Plenty International
Encyclopedia
Plenty International is an environmental
, humanitarian aid
and human rights
organization based in Summertown
, Tennessee
, USA.
and The Farm
, an intentional community
, started an outreach program called Plenty. In its first ten years, Plenty established a clinic and orphanage in Bangladesh
, an appropriate technology
training center and reforestation program in Lesotho
, and a wind-powered electric lighting system in a Carib Indian school in Dominica
. It provided disaster relief in the "Developing" World and free ambulance
service to the South Bronx
which helped to train emergency personnel what then became New York City
's EMS. It went to sea with Greenpeace
and gave the Rainbow Warrior
its ham radio, slo-scan TV, and radiation monitoring equipment. Plenty put Native American
FM
stations on the air, and pioneered amateur-band television
and radio
to keep its remote outposts of volunteers connected.
Plenty continues to work with Native American primary health care, midwifery
, microeconomics
, food and ecotourism
cooperatives and alternative building programs, including the hemp house on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
with the assistance of The Farm School
. Plenty is active in the Central American Food Security Initiative, including programs with ADIBE in Guatemala
, Soynica in Nicaragua
and the Huichol Center in Mexico
. Plenty's "Soyarias" now operated by ADIBE in Sololá
and San Bartolo, Guatemala, introduced soy dairy and soy ice cream
microcredit
enterprise in the 1980s.
In 1978, Plenty formed a scientific research team, Ethos Research Group, and a litigation project to work on environmental issues and human rights
, the Natural Rights Center. Together these groups analyzed mortality and morbidity data to create a cancer-by-county study from 1940 to 1980 for the State of Tennessee and applied biostatistical science to litigate Superfund
and other toxic waste sites and limits on point source industrial carcinogens. It later sponsored the Environmental Resource Center in Portland, Oregon
, and was a partner in founding the Ecovillage Training Center
at The Farm
.
Following the catastrophic landfall of Hurricane Katrina
near New Orleans in August, 2005, Plenty volunteers were among the first on the scene, often working to circumvent the obstruction of federal emergency response, law enforcement and military authorities while organizing local emergency responders on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis to deliver essential supplies and re-establish civil order. Plenty worked with Veterans for Peace
, Camp Casey
, and others to place volunteers where they were most needed. Plenty stayed on scene for the following year and organized clean-up and repair of the damage along the coastlines of Alabama
, Mississippi
and Louisiana
, including the cities of Mobile
(Alabama), Biloxi and Gulfport (Mississippi), and Slidell (Louisiana). Plenty also brought displaced and disadvantaged children from the Gulf Coast back to The Farm
to participate in its Kids To The Country
summer nature school in 2006.
Plenty was awarded the Right Livelihood Award
in 1980.
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
, humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization based in Summertown
Summertown, Tennessee
Summertown is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, Tennessee, USA. Summertown is surrounded by 4 counties: Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, and Giles...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, USA.
Background
In 1974, Stephen GaskinStephen Gaskin
Stephen Gaskin is a counterculture hippie icon best known for his presence in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco in the 1960s and for co-founding "The Farm", a famous spiritual intentional community in Summertown, Tennessee...
and The Farm
The Farm (Tennessee)
The Farm is an intentional community in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the town of Summertown, Tennessee, based on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 320 San Francisco hippies; The Farm is well known amongst hippies and other members of...
, an intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
, started an outreach program called Plenty. In its first ten years, Plenty established a clinic and orphanage in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, an appropriate technology
Appropriate technology
Appropriate technology is an ideological movement originally articulated as "intermediate technology" by the economist Dr...
training center and reforestation program in Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, and a wind-powered electric lighting system in a Carib Indian school in Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
. It provided disaster relief in the "Developing" World and free ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
service to the South Bronx
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
which helped to train emergency personnel what then became New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's EMS. It went to sea with Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
and gave the Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior (1978)
The Rainbow Warrior was a former UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food trawler later purchased by the environmental organisation Greenpeace...
its ham radio, slo-scan TV, and radiation monitoring equipment. Plenty put Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
stations on the air, and pioneered amateur-band television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
to keep its remote outposts of volunteers connected.
Plenty continues to work with Native American primary health care, midwifery
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
, microeconomics
Microeconomics
Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...
, food and ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
cooperatives and alternative building programs, including the hemp house on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
with the assistance of The Farm School
The Farm School
The Farm School, based on The Farm, an intentional community in southern Tennessee founded by hippies in 1971, is a K-12 school that provides alternative education to approximately 30 students on its main campus and over 300 homeschooling students in its Satellite Campus Program.The school's aim is...
. Plenty is active in the Central American Food Security Initiative, including programs with ADIBE in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Soynica in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and the Huichol Center in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Plenty's "Soyarias" now operated by ADIBE in Sololá
Sololá
Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality.The name is a hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one spelling variant of which is T'zolojy'a...
and San Bartolo, Guatemala, introduced soy dairy and soy ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
microcredit
Microcredit
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
enterprise in the 1980s.
In 1978, Plenty formed a scientific research team, Ethos Research Group, and a litigation project to work on environmental issues and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, the Natural Rights Center. Together these groups analyzed mortality and morbidity data to create a cancer-by-county study from 1940 to 1980 for the State of Tennessee and applied biostatistical science to litigate Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
and other toxic waste sites and limits on point source industrial carcinogens. It later sponsored the Environmental Resource Center in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and was a partner in founding the Ecovillage Training Center
Ecovillage Training Center
The Ecovillage Training Center is a "total immersion school" for sustainability. It is located at The Farm, an intentional community/ecovillage in Summertown, Tennessee, USA. The curricula of the center are "holistic and comprehensivist" and foster hands-on learning.Albert Bates, a long-time...
at The Farm
The Farm (Tennessee)
The Farm is an intentional community in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the town of Summertown, Tennessee, based on principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It was founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 320 San Francisco hippies; The Farm is well known amongst hippies and other members of...
.
Following the catastrophic landfall of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
near New Orleans in August, 2005, Plenty volunteers were among the first on the scene, often working to circumvent the obstruction of federal emergency response, law enforcement and military authorities while organizing local emergency responders on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis to deliver essential supplies and re-establish civil order. Plenty worked with Veterans for Peace
Veterans for Peace
Veterans For Peace is a United States organization founded in 1985. Made up of male and female US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and other conflicts, as well as peacetime veterans, the group works to promote alternatives to war.-Foundation:The...
, Camp Casey
Camp Casey, Crawford, Texas
Camp Casey was the name given to the encampment of anti-war protesters outside the Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas during US President George W...
, and others to place volunteers where they were most needed. Plenty stayed on scene for the following year and organized clean-up and repair of the damage along the coastlines of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, including the cities of Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
(Alabama), Biloxi and Gulfport (Mississippi), and Slidell (Louisiana). Plenty also brought displaced and disadvantaged children from the Gulf Coast back to The Farm
The Farm
The Farm may refer to:In places:* The Farm , a government residence in Canada and home to the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons* The Farm , a community center in California, U.S....
to participate in its Kids To The Country
Kids To The Country
The Kids To The Country is a non-profit program that began in the Bronx, New York by Plenty International to provide assistance to vulnerable and underprivileged children until conditions in the area improved enough to withdraw the project. Re-established in Nashville, Tennessee in 1986, KTC is a...
summer nature school in 2006.
Plenty was awarded the Right Livelihood Award
Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...
in 1980.