Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Most people know that there’s a huge wealth gap between the industrialized and so-called ‘developing’ worlds. But there’s another gap, one that’s rarely discussed in the media, or even by NGOs. It involves changing attitudes to farming, to the land and the soil.
Is a clash of priorities between sufficiency and subsistence, on one hand, and economic growth and ‘consumerism’, on the other, implicit to the challenges of taking green and local food seriously?
My mission now is to defend life. This is my purpose, my instinct, but also to protect the conditions that encourage perpetual and healthy life.
What if the economics of money profit and loss, under capitalism, or socialism, or a monarchy or any other system, doesn’t really work for farming.
How rain falls and how it is used is place based. How each farm uses the rain affects the productivity of the garden, the lives of the livestock, and the setting of the table.
Campesinos, or rural farmers, are vital for any country.
But if big farms become obsolete, the world would end according to current economic theory. Is that true?
In 2015 it shouldn’t be a radical notion to want to move beyond colonialism and make sure farmers can keep control of the resources needed to grow food to feed their communities.
On a mid-summer day last year, The Guardian and Modern Farmer Magazine each published an article urging readers to ‘stop romanticising’ farms.
How do you take the first step to become a farmer? You act out of love.
My day nearly always starts with a reluctant rise into consciousness triggered by my churning gut. I can feel the adrenaline pumping before I open my eyes and when I finally wake up fully, I’m filled with a nagging anxiousness.
A small amount of cash spent at the farmers market or local food store might make a huge difference to the vendors there. You never know what kind of difficulties they face, and where they stand on the thin line between a manageable load and giving up.
