Check this out. In the land of Whole Foods, no less. Can I have one here?
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustainability. Show all posts
Monday, July 4, 2011
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
I need some new glasses
Systemic glasses. Like 3-D, only better. Something to help me "see the forest for the trees". If I only knew how to invent them, I'd patent them and call them Pandora Glasses, after the planet in Avatar. They would be soooo cool, because for the first time ever, we'd be able to see the connections between things, like the Na'vi do. They could be a handy way to reveal how our individual actions and small projects impact the gargantuan engine at the heart of a system, say for example, the "the food system".
Being a generous person, I'd give the first pair to our president. He could be a beta tester. I'm thinkin' he could really, really use these gizmos. It's clear that he's having a very hard time with the forest-seeing thing. I have to believe that his eyesight is the problem, or I'd have to impute some really ugly qualities to him, and I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, operating on the assumption that his vision is poor, maybe my glasses will help.
I'll stop beating around the bush, or in this case, the field. Let's begin with a post I wrote right after the election (the site referenced is dead -- which says something ). This post was part of a national grass-roots effort to get the Obama's to install an organic garden on the White House lawn. Check. Done. Most of us who care about food, were also hoping the USDA would get deep reform. A highly credible Kathleen Merrigan, a veteran of the sustainable agriculture movement, was named deputy secretary. She oversees the National Organic Program at the USDA among other initiatives, and under her guidance the agency is beginning to flex its muscles. Check. Another victory. There are more gains to catalogue, but let's take a moment to put on those sexy new glasses I just invented (mine are purple, in case you're wondering).
Hey, look at that! The Big Picture! The connections, if you will, that are well-laid out in the cover story of the latest issue of The American Prospect -- Slowed Food Revolution. You can read it online here (but you'll need to take off your new glasses). With the help of Heather Rogers, who must have her own cool glasses, you'll see a USDA that is a revolving door for Big Ag, much as Goldman Sachs is for the government's economic advisors and the Interior Department has been for the gas, oil and mining industries. Big surprise, though we voted for "Change We Can Believe In", U.S. ag policy, the engine that drives what food we get and what it costs, is still being deeply influenced by industrial agriculture interests, especially Monsanto. Obama has done almost nothing to change that. If fact, the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, epitomizes the Big Ag man. So we find him proselytizing for biotech and biofuels. He encourages greater subsidies for commodity crops headed for export while neglecting the needs of small American farmers, who are continuing to go broke. Our policies still encourage farmers to plow land for biofuel crops that earn them less in the long run and yield a fuel that is more polluting. So not only is food/ag policy impacting what we eat, but it's distorting our energy policy too.
Yes, there are a few trees here and there that are growing and looking good. But that sickly forest is going to soak up all the resources, leaving nothing of value in the end. If you can't see that forest -- the connections between the policy, the greed, and the absence of resources for real farmers and eaters -- you will continue to congratulate our government for doing too little, too late. Putting on those glasses will at least force you to see what is and not just what you hope for.
As for me, I'm switching from rose-colored glasses to Pandora glasses ...and I'm going to stop accepting cosmetic change as if it matters. What about you?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Ominous- A Passover Reflection
I've been consumed with taxes and now Passover, so while I've been thinking about a series of posts, there has been no time to write one. But today, while eating my heart-healthy oats, I watched the video below. Frankly, it scared me to death ...not a good way to start a day of cooking for my favorite holiday.
So, what does this have to do with Passover?
Passover celebrates freedom, rebirth, the strength we gained by facing adversity as a community. It is a story of perserverence...40 years of wandering the desert, trying to find our purpose and a philosophy that could guide a community of souls. The story starts with our journey to Egypt, looking for a place to farm and survive. Little did we know that slavery awaited us. In time, we were led out of slavery by a quiet man who mobilized us to flee in search of a life of freedom...and responsibility as well (remember those Ten Commandments we picked up along the way?). There are many lessons to be learned around the Seder table and I love exploring all of them.
Passover always falls close to the celebration of Earth Day...a reminder of our obligation to provide stewardship over the planet G-d entrusted to us. We are betraying that trust. We cannot be free, or strong, or worthy of G-d's faith in us if we continue to care more about our material life than we do about the future of humanity as a species. The Earth is melting. Literally. And it's melting fast...far faster than anyone anticipated. It seems that each month we hear about revised estimates to doom. It terrifies me. Using the human body as an analogy, I know only too well how quickly biological systems can shift, shut down, run amok ...with rapid death ensuing. One minute, the clinicians think there is time enough... and the next minute they are calling time of death. We are lousy at realistic projections of calamity in part because our understanding is limited and in part because the denial gene is so powerful. But systems march on, oblivious to our human flaws, living out their own destiny.
This Passover, I pray that all humanity wakes up. Fast. We cannot arm-wrestle over the wisdom of cap-and-trade, limits on emissions, shutting down coal-fired plants. We cannot sustain our current lifestyles. Period.
I'm not sure that we are smart enough, or wise enough, or courageous enough. But I pray, nonetheless.
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Passover celebrates freedom, rebirth, the strength we gained by facing adversity as a community. It is a story of perserverence...40 years of wandering the desert, trying to find our purpose and a philosophy that could guide a community of souls. The story starts with our journey to Egypt, looking for a place to farm and survive. Little did we know that slavery awaited us. In time, we were led out of slavery by a quiet man who mobilized us to flee in search of a life of freedom...and responsibility as well (remember those Ten Commandments we picked up along the way?). There are many lessons to be learned around the Seder table and I love exploring all of them.
Passover always falls close to the celebration of Earth Day...a reminder of our obligation to provide stewardship over the planet G-d entrusted to us. We are betraying that trust. We cannot be free, or strong, or worthy of G-d's faith in us if we continue to care more about our material life than we do about the future of humanity as a species. The Earth is melting. Literally. And it's melting fast...far faster than anyone anticipated. It seems that each month we hear about revised estimates to doom. It terrifies me. Using the human body as an analogy, I know only too well how quickly biological systems can shift, shut down, run amok ...with rapid death ensuing. One minute, the clinicians think there is time enough... and the next minute they are calling time of death. We are lousy at realistic projections of calamity in part because our understanding is limited and in part because the denial gene is so powerful. But systems march on, oblivious to our human flaws, living out their own destiny.
This Passover, I pray that all humanity wakes up. Fast. We cannot arm-wrestle over the wisdom of cap-and-trade, limits on emissions, shutting down coal-fired plants. We cannot sustain our current lifestyles. Period.
I'm not sure that we are smart enough, or wise enough, or courageous enough. But I pray, nonetheless.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Oh Boy- Or: "Decarbonizing"
New word -- "decarbonize". To remove carbon from [fill in the blank]
The first time I heard this term used in a sentence ... a big, long complicated sentence or three...was last night. RFK, Jr. repeated this term all night long during his speech on "Our Environmental Destiny". Today, MSNBC.com posted a troubling article on the possibility that we have already flipped into an "irreversible" climate shift. Oh-oh. As if I don't have enough trouble trying to stay optimistic.
A climate conference is being held in Copenhagen, the goal of which is to update the report from 2007 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the folks who shared the Nobel Prize with Al). The conference is trying to set the stage for U.N. talks scheduled for December that are intended to lead to a new global climate treaty.
The report notes that policymakers must "vigorously and widely" implement tools that will stop global warming and "achieve the societal transformation required to de-carbonize economies". OK. I get the de-carbonize thing. But the possibility that the U.S., let alone anyone else, will "vigorously" implement anything that leads to "societal transformation" sure feels problematic to me. I mean, Rush is actively campaigning to promote failure of the administration ...and he isn't alone.
But the Brits surely get it. British economist Nicholas Stern, a conference presenter and author of a major British government report detailing the cost of climate change, expressed the view that the global recession offered an opportunity to establish a more energy-efficient economy.
"Coming out of this we have got to lay the foundations for a low-carbon growth, which is going to be like the railways, like the electricity, like the motorcars, this is going to be over the next two, three decades the big driver in investment," Stern said.
Stern said green investments make sense because energy-efficient economies will be more sustainable in the future.
"We know from this crisis that if we postpone looking risk in the face, it will bite us much more deeply," he said.
This is exactly what the Democrats and President Obama have been saying. The Republicans, and some dissident Democrats, are singing a different song -- this is NOT the time to spend money, to invest in new technology, to take risks.
Forgive me for believing the scientists. And Kennedy, who described several economies that have actually grown by de-carbonizing. There is historical precedent for undertaking rapid change that on the surface feels too expensive, but that ultimately drives enormous growth in new industries as the economy de-couples from old technologies.
What can we do? I'm just one person, I don't have access to movers and shakers, but I can support groups that are, that will lobby on behalf of change. I can get involved at the grass-roots level to push for green energy and oppose new coal-fired power plants in KS. Check out what the Kanza Sierra Club is doing on March 19. Sign up to attend their Clean Energy Day. If you can't personally lobby, support the Sierra Club's efforts to bring sustainable energy technology to our state; stay informed and write your state representative to uphold the veto that the interim KS governor has agreed to execute. One person can make a difference.
AgeWise Morphs
I have a reputation. For changing things. It annoys the hell out of some and excites a few. Me? I guess I thrive on it, despite the anxiety it always raises inside of me.
A few posts back I spoke about my personal future, where I was headed, what mattered to me. Coupled with my personal search, I've been thinking about realigning this blog for awhile, to bring greater focus to it beyond "the musings of an aging boomer". Today, I did some research on my postings, identifying themes (you'll notice some change in 'labels'). The result? Change.
"AgeWise" has become "The SpiritedNP: Change for the Health of It". This better reflects my blog's address in the great ether, as well as bringing a clearer focus. Health ...of individuals, our community, and the planet. They've always been interrelated but the interdependence is growing exponentially.
Health -- the root is an Old English word that means "whole". That's one broad concept -- to be(come) whole. In the 21st century, we've delegated achieving "health" to technocrats -- doctors, pharmaceutical researchers, nurse practitioners, dentists -- and have lost sight of the environmental, political, and spiritual components to health. Yet to achieve health, a complex web of relationships must function at the highest possible level. While health certainly comes from a culmination of personal choices, an important determinant of health results from the societal and political milieu in which we find ourselves. If that weren't true, then we'd be having a whole lot more health from living in the richest (are we still?) country in the world.
Yes, we make choices -- what we eat, how much we move around, the work we do, the relationships we make or abandon -- these choices and more, influence our health. But our health is also intimately wound up with how well or poorly we are governed -- for government policies and their enforcement shape the world we live in. Economic policy determines how wealth is distributed and greed is restrained; environmental policy determines the quality of our physical environment; agricultural policy determines what food we have available to eat. And so it goes.
Our country is facing the biggest challenges of my lifetime. And almost certainly, the biggest opportunities as well. We have the chance to become the healthiest country on earth, leaving an invaluable legacy to those we love. True patriots, in my view, are Americans who are willing to commit to a healthy lifestyle as well as lobbying for the changes needed to ensure a healthy environment. For only by achieving both, can we meaningfully reduce the economic burden on ourselves, our society and our families. Our President continues to remind us that the government can only do so much. It is obligated to act on our behalf, to bring about change that will ensure a healthy environment and economy. But while government can ensure that we have the resources to maximize our health, we have a personal responsibility to make wise choices. And wise choices are impossible if we are uninformed, if we cannot imagine the consequences of our actions.
This blog is dedicated to making its own small contribution to our ability to choose wisely, to bring about change "for the health of it".
A few posts back I spoke about my personal future, where I was headed, what mattered to me. Coupled with my personal search, I've been thinking about realigning this blog for awhile, to bring greater focus to it beyond "the musings of an aging boomer". Today, I did some research on my postings, identifying themes (you'll notice some change in 'labels'). The result? Change.
"AgeWise" has become "The SpiritedNP: Change for the Health of It". This better reflects my blog's address in the great ether, as well as bringing a clearer focus. Health ...of individuals, our community, and the planet. They've always been interrelated but the interdependence is growing exponentially.
Health -- the root is an Old English word that means "whole". That's one broad concept -- to be(come) whole. In the 21st century, we've delegated achieving "health" to technocrats -- doctors, pharmaceutical researchers, nurse practitioners, dentists -- and have lost sight of the environmental, political, and spiritual components to health. Yet to achieve health, a complex web of relationships must function at the highest possible level. While health certainly comes from a culmination of personal choices, an important determinant of health results from the societal and political milieu in which we find ourselves. If that weren't true, then we'd be having a whole lot more health from living in the richest (are we still?) country in the world.
Yes, we make choices -- what we eat, how much we move around, the work we do, the relationships we make or abandon -- these choices and more, influence our health. But our health is also intimately wound up with how well or poorly we are governed -- for government policies and their enforcement shape the world we live in. Economic policy determines how wealth is distributed and greed is restrained; environmental policy determines the quality of our physical environment; agricultural policy determines what food we have available to eat. And so it goes.
Our country is facing the biggest challenges of my lifetime. And almost certainly, the biggest opportunities as well. We have the chance to become the healthiest country on earth, leaving an invaluable legacy to those we love. True patriots, in my view, are Americans who are willing to commit to a healthy lifestyle as well as lobbying for the changes needed to ensure a healthy environment. For only by achieving both, can we meaningfully reduce the economic burden on ourselves, our society and our families. Our President continues to remind us that the government can only do so much. It is obligated to act on our behalf, to bring about change that will ensure a healthy environment and economy. But while government can ensure that we have the resources to maximize our health, we have a personal responsibility to make wise choices. And wise choices are impossible if we are uninformed, if we cannot imagine the consequences of our actions.
This blog is dedicated to making its own small contribution to our ability to choose wisely, to bring about change "for the health of it".
Pigs and MRSA
Nicholas Kristof has a column today on the spread of MRSA (a potentially lethal, drug resistant bacterial infection) among people who live or work around factory-farmed pigs. This is yet another example of how our food chain has run amok. As Kristof notes, we've done a good job in the U.S. of providing cheap food. But the pricetag is far bigger than the one presented at the checkout. Increasingly, we're uncovering "farming" practices that put our health at risk -- animal waste that permeates and contaminates aquifers, overuse of antibiotics which manifests as drug resistance in humans, "meat" that has an entirely different nutritional profile than the meat eaten by our grandparents and great-grandparents -- the list of evolving hazards is long, and growing longer.
Most people I talk to about these issues are in deep denial about the quality of their food. If it's cheap and shrink-wrapped, then it's fine by them. As a group, Americans seem hell-bent on defending to the death their need to eat food that kills them and despoils the planet.
Hopefully, information like the kind in Kristof's article, information that has only recently been published in the mainstream press, will begin to challenge people's assumptions about the desirability of the foods they eat. We need to wake up and break the back of the factory farming industry in this country if we're going to significantly improve the environment and our personal health. A real test of our resolve to bring change, is soon to come: the Obama administration's new budget is attempting to reduce or eliminate subsidies for large agribusiness. This move is absolutely essential to fostering the resurgence of family farming; illuminating the true cost of the mass-produced food, especially meat, that we eat; managing our federal deficit, and addressing climate change. But be prepared. If you want a healthier food supply, you're going to have to fight for it ...and pay dearly.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Featuring Justus Drugstore!
Check it out. Our very own Smithville, MO restaurant will be featured in the New York Times Magazine tomorrow. Why? Because they are doing some really great food using the "farm to table" model. I know people who've eaten there and they were quite impressed. But the article also talked about Paradise Locker Meats, a processor of Heritage meats that ships to high end restaurants all over the country. Who knew?
While I rarely eat meat, it is heartening to know that restaurants like this one exist and offer locally sourced food in my neighborhood.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Purpose Past 60 -- Food and Our Future
OK, so I'm nearing my 61st birthday. I'm alternately somber and excited as I creep ever closer to the milestone of sixty-five. How did I get here? How much time is left? And maybe more importantly, how do I continue to pursue a life of passion and purpose?
Sometimes I wish I could free myself of that last question. Seriously. I contemplate just "being", the Zen master approach to life. But that really isn't me and though I respect and admire that approach to life, it just doesn't fit my energy and personality. I am a passionate person. I must have a purpose that extends beyond my own pedestrian interests. The work I do now, certainly contributes to both individuals and a community. I'm using many of my talents. It taps into some things near and dear to me -- sustaining health, aging with dignity, providing leadership and mentoring others. But in truth, I'm weary of the constraints I work within and I don't get any chance at all to promote, proselytize, or propel others to a deeper understanding of critical policy issues.
So I'm searching. The day will come, God willing, when I can leave my current venue and take on something new. What might that be? I've been reading two books by Dawna Markova -- Wide Open and I Will Not Die an Unlived Life -- as I sort my way to the next phase that awaits me. Digging deep, it is getting clearer what pulls me -- food activism. Food is essential to life. And in the United States, food policy directly influences the potential for improving both individual and planetary health. If we can successfully change the food system, we can alter the eating choices available to the community and to those close to me. Dedicated activists, community organizers and entrepreneurs around the country are demonstrating every day that there is another way to grow and eat food that results in greater pride and prosperity for the growers, better nutrition for the eaters, richer land, and more vibrant communities.
But is that happening here? In the Kansas City Metro Area? Yes, it is. Good old Google helped me find a not-for-profit that is doing amazing work. They've been at this for a couple of years. I'm astounded and encouraged by what they've already accomplished. Who are they?
The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture. Their mission: "Promoting small-scale, community-based, entrepreneurial farming in the Kansas City metropolitan area". Here is their latest newletter, which leads with a story about the Urban Farms Tour 2009, to be held in June. The information in this thing is so intriguing! I had no idea this was happening in my own back yard. I'm not yet sure how my sense of purpose and my talents fit into their work. But my heart swells just to know there are people in my community who are working toward developing small, local, sustainable food systems in urban areas.
I'm sending them a check. And I'm going to subscribe to their newsletter. I'll definitely attend some upcoming events and I know my family will be interested as well. As a group, we are all searching for a possible business to develop, green initiatives to promote, and a path to a more sustainable lifestyle. We need to connect to this broader community. My mind and heart are engaged. Let's see what comes next.
Sometimes I wish I could free myself of that last question. Seriously. I contemplate just "being", the Zen master approach to life. But that really isn't me and though I respect and admire that approach to life, it just doesn't fit my energy and personality. I am a passionate person. I must have a purpose that extends beyond my own pedestrian interests. The work I do now, certainly contributes to both individuals and a community. I'm using many of my talents. It taps into some things near and dear to me -- sustaining health, aging with dignity, providing leadership and mentoring others. But in truth, I'm weary of the constraints I work within and I don't get any chance at all to promote, proselytize, or propel others to a deeper understanding of critical policy issues.
So I'm searching. The day will come, God willing, when I can leave my current venue and take on something new. What might that be? I've been reading two books by Dawna Markova -- Wide Open and I Will Not Die an Unlived Life -- as I sort my way to the next phase that awaits me. Digging deep, it is getting clearer what pulls me -- food activism. Food is essential to life. And in the United States, food policy directly influences the potential for improving both individual and planetary health. If we can successfully change the food system, we can alter the eating choices available to the community and to those close to me. Dedicated activists, community organizers and entrepreneurs around the country are demonstrating every day that there is another way to grow and eat food that results in greater pride and prosperity for the growers, better nutrition for the eaters, richer land, and more vibrant communities.
But is that happening here? In the Kansas City Metro Area? Yes, it is. Good old Google helped me find a not-for-profit that is doing amazing work. They've been at this for a couple of years. I'm astounded and encouraged by what they've already accomplished. Who are they?
The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture. Their mission: "Promoting small-scale, community-based, entrepreneurial farming in the Kansas City metropolitan area". Here is their latest newletter, which leads with a story about the Urban Farms Tour 2009, to be held in June. The information in this thing is so intriguing! I had no idea this was happening in my own back yard. I'm not yet sure how my sense of purpose and my talents fit into their work. But my heart swells just to know there are people in my community who are working toward developing small, local, sustainable food systems in urban areas.
I'm sending them a check. And I'm going to subscribe to their newsletter. I'll definitely attend some upcoming events and I know my family will be interested as well. As a group, we are all searching for a possible business to develop, green initiatives to promote, and a path to a more sustainable lifestyle. We need to connect to this broader community. My mind and heart are engaged. Let's see what comes next.
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Path Away from an Omnivorous Lifestyle
Evidence continues to accumulate that eating substantial amounts of meat is detrimental to health, the environment, and possibly to global social stability, as valuable land and water resources are rapidly depleted to support vast numbers of animals.
Last year, after deciding to limit my meat-eating, I began to shift to a primarily plant-based diet. After joining Weight Watchers to get off some pesky pounds, I discovered that filling up with fruits, vegetables and legumes left me less hungry, a lovely benefit! I lost a substantial amount of weight, and so far (fingers crossed!), I’m maintaining my weight even as I experiment with adding more whole grains and complex carbohydrates to my diet. I believe that limiting animal protein has been instrumental in my success and overall physical well-being. Mark Bittman, celebrity foodie, shares my experience (see his new book, Food Matters).
Last year, after deciding to limit my meat-eating, I began to shift to a primarily plant-based diet. After joining Weight Watchers to get off some pesky pounds, I discovered that filling up with fruits, vegetables and legumes left me less hungry, a lovely benefit! I lost a substantial amount of weight, and so far (fingers crossed!), I’m maintaining my weight even as I experiment with adding more whole grains and complex carbohydrates to my diet. I believe that limiting animal protein has been instrumental in my success and overall physical well-being. Mark Bittman, celebrity foodie, shares my experience (see his new book, Food Matters).
As my diet continues to evolve, I find myself in early 2009, rarely eating meat and seafood. I don’t miss it, which is somewhat surprising. I’ve always enjoyed meat and poultry and never intended to stop eating it entirely. But over time, the desire to eat meat has dwindled. As a consequence, I’ve had to learn new ways to cook, which has led to discovering wonderful foods and recipes that I never would have tried before. I’ve expanded my horizons and added much more diversity to my eating experiences. Certainly America’s increasing ethnic diversity has made the shift easier. More food cultures are available to us all now — Mediterranean, East Indian, Asian, African — many of which have strong vegetarian traditions. I’ve learned to appreciate simple foods, fragrant spices, and new cooking techniques. In many ways, eating mostly plants challenges one’s creativity and educates the palate.
Not unexpectedly, people have noticed the change. I’m the only one in my social network who eats this way so I tend to stand out. For some, I’m a pain in the neck as I sort through what is available to eat from a table laden with the Standard American Diet (SAD) — which is dominated by factory farmed meat, highly processed/refined carbohydrates, and high fat, salty, and sugary “foods” (and “sad” it is, for it is the root cause of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and immune disorders). But for more open-minded folks, I’ve been a curiosity, a source of education as they tasted my weird food and discovered some things they didn’t know they’d like. As I’ve answered questions about why I eat this way, a few have made small changes of their own.
But among those closest to me, there has been abundant criticism, teasing, and sometimes outright hostility regarding my choices. I work hard not to pound my family and friends over their choice to still eat meat. They know that I wish they’d eat less meat for the sake of the planet’s future and their children’s health. They think that if the meat is humanely raised, then they have done enough, for they’ve posed the problem as an animal rights issue. They cannot yet see that it is impossible to feed the world on humanely raised, grass fed, pastured animals. There isn’t enough space to do it. Period. We have to significantly limit our intake, regardless of the meat’s origins. In their children’s lifetimes, if not in their own, meat will become a very costly commodity, much as it was when my grandparents were young.
My friends and family are socially conscious, intelligent, caring people. They have progressive values and try their best to live by them. Yet eating as much meat as they please is a line they’ve drawn in the sand, a way to demonstrate to me and themselves, that they are free and relatively affluent Americans. They are very in-your-face about it too. They take every opportunity to remind me how much pig they eat and take great pride in updating me on how much their children enjoy meat. Their mantra is “I love meat, I’m going to eat as much as I want, and no one is going to get me to change that” (a long mantra, I know).
I’m mystified about the aggressiveness of many meat-eaters. What about having a “near vegetarian” in their midst triggers their need to extol the virtues of a meat-based diet? What logic might persuade them to be open to changing their habits? I recognize that a diet that is 80% plant based isn’t for everyone. Mark Bittman offers a compromise by eating “vegan until dinner”, when he then eats anything he wants. His impetus was both his health (his doctor wanted him to become a vegan!) and his increasing awareness of the environmental burden of his lifestyle. By making his changes, he dramatically improved his health while significantly reducing his reliance on meat, seafood and dairy. It hasn’t been very hard for him either. While I wish he would save meat for a couple of days a week, his solution is certainly more progressive and responsible than the lifestyle of the majority of Americans.
Perhaps one day, those of us who are forgoing meat, will not be perceived as a threat or an anomaly. But whatever a person's reasons for avoiding or minimizing meat, today I’m making a free and conscious choice, trying to bring my values and lifestyle into greater alignment. The time may come when devoted meat-eaters will be forced into change by economic and environmental circumstances. I don’t look forward to the uproar that will ensue!
Looking to Iowa
I remember driving through Iowa in mid-summer about a year ago. My son lives in Minnesota so I rush through Iowa farmland annually on the route to Minneapolis. But the last time I drove along I-35 North, I'd just finished Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. What passes for American "farmland" looked very different after that drive. I realized that the farms of my Wisconsin childhood were nowhere to be seen. While there were vast fields of corn and some other green crop (was it soybeans? Who knows what that looks like in the ground?), there was no real sign of life. No livestock. No trees, or chickens, or vegetables. Just acres and acres of a single crop. Monotony, endless monotony.I'd read in Pollan's book that if you closed the borders of Iowa, some of the richest farmland in the world (at least theoretically), the people there couldn't feed themselves. Why? Because their crops are all grown to feed cattle, pigs and chickens, not people. There is no crop diversity, no traditional permaculture that can actually sustain the nutritional needs of a population. When you read that, you suspect that Pollan is exaggerating to make a point. Then you take a cold hard look at Iowa, and realize it must be true.
But while Iowa has come to exemplify all that is wrong with our food system, it might also be starting to offer hope for the emergence of a new era in farming. Recent statistics from the 2007 Census of Agriculture revealed that Iowa gained 4000 new farms since 2002 ("Good News From Iowa", New York Times). More fascinating, these farms are smaller (many only 9 acres), grow diverse crops, and are run by much younger farmers, many of whom are women. Their target market is local populations, not large food processors. Better yet, nationwide, there have been 300,000 new farms established in that same period.
I live in another state with rich farmland, and I'm hoping that this is a trend, along with family kitchen gardens, that takes root and flourishes. We desperately need to source as much of our food as possible, close to home. One day, maybe my children and grandchildren will be able to experience the richness of local farms as an integral part of their suburban life.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Dig It!
OK, I know ...it's been forever since I posted. Life has gotten away from me. The election, holidays, work ...you know how it is. But I'm home sick so it seemed like a good time to post something that I discovered on Facebook today. Yup, Facebook. I was badgered into getting a page there by one of my sons.
So, I'm checking out "Causes". The younger generation seems to have invented a way to proselytize one another about favorite charitable causes and other activist attention-grabbers. I found one that resonated and signed a petition, which I'd like you all to consider as well. This particular initiative is one that has been pushed by Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, two people I respect immensely.
Here it is: Eat The View!
The goal is to get President Obama to dedicate a portion of the White House grounds to growing an organic garden. It would feed the White House and any leftover produce would go to food pantries in the Washington, D.C. area. Seems that Eleanor Roosevelt insisted on a Victory Garden during WWII ...which became a model for all Americans. Given the current economy, people could certainly save money by growing some of their own food ...and they would likely be healthier as well.
So if you have the time and inclination, please sign the petition and push for this great idea. Spring is nearly here. Let's push for full employment for gardeners!
So, I'm checking out "Causes". The younger generation seems to have invented a way to proselytize one another about favorite charitable causes and other activist attention-grabbers. I found one that resonated and signed a petition, which I'd like you all to consider as well. This particular initiative is one that has been pushed by Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, two people I respect immensely.
Here it is: Eat The View!
The goal is to get President Obama to dedicate a portion of the White House grounds to growing an organic garden. It would feed the White House and any leftover produce would go to food pantries in the Washington, D.C. area. Seems that Eleanor Roosevelt insisted on a Victory Garden during WWII ...which became a model for all Americans. Given the current economy, people could certainly save money by growing some of their own food ...and they would likely be healthier as well.
So if you have the time and inclination, please sign the petition and push for this great idea. Spring is nearly here. Let's push for full employment for gardeners!
Monday, April 7, 2008
From the '50s to the Future
It's been a demanding month and I've been unable to spend any time blogging, but hopefully I'll be able to make at least a couple of posts this month. There are so many issues and events dominating my consciousness that it will be hard to pick only a few to write about. Increasingly though, I'm deeply concerned about the planet's future and about the ability of the generation I helped raise to adapt quickly enough to what's ahead. More on that in the coming weeks.
As I sit here this morning, looking out the window at the budding trees and the welcome sunshine, memories sweep over me. They are the memories of a childhood and adolescence that I have been trying to forget or at least overcome for the last 40+ years. Growing your own food; using rain water from a cistern to wash clothes and hair; hanging clothes outdoors (or in the basement in winter) because the clothes dryer was the sun and air; walking to schools and stores or taking the bus because we couldn't afford a car, and when we did get one, only one person could even drive; making bed linens attractive with needlework; canning summer vegetables and making pickles and jam; cutting the grass with a reel mower; pulling all the shades and curtains in the summer to cool the house in the age of no air conditioning. All of these things are the memories of a more self-sufficient time, a time when things were 'local', smaller, more manageable, less dependent on fossil fuel ...but also more labor intensive. And for me, these are the memories of a family who was barely middle-class, one generation off the farm, poorly educated, surviving on the edge -- a world I wanted to leave behind as quickly as possible.
It's the 21st century now, more than 50 years later. Those memories suddenly feel like gems that were given to me long ago, now in my memory vault but still easily accessible with the right code, making it possible to take them out, buff them up, and appreciate their beauty and utility. For unlike my children, I know how to live more simply, though I have chosen not to. Like most Americans, I've been swept up in consumption, in buying stuff, in trying to become part of the 'American Dream'. Am I happier with all my stuff? That's debatable. Bill McKibben's book, Deep Economy, suggests I'm not ...that few of us are. We work harder than ever, mostly to pay for more stuff we could live without. The work we are trying not to do -- household work, subsistence tasks -- was in some ways more satisfying than working to pay Bank of America for the privilege of filling our homes and freezers with goods crafted by people on the far side of the world.
Not to be delusional ...there was a downside to the past that can't be dismissed. There was little 'free time', limited food choices, it took all day to wash a week's clothes and the whole next day to iron them. Women stayed home and worked from sun up to sun down to feed their families and just maintain the family home. There were no luxuries. None. We could not afford books -- it was the library or nothing -- though we had a bookmobile that would bring them to your neighborhood on request each week. Movies were a rarity. Summer heat could be murderous. Diversity -- in food, people, ideas -- was non-existent. We lived insular, often bigoted lives.
Yet, those days also brought many rewards that are often missing today: a sense of accomplishment, of connecting to the world more directly, of knowing the shopkeepers, farmers, butchers, and your neighbors more intimately than we do now. We walked more (and were thinner!) because essential services were closer and walking was what you did to get around. Everyone had a garden; I still remember helping plant seeds in spring and the joy of seeing them grow into food we could eat, some of which were foods we only had in summer -- tomatoes, leaf lettuce, fresh green beans, sweet scallions, cucumbers and peppers. The taste of sun ripened red raspberries was one I lived for each year. I knew they would soon turn into glistening jars of my grandmother's jam. I vividly recall the section of her basement where all the beautiful jars of vegetables, pickles and jams were stored and the root cellar where she kept potatoes and onions harvested that year.
We didn't have farmer's markets. We had road-side stands. Sundays were the day for a ride in the 'country'. We could buy from local farmers advertising their weekly harvest or just watch the animals grazing in their pastures. My grandmother would sit at my side and identify the different breeds of cows and the strengths they each had, important information she thought a little girl should master.
In a curious twist, those memories are now a resource for re-learning how to live more self-sufficiently. I feel certain that we are going to need to master these fundamental life skills again. The earth cannot sustain our pillage much longer. Living locally means learning to do for ourselves much more. I wonder, will we begin to value the earth more if we connect intimately to it as the source for individual sustenance? There is enough time in our days to care for ourselves more sustainably if we forgo some of the other things that soak up our time -- like cable TV. We have exchanged doing things for watching others do things instead. We watch cooking shows rather than cook. We watch Jamie grow his own food rather than growing our own.
My kids make fun of me because over the last few years, I've begun to wait to turn on my a/c until I can endure the heat no longer. I've gone back to pulling the shades and waiting to open the windows until nightfall. When it's hot, I try to make food that doesn't require heating up the house ...these are things we all did when I was a child. We survived quite well using these strategies to cope with nature. But my children have never lived without 24/7/365 climate control. Suddenly, those years of 'deprivation' I've been running from, feel like a treasure to return to. As I reach my 60th birthday, I realize that I can reclaim the past in a positive way, teach my children and grandchildren how to live well with less. I can prepare them for a future that is not likely to look like today but may more closely resemble the past I come from. This is not the impact I expected to have, the possibility of being a resource and a memory bank for living in a simpler time. Life takes interesting turns. I'm getting ready for the ones ahead. Are you?
As I sit here this morning, looking out the window at the budding trees and the welcome sunshine, memories sweep over me. They are the memories of a childhood and adolescence that I have been trying to forget or at least overcome for the last 40+ years. Growing your own food; using rain water from a cistern to wash clothes and hair; hanging clothes outdoors (or in the basement in winter) because the clothes dryer was the sun and air; walking to schools and stores or taking the bus because we couldn't afford a car, and when we did get one, only one person could even drive; making bed linens attractive with needlework; canning summer vegetables and making pickles and jam; cutting the grass with a reel mower; pulling all the shades and curtains in the summer to cool the house in the age of no air conditioning. All of these things are the memories of a more self-sufficient time, a time when things were 'local', smaller, more manageable, less dependent on fossil fuel ...but also more labor intensive. And for me, these are the memories of a family who was barely middle-class, one generation off the farm, poorly educated, surviving on the edge -- a world I wanted to leave behind as quickly as possible.
It's the 21st century now, more than 50 years later. Those memories suddenly feel like gems that were given to me long ago, now in my memory vault but still easily accessible with the right code, making it possible to take them out, buff them up, and appreciate their beauty and utility. For unlike my children, I know how to live more simply, though I have chosen not to. Like most Americans, I've been swept up in consumption, in buying stuff, in trying to become part of the 'American Dream'. Am I happier with all my stuff? That's debatable. Bill McKibben's book, Deep Economy, suggests I'm not ...that few of us are. We work harder than ever, mostly to pay for more stuff we could live without. The work we are trying not to do -- household work, subsistence tasks -- was in some ways more satisfying than working to pay Bank of America for the privilege of filling our homes and freezers with goods crafted by people on the far side of the world.
Not to be delusional ...there was a downside to the past that can't be dismissed. There was little 'free time', limited food choices, it took all day to wash a week's clothes and the whole next day to iron them. Women stayed home and worked from sun up to sun down to feed their families and just maintain the family home. There were no luxuries. None. We could not afford books -- it was the library or nothing -- though we had a bookmobile that would bring them to your neighborhood on request each week. Movies were a rarity. Summer heat could be murderous. Diversity -- in food, people, ideas -- was non-existent. We lived insular, often bigoted lives.
Yet, those days also brought many rewards that are often missing today: a sense of accomplishment, of connecting to the world more directly, of knowing the shopkeepers, farmers, butchers, and your neighbors more intimately than we do now. We walked more (and were thinner!) because essential services were closer and walking was what you did to get around. Everyone had a garden; I still remember helping plant seeds in spring and the joy of seeing them grow into food we could eat, some of which were foods we only had in summer -- tomatoes, leaf lettuce, fresh green beans, sweet scallions, cucumbers and peppers. The taste of sun ripened red raspberries was one I lived for each year. I knew they would soon turn into glistening jars of my grandmother's jam. I vividly recall the section of her basement where all the beautiful jars of vegetables, pickles and jams were stored and the root cellar where she kept potatoes and onions harvested that year.
We didn't have farmer's markets. We had road-side stands. Sundays were the day for a ride in the 'country'. We could buy from local farmers advertising their weekly harvest or just watch the animals grazing in their pastures. My grandmother would sit at my side and identify the different breeds of cows and the strengths they each had, important information she thought a little girl should master.
In a curious twist, those memories are now a resource for re-learning how to live more self-sufficiently. I feel certain that we are going to need to master these fundamental life skills again. The earth cannot sustain our pillage much longer. Living locally means learning to do for ourselves much more. I wonder, will we begin to value the earth more if we connect intimately to it as the source for individual sustenance? There is enough time in our days to care for ourselves more sustainably if we forgo some of the other things that soak up our time -- like cable TV. We have exchanged doing things for watching others do things instead. We watch cooking shows rather than cook. We watch Jamie grow his own food rather than growing our own.
My kids make fun of me because over the last few years, I've begun to wait to turn on my a/c until I can endure the heat no longer. I've gone back to pulling the shades and waiting to open the windows until nightfall. When it's hot, I try to make food that doesn't require heating up the house ...these are things we all did when I was a child. We survived quite well using these strategies to cope with nature. But my children have never lived without 24/7/365 climate control. Suddenly, those years of 'deprivation' I've been running from, feel like a treasure to return to. As I reach my 60th birthday, I realize that I can reclaim the past in a positive way, teach my children and grandchildren how to live well with less. I can prepare them for a future that is not likely to look like today but may more closely resemble the past I come from. This is not the impact I expected to have, the possibility of being a resource and a memory bank for living in a simpler time. Life takes interesting turns. I'm getting ready for the ones ahead. Are you?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Clear-Cutting With a Knife and Fork
Worried about climate change? The vanishing rainforest? Are you unwittingly part of the problem?
Consider this: 2700 square miles of rainforest were lost between August and December of 2007, the months when rain usually prohibits clear-cutting. The Brazilian government is so concerned, they declared a state of emergency.
Activists have pulled out their pens and keyboards trying to mobilize citizens to care. Maybe they need to take away everyone's steak knives instead. Why? Because the cleared land in Brazil is used almost exclusively to grow soybeans and graze cattle. Brazil, second only to the U.S. in soybean exports, is a major source of soy used to fatten cattle for consumption by the wealthier among us (and in America, with its beef addiction, that's most of us, regardless of income). By exporting our eating habits, we've contributed to more than just worldwide obesity.
In an article in the New York Times, Mark Bittman, the cookbook author, lays out the cost of our fixation on meat -- beef, chicken, pork -- as the center of the American diet. Bittman recently published a huge tome on vegetarian cooking. Not a vegetarian himself, he has come to realize that if he continues his large consumption of meat protein, he will accelerate global warming more than through almost any other single individual act. As Bittman notes:
"Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation."
So, before you rush out to buy that hybrid car, maybe you should make an effort to reduce your consumption of meat. I didn't say 'eliminate'. Americans aren't going to stop eating meat protein any time soon. But today we each eat 50 pounds more meat each year -- 200 pounds -- than people ate 100 years ago. Currently the 'average' person eats about 3 oz of animal protein a day, excluding eggs and dairy. Personally, everyone I know, who can afford to eat meat, is eating much, much more than that. If we each made a commitment to cut our daily consumption of animal protein in half we'd make significant inroads in improving personal health, the environment and, not insignificantly, in reducing the fossil fuel demands that keep the cycle going.
This isn't easy. I'm retooling my own dietary habits aiming for a goal of eating meat only a couple of days a week. Once you start this, the first thing you notice is that you've been eating a hell of a lot more meat than you thought you were. Once you examine what's on your plate, you realize how much animal protein is central to a meal. If you don't have any, you think you are deprived, or that you haven't had a ''full meal". Next, it hits you that you are clueless about how to meal plan and cook differently. Everything changes: your pantry, the contents of your freezer, your shopping habits. This is a really hard shift, no question about it. But the argument for changing my lifestyle has become too compelling to ignore.
I'm slogging along, doing my best to embrace a new way of eating, increasingly conscious of how my food choices impact the planet and my grandchildren's future. Check out the evidence yourself. That $25,000 hybrid may be too much for your budget today, but you can change the way you eat right now. Think about it.
Consider this: 2700 square miles of rainforest were lost between August and December of 2007, the months when rain usually prohibits clear-cutting. The Brazilian government is so concerned, they declared a state of emergency.
Activists have pulled out their pens and keyboards trying to mobilize citizens to care. Maybe they need to take away everyone's steak knives instead. Why? Because the cleared land in Brazil is used almost exclusively to grow soybeans and graze cattle. Brazil, second only to the U.S. in soybean exports, is a major source of soy used to fatten cattle for consumption by the wealthier among us (and in America, with its beef addiction, that's most of us, regardless of income). By exporting our eating habits, we've contributed to more than just worldwide obesity.
In an article in the New York Times, Mark Bittman, the cookbook author, lays out the cost of our fixation on meat -- beef, chicken, pork -- as the center of the American diet. Bittman recently published a huge tome on vegetarian cooking. Not a vegetarian himself, he has come to realize that if he continues his large consumption of meat protein, he will accelerate global warming more than through almost any other single individual act. As Bittman notes:
"Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation."
So, before you rush out to buy that hybrid car, maybe you should make an effort to reduce your consumption of meat. I didn't say 'eliminate'. Americans aren't going to stop eating meat protein any time soon. But today we each eat 50 pounds more meat each year -- 200 pounds -- than people ate 100 years ago. Currently the 'average' person eats about 3 oz of animal protein a day, excluding eggs and dairy. Personally, everyone I know, who can afford to eat meat, is eating much, much more than that. If we each made a commitment to cut our daily consumption of animal protein in half we'd make significant inroads in improving personal health, the environment and, not insignificantly, in reducing the fossil fuel demands that keep the cycle going.
This isn't easy. I'm retooling my own dietary habits aiming for a goal of eating meat only a couple of days a week. Once you start this, the first thing you notice is that you've been eating a hell of a lot more meat than you thought you were. Once you examine what's on your plate, you realize how much animal protein is central to a meal. If you don't have any, you think you are deprived, or that you haven't had a ''full meal". Next, it hits you that you are clueless about how to meal plan and cook differently. Everything changes: your pantry, the contents of your freezer, your shopping habits. This is a really hard shift, no question about it. But the argument for changing my lifestyle has become too compelling to ignore.
I'm slogging along, doing my best to embrace a new way of eating, increasingly conscious of how my food choices impact the planet and my grandchildren's future. Check out the evidence yourself. That $25,000 hybrid may be too much for your budget today, but you can change the way you eat right now. Think about it.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Fat and Malnourished
A contradiction? Nope. Increasingly, research on obesity reveals that the quality of our diet is poor, even if the amount we eat is huge. The result? Malnourished fat people. I see it every day in my clinic (and I’m sadly inching into that demographic myself, no pun intended).
When I read this great commentary on the economy today, it struck me that our country increasingly resembles its people: fat and malnourished.
“From 1980 to 2005 the national economy, adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. (Because of population growth, the actual increase per capita was about 66 percent.) But the average income for the vast majority of Americans actually declined during that period. The standard of living for the average family has improved not because incomes have grown, but because women have gone into the workplace in droves.”
So, the economy is ‘fat’ but our people are ‘starving’.
A malnourished country cannot thrive, though it may limp along with the dwindles for a long time. Like a human being, a poorly nourished society will be plagued by chronic conditions for which there are no easy fixes.
As a people, we face: Deteriorating infrastructure; declining wages; joblessness; inaccessible and unaffordable health care; environmental degradation; energy dependence; stressed families; and a tarnished international reputation. Our politicians, who recognize our dis-ease and fear, appeal to our emotions, our child-like desire for ‘hope’ or ‘change’ or ‘security’. They do not challenge us to retool our expectations and communal lifestyle. No one talks about hard work or sacrifice, especially in service of the greater good or future generations, like this country did during WWII. Yes, we need to expand jobs — that is critical, especially in infrastructure, green energy, and related industries — but that isn’t sufficient. Like the obese, we want a solution that asks little of us — let’s just eliminate carbs, get our lapband put in — and then go back to the way things were. I see people every day who lost weight after obesity surgery but 10 years later have gained it back. They didn’t change; they ‘hoped’ that the surgery would do the work for them.
I fear that we are getting the solutions and the politicians we want but not the ones we need. Yes, we need to inspire people to believe they can succeed in changing the country. But changing a country means changing US. The kind of change we need should exact a price from each of us. While I believe we should tax the hell out of the wealthy and corporations who send jobs elsewhere, even the middle class is going to have to sacrifice and change. We are going to have to be willing to live in smaller houses that are healthier, more sustainable — that put less burden on the environment. Drive smaller cars, walk, use public transportation. Learn to live and work in our neighborhood again rather than commute for hours to earn a wage that barely keeps us even with our debt. We can live well with limits if we reframe what living well means: improved well-being and peace-of-mind, close-knit families, jobs that satisfy us, high-quality food eaten with those we love, more time for caring for one another and the community.
This is no time for magical or wishful thinking. We must be clear-eyed and rational. We must ‘think local’ — at the level of ourselves as individuals — as well as globally — setting expectations for business and government. Too often I hear people say that small changes made by individuals are irrelevant, that government must change. How ‘bout both being true? When other people see me carrying my own bags, they comment. I give a little spiel about why it is important. Now some of those people are carrying their own bags and hopefully, giving their own little spiel. Increasingly, we ‘bag ladies’ are asking businesses and institutions to support our efforts by making new rules about bags. And so it goes. But we can’t ask government or corporations to be the only ones accountable for our societal health.
We need to vote for change, meaningful change, and expect to change ourselves as well. It won’t be easy, because we will need to do things most of us have never done before, like finding happiness while making a smaller personal footprint on our earth. Regardless of the outcome of the next election, let’s hope that we can ask our politicians to make some hard choices that will demand hard choices from us too, not just sacrifice from ‘other people’.
When I read this great commentary on the economy today, it struck me that our country increasingly resembles its people: fat and malnourished.
“From 1980 to 2005 the national economy, adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. (Because of population growth, the actual increase per capita was about 66 percent.) But the average income for the vast majority of Americans actually declined during that period. The standard of living for the average family has improved not because incomes have grown, but because women have gone into the workplace in droves.”
So, the economy is ‘fat’ but our people are ‘starving’.
A malnourished country cannot thrive, though it may limp along with the dwindles for a long time. Like a human being, a poorly nourished society will be plagued by chronic conditions for which there are no easy fixes.
As a people, we face: Deteriorating infrastructure; declining wages; joblessness; inaccessible and unaffordable health care; environmental degradation; energy dependence; stressed families; and a tarnished international reputation. Our politicians, who recognize our dis-ease and fear, appeal to our emotions, our child-like desire for ‘hope’ or ‘change’ or ‘security’. They do not challenge us to retool our expectations and communal lifestyle. No one talks about hard work or sacrifice, especially in service of the greater good or future generations, like this country did during WWII. Yes, we need to expand jobs — that is critical, especially in infrastructure, green energy, and related industries — but that isn’t sufficient. Like the obese, we want a solution that asks little of us — let’s just eliminate carbs, get our lapband put in — and then go back to the way things were. I see people every day who lost weight after obesity surgery but 10 years later have gained it back. They didn’t change; they ‘hoped’ that the surgery would do the work for them.
I fear that we are getting the solutions and the politicians we want but not the ones we need. Yes, we need to inspire people to believe they can succeed in changing the country. But changing a country means changing US. The kind of change we need should exact a price from each of us. While I believe we should tax the hell out of the wealthy and corporations who send jobs elsewhere, even the middle class is going to have to sacrifice and change. We are going to have to be willing to live in smaller houses that are healthier, more sustainable — that put less burden on the environment. Drive smaller cars, walk, use public transportation. Learn to live and work in our neighborhood again rather than commute for hours to earn a wage that barely keeps us even with our debt. We can live well with limits if we reframe what living well means: improved well-being and peace-of-mind, close-knit families, jobs that satisfy us, high-quality food eaten with those we love, more time for caring for one another and the community.
This is no time for magical or wishful thinking. We must be clear-eyed and rational. We must ‘think local’ — at the level of ourselves as individuals — as well as globally — setting expectations for business and government. Too often I hear people say that small changes made by individuals are irrelevant, that government must change. How ‘bout both being true? When other people see me carrying my own bags, they comment. I give a little spiel about why it is important. Now some of those people are carrying their own bags and hopefully, giving their own little spiel. Increasingly, we ‘bag ladies’ are asking businesses and institutions to support our efforts by making new rules about bags. And so it goes. But we can’t ask government or corporations to be the only ones accountable for our societal health.
We need to vote for change, meaningful change, and expect to change ourselves as well. It won’t be easy, because we will need to do things most of us have never done before, like finding happiness while making a smaller personal footprint on our earth. Regardless of the outcome of the next election, let’s hope that we can ask our politicians to make some hard choices that will demand hard choices from us too, not just sacrifice from ‘other people’.
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