It is a challenge to balance nature and technology.
Watching a clip from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution brought this home again. In the clip the children cannot identify a potato, but of course they know what french fries are.
Technology has made it possible to feed french fries to an entire nation of school children, and one of the costs of factory processed food is a complete disconnect from the earth and from the potato that the french fries come from. The journey is so long, the beginning disappears.
The problem is, the school children experience the product, the french fry, but have no connection to the process — from farm, to factory, to plate.
I’m not knocking fries, I’ve whipped up a batch or two. But there’s a problem if a generation grows up having no idea what a potato is, or what any other vegetable or fruit is.
Experiencing gardens and farms, and participating in nature’s rhythms — through planting some herbs, growing a flower, getting to know the farmer at the farmer’s market, through experiencing nature in any number of ways, can help remedy this disconnect.
Do you dream? These greenhorns do. They dream about farming, and they do it too. In my mind’s eye I see a farmer: old, wise, gnarled, earthy, with large hands and dirt under his nails. But young folk farm too. This film is about young farmers, “their struggle and their valor.” Take a look.
Greenhorns is also a resource for young farmers just starting out.
Want to try biodynamic food for yourself? My local grocery store often carries biodynamic grapes, raisins and wine — look for the Demeter certification seal. Also check for local biodynamic farmers or CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture). If you can’t find any, you can purchase biodynamic products online at the Steiner Storehouse.
Maybe you yourself are a farmer, and not just on Facebook (but click here to fan biodynamic farming there), but in Truth. If so, you may be interested in Crop Mob, an organization which helps to bring regular folk and farmers together, to tend to the farm for the day. Or maybe you are not a farmer, but a farmer-at-heart, and hankering for some real roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-dirty type of work. Well Crop Mob can help you find a farm to work on some weekend soon (bring the kids).
And check out April Davila’s blog Without Monsanto. She is spending the month of March, well, without Monsanto — trying not to eat, drink, wear, or wash with anything that might be genetically modified. Turns out, not an easy task.
Thanksgiving: a traditional time for families to gather together, eat turkey or nut loaf and pumpkin pie, and be thankful. For the pilgrims who were taught how to plant and grow corn and squash, and how to hunt and fish in an unfamiliar environment, by the Native Americans, the first Thanksgiving was a three-day harvest festival to celebrate the bounty of the new world. Harvest festivals have been around a long time. The harvest has been celebrated in many cultures, ancient and new — the Greeks honored Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture, and the Romans celebrated the Goddess of vegetation, Cerelia. The Hindus celebrated Gauri, Goddess of the Harvest, and the Hebrews have the Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot.
But it’s no surprise that Thanksgiving today has become divorced from the harvest, though not from food. Most of us no longer depend on our own harvest to eat, it’s only a matter of whether the store is open and if we have some money in our pockets to purchase our desired edibles and condiments. But just because we no longer harvest our own food, doesn’t mean that farming and the agrarian lifestyle is not of deep interest to many people.
Witness the popularity of Farmville, a game played on Facebook, where people grow virtual crops on their virtual farms. NPR featured an interesting interview with Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat the other day about the immense popularity of this game — over 63 million people play each month. In one sense, people are using the game to connect with friends, an excuse to communicate (and something to communicate about). And in another sense, people regard farming as a fanciful and fun activity, and are yearning themselves to return to simpler times.
Youtube is filled with videos about Farmville and the farms created on them:
The popularity of the game points to the fact that people are interested in farming and in where their food comes from, even if they are unable to grow it themselves. People are interested in organic food, biodynamic food, and eating seasonally and locally, both for health reasons and for environmental reasons.
Most of us do not farm our own food, but even if you live in an urban area, it might still be possible to grow a little something for your family. Many cities have programs that encourage and promote backyard gardening. In Austin, Gardens, and Resolution Gardens are just two companies willing to help backyard gardeners. Needless to say, gardening is a wonderful activity for children.
Unfortunately, I will not have grown any of the harvest bounty that will bless my Thanksgiving table. Not this year, anyway. But I hope to get a garden started, in my small urban back yard. And next year, I hope to have my own harvest to celebrate.
What about you? Will you serve any home-grown food this Thanksgiving?
It is a challenge to balance nature and technology.
