A Greener Eph: Localize it!

Local economies are sweet. I've been biking three miles out to a farm one morning a week to harvest vegetables. I get paid in produce. I don't consume fossil fuels, I get freakin' sweet tasting food, and I get to know a farmer who has a 35 year living relationship with this place.

Zoe and Farmer Bill peeling squash in the barn

Normally I don't get too worked up about food. If it tastes good, sweet, if not, then I eat it anyway because I'm hungry. But this food really tastes good! Maybe it has something to do with picking it myself and knowing where it comes from? Any psychology majors out there want to comment?

Normally this blog does not advocate personal reduction in carbon footprints. It is more important to lobby your senator or organize a political event than bring a cloth bag to the store. I'm sorry, but there are enough people out there encouraging personal savings and that's only half the equation. The other half gets left out because its harder, because its bolder, because it is less tangible and feels less self-righteous. We will never have a sustainable society without a much more active and political citizenry.

BUT... It feels really damn good to work on the farm. Maybe its partly mental health, maybe its a meditative kind of manual labor that helps me think. Or maybe there's some deeper instinct within us that needs to be close to where our food comes from, that feels the things we pick, the landscape we live in, the cycles of weather and the fresh air.

After Thursday Night Group gatherings, working on the farm is often my most satisfying time of the week. That's a pretty good reason to do it. A carbon-free source of food is a nice bonus.