eating well, eating local December 24, 2008

The farm share in which Andy and I invested has forced me to eat vegetables for breakfast!  My love for cooking has been revived as we look forward to a new year full of locally grown organic vegetables every week through May.

And somehow my mind turns to slavery- slavery for what?  Tomatoes?  Members of the Navarrete family in Immokalee were sentenced this past Friday for enslaving (what? enslave?  Yep, enslaving) people who had come to Florida to work.  Read up on it here.  The Florida Grower’s Association is hands-off, reiterating their own code of ethics and how abhorrent slavery is.

Well, no one would ever say that slavery is awesome.  But what we might do is unknowingly support systems that rely on indentured servitude or slavery.  Farm working and domestic labor remain unprotected and even more susceptible to the shenanigans of folks such as the Navarrete family.  It is truly amazing what awful things people will do to make a buck.

Farming is complicated, and I am just beginning to learn more about the complicated web we have woven as a nation in relation to our farming, subsudizing, and its effect in free trade markets.  But the deeper reflection that keeps swimming up to the surface is the question around how we are explioting animals and the earth to make a profit.  While people starve and struggle for clean water, we are producing food for consumers who already have enough.

It saddens me that my share with Worden Farms is a luxury and not something that everyone could afford.  Imagine if our local organic farms were more widely supported by the community.  Imagine having a relationship with the people and the place that grows your food.

So maybe you don’t want a farm share or can’t afford it.  Well, start small by wondering where your tomatoes come from.  Take the eensy-weensy step of saying a word of thanks by yourself or with your family before you eat.  And consider being an ally of the Coalition for Immokalee Workers, and be ready to be inspired by their work that lifts up human dignity and the human talent to organize!

And I do encourage you to check out Worden Farms.  If you typically buy organic produce, I would deeply consider investing in a share for next year. It will save you money and keep you on the right track for eating well.

A box filled with vegetables and some fruits- one every week!

voluntary simplicity December 9, 2008

Every holiday season I say I am going to scale down and engage in a sort of Voluntary Simplicity Christmas. What a perfect way to then segue into the Voluntary Simplicity Life! In true fashion, I have a list in my mind of the perfect Voluntary Simplicity goddess who does all things perfect when it comes to Voluntary Simplicity. The Voluntary Simplicity goddess grows her own food, wears only recycled clothing, makes homemade gifts, bakes her own bread, drives a vegetable oil fueled car, and somehow escapes any feelings of tension or stress due to her mindfulness throughout the day. There is a reason, of course, this person has been labeled a goddess! Most of us are mucking about in the real world and doing the best we can with what we have. Grandiose Visions of instantly (!!) making our lifestyles more simple are impossible.

Luckily, over the years, my faith journey has pointed me towards the real world of imperfection and the abundance of grace. And so now I approach the idea of voluntary simplicity with less visions of perfection and excellence and more with measured, hopeful steps.

What is voluntary simplicity? Well, I think of it as a way for folks who are privileged to look at their lifestyles and standards of living and re-assess if the standard of living indeed reflects the kind of Life one wants to be living.

Especially in this season, shopping for “stuff” is ruling our airtime, our visual culture, and our wallets. Now is the time to reveal the face of the Grinch that is stealing Christmas.

Watch this video about “The Story of Stuff” with Annie Leonard.  It is worth the time and worth sending to your loved ones for the holiday season.

Emerson tells us “A person will worship something.” And in this season, the false god can become, of course, consumerism. I grew up with a secular Christmas. Church pageants were merely for entertainment. Christmas Carols were beautiful to sing, but the words meant nothing. In many ways, I am still struggling with how to reclaim Christmas as a Unitarian Universalist. The approach of voluntary simplicity is one way to re-imagine the hope and warmth of the season as it pertains to a future in which resources are shared and love has no price tag or item attached.