The Revolution will not be Microwaved

I stole this title from a book by Sandor Katz, the talented author of Wild Fermentation who has recently published this second work. I am only on page 32, but already I have learned so much and his enthusiastic writing propells me forward. The book is about food, to say it succinctly, but its message reaches in its relevance to nearly all areas of our lives. He takes a close, and therefore often disheartening, look at the current state of food production and consumption in America. But he also tells the stories of grassroots movements which are making incredible changes in the way some people are eating.

I have been interested in food and in the organic farming movement for several years now, and I have spent 2 summers working on small scale, chemical-free veggie farms. When I first entered this world I experienced a huge epiphany that as I dug my fingers through the healthy soil and ate the strawberrys from plants I had carefully placed in the ground, went something like wow, i can really grow food all by myself! this isn't so complicated....plants want to grow, and....mmmm...this [insert: pesto, tomato sandwhich, stawberry rhubard jam] tastes amazing!! i am so dirty but i feel so happy and fulfilled and i have the skills to actually do things!

Now I feel a second epiphany coming on. As I become more educated in what is good for our bodies and souls and planet and as I gain more experience in the garden, I feel more sure of the absolute importance and central role that good food should play in our lives. In the past, everyone was involved in the history of the food on their plate. Less than a century ago people could not have comprehended the ease in which we can purchase and eat food today. Everyone had a garden, and people bought what they couldn't grow mostly from local farmers. One ate seasonally: radishes in the spring, tomatoes in the summer, and home-canned vegetables and potatoes in the winter. There were no semi-trucks bringing New Yorkers raspberries from California in February. Now we have been apparently freed from this drudgery of farming. We have the luxury of fast food restaurants around every corner and an endless supply of oil and cheap labor to bring us everything we want to eat at all times. I too enjoy convience and flexibility in my diet, but I sincerely believe that each of us should return to our agricultural roots in some degree or another and become participants and not merely consumers when it comes to our food.

There are so many reasons to start caring, grow a garden, and buy your vegetables in season at the farmer's market. I'll just mention one today to keep this blog from becoming a short novel. Our health is an obvious reason. Did you know that in 1989 the money Americans spent on healthcare surpassed what they spent on food? This alarming trend has continued to grow. It is not a surprising statistic when we consider that conventional, widespread agricultural methods today involve genetically altered plants and large amounts of pesticides, designed to kill plants, insects, and soil organisms. Is it shocking that cancer rates have soared the past 50 years as our use of chemicals in every day life has increased? And it makes sad sense that our food has few nutrients left in it when we realize that our food is laregly eaten in processed form and when "fresh" is still shipped from miles away and is days and weeks old when consumed. And beyond our own health we must consider the health of those involved in bringing us the out-of-seaons luxuries. Tomato pickers in South America who bring us this late-summer vegetable in the winter are often women, including pregnant and breast-feeding mothers who transfer pesticides from their hands to their babies, resulting in birth deformities and serious health problems in their young children. To end on a positive note, where changes are made and people in an area being eating more local, organic food, the results are real and exciting. Some schools in the US have school garden programs and connections with local farms, and when children are served fresh, local food, perfomances soar and behavior problems dwindle.

Stay tuned for more posts about food as I dig through this book and get inspired by the tomatoes growing in our garden at home.