Community is not convenient. It calls on us in countless ways to step up, support and serve. It asks that we not assume its inevitability, not assume that it will always be there for us even in the absence of our reciprocity. In our anonymous, transactional economy it is easy to be lured by something more seductive and seemingly effortless, to slip into the mindset of “the customer is always right.” This is not community.
Productivity is peaking on the farms, while we all go on our well-deserved vacations. It is a real dilemma. How can we continue to support the farmers who feed us all year when we go away?
I have a wish as we return to more “normal” lives: that we all redefine normal after such a year. That we remain committed to our communities and those who feed us, and leave behind the thoughtless consumer behavior that has caused so much damage over these past decades to our land, climate, those who feed us, and those who care for us.
From climate change to ethical farming practices, raising and eating meat is one of the thorniest questions we face. But, as families who care about their own health and the health of our shared environment, we know that eating less meat, and the highest quality meat, is essential. This doesn’t mean seeking out the most expensive cuts… what matters is the quality of how the animal is raised. Hamburger from a healthy animal is as beneficial as the filet mignon. No difference.
I heard a report today on the radio about the amount of soil we have lost in the Midwest. The estimate: one third! What remains, primarily on hilltops, is subsoil—or soil that is so lacking in organic matter that it cannot grow quality food or crops. It is, for the purposes of agriculture, dead.
Soil is directly associated with our health and the planet’s health. It moderates surface temperature, absorbs precipitation, and provides structure and a home for the trillions of microbiota that feed and nourish us. Healthy topsoil is also a massive carbon sink—meaning it can sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide—and therefore carries great potential for climate change mitigation.
