Growing the Change

I have always wanted to change the world. I have lived every day of my life in reflection of the Ghandi quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". I ride my bike, use re-useable grocery and produce bags, shop local, eat seasonal, recycle, volunteer... but it never felt like enough. What could I do that would make a bigger change?

 I started working together the many concerns I had about the world. In my country, bodies aren't being taken care of. Children are simultaneously obese and mal-nourished. The average person eats 60% of their calories from refined foods that are known to cause negative health effects. Poor people are often the ones eating the worst because the worst kind of calories are cheapest and sometimes good foods are often hard to come by when you can afford them. Our environment is a wreck. Our waters are full of poisons, our air sometimes chokes us and damages our lungs, our natural habitats are being obliterated, our biodiversity is dwindling, and our good soils we have left are being built upon. Our wealth is out of balance. Money raised in a community often doesn't stay there, and many people work and work, and it's never enough to catch up. We are going to have more people on the earth than we can feed the way we grow food and the foods we choose to eat.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed, to be depressed, and it's easy to not think about it at all because it's just too much to do. What if I told you though that I think I have an answer that will work on ALL of that ALL at once? Think I'm crazy? I might be, but I am not wrong. It's all about FOOD. We choose every day to put something on our plate, and each choice has an enormous impact.  We can choose to have a better world! I see that our choices impact 3 categories: Health, the Environment, and Community.

First, our health is paramount. Without it, not much else matters. There are many different sources telling us how to be healthy and what that means and a multi-billion dollar industry waiting to sell it to you in a bottle. My answer is simple- whole foods produced organically, locally, and in season. I want to grow food that meets those needs. Vegetables and fruit quickly lose nutrition the moment they are picked. So, seasonal produce is much more healthy than sweet corn from Mexico in the dead of winter. You have a better chance of getting that nutrition buying direct from a farmer, a farmer's market, or even from a store if you buy in season. I want to bring you this food. But, what happens when I put a rutabega in your hands? Do you even know what it is? Do you like it? What do you do with it? I want to teach you.

Second, our environment is the only one we have. I want to care for it. By farming sustainably, we can ensure that our land keeps providing for us in a way that never takes more than it gives. I will not pour artificial anythings into the soil so it can leach into the ground-water. I will spray no toxic poisons that may hurt you, the other bugs, nor create super-bugs.  I will treat my animals, and your food with respect. Chickens will run and roll in the dirt and pigs will wallow and keep their tails. None of them will ever eat prozac or caffeine (unless they steal mine). I want to farm a better relationship with our planet.

Lastly, we need to rebuild our communities. I want to be a part of yours. When we buy local, our money stays with us and helps create wealth in our own backyards. We come to know our neighbors as we visit their shops and buy their products and produce. Our food especially doesn't magically appear on a flourecent lit sales-floor, dirt free. It instead is handed to us by the hard working hands that coaxed it from seed, weeded it, fretted over it, and picked and packed it for you. When we understand this, our food becomes more valuable as do the people who grew it, and everyone benefits.

I want to be your farmer. I want to grow this change I wish to see in the world. I want to teach you how to feed your bodies, your communities, and be a champion for our planet.