This really moved me. I've been struggling with some of these same feelings--the terrible impotence of seeing the disaster unfold and having no clear idea how to help stop it.
39% or so of those currently receiving SNAP benefits are children. I can't bear to think how their parents and guardians must be feeling about all of this. Listening to my babies cry themselves to sleep because they're hungry is honestly one of my worst nightmares.
Thank you Liz. I do believe we have enough resources, information, and infrastructure to create an equitable system where everyone eats. The political and economic culture which prevents it runs deep, but I still think a better world is possible, corny as it sounds. In the meantime, we tend to our neighbors, I guess.
Absolutely. For what it’s worth, I still believe in all that corny stuff, too. Maybe, one day, people in this country will finally start to realize that the good things only really happen when we decide to help each other. If we’re lucky, maybe that day isn’t too far off. Keep the faith.
Tending to our neighbors... that's exactly what happens in the small village where we live in northern Romania. For the most part, everybody grows a lot of their food (the exception being grains for their animals, though they used to do that too), every other household has cows for milk, chickens run everywhere and in general it's pretty idyllic. Our neighbors just distilled 900 liters (238 gallons) of plum brandy, given that plums were the dominant harvest this year, more than they need, with plenty to share. Not a great example of abundance, but in muchness there are riches to be found.
My point here is, that very few people have much money, but what they do have is food security, plus they own their lands and homes. There are a few old women in the village who have worked their entire lives, but all they receive as a pension is about 70 RON, about 16 USD per month. No one can life off of that! And yet, they do. Because their family and their neighbors make sure that everyone has enough to eat, and enough firewood to stay warm. Maybe it takes a village to raise a society right. Just some food for thought.
It’s such a funny thing to think about, the strange duality of true and deep wealth that is a farm-filled pantry, and the economic poverty most farm operations bring their operators.
I’m grateful for the simple riches stuffed in every corner of our house, and that our pressing food question is: can we eat all this? And not: how will I feed these precious kids? There is certainly a real and meaningful resiliency in that, even if the farming won’t make us rich by other measures.
I call it the burden of abundance. I value keeping myself and my closest fed, even when the labor involved leads me to question the pure economics. Still there's some deeper security or meaning in it. It's my hope that we can develop systems of resource sharing that afford more folks this privilege.
Community is key, isn’t it? Young antisocial me is giving me the stink eye from across the decades for saying it.
I love your idea of sharing trees. I am growing fruit trees from seed and have shared some sprouts with friends and family.
I imagine my little suburban orchard. The neighborhood kids already invade my raspberry/blackberry patch (with my permission) every summer. They learn to avoid thorns and the sweet reward of eating something not long removed from the soil.
Too many of us alienated from this feeling. Let’s bring it back in a million little corners of dirt.
beautiful. Love the note about pigs cuddling. Long live the trash birds.
The sparrows are really thriving today!
This really moved me. I've been struggling with some of these same feelings--the terrible impotence of seeing the disaster unfold and having no clear idea how to help stop it.
39% or so of those currently receiving SNAP benefits are children. I can't bear to think how their parents and guardians must be feeling about all of this. Listening to my babies cry themselves to sleep because they're hungry is honestly one of my worst nightmares.
Thank you Liz. I do believe we have enough resources, information, and infrastructure to create an equitable system where everyone eats. The political and economic culture which prevents it runs deep, but I still think a better world is possible, corny as it sounds. In the meantime, we tend to our neighbors, I guess.
Absolutely. For what it’s worth, I still believe in all that corny stuff, too. Maybe, one day, people in this country will finally start to realize that the good things only really happen when we decide to help each other. If we’re lucky, maybe that day isn’t too far off. Keep the faith.
Tending to our neighbors... that's exactly what happens in the small village where we live in northern Romania. For the most part, everybody grows a lot of their food (the exception being grains for their animals, though they used to do that too), every other household has cows for milk, chickens run everywhere and in general it's pretty idyllic. Our neighbors just distilled 900 liters (238 gallons) of plum brandy, given that plums were the dominant harvest this year, more than they need, with plenty to share. Not a great example of abundance, but in muchness there are riches to be found.
My point here is, that very few people have much money, but what they do have is food security, plus they own their lands and homes. There are a few old women in the village who have worked their entire lives, but all they receive as a pension is about 70 RON, about 16 USD per month. No one can life off of that! And yet, they do. Because their family and their neighbors make sure that everyone has enough to eat, and enough firewood to stay warm. Maybe it takes a village to raise a society right. Just some food for thought.
Well said.
It’s such a funny thing to think about, the strange duality of true and deep wealth that is a farm-filled pantry, and the economic poverty most farm operations bring their operators.
I’m grateful for the simple riches stuffed in every corner of our house, and that our pressing food question is: can we eat all this? And not: how will I feed these precious kids? There is certainly a real and meaningful resiliency in that, even if the farming won’t make us rich by other measures.
I call it the burden of abundance. I value keeping myself and my closest fed, even when the labor involved leads me to question the pure economics. Still there's some deeper security or meaning in it. It's my hope that we can develop systems of resource sharing that afford more folks this privilege.
Agreed, entirely.
Community is key, isn’t it? Young antisocial me is giving me the stink eye from across the decades for saying it.
I love your idea of sharing trees. I am growing fruit trees from seed and have shared some sprouts with friends and family.
I imagine my little suburban orchard. The neighborhood kids already invade my raspberry/blackberry patch (with my permission) every summer. They learn to avoid thorns and the sweet reward of eating something not long removed from the soil.
Too many of us alienated from this feeling. Let’s bring it back in a million little corners of dirt.
Beautiful writing, really enjoyed your thoughts and prose