Re-localize the food web.
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Reestablishing the local food web
Things weren't always the way they are now. Some things were better in the past. Suppose many years ago you had you a cabin in the woods in the part of Pittsburgh we now call Hazelwood. You were maybe in danger of getting attacked by a mountain lion, but there was plenty of game right close for you to eat. There was no shortage of water. Clams, oysters,otters, lots of fish, crayfish and minnows lived in the river and creeks. There were people, rabbits, turtles, salamanders, chipmunks, deer, opossums, woodchucks (groundhogs), hawks, snakes, bats, butterflies, wild strawberries and many other edible plants, turkeys, fruit trees, cows, sheep, boars (hogs), grasshoppers and other bugs, horses, owls, pole cats, foxes, mink, skunks, beaver toads,frogs. The ecosystem is much more simple now than it used to be, and that's not good.
When you buy garlic grown in China (rather than growing your own) you may be putting money in the pocket of some businessperson, but you are not helping the Chinese people as a whole. They're stuck in the same messed up system as we are. It may be cheaper now to buy food grown so far away, but in case anyone noticed our economy is collapsing right along with Earth's ecosystem. We are soon going to be so awash in changes that we'll be lucky to stay afloat. And the way to do that - surf the changes - is to keep looking up, idealistically working toward the best possible future for all.
Among the more idealistic and wise leaders advocating healthy local economies and food systems are: President Obama and his wife Michelle; singer Willie Nelson; and our own Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields. Michelle Obama is running an organic and educational community garden at the White House. Councilman Shields is supporting a community grocery in Hazelwood.
In the July 2009 Readers Digest article "Best of America" Best Farmers' Friend Willie Nelson said: "Farmers are everywhere - urban, rural, and suburban - and they all need us to buy the food they grow, or they won't survive...ensure that everyone has access to fresh food...Find farmers in your community and buy from them directly so there's no middleman. Take your kids to a farm so they won't think food comes out of a box. Tell your town's supermarkets and restaurants you want to eat food that's grown nearby, and let your local school know you want your kids to eat family-farm food. We all need to work together."
I couldn't have said it much better myself.
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Reestablishing the local food web
Things weren't always the way they are now. Some things were better in the past. Suppose many years ago you had you a cabin in the woods in the part of Pittsburgh we now call Hazelwood. You were maybe in danger of getting attacked by a mountain lion, but there was plenty of game right close for you to eat. There was no shortage of water. Clams, oysters,otters, lots of fish, crayfish and minnows lived in the river and creeks. There were people, rabbits, turtles, salamanders, chipmunks, deer, opossums, woodchucks (groundhogs), hawks, snakes, bats, butterflies, wild strawberries and many other edible plants, turkeys, fruit trees, cows, sheep, boars (hogs), grasshoppers and other bugs, horses, owls, pole cats, foxes, mink, skunks, beaver toads,frogs. The ecosystem is much more simple now than it used to be, and that's not good.
When you buy garlic grown in China (rather than growing your own) you may be putting money in the pocket of some businessperson, but you are not helping the Chinese people as a whole. They're stuck in the same messed up system as we are. It may be cheaper now to buy food grown so far away, but in case anyone noticed our economy is collapsing right along with Earth's ecosystem. We are soon going to be so awash in changes that we'll be lucky to stay afloat. And the way to do that - surf the changes - is to keep looking up, idealistically working toward the best possible future for all.
Among the more idealistic and wise leaders advocating healthy local economies and food systems are: President Obama and his wife Michelle; singer Willie Nelson; and our own Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields. Michelle Obama is running an organic and educational community garden at the White House. Councilman Shields is supporting a community grocery in Hazelwood.
In the July 2009 Readers Digest article "Best of America" Best Farmers' Friend Willie Nelson said: "Farmers are everywhere - urban, rural, and suburban - and they all need us to buy the food they grow, or they won't survive...ensure that everyone has access to fresh food...Find farmers in your community and buy from them directly so there's no middleman. Take your kids to a farm so they won't think food comes out of a box. Tell your town's supermarkets and restaurants you want to eat food that's grown nearby, and let your local school know you want your kids to eat family-farm food. We all need to work together."
I couldn't have said it much better myself.
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posted by St. Jim the Composter at 2:31 PM
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