It struck me just now, although it is pretty obvious really, how central growing food is, to every other issue of social development that we face, from war and terrorism, to land use, to well, everything.
It is a matter of scarce resources in a way. Everyone needs to eat. People who have food handy have one less thing to worry about, and one more tool with which to accomplish their goals. People who do not, for whatever reason, must choose their of course of action carefully because without food supplies, survival is the only goal that can really be considered. That is probably simplifying things a lot, but my point is: food is one of the basic building blocks of civilization.
So then I thought, who does have food? Well, where I live in Portland, food comes from a few different places, but mostly people get it at grocery stores and restaurants. So for most people, the only reason they have food is because they have money to buy it. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but it does seem a bit unequitable, and a bit problematic. Then I thought... most people probably don't even think of food beyond those terms. To most people, food is something that comes from the grocery store, and the problems of producing it are just not a part of thier world. How empowering would it be to give the average person, especially those who are poor enough that money concerns effect their food choices, a real understanding of where there food comes from, and the issues that surround the production of their food. I am not saying most people would choose a drastically different means of food consumption, probably a lot of people wouldn't even care, but on the other hand, for some people, probably it would.
Some local programs and initiatives in my area that I find really inspiring include the <a href="http://www.growing-gardens.org/">Growing Gardens program</a> (Which I really want to get involved with one of these days.) It is a group that helps people get started with a garden and learn to grow thier own food. They help people set up, donate seeds, provide access to a tool library, have a mentorship program, and just generally provide support all the way along. Also, I have talked to people who do cow and chicken shares, where a group of people contribute to the upkeep of livestock in exchange for a share of the milk/eggs. They do this through $, but also work. You know it must be harder to waste, when you have a good relationship with the animals.
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