We’re all struggling with how to think -- and what to do -- in the
face of the “great recession.” An initial progressive response was to
advocate better regulation; then Keynesian economic stimulus; now
nationalization; perhaps in the future some kind of socialism.
One theme that has reverberated through periods of “hard times” in
the past is the idea of “production for use.” It has appeared in the
form of public works job creation; worker run enterprises; self-help
mutual aid; and efforts to push the envelope on property rights tha
As a U.S. historian, I can provide examples of the many ways - both
positive and negative - that patriotism has been expressed at different
times in our nation's history. There are many ways that individuals
and communities can express their patriotism today. Eating local foods
can be one of them.
What if I told you that America's food system is broken? What would you say?
Would you defend it by pointing out the abundance of choices offered in today's average supermarket, estimated to be over 45,000 items?
Would you cite that per capita spending on food has dropped
significantly over the last 50 years, freeing up incomes to improve
quality of life? Would you talk about how American innovation is not
only feeding our citizens, but is also feeding the world? Or would you
quietly ask what a food system is?
Almost two years after its founding in a basement in Berkeley, California, The Greenhorns has
matured from an idea for a recruitment film into a widespread national
community. We are now happily rooted on my first commercial farm,
Smithereen, on rented land in the Hudson Valley of New York.
Colorado's Bill Ritter (D) is a typical swing-state governor in these most atypical times: overly cautious, predictably equivocal-you know the type.
This year I decided to learn how to garden.
My resolve wasn't just a notion for a new pastime or a move toward hip liberalism. Rather, it was my response to global warming and in particular, the depletion of fossil fuels, which has a direct effect on our food system.
I
grew up on thirteen acres of rural hillside five miles from the
one-store, one-school town of Lookingglass, Oregon, where my parents
raised me and my four siblings to always try to see the flecks of good
in the bad, the stars between clouds in the night sky.
My
father pointed out that even maggots writhing inside the carcass of a
stillborn lamb were doing important work in the cycle of life, and he
said the bats living in a crevice near our chimney were benevolent
creatures that erupted in a fluttering cloud at dusk to keep the
mosquito population in check.
