and come on other days and times.

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Now the land will lay dormant for the winter months, but we look forward to getting our
hands in the soil next spring and sharing the produce with our neighbours.
By Elaine Murray

*****

“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that
something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” Victor Havel – Disturbing the Peace
Wade Davis. 2024. Beneath the Surface of Things. Greystone Books Ltd. Vancouver/ Berkeley/
London.
I first encountered the BC anthropologist, Wade Davis, listening in 2009 to the CBC Massey
Lectures “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. I was
awestruck by the incredible stories he told of the voyageurs of the Pacific islands. His new,
post-Covid, book “Beneath the Surface of Things” is a collection of new and chosen articles
among which “Beyond Climate Fear and Trepidation” caught my eye first and foremost.
Reading it, gave me pause, as he addressed the ways we face the crisis of climate change.
Davis enumerates both the cost and the carbon-reduction limitations of many of the
commonly proposed strategies to address climate change. Suffice it to say, Wade’s analysis of
the limitations of the commonly presented pathways to address the crisis are startling in their
implications. My first response was heightened climate anxiety because he seemed to be
arguing that the task before us is insurmountable. But that is precisely the reaction he wants
to avoid. He wants to focus on a broad set of policies which can alleviate critical shortcomings
in peoples’ lives such that they can care about their place in the world.
Davis wants to shift away from policies primarily focused on achieving net zero by 2030 or
2050. Climate change exists in a wide-ranging setting of critical issues. What is essential is the
policy conversations that cut across those issues. For example, he argues, “If we address the
problems of hunger and food security…emissions will dramatically decline.” In the many
countries where food security is minimal, there is no reason to care about climate change. If
you are living in a tent or facing eviction in Halifax, there is no reason to care about climate
change. His argument I think rests on a range of policies designed to enhance peoples’ lives.
Such policies enable people globally to care about reducing their collective carbon footprint.
By Paul Bowlby

*****

“Anxiety” by Margaret Sagar
Recently, I participated in “What Floats Your Boat, Peace or War?” an event hosted by the NS
Voice of Women for Peace and Raging Grannies. It provided information about the soaring
cost of warships ordered by our government, (from $64 billion in 2013 t0 $306 billion in 2022)
and the cost of the war machine compared to the budget Canada has for environmental
protection and climate action - an enormous difference. People were invited to make paper

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boats to place in one of two “harbours”, for peace or for war. Information was posted about
the full cost of war, in money and resources, and in massive destruction of the environment
and climate through war’s enormous carbon emissions. Those military emissions are not
counted for UN reports!
I engaged passers-by in conversation, and many were young people. As we discussed these
issues, it was clear that people are exceedingly anxious about the future, and indeed, the
present. The AST Nicholson Lectures on “Climate Anxiety” this week are another indication
that climate anxiety is a critical issue. People understand that the world is on a dangerous
trajectory towards exceeding the temperature viable for human survival.
Attendees thanked us for providing information, and inspiring action with hope. No surprise:
the 225 paper boats were put in harbours for peace. The harbour for war remained empty.
I also attended a public hearing of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Several
organizations had alerted the public to the fact that CPPIB continues to invest heavily in fossil
fuels globally - $64 billion dollars. The International Energy Agency declared two years ago
that no new fossil fuel infrastructure should be built if we are to save our climate.
Billions are also invested in the “military industrial complex”. There are concerns about CPP
investments in companies that produce products that may end up in war crimes. Questions
raised by attendees were never directly answered. A friend remarked “the experience was
“Orwellian in its disconnect. We did not seem to be speaking the same language. Most of
what the CPPIB rep said was incomprehensible and from a worldview in which the only thing
that matters is money and financial risk.” The world view of corporate finance must be
transformed. Business as usual cannot continue while we wreak havoc upon Earth. We are
on a suicidal and ecocidal course. There is no point in having the $600+B in CPP funds last 75
years if there is no viable life for any CPP recipients by then!

*****

FARMING IN NOVA SCOTIA
There are several farms in Nova Scotia where environmentally friendly practices are
employed for both plants and animals. Here are descriptions of the practices used by these
farms.
Grass-fed. This is a term used for ruminant animals, including cattle, sheep, and goats. Their
stomachs can not handle grain, and they get all the nutrition they need from grass.
Pasture-raised. This is a term used for pork and poultry that are on pasture and get moved to
fresh grass daily or as needed. They are also fed grain which they need as part of their diet.
Free-range. This term is used for pork or poultry that are outside.
Free-run. This is a term used for animals and poultry that are in a barn but are loosely
housed, not in cages.

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Wild Pasture Farm, operated by Susan and Fabian Hamilton farm in Lower Onslow, farm use
these practices, a way that is good for the environment producing healthy nourishing food.
They raise grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork, turkey, eggs, and chicken. The beef is
raised on grass only. The pigs are in the woods in summer where they can root and dig and
are in a barn in the winter. The chicken and turkeys are free-range and are antibiotic and
hormone-free.
Their produce is available at Truro Farmers’ Market on Saturdays. Susan also does a drop-off
in Dartmouth once per month.
Tap Root Farms, merges deeply held family farming traditions with the most established
organic heritage in Nova Scotia. Purchased in 2007 by Patricia Bishop and Josh Oulton, the
farm is 70% organic. They grow vegetables, fruit, and raise hens and pastured animals for
meat.
They use several practices which are described below.
A regenerative farm. This method of farming rejects pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and aims
to regenerate topsoil, increase biodiversity, improve water cycles, enhance ecosystem
services, support biosequestration, increase resilience to climate fluctuation, and strengthen
the health and vitality of farming and ranching communities.
An acroecological farm. Based on context-specific design and organization of crops, livestock,
farms, and landscapes. It works with solutions that conserve above and below ground
biodiversity, as well as cultural and knowledge diversity with a focus on women’s and youth’s
role in agriculture.
A carbon farm. Aims to sequester atmospheric carbon into the soil. Can aid plant growth,
increase soil organic matter which improves agricultural yield, improve soil and water
retention capacity, and reduce fertilizer use and the accompanying emissions of greenhouse
gas nitrous oxide.
They have adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Their produce is available on Saturdays at the Forum Farmers’ Market and at the Noggins and
Local Source stores.
Elmridge is a farm of third-generation farmers, located in Annapolis Valley and owned by
Greg and Suzanne Gerrits and their two children.
They grow a wide variety of fresh market fruit and vegetables, the majority of which are
grown pesticide-free. Compost and green manure are used as the main source of fertilizer.
After 25 years of adopting safer, more natural ways to grow produce, they have reduced
conventional pesticide use by 95%. They also incorporate innovative solar-powered
operations. Their produce is available at the Forum on Saturdays.

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We are so fortunate that Nova Scotia has fertile agricultural land in the Annapolis Valley and
in other areas that has provided the soil for these farmers to use and develop their
environmentally friendly practises while giving us access to the food produced by these
farms. by Margaret Machum
*****

School Strike for Climate. Several St. Matthew’s ESA members attended the School Strike for
Climate on October 25. CBC aired some interviews on Mainstreet that afternoon including
one with Margaret Sagar. This segment is now available on CBC Listen On Demand.
AST Nicholson Lectures “Eco- Anxiety and Practices of Christian Hope” with Dr. Pam
McCarroll, Emmanuel College, TST.
Dr. McCarroll began, “we can’t pretty it up, and we can’t pretty up hope.” She urged us to
acknowledge our reactions to climate catastrophes describing the connection of planetary
distress and human distress. “When creation groans in longing, we feel it in our bodies”,
because we are connected. She advised embracing our vulnerability and connectedness with
the earth, searching our Christian spiritual resources; and doing what is right for creation,
regardless of the outcome, because it is the right thing to do. In Victor Havel’s words, ‘Hope is
not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes
sense, regardless of how it turns out.” From “Disturbing the Peace”.