The Return of Spring: Precious Life, Precious Food

Garlic Shoots

The Northern Hemisphere is finally beginning to thaw. Here in the northwestern United States our trees and flowers have been blooming for several weeks already, while the Eastern States are just now starting to get the first hints of respite from a bitterly cold, gray, and wet winter.

This past weekend I spent quite a bit of time in the yard “battling” with the ubiquitous Wild Morning Glory roots that try to dominate and control all other life forms in my yard. This exercise is one that I repeat yearly, almost becoming ritualistically symbolic for me. While I am perpetually annoyed by this weed, I am also fascinated by its tenacity. The tiniest bit of root will easily regenerate itself, while its seeds can lie dormant for decades and then suddenly spring to life. I respect this plant and its value, yet it must make way for my edibles.

Growing up, my parents had about an acre of land dedicated to a vegetable garden. I HATED “working” in the garden. But as an adult, I cherish the fact that much of the food we ate was whole, organic, and incredibly nutritious. It is usually during this time of year — when I start my pathetic little garden — that I start to think about our global food sources. I was reminded of this again last night while listening to Dr. Vandana Shiva on the radio.

Her voice is mesmerizing, and her message–while sometimes frightening–is almost always delivered in a hauntingly beautiful manner.  To me she is the archetypal embodiment of Mother Nature reminding us that our desires to own and control are not always the most beneficial to us.  Her message may initially seem complicated but can be essentially be reduced to the idea that living things on earth should never be owned, controlled, licensed or patented; the earth and life belong to all of us, because we are part of the earth.

She reminds us that there are well over 200,000 varieties of rice alone on the planet.  These varieties (mostly developed by women over the course of millenia) are the natural result of humanity’s geographical and climatic adaptations.  Imagine what might happen if the majority of the production of rice on the earth was controlled and managed by a single company.  It doesn’t take an MBA to recognize that no company will manage and produce 200,000+ varieties of rice. This idea is kind of like allowing one company to own all the content on the internet. The internet — and the 200,000 varieties of rice — exists because of all of our involvement.  At the point that a single entity owns most of the rice it will essentially cease to evolve and adapt.  While I may be oversimplifying her argument, the point is this: “the world [and life] is our garden, our forest, our sacred home,” we cannot allow a single entity to own the rights to life on our planet.  Think it’s far-fetched?  Watch this and decide for yourself:

It was Dr. Shiva that first inspired me, several years ago, to start planting organic edibles into containers, as well as finding small spots in the yard to pack them into, thus maximizing space in our small lot. Now every tiny bit of dirt is subject to a climbing bean stalk or pepper bush.  Even though I am NOT a natural gardener–in fact sometimes I detest the process–I now believe that gardening is an imperative for all humanity. I garden to remember that I am an organic animal, a part of the earth. I garden to remember that I am connected to this place and to this climate.  And perhaps most importantly, I garden so that I will not forget that the plastic packaging that my food arrives in 99.99% of the time is not natural, normal, or wholesome.

Ready for Beanstalks (bamboo grown on site)

I worry about our food source.  But I also have a tremendous faith in humanity to eventually “get it right.”  Dr. Shiva tells us that in her part of the world, when sowing seeds, people pray: “May this seed be exhaustless, may the potential keep unfolding.” This is my hope for all of us today and everyday.