TED Community » R. Joel Solgat

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Providing solutions through a non-profit organization dedicated to Green micro-initiatives which sustain Organic commodities.

An idea worth spreading

ROR Rescue Organic* Refuse, a TED.com project, is a community organization (micro-initiative) in its early development stages. ROR's purpose is to share the Organics* consumer’s ownership of the Organic* lifecycle; reducing the consumer’s role to contributor of raw Organic* material and ROR assume the onus of composting. ROR will partner with community businesses and organizations to create convenient drop-off and composting sites, and ensure surplus Organic* compost is distributed to local Organic* nurseries and farms, as well as made available to the contributors. ROR’s goal is to make the Organic* contributors refuse gathering and delivery to ROR as convenient as possible.
*Organic food is Non-GMO, no pesticides, no industrial fertilizers or herbicides.

Talk to me about

Organic Lifecycle; Green micro-Initiatives; Organic Farming; Organic Grocery and Framers' Markets; donations; fund raising; GMOs

People don't know that I'm good at

Gap Analysis, eg micro-defects in macro-systems; Human Factors, ie how people relate to systems including environment and corporate culture; Problem Solving; Dog Training; Cooking; Cycling

My TED Story

The film “The Future We Will Create” introduced me to TED November 2011. I felt TED has grown into the type of organization we (those unfamiliar with TED) always wished existed. The film filled me with hope & the realization & belief that I could become an agent of change. I am on Gerson Therapy; a strict Organic diet of roughly 40lbs of organic food per day. Daily I create a large volume of Organic Refuse. I live in a small condo with no room for a composting apparatus or Green Recycle Bin. The loss of so much Organic Refuse made me angry at myself for not contributing to a solution. TED gave me the forum to create a non-profit to rescue organic refuse before it becomes contaminated and wasted, & maintain the Organic Lifecycle: farm; outlet; consumer; compost; farm. Thus ROR Rescue Organic Refuse, a non-profit organization was born from the TED experience.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +0.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 15 2011: Hi Michael. Thanks for the reply and the Thumbs Up.
  
  I think what you have to say goes back to the original question, which could be put “is resolving the problem the same as having solutions.”
  
  I agree that OWS has not captured the imagination of the people. And I see you agree that there is still no clear leadership or clear message (mandate). Many causes seem to be piggy-backing on OWS with their own agenda, further adding to the quagmire.
  
  You’re right, it is more a feeling of injustice and inequity driving the movement. Unfortunately we can’t change policies and regulations with just the feeling they should change. We need to put pressure on our congressmen and the president, but again, we are fighting on too many fronts to send a clear message other than “we want change!” They are too caught up with their top 3% donators’ agendas to take “the RIGHT actions” out of a sense of ethics (the right thing to do). And without a clear message from OWS, change will happen, but will it be the change we feel we want.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 14 2011: Sharon. You make a great point about the potential impact of failure; overreaching and its consequences. This also makes me think of how society may be affected by the failure on the activist’s side, which necessarily means a victory for the corporation. How will the victor use their victory? And are we prepared for that; does the corporation have plans in place? Great point.
  I fully respect and applaud you for being a seed saver. And thank you for wishing success in this TED conversation. I am learning a lot.
  As far as a ban on GMO seed and a possible nationwide slash and burn response, I did see something in the news about this approach in Hungary at http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_23658.cfm.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 14 2011: I agree fully with you point that society has to be energized about the idea. “Culture” is what forms a society; like a corporation’s success or failure is necessarily based on the culture it creates OR allows to be created. A corporate culture is always being created and changing, but the question is, is the corporation driving it, or is it driving the corporation. I guess that is some of my point. Is the OWS movement’s culture being driven by a clear message and solid leadership (polarizing and galvanizing society), or is the movement driving itself, with informal leaders on multiple fronts? I would be very interested in your opinions on the culture OWS is creating, or allowing to be created; who is in the driver’s seat? And how is it “energizing” society?

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 12 2011: Thank you for you input. I think the question is win little or win big. We can merely survive and slowly adapt, or we can thrive by being prepared. The power of will is a strong factor. I think the key is having charismatic, committed leaders with robust strategies to foster the power of the peoples' will; will to accept and participate in quantum change.
  
  Please let me know your thoughts.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 12 2011: Hi Michael. Thank you for your input on this TED Conversation. I like what you have to say. Please read my replies under Sharon’s post and post any input you have. Once again, thank you for being engaged.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 12 2011: (Part 2) Since it is paramount to me, I will use the Agri-war as my analogy.
  For your consideration: if the war on GMOs was won tomorrow, the public would become aware of the potential dangers of GMOs and insist on labeling, which would lead to the public discovering that GMOs, via Corn and High Fructose Corn Syrup is in virtually all processed foods, and is fed to cattle thereby making its way into the general food supply. This could, and I believe would, lead to a national demand for certified organic foods (virtually overnight). Are we prepared?
  Another potential effect would be that since the entire US Canola crop is contaminated by GMOs, it would be necessary to import non-GMO Canola. Importing would be necessary until the entire US Canola crop has been harvested. The GMO Canola could not be phased out over a period of time. It would have to be destroyed in a single season to prevent cross-pollination with any non-GMO Canola being planted the next season. This would drive up the price of Canola which would have an impact across the entire food industry. Also, US Canola Farmers would need to be subsidized for slashing and burning the entire season’s crop. The same would be true for the four major US crops: Canola, Corn, Soy Beans and Cotton; along with other smaller crops.
  Applicable to both OWS and the Agri-war, I believe it is the duty of the activist organizations to have at least drafted policies, regulations and strategies in the event of their success.
  This is my belief. Thank you for sharing yours.

• A reply on Conversation: Are we prepared if the more ambitious initiatives of activist organizations succeed?

  Dec 12 2011: Hi Sharon, and thank you for chiming in on this TED Conversation. I hope my tone is not defensive or offensive. The last thing I want to do is offend you for providing your input. I will have to post this as two replies:
  (Part 1) In response, my thoughts are that “opposing forces pulling in opposite directions to create something that looks like sanity and stability” is what happens organically and evolves over time. I believe there is immediate (overnight) fallout when a far-reaching initiative succeeds, which requires large scale preparation, in advance.
  I agree that it may not be the ‘mission’ of an activist organization to effort preparing society for their success; but I believe it is their duty. We are talking about ambitious activist initiatives, like OWS and the Agri-war. The most appropriate analogy would be: if a person lights a fire in the forest, though they cannot ‘prevent’ the fire from spreading into and consuming the forest, they have a duty to make an effort of clearing flammable material to a reasonably safe distance from the fire, and being as prepared as possible if the fire gets out of hand. The truly ambitious activist organizations are trying to light very big fires. Though they cannot fully prepare society, I believe they have a duty to take measures to prepare society for the brunt of the fallout.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Arthur Potts Dawson: A vision for sustainable restaurants

  Dec 8 2011: I am seriously interested in composting and I was impressed by Arthur's methods.

• A comment on Talk: John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal

  Dec 8 2011: A refreshing new perspective. Through watching the presentation, the message I received is that there is more than one way to present information; and that a presentation can maintain the audience’s attention by using more animated, combined methods. I am currently working on a Powerpoint presentation to launch a non-profit organization. I believe that I could pair down the presentation and use some other method of getting across the implication of something I feel passionate about. I also believe the Tedx Talk was saying, one must be careful that the audience not be distracted or mislead by the presentations delivery method. Though dance would be too extreme for the information I am presenting to business partners and consumers, and having just watched the video, I believe I can come up with a more balanced approach to gaining my partners’ attention and buy in.
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Kathryn Schulz: Don't regret regret

  Dec 6 2011: I love the idea that we Frankensteins need to accept our monsters, not hate ourselves for having them, and forgive ourselves for creating them. And, that we should feel pain when our goals and dreams go wrong.