A Micheal Pollan video from Portland, OR

I watched this Michael Pollan interview done in Portland, Oregon regarding his new book, In Defense of Food. I find him a captivating and "real" person to listen to. This is probably way he gets less backlash from corporations that others activists do. In the interview he is asked about this and he mentions that due to the rhetoric he uses, he usually does not experience too much backlash. He gets some from the corn industry when he talks about high fructose corn syrup. He does try not to name corporations too much. When he talked about Whole Foods though, he did experience a heavy "push-back".

He starts talking about some historical facts involing the Food and Drug Administration. In 1973 the FDA threw out the "imitation rule" that when a food changed its ingredient, like bread for example, it would have to say "imitation bread". This is why you can buy something that says "fat free sour cream" and it you look at the ingredients, it is not really sour cream at all.Pollan also mentions that in 1977, dietary goals were created to eat less animal fats because the government was concerned about the amount of saturated fats in the American diet. The beef industry among others were outraged and stopped this from happening. Instead the goals were rewritten to something like "choose less fatty meats". Since then, you will never see the government tell you to eat less of anything.

He goes on to discuss that in America, the focus on eating is on the science of nutrients and health instead of eating for pleasure, culture and community. The science of nutrients is very young, There is not enough information known for nutrients to have the value that eating good food has, regardless of what the bottle says. This knowledge coupled with what I have learned from my reading Food Politics by Marion Nestle, about how vitamins and supplements are not regulated, has completely changed my mental model of food and supplements. I have probably spent thousands of dollars in my life buying all sorts of supplements. Now I know that a there is no evidence that any supplement does what it says it will. Furthermore, the level of herbs, purity etc. is questionable, a supplement may have a high lead content for example. Good food is the only sure way of staying healthy, and organic food is up to sixty percent higher inantioxidants and nutritional value. (Kingsolver, 2007)

As we have learned in this class, Pollan continues to discuss how the wisdom of food cultures is very important and relevant versus the science we are all used to looking at. There are many processed food products that are masquerading as food. He ends with humorous antidotes like "Don't eat anything your great grandma would not recognize as food" or "The whiter the bread the sooner you'll be dead".

Pollan reminds us that the consumer has a great deal of power with their food dollars and to "vote with your fork!" There are many that can't afford to do this so vote on the policy level too.

I am including a couple links to a local Seattle yard that is being turned into a garden. I wonder how many people a front yard can feed?

Here is a link to this A Micheal Pollan video from Portland, OR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJuy_dowwU&NR=1

Creating a Food Garden in a NE Seattle Front Yard

Lawn Gone part one and two, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzsyaXPVNKs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiBgC4Lstd4

Harvest Ritual

East: The gifts we have received from the bounty of the earth give us reason to be thankful.

In this bread, we are thankful for the abundance of the earth. Grain that was once green, dies and can be transformed into bread and sustains us throughout the winter. May we be nourished that we may nourish life.
When we eat this bread may we remember that we eat the body of the earth, we eat the fire of the sun, the water in the rain and the life in the air.


South: The gifts we have received from the bounty of the earth give us reason to be thankful.

In this honey we are thankful for the work of the bees and all other animals whose life and labour gives us blessing. We bless them in return. In the bees may we see the beauty and possibilities of working in community. May we learn from their example.
When we eat this honey may we taste in it's sweetness the body of the earth from which sprung the flowers whose nectar is the source of this gift. May we taste the sun to which the flowers turned, the rain which filled it with life and the wind which carries it's scent.

West: The gifts we have received from the bounty of the earth give us reason to be thankful.

In this fruit we are thankful for the diversity of life that springs from the body of the earth. In every organism that has been, is and will be we see the face of the divine which is always present.
When we eat this fruit may we remember the mystery that binds together the seen and unseen things of this universe. Though we know the power of the elements: earth, fire, water and air that bring about this fruit's existence, behind all these lies a mystery that we may never know.

North: The gifts we have received from the bounty of the earth give us reason to be thankful.

In the sage, we are thankful for healing power that lies within the earth's bounty. Among her gifts there is medicine for our hearts, minds and spirit.
With this sage we also ask to receive wisdom, wisdom that pervades time, wisdom that will help us choose to act for the benefit of multiple generations.
May we seek this wisdom not only from within but also without- learning from the elements that have been here since the beginning.

Centre: The gifts we have received from the bounty of the earth give us reason to be thankful.

In this wine, we are thankful for the brothers and sisters whose labour create this gift. May we remember the community on whom we depend for our sustenance.
In this wine, may we remember in equal weight the life and death that is inherent in the creation of food.
In the works of the elements and the cycles of the earth, may we see that death and life truley have no separation but are both expressions of the nature and mystery of this world. May we remember, as we drink this wine and eat this food, that we eat from the body of the earth, which is our body. May we remember that when we eat, we eat our own life and our own death.

A Tale of Three Diets

Throughout this study I have shifted my belief about the significance of traditional diets several times, from assuming that traditional diets were a necessity, to reconsidering and assigning them an “aww shucks” level of nostalgia. Then in the last week of readings I have found an essay that verifies the co-evolution of desert dwellers with their foods. This was the evidence that I had expected to find throughout the research. I now consider a traditional diet significant due to the health benefits people can assume by subsisting on a diet of locally-available foods and for the cultural experience food provides and the informing of who the consumer has become.

The Luiseño Indians are comprised of seven bands from Southern California. Their native land stretched from the coast into the inland mountains and valleys. The Indians accessed different areas depending on seasonal food availability. Upon being displaced from their land and reassigned to an area of poor agricultural viability they were then supplied highly processed commodified food-like products by the U.S. government. This process has destroyed much of the Luiseño food tradition, contributing to widespread degradation of health. The agricultural tradition that does exist consists of large swaths of citrus and avocado trees that thrive on the rocky slopes of the area.

At the conclusion of this un-scientific research project, I believe that the Luiseño Indians have the most incentive to retain their traditional diets. Gary Paul Nabhan, a food anthropologist, has compiled compelling evidence that desert dwellers, as the Luiseño are, from Arizona, New Mexico and Australia have co-evolved with their native foods. This co-evolution allows for greater bioavailability of the nutrients contained within the plants. These peoples have eaten low-glycemic, complex carbohydrate, foods throughout their existence until the introduction of highly processed commodified food-like products. These products, made up of simple carbohydrates, are rapidly metabolized and stored as adipose tissue, causing diet-related diseases that have ravaged native communities, including the Luiseño. Despite all the compelling evidence, the Luiseño appear to be making limited attempts to reclaim their traditional diet. The Rincon Fiesta was an opportunity for the Band to celebrate their cultural heritage and build social capital within their community, but I experienced little attempt by the Band to do so. This observation is based on peripheral interaction with the members themselves. My attempts to learn from Pauma Band members were thwarted many times.

My experience with the Somali Bantus was the most extensive of the three groups and the most fulfilling. The Somali Bantus, having relocated to San Diego four to five years ago, maintain a strong connection to their traditional foods. Agricultural people in Africa; the Somali Bantus are continuing their tradition in their new home. Many of them are farming small plots at New Roots Community Farm in City Heights, San Diego. This farm is being used as an incubation program to find farmers who are interested and skilled enough to begin farming larger plots at Tierra Miguel Farm before moving onto land of their own. A group of 12 men and women recently visited Tierra Miguel to prepare for the training program.

I visited New Roots most recently during the Grand Opening celebration. At that time, I was shown the crops that are being grown by the farmers, beaming with pride. I was then introduced to some of the dishes that were prepared for the occasion. Sambusas stuffed with amaranth leaves and onion then lightly fried, were amazing. Amaranth was also steamed and served like spinach. Amaranth is a huge part of the Bantu diet and is believed to relieve arthritis pain that affects the joints of the lifelong farmers. The last dish I tried was a corn meal cake that is dipped in stewed okra and lima beans. This is regularly consumed as a midday meal and gives strength to the consumer. Okra is also thought to increase male virility. Many young members of the group have widened their food spectrum and now enjoy foods that were abstract when they first arrived, such as pizza. Cheese is uncommon in their native region, leading to its tentative introduction into their present diet, if at all.

Most cultures use festivals, holidays and celebrations to experience culture through food. In a culture that celebrates over 200 holidays, food traditions are celebrated daily. Jews who observe Shabbat have a weekly food ritual that involves preparing all the food on Friday afternoon that will be consumed between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday. There are also prescribed days of the week when Jews will enjoy fleishig (flesh) or milchig (milk) meals. Meat and dairy are never to be combined by observant Jews. This curiosity is due to the representation of life and death that milk and flesh respectively represent. Kosher food is that produced in accord with Jewish law. All fruits and vegetables are Kosher. Slaughtered animals, never pigs though, must be done so by the method known as shechitah to be considered Kosher. This method is supposedly painless to the animal.

The Seder meal, observed the first or second night of Passover, is the most commonly observed traditional meal for Jews. Each part of the menu is representative of their cultural history; four cups of wine, God’s liberation had four stages; at least three matzot, to remind of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; karpas, a green vegetable such as parsley symbolizing spring and rebirth; haroset, a sweet mixture of dried fruit, nuts, apples and spices symbolizing the mortar that the slaves made for bricks in Egypt; maror, bitter herbs such as horseradish, representing the bitterness of slavery and beitzah, a roasted egg symbolizing a festival sacrifice brought in the days of the Temple (Blech 164).

Following the Judaic Diaspora, food continues to connect the people. Their traditional diet has undoubtedly been affected by their present locality but traditions shine through. I admire the pride and joy that their food history elicits. The few opportunities I have had to experience a traditional Jewish meal remain some of my favorite.

One of my readings this quarter, The Future of Food by Warren Belasco is a summary of theorized food and agricultural future states that have been written over the past two hundred years. Whether from the Cornucopian or Malthusian school, not one writer has theorized a future state that has come to fruition more than incidentally, such as approximate global population. Malthusians, doomsayers to some, believe that without dramatic population checks we will starve or be eating analogs made of wood chips or algae.

Cornucopians are technicists to the core, believing that science will always supply an answer. Scientific breakthroughs, increased yields, decreased labor, have allowed population to grow unchecked without generating total global hunger. Arguments against population control center around the need to continuously refill the population pool. By slowing population growth we will be decreasing the pool size from where the next generation of scientists will come. Food and agriculture have resisted the attempt by technicists to apply theoretical developmental models. As much as Americans love technicism, they do not want fully synthetic foods. Algae burgers and sawdust steaks are not as appealing to the palette as they are to the economics of production.

I consider myself a hybrid of the two. I believe that we, as a world community, will experience cornucopian amounts of food by harshly checking the population. I believe that the global carrying capacity is not more than half of our current rate. By increasing global education levels we can learn to enact responsible development practices through which regenerative ecosystems can flourish. Even without drastic population reduction, regenerative food systems will supply more food than can be consumed while improving ecosystem health whereby future populations will not want for delicious, healthful food.


Works Cited

Blech, Rabbi Benjamin (2003). Understanding Judaism. New York, N.Y: Alpha.

The Tourist Test

Looking back through all of my Kamana II course materials from his quarter and the work that I have done, I thought it might be a good idea to share the initial evaluation, which tested my knowledge of my local ecology. If you would like to participate and have about an hour to spare, then follow the link below. The Tourist Test is in a PDF half way down the page. Jon Young, who is the founder of the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington, developed the test. I would love to hear your experience with the test and engage with you in discussion online or during the next residency.

http://www.wildernessawareness.org/home_study/kamana_samples.html

My Tourist Test Reflection from back in July.

I really have a lot to learn. I can’t believe how much I don’t know about common plants and animals the surround me everyday. I have a BA in Social Ecology but I know very little about ecology. I think that I am ignorant to the natural world around me because I am not forced to rely on it for my survival in the short term. Tomorrow and the next day I can go about my daily business and not interact with the natural world at all. However, I know full well that in the long term, if I continue to ignore the natural world, I am actually jeopardizing the longevity of my own survival.

What You Can Do To Help

Since I first began blogging about national parks and climate change I have had a number of concerned people ask me “What can I do to help?” This blog is dedicated to helping those people find the information they need in order to help both our country’s beloved national parks and our planet.

Let me begin by saying that climate change is not only a problem within the national parks, it is first and foremost a global problem that requires global action to overcome. This means that even if you are thinking “I am only one person, what can I do?” just remember that real, lasting social change often starts out small, on an individual level. Just think what could happen if everyone who felt that way were to actually do something about it and make that one small change in their lives. We could change the world! Being a citizen on this planet means that you are a part of that global whole, and the one small change you do make actually does make a difference to both our national parks and our planet. Ok, I think you get the picture…enough preaching to the choir, here are some very simple things you can do to make a difference in our world and help preserve our national parks, unimpaired for future generations.

First off on a larger scale, the U.S. EPA has a wonderful link listing 25 things you can do to help cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here are some examples:
*replace conventional bulbs with energy saver bulbs
*look for energy star qualified products
*seal and insulate your home
*use a push mower instead of a gas powered mower
*compost your food and yard waste
*keep your car tuned
*keep adequate pressure in your car tires
*walk, bike, or use public transportation
*use the power management features on your office equipment to save energy
*REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
*educate your children about how they can reduce their impact
*teach children about climate change and ecosystems

TheEPA site also has a GHG emissions calculator that can estimate your household’s annual emissions and offer ways to reduce them.


Next you can support the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-profit organization created in 1919 to support our national parks. The NPCA is constantly conducting studies within the parks with regard to climate change and even has a publication entitled Unnatural Disaster: Global Warming & Our National Parks which is full of information about how climate change is affecting our parks. I highly recommend reading this. While you are there you can find out more about the NPCA, what studies are being done in various parks and pledge your support.

Next you can visit the Climate Friendly Parks website which is a partnership between the NPS, EPA, and the NPCA to help the national parks become carbon neutral and educate their employees and the public about how they can help reduce the impacts of climate change. Here you will be able to see which parks are participating in the CFP program and monitor their progress through the process of becoming carbon neutral. While you are at it you can also find out what you can do to Do Your Part to support the Climate Friendly Parks program.

For those of you who live in the state of Washington you may find this link about what you can do to Help Mount Rainier Become Carbon Neutral informative. You can also learn more about sustainability and how to become a Steward of the Environment at this link also from Mount Rainier National Park.

You can also support your national parks by purchasing an annual pass called the America the Beautiful pass. You can either purchase an annual pass for an individual park or a pass for every national park and federal recreational land in the country. This is the one I choose to get, I believe it cost $80 and it is a bargain for people like me who love to visit our parks and forest service lands. In just a few trips it has paid for itself. The best part of purchasing either pass is if you purchase them actually in the park rather than online, the money goes directly to the park that your pass was purchased in, making it even easier to support the park you love.

Lastly please, please, please (pretty please) vote to increase funding for our national parks. It has been a very common story among everyone in every park I have spoken with that there needs to be more funding for research, repairs, upgrades to greener facilities, maintenance, public education, etc. These places that harbor such unique and pristine environments, rich cultural heritage, endangered and threatened species, spiritual and inspirational landscapes, recreational opportunities galore, and embody the spirit of our nation need your help. They are your treasures, please help to keep them unimpaired for future generations.

An Interview at Pinnacles National Monument

I recently had an opportunity to interview someone at the Pinnacles National Monument in California where I used to work as a park ranger. It seems that a lot has been happening there since my employment in 2002 and it is all very exciting. The year after I left was the first year that the California condor was reintroduced into the park, something that I wished I had the opportunity to get to see for myself. Many of the buildings that were there when I was are now gone and all of the portable trailers for employee housing have since been replaced with dormitories. The park has acquired some land just outside of the east entrance and now has a campground where they offer ranger led interpretive talks about the park along with night hikes to star gaze and stroll along the trails by moonlight, something that I think is absolutely awesome! The park is also home to talus caves which were created by large boulders lodging themselves into the narrow canyons. These caves are home to the Townsend’s big-eared Bats which are listed as a sensitive species. The rock formations in the park are made of rhyolitic breccia which is composed of lava, sand, ash, and angular chunks of rock that ejected from a volcano many years ago. These crags and cliffs are home to over 20 different species of raptors with some species nesting on a yearly basis. Altogether Pinnacles is home to over 140 species of birds. Pinnacles National Monument was established in 1908 to preserve the stunning rock formations for which is was named and originally only protected 2,060 acres. Today the park encompasses 26,000 acres and now protects a rich cultural heritage as well as a unique ecosystem.

Since I knew someone that still worked within the park I was able to have a very candid and openhearted conversation about what was going on in the park with regards to climate change. My correspondent, who I will call NPS employee to protect their privacy, informed me that the park has partnerships with North County High, Salinas High School, Hartnell Community College, and a non-profit organization called Pinnacles Partnership. The schools get to come explore the park and learn about the cultural and environmental resources found there, which is a great step in my opinion to create a community of caring, aware, nature loving park advocates. Pinnacles Partnership provides funding for many programs at the park including education and youth programs, habitat restoration, and recovery of the California condor. I next asked NPS employee if there was much talk within the park about climate change and they informed me that there was actually a lot of talk about it. The downfall to all this talk was that everyone talking about it was going in a million different directions and not getting anything done. I next asked about the parks status in the Climate Friendly Parks program mentioning that I had noticed that the Pinnacles had completed the workshop and had applied but had not yet completed their greenhouse gas inventory. NPS employee said that they already knew this and sadly stated that it had not yet been completed because everyone in the park was too buried in other projects to collect the information and that it was low on the list of priorities. NPS employee did inform me that there was an exhibit at the public information center entitled “Climate Change, What Can We Do?” which informs the public about steps they can take to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions. NPS employee expressed that they would feel so happy if only one person every day saw this and practiced these habits to reduce their GHG emissions.
Finally I asked NPS employee this question, “What is/are the most frustrating thing/s going on with regard to research and public education about climate change within the parks?” to which I got this reply:
“I don’t really see what other parks are doing, what studies are going on in the parks. How can we affect people at home? How do we make it matter to them? What kind of research is going on in other parks and how are they relating to their visitors? Is the information they relate to the public based on speculation or fact? I would really like to see how climate change is directly affecting plants and animals within this park and how that is affecting the park as a whole. I feel that the parks must work together on this issue in order to make things happen.”
This has really had me thinking a lot about what I can do as a passionate advocate of our country’s national parks. There are a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head about this right now. Once again it has been proven to me that there needs to be some sort of communication and information sharing happening here that is currently absent from present procedure. Once again I am coming away from an information gathering session with more questions than answers. Perhaps it is here that I will find my answer. Maybe the answer I seek is indeed in the form of a question.

Second Interview

Originally posted at http://environmentspirituality.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/second-interview:

My second interview for this research project was with a theologian and academic from a local university’s Divinity School. Sue, as I’ll call her, is now retired, but worked to bring some programs and classes looking at ecology and theology together during her duration at the university. She also does volunteer work in the religious environmental arena.

When I asked her about her personal connection to the world of environment and spirituality, she responded,* “All creation is sacramental, a revelation of the God. The here and the now… The universe is alive. There is no such thing as ‘secular.’ I believe in one divine spirit which gives life and spirit to everything. To trees, to rocks, to us… We are all embodied spirits. It is sacrilegious, sinful, to act otherwise. We are part of one integrated divine revelation.”

It is this conviction in myself, that everything is sacred, that everything is part of the divine (however you may define that, even if the definition is strictly non-religious and much more scientific or ecological), that started me on this research project. Sue and I have different religious backgrounds, but we certainly agree on this point. And it is a point that I am seeing again and again in my reading as well.

I asked Sue what role she saw for the religious environmental movement in helping bring about transformation or social change that would move the world in a more sustainable direction. She replied, “The role of any church is to facilitate and enhance our relationship with the divine. It is to create the environment for this to happen. Each age, each era has its call or purpose. The Great Work of our generation, as Thomas Berry said, is to turn this around, to move from a era of domination to an ecological age. The Great Work of the church is the same – to teach the ecological age, to model it. Our well-being and our souls are connected to this work.”

Further, she went on, “Religion does not provide the answers about what needs to be done; it grounds us to be able to make the changes we need to make. It provides incentive, reason, and command to do the hard work of making the world a better place.”

I remarked that during this quarter, as I read about environmental degradation, pollution, climate change, the terrible challenges that face us – and yes, possible ways to address these issues – in my Environmental Science class, I found myself deflated and sliding into hopelessness. But when I turned to my reading for this course of study, I found my hope and my faith in our ability to create change returning. My reading on eco-spirituality made me feel better, and hopeful, every time. I have been reflecting that this grounding and foundation may be one of the real values of incorporating spirituality into environmental work.

Sue agreed. “Jesus taught us that resurrection, newness, and change is always possible. That is one of his core teachings. Losing hope is losing faith.” Additionally, “God works through us. We have to do the work for God’s work to be able to come through.”

Like my first interview, I went away inspired, and with several more books for my reading list.

* My quotations are not word-for-word what Sue said, but do capture the direction and main points of our conversation.

Discovering the Sweet Green Ball

The Luiseño diet is the one closest to me, physically. The Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians owns the property where I live and work. They have inhabited Pauma Valley and the surrounding areas forever. Of the three cultural groups that I am studying, co-evolution should be most prominent within their diet. Just a few miles from the farm are two other Luiseño reservations, Pala and Rincon. The annual Rincon Fiesta was held recently and I visited to see what types of food were being offered. In many cultures, festivals and holidays elicit traditional foods being prepared en masse that may have lost their place in the every day diet. At the Fiesta I found chicken, popcorn, watermelon and Mexican food; tamales, tacos, burritos. Nowhere did I see wiiwish, the sweetened acorn mash that had been a staple for California Indians nor wood rat that had been considered a delicacy.

Many of the reservations in the area are home to Mexican immigrants, so the introduction of Mexican food into the Luiseño diet is not unexpected. The Luiseño are an agricultural people, maintaining large swaths of citrus and avocado orchards to this day. Maize was one of the earliest South and Central American foods that spread north into present-day USA. Native peoples were the original bio-technicians, of course, cultivating teosinte and selecting to produce something far more reminiscent of today’s maize. In just 2,000 years, teosinte the size of a fingernail evolved into present-day maize. For that reason, popcorn does not strike me as being an odd food either.

Whites introduced watermelon when they settled in California. The story of acceptance into the Luiseño diet asserts that an old Indian woman with a keen sense of smell had went out in search of an unfamiliar sweet scent that floated in on a breeze. She returned with a large green ball and volunteered to eat it first. If it was poisonous and she was to die, it would not matter because of her old age. She broke it open with a nearby stone and scooped the soft pink flesh into her mouth. She fell to ground, shaking and the others assumed she had died. But she opened her eyes and exclaimed it to be delicious and they all ate. The Indians saved the seeds and began to cultivate their own watermelons in Southern CA. The original “green ball” was believed to have grown from a seed that floated downstream from a field that a white man had planted.

Popcorn and watermelon are not foods that I think about in reference to traditional Indian diets, but they are part of the Luiseño past and Mexican food is prominently part of their present, as it is for most Southern Californians. These three foods were all introduced in distinct ways; popcorn through domestication of a wild plant and subsequent trade, watermelon, literally by chance, floated in on a stream and Mexican food was introduced through mass migration. Of these, watermelon represents the only food that was introduced by a single event.

Perhaps, time was the only limiting factor before whites, in need of supplemental protein, traded watermelon for wood rat. I will never know, but I do know that watermelon has persevered where wood rat has not. And likely, time remains the only barrier before watermelon is phased out in favor of another exotic food that thrives in the sandy soil of Pauma Valley. Evolution is a traditional aspect of all diets, be it through domestication (teosinte into maize), introduction (tamales and tacos) or chance (watermelon). The day will come when people long for the past when watermelon was the stereotypical summer food, before turning their attention back to whatever has taken its place.

Map Making

I have been to Meadowbrook everyday for the past couple weeks. Upon walking there this afternoon I began to notice how familiar I am starting to feel with the 9- acre park. My focus has been on creating maps of the study area. I have created six maps in total. Each map focuses on a different element of the landscape. The first map is the Master Map, which served as the basis for the creation of the other five maps. On the center of each map at the crosshairs is my anchor point. From the anchor point there is a radius of 100 paces (500 ft.) in four directions; Magnetic North, South East and West. From those four points I determined the circumference of my study area.
The second map I created highlights all of the roads and trails in the study area. Most of the trails are cement and are carefully maintained by the city.
The third map, Vegetation, is only scratches the surface of the numerous plants and trees in the study area. Research for this map alone could have taken up the entire quarter. But for the sake of time, I chose only the highlights one may observe when they visit Meadowbrook for the first time. Identifying all of the plants and trees has been one of my biggest challenges in this course thus far. Plant identification has also been one of the most interesting aspects of this course as well.
The fourth map is a topographical map and it was created from the data I had gathered in the field and the USGS topo maps of the area that I found online.
Meadowbrook Pond is part of the Thornton Creek Watershed. The fifth map illustrates the hydrology of the study area. I have also done a significant amount of research on the entire watershed, which will be in another post and not shown on the hydro map.
The Soil and Rocks map illustrates the variation of the ground structure. Meadowbrook contains rocky areas, grassy meadows, and wetlands.
None of the six maps resembles a professional map, but they all serve their purpose for this course and for my future experiences at Meadowbrook.

No More Maize and Tomatoes!

As I approached this study, I expected to learn about co-evolution between plants and people and why specific diets have become prominent in certain areas. Maize is consumed nearly globally, but an entire diet, it does not make. If maize is not supplemented with other crops, the health of the consumer will quickly deteriorate. Rice and beans, peanut butter and jelly on wheat, these simple foods provide all the essential amino acids needed for a human to thrive. I wanted to learn what the Jewish and Somali Bantu versions of PB&J were.

I retain that co-evolution is important. It tells a story, but maybe it’s no longer the most significant aspect of traditional diets. The tradition itself, the tying of the present to the past is the most significant aspect. Our past has shaped who we are. Globalization has encouraged us to expand our dietary repertoire. Food, knowledge and people rapidly move around the globe, affecting all that they come in contact with. While I know not what the equivalent of a Somali PB&J is, I will continue to look until I achieve the satisfaction of tasting it.

In regards to promoting re-adoption of ones traditional diet, doing so may be irrelevant. A diet fit the needs of a specific set of circumstances, be it availability of goods or trade partners. The tomato was not widely accepted into Southern Italian cuisine until the 19th century. What would become of their traditional diet if I advocated for a reversion to pre-tomato days? That would surely be seen as a loss of tradition. The changing of diets is not evil; it is natural, not just among cultures but individuals as well. I retain concern when the change is so rapid that the physiology of a people is not able to evolve with the prominent foodstuffs in their diet. This is when diet-related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity run rampant. We must look to the past as we move forward, in life and in our food choices to avoid exposing ourselves to unintentional consequences that certain food choices elicit.

Lessons Learned

From my environment & spirit blog:

I had a second small group discussion organized today, this one with a group of local Quakers. I prepared more or less the same introduction and the same questions as I had used on my earlier small group discussion held at a Pagan gathering. I was interested to see what were the similarities and differences in the overall responses or themes arising from the two groups.

However, no one showed up for my small group discussion. I suspect there are several lessons for me to learn in this. Perhaps the largest is that I need to meet the schedule and needs of my audience, not myself. (Given time constraints since I work and go to school, both full time, I fit this in where I could make it.) I also did not reach out to specific individuals asking them to come, which I had thought about doing, because I just ran out of time. And I scheduled the conversation for 11:00 on a Saturday morning, when the room was available, but people would have to make a special trip to meet with me.

I spoke with several people at the Meeting in order to organize a time to hold the discussion and advertise that it was happening, but I did not ask for assistance or work with them to encourage people to attend. One way to encourage participation in such discussion groups would be to work within the committee structure of the Meeting body. In scheduling this event, I spoke with the Clerk of Worship & Ministry Committee, who was quite in support of the talk but was out of town today. Since I continue to plan to develop this inquiry into a thesis, and I’d like to talk to some Quakers along the way, I think my next step is to engage further with the committee and see where that takes me.

The good news is that I was able to schedule three interviews, instead of the two I had planned for the class, so I will be able to balance out this missed opportunity.

Summer School Can Be Dangerously Unproductive

As some of you might have noticed, I have not posted in a while. While the subjects I'm studying are interesting to me, I find myself saying "YES!" to social activities far more often than to homework. I've never been very good at studying during the summer. I remember having a list of books to read for high school and waiting until August to actually start them, cursing under my breath that I was missing out on the last few free days I had. This summer seems to be no exception.

Trying to buckle down I've spent some time at the UW library, reading through the Socologia Ruralis Journal that Britt suggested I look at. It sounds dull, right? For someone who's into agriculture and history and sociological phenomenas, this is like the jackpot. Suddenly, I'm reading about "Women in Rural Farming Communities", "Medicinal Folk and Foods in Southwestern Germany", and "Transcending the Gender Imbalance in Historical Agricultural Societies". HOLY CRAP, I've been studying the wrong subject and feel pulled to explore the roles of gender in agriculture. Who knew there was such a thing?!

For the most part, I have been sheltered from this issue by working in organic farming and often in egalitarian communities. Whenever I have stepped out this bubble, I attributed the shock at my ability to use a shovel or drive a tractor as a matter of ignorance and an exception, not as a rule to how the world works. Perhaps it was growing up in a home with muddled gender roles, it does not occur to me that women "can't do" certain things, or anything for that matter. It fascinates me to learn how others are pushed down because of their gender, be they women or men, and I feel compelled to explore this more. I'm not sure where this will take me, but I'm curious to find out...

A Reenchanted World Part II

Originally posted on my Environment & Spirituality blog:

Although it’s been several weeks now since I finished A Reenchanted World by James William Gibson, which I wrote about earlier, I did want to return to it before moving on to my other research.

In my previous post, I summarized the historical forces that helped develop or influence the culture of reenchantment. Gibson then describes some of the unintended consequences of this culture of enchantment. The increasing popularity and sense of connection to the environment and the land led to increased human interaction, which in turn led to environmental devastation and a diminishing of the sense of sacredness in those special places. Environmental degradation has come from tourism to places as diverse as National Parks and Caribbean resorts, from exurban development where homes are built in formerly wild land, and from outdoor motorized recreation (jet skis, snowmobiles, and off-road vehicles, which are terrible wasters of fuel and cause habitat destruction) and a related culture which views nature as “‘primeval chaos’” needing exploration (p. 153).

Further, an unintended consequence of the culture of enchantment’s aesthetic “favoring magnificent landscapes and large animals” is that it “inadvertently devalues and leaves vulnerable all that is smaller and plainer,” so that “efforts to save small, plain-looking creatures [is seen] as a giant waste, a ludicrous impediment to progress” (pp. 160-161). Of course, those plain creatures and landscapes are important ecosystems like wetlands and tall-grass prairie, or are important warning signs of greater environmental impact, like the spotted owl.

Additionally, “contradictions within the culture have weakened the movement” (p. 168). Contradictions cited include a debate over whether people and animals can live side-by-side, opinions on hunting, the business of zoos, animals theme parks, and black market trade in wild animals which call upon the culture of wildness but without actually letting animals remain wild, mariculture such as farmed fish, and the transformation of Native American culture by casinos and gambling.

On top of this, “the enchantment culture and environmental movement came under deliberate, organized attack from the Christian right, the Bush administration, and much of the business establishment” (p. 192). Under Bush, fossil fuels were prioritized, forest and wildlife areas were opened for extraction and road-building, environmental protections were gutted, and government staff and climate change scientists were discredited and silenced. The Christian right, with a focus on the Biblical message that God will destroy the Earth after the Rapture, do not see a need to save the environment. In fact, Gibson writes, they believe that “the Earth is Satan’s home, and all animals and plants are connected to his demons” (p. 201) and that “working for conservation is not only unnecessary but an affront to the infinite power of God” (p. 202). Reading this section, I was struck by the sheer numbers of the American public open to these religious arguments – “a third of adult Americans … considered themselves to be ‘born-again’” (p. 197). I was also heartened by the rise in the evangelical environmental movement, which is a large, growing, and different perspective on the evangelical view of the environment – seeing the need for stewardship and care, and calling for action from the evangelical population (p. 227).

Gibson closes the book on a high note, describing a renewed interest in the “less dramatic” creatures and landscapes and biodiversity, conservation and restoration successes, and “significant environmental victories” in the past few years (note: the book was written before Obama was elected, so these predate the change in administrations) (quote from p. 228 and p. 221 respectively). Gibson sees the culture of enchantment in as unlikely a place as the scientific UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which calls for a restructuring of the economy in order to “‘recognize the true value of nature – both in terms of an economic sense and in the richness it provides in our lives in ways much more difficult to put numbers on’” (p. 246). (This report echoes many leading environmentalists, economists, and think tanks on the topic of environmental economics, an area I find exciting and interesting.)

The book ends with the following: “Despite periodic losses and setbacks, the momentum behind this cultural transformation continues to build, and it suggests that anyone who cares about the Earth should take heart… The spread of enchantment means that the environmental movement and its allies can now shift their strategy from defense to offense. Such an offensive strategy will require a strong proactive agenda for environmental reform… The reenchantment of nature – if coupled with political courage to act – offers a chance to remake the world” (pp. 251-252).

Gibson’s description of what the culture of enchantment is (see my previous post, third paragraph) is exactly what I want to explore in my inquiry. While Gibson did discuss spiritual and religious movements that are part of this culture – my specific area of focus – the book, and the culture he describes, turned out to be much broader than I originally imagined. There is value in this for me, as my focus on the spiritual (which comes out of a desire to look for the inspiration and meaning behind beliefs and action) could keep me out of the practical, which is very important too. So I found this book to be very good for setting the framework of the “culture of enchantment” and the environmental movement. However, following my original intent, the next pieces of literature I will talk about are focused more on the spiritual and religious.

Treat farmers like gold

During our interview with Chris Curtis, Director of the Neighborhood

Famers Market Alliance http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/, a
community based organization that supports seven of the Neighborhood
Farmers Markets in Seattle, it became very clear, very fast, what she
saw the organization’s main goal to be, “It is all about the farmers.
They are heroes and we need to treat them like gold.”

This attitude is central to the vision of the “producer only”
markets that NFMA manages, in which farmers direct sell their produce
to shoppers, earning the full dollar value of their farm products.
Being that the NFMA’s markets help more than 100 of the region’s
small, diverse farms stay in business, it isn’t surprising that the
mission of this organization is to keep the markets about the food.
Quite diplomatically, Chris explained to us how their seven markets,
which originated with the University District market, differ from
others in Seattle that sell items like crafts, flowers and cotton
candy. By keeping the focus on food, the markets can continue to
support both the consumer and farmers interests to buy and sell fresh,
local food.

It was remarkable to hear Chris describe her journey in this business
that began in 1993 when she quit her job in search of working towards
something that she was passionate about. After visiting farmers
markets in California that valued the local farmers, Chris and a few
dedicated volunteered spent countless hours to bring those type of
markets to the neighborhoods of Seattle.

Chris still remembers the very first day of the initial market in the
U District. She recalls the 17 farmers that set up that morning, and
that she was expecting, at the most 150 consumers to show up. At the
end of the day, 800 consumers had visited the market, proving the need
for fresh and local produce in Seattle. So how has NFMA kept their
organization about the farmers after all of these years? This has been
accomplished by including several local farmers on the organization’s
Board of Directors, actively requesting feedback from farmers
regarding NFMA policies and continuously working to build
relationships between staff and farmers.

Climate Change and National Parks

What are some of the effects climate change could have on our national parks? Why is it important to understand these impacts and what does it mean for our future enjoyment of these places?

In order to understand the effects of climate change on our parks we must first understand the impacts of climate change on our global environment. Some things, such as warmer average temperatures, are kind of a “no-brainer” but what does all of this mean? How will it impact the flora and fauna, our hydrologic cycle, or our air quality? It is a relatively easy determination to make because it is already happening. Here are some examples of the effects:


 Changes in soil temperature & moisture affects soil microflora & microfauna
 As temperatures change animals seek different & more optimal habitats
 Sensitivity to temperatures affects the reproductive biology of many species as well as how they rear their young
 Temperature increases can cause a reduction in the number of species within a community
 Population densities & geographic distribution of insects change as ambient temperatures change in their ranges
 Sex of many reptile species is often determined by temperature thus the effective population of one sex limits that populations genetic diversity
 Global temperature changes can lead to massive reorganizations of the time, activities, and movement patterns of animals
 Drought causes leaves of plants & trees to turn yellow as chlorophyll production is reduced, cavitation increases and plants dehydrate making them more attractive to phytophagus insects leaving vegetation susceptible to insect outbreaks
 As sea ice cover declines, arctic marine ecosystems will suffer from coastal erosion, melting of tundra/thawing of permafrost, loss of algae, elimination of ice associated communities such as polar cod, and a loss of habitat for ice platform dependent species such as polar bears, seals, and walrus.
 Increased wildfire frequency
 Increased windstorms sometimes causing the mortality of entire stands of trees and leaving the stressed survivors susceptible to disease and insect infestation
 More extreme and unpredictable weather patterns (floods and droughts) cause damage to resources

These examples are merely a drop in the bucket of what we are faced with in regards to the effects of climate change on our environment. While it is understandable that Earth undergoes periods of warming and cooling it is evident that our planet is currently undergoing a very serious and disconcerting period of rapid change. In the last century our planet has warmed an average of 1.3F. This rate of warming is faster than anything on record for the past 1000 years. Emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane have been on the rise since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The concentration of these gasses in the atmosphere is more than 70% higher than pre-industrial levels, and according to the EPA combustion of fossil fuels account for most emissions in the US. Like it or not our environment is changing. Alpine species are running out of higher ground, polar species are running out of ice, droughts, floods, heat waves, and intense hurricanes have increased, glaciers and snow packs are disappearing, sea level is rising, arctic sea ice is thinning, and our oceans are becoming more acidic. Bearing this in mind, it is not hard to imagine how climate change will, and already is, affecting our national parks.

It is no secret that Rocky Mountain National Park is currently undergoing a battle with bark beetle infestations that are killing millions of trees. It is believed among entomologists that these massive infestations are a result of climate change. Remember those phytophagus insects? These insects are specialized to detect ultrasound and vibrations from cavitation (the breaking of water columns in trees) caused by drought and reduced chlorophyll production.

In November 2006 over 18 inches of rain fell in just 36 hours in Mount Rainier National Park. This was the most damaging flood in the park’s 108 year history, breaking utility lines, washing out roads, trails and campgrounds, and filling streams and reservoirs with mud and debris. Some major roads through the park were closed for a year. It is estimated that rebuilding will cost between $36 and $100 million.

Glacier National Park may soon be called “Puddles” as many of the glaciers retreat from view and often disappear altogether. Dan Fagre, a USGS ecologist who works at Glacier, estimates that by the year 2020 there very well may be no more glaciers in the park. This means more than just less ice in the park. It also means the destruction of fragile ecosystems that have taken thousands of years to develop destroying the treasures the park was created to protect.


A hot dry climate weakens trees and vegetation making them more susceptible to fires. Record heat waves make for extremely dry vegetation and can even turn good intentions into disasters. A prescribed burn for brush control in Yosemite National Park recently jumped fire lines and as of yesterday evening (August 27, 2009) has burned an estimated 2200 acres and is only 10% contained.

The North Cascades National park is one of the largest and most rugged alpine wilderness in the Lower 48 and its 300 glaciers cover more area land than any glaciers than in any other national park south of Alaska. It is home to grizzly bears and wolves as well as virgin Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) and Douglas fir (pseudotsuga menziesii). As the climate warms glaciers retreat and alpine meadows disappear leaving high-mountain species like the pika no where higher to go.

Alaska‘s national parks provide valuable habitat for caribou, which is still central to the diet and culture of many Alaskan Natives. A warmer climate has pushed the caribou as far north as they can go as the tundra ecosystem is being pushed steadily north. In some places in Alaska warmer winters increase the frequency of freeze-thaw cycles which creates thick layers of ice that caribou must break through in order to forage. In other places the snowfall is so heavy that caribou have a hard time finding food under deep snowpack.

Biscayne National Park in Florida, a popular marine vacation destination, generates millions of dollars every year for local economies. The coral reef that attracts so many visitors is now fading, its brilliant colors turning white as they lose the tiny algae living inside the cells that give them their color. This bleaching also causes long term changes in the communities of fish that live on the reef. Diseases that thrive in warmer water have increased dramatically since 1994.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited park in the country. Every year more than 20 million people drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway which connects the park with Shenandoah. Increased traffic and the resulting smog decrease the air quality in the park, compounding an already existing problem.

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite National Parks all have higher ozone levels than allowed by EPA health standards as warmer temperatures boost the formation of ground level ozone.

Documenting, understanding, analyzing, and interpreting the changes currently taking place in both our global environment and within our national parks can provide crucial information on how we can deal with what is coming our way, what we might expect to happen, and how we can prevent or minimize the effects of climate change. This is the exact reason why it is necessary to establish and fund scientific research within the parks. We need to accumulate the knowledge necessary to formulate a comprehensive, adaptable and systemic plan to minimize or eliminate the threats to these valuable resources.

The species within the parks will not be the only ones suffering the consequences of climate change. Visitors and neighboring communities will also feel the effects. Poor air quality will decrease the number of days that people with respiratory problems such as asthma can safely enjoy the parks. Poor visibility due to smog will degrade the quality of those grand vistas in places like Joshua Tree, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Increased natural disasters not only damage park structures but take a toll on gateway towns such as the hard hit Flamingo area just outside of the Everglades National Park. Just getting into many parks could prove to be difficult as flooding and erosion wipe out roadways into the parks and inconvenience visitors and spell trouble for neighboring communities dependent on park visitor traffic.

National parks are doing their part to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by taking advantage of solar and wind power, providing shuttle services to visitors helping to eliminate emissions from visitor traffic, converting to fuel efficient vehicles and promoting bicycle use in parks. So far there are almost 50 national parks participating in the Climate Friendly Parks program. This partnership between the EPA, NPCA, and NPS aims to educate every park employee about climate change so they can take action in addressing the problem. The program also calls for each park to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollution as well as educating the public about the effects of climate change on park resources while encouraging them to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.

It is clear that global warming is a global problem. We all must become more aware of our contributions to this problem and take steps as individuals to reduce the effects of climate change on our world and in our national parks. We must begin now before the things we love disappear forever.

To Be or Not To Be, Organic

Last Saturday I was pleased to accompany Elise to an event sponsored by CAGJ (Community Alliance for Global Justice) As described by there website

“Our visit to Carnation, WA will begin at Local Roots for a farm tour, and then continue down the road for a work party at Jubilee Farm! Both farm stops will offer opportunities to talk with the farmer and ask questions!”

Obviously this was a great opportunity for us. First stop Local Roots Farm this is a small farm (about 5 acres) and a big inspiration. About 3 years ago Jason was recently married living in a small apartment in capitol hill and having recently passed the BAR exam was a high paid and very unhappy lawyer. His wife on the other hand was interning on a farm and would come home singing. She was only interning for a few months before the land owner (whose name I have regrettable forgotten) noticed her enthusiasm as well as his, shall we say, ripening age and offered the sweet hearts a proposition. Jason quit his job and they split the land three ways all of them now having equal ownership and equal responsibilities. I was impressed by the amount and variety of food that came off of this small farm.

I asked Farmer Jason where he sells his food and to my delight he said to many local restaurants, the Madison Market , CSA partners and a variety of farmers markets. I then asked if his produce would be at the Ballard Sunday Farmers market, as I knew I would, and he said no. “But why not” I replied, this unfortunately opened a can of worms I was not prepared for. I believe the reason he gave was something to the extent that the Ballard farmers market and, the vendors there in, are allowed to participate by the vote of one person. Obviously disgruntled he began opening my eyes to the fairness of this as well as the fact that many of the vendors are retail and not even local retail at that. I have been stewing on this for a while and I understand that from a marketing standpoint it makes sense to appeal to all the yuppie condo dwellers that have been destroying the Ballards vibe for some time. I also know that I am an avid supporter of a non food booth at the market, when the rainy season sets in I usually buy a candle a week from ascents candle. So I am torn but I do lean toward the side of farmer Jason who says farmers markets should be for farmers.

A bit later in the tour we began talking about organic certification, and it turns out that Local Roots farms is not certified as organic, it also turns out that the regulations on organic certification are buried in bureaucracy and loop holes that I am only begging to understand. Thankfully Russ Parsons of the LA times does a pretty good job of describing some of the issues here: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook1-2009jul01,0,2885942.story So fine organic is all jaded by the media and the money so what do I look for in food now? Well one option is to be CNG (Certified Naturally Grown) as their website states

“Farmers created Certified Naturally Grown to provide an alternative way to assure their customers that they observed strict growing practices. CNG strives to strengthen the organic movement by removing financial barriers to certification that tend to exclude smaller direct-market farms, while preserving high standards for natural production methods.”

Another thing to keep your eye out for is to be Salmon Safe and as their website explains,

“Almost a decade after we first started certifying fish friendly farms in Oregon's Willamette Valley, Salmon-Safe has become one of the nation's leading regional eco labels with more than 50,000 acres of farm and urban lands certified. The Salmon-Safe retail campaign has been featured in 200 supermarkets and natural food stores.
Salmon-Safe is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit devoted to restoring agricultural and urban watersheds so that salmon can spawn and thrive. We're based in Portland, Oregon.

FYI Local Roots is certified as both Salmon Safe and CNG but to be clear, not organic, are you still with me?

Great, now its time to move on to our next farm this was less chat more dig. We harvested potatoes, I loved it! Again I was impressed by the amount of food we harvested just one strip of land and it gave us about 5 or 6 huge bags, three cheers for mother nature.

The big lesson I took away from Jubilee was Farmer Eric’s (a philosophy teacher turned farmer) method of sharing. At Local roots they had 5 interns that basically were in it for the experience and making about 200 dollars a month working 6 days a week in 12 hour shifts, this is not very sustainable. However Jubilee had a lovely solution members would donate 4 hours weekly to the farm and be given weekly large shares of food in return. Farmer Eric said he has about 80 people on work share, that’s a lot of weeding! Of course this can only work on a larger farm that have that much extra food to give to workers but either way it left me optimistic, as I hope it did you.

An Interview

As part of my inquiry, I interviewed someone who has worked in the environmental sector for twenty years, including some work specifically with the religious environmental community. One of her areas of expertise is coalition-building, especially among religious and environmental organizations. As I did not ask permission to publicly use her name in this blog, I am just going to call her Jane (not her real name). We had a lovely talk, and if this research turns into a thesis like I think it might, I hope to interview her again.

Part of the interview was Jane recommending authors, organizations, and people working in the religious environmental arena that she thought would be good resources for me. Many of her suggestions have made it into my list of “Resources” to the right. A good part of the interview was a rambling conversation about the topics of environment, spirituality, and the environmental movement. Below are some of her insights and some highlights of the directions our conversation took.

Early on, Jane stated, “The environmental crisis is a spiritual crisis. It is a movement away from oneness, connection.” I began this quarter writing in my syllabus, “It is my belief that this sense of human disconnection from nature is at the root of our current environmental crisis,” so Jane and I were in agreement from the start.

Without separation, she explained to me, we don’t have the experience of coming back together, of union. That longing for union is a driving need. Our separation, and not just from nature, leaves us with a longing to be filled. This longing has found many different outlets in modern society – for example, our materialism, in a world where many don’t have adequate access to the basic materials needed for life. This observation let Jane to say that it was the loss of balance, more so than loss of connection, which is the real crisis. Balance in nature is dynamic and changing and often cyclical, and that is true also in terms of the type of balance we need. It’s not about going back to the Stone Age – it’s about coming back to right relationship here and now.

People want and seek a direct relationship with nature. And yet, we also want to keep their spirituality compartmentalized – something above it all. Yes, those times of that spiritual connection are important. Yet, Jane argued, we also need to reconnect our spiritual life with our “real” life. We have an incredible opportunity at this point in time to reconnect our spirituality and the environment, to reawaken our consciousness, to strive for balance and right relationship.

We spoke about the power of language. “God,” for example, means many things to many people. (Jane’s definition was that it is a symbolic term for whatever we want to be in relationship with. Personally, I like the word “Mystery” to describe what others might call God.) Additionally, religion, spirituality, mysticism, and activism – all are different, but have intersections, and the places where overlap occurs is powerful. Jane notes that Washington State has a large population of unaffiliated religious people – folks who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” (It also has a lot of outdoorsy people. Jane wondered if there was a connection between the two.)

People are attached to their language because it reflects their experience, and it ties them to community. If you can hear beyond the language, to let go of your own prejudices and assumptions, you will be able to find similarities, and be more able to hear what is really being said. As we explored the topic of connection between humans and nature, we acknowledged that our language and our world have shaped those topics into separate ideas even as we tried to describe them as one.

We also talked quite a bit about the environmental and religious environmental movements – and how they have been very separate from each other. The religious environmental movement came about at the same time, but separate from, the environmental movement – because the environmentalists wanted no part in the religious movement, and they generally have not been open to the spiritual aspects of environmental work. And yet, environmentalists use the same language to describe nature as mystics as other religious people do.

One essay Jane recommended to me was the influential Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis by Lynn White, Jr. in 1967, which pointed a finger at Christianity and the Biblical interpretation that humans have dominion over nature. This essay was a factor in environmentalists being wary of religious groups. Further, Jane believes environmentalists were concerned that the religious groups would be out to convert them.

Jane’s opinion was that environmentalists don’t want to connect with moderate religious people because it’s too close to home. 45% of moderate religious people voted for Bush because he talked about values. “Values,” she told me, is a term that means something (it is code for spiritual relationship) to some people, but this was missed by groups for which is meant something different. The progressive left pushed a whole bunch of people away – people who shared their values but came to it from a place of religion. This reflects a lack of recognition from an environmentalist standpoint about what moves people.

My talk with Jane felt like opening many doors. My list of books to read grows longer. The direction my inquiry could take expands. I would love to help bridge the gap between environmentalists and religious environmentalists, and certainly feel called or led to do that in my own spiritual communities. The growth of the religious environmental movement among major religious faiths in this country has the potential to lead to profound change. And yet I worry about some of my own hang-ups about language and my own prejudices – there are some religious beliefs that are in such opposition to my own, could I really be as open-minded as I’d like to be?

I also worry that pursuing how to bridge the gap between these two movements would lead me away from the piece that drives me, my interest in the experience of connection with nature, and the spiritual and holy aspects of that connection. Hmm ... or maybe that experience of connection with nature is actually the piece that would bring the two groups together?

(Originally posted on my Env & Spirit blog).

Update/Checking In

In my pursuit to learn the science behind the Zero Emission Research Initiative (ZERI), which is based on the work of American biologist Lynn Margulis, I ended up opening Pandora’s box. Luckily at the bottom of the box I found hope and understanding, just like Pandora did. However, the burdensome labor of reading and comparing a multitude of biological theories from Endosymbiotic Theory to Neo-Darwinism and even (Un) Intelligent Design has slowed down my pace to achieve my academic goals that I have set for myself in Collaborative Methods.
I have to admit that I have really enjoyed the journey and the many unintended consequences that have come along with it. Much of what I have discovered on the diversion from my path will be cataloged for a later date.
The main lesson learned here is that if you do not have a background in biology, the stuff I have been reading will blow your mind, while simultaneously turning your brains into scrambled eggs.
Lesson number two is to not let an academic discussion/debate with Italian-Systems- Theorist-turned-Intelligent-Designer deter you from your main reason for going to the park to have a study break and play soccer.

Abandon Any Hope of Fruit

The inspiration behind this weeks' post comes not from any of my garden books, but actually from a little buddhist nun named Pema Chodron, who changed my life with her simple and light hearted teachings on compassion.
In her book, “Start Where You Are,” Pema addresses the buddhist teaching slogan: “Abandon any hope of fruition.” The gist of the slogan is if you have hope that you will master your bad habits and overcome your insecurities, you never will reach goals. For in looking to the future, you are no longer accepting the preset, and as long as you don't accept yourself as you are in this moment you will never gain the compassion to truly grow. I'm a very goal oriented person and so this is a radical concept for me. If everything is alright in this moment, than what do I have to work for? What do I do with myself?
She goes on to say that one can learn to see our buddha nature, our awakened nature, in everything that we do even the negative stuff. When you are moody you are “moody buddha,” when you are on top of the world you are “on the top of the world buddha, or when you are berating yourself for making that mistake for the 6000th time you are “making that mistake for the 6000th time buddha.”

So what does this have to do with gardening? Gardening with a sacred intention is accepting your garden exactly how it is in this moment. Much of the destructive behaviour we enact on the earth is because we refuse to accept her and her gifts as they are in this moment. We always want something more and something better, and we just create more problems.
Just as we could identify our own buddhas, we could do the same for the garden. When a squirrel keeps eating your strawberries and leaving you none, it's “feeding the squirrels and not me buddha.” When aphids will not leave alone my cabbage no matter what I do, it's “aphids going to town on my cabbage buddha.” Or when a fungus kills off all my tomatoes, it's “tomato fungus is alive and well buddha.”

For people who are waiting for their next meal from their farm or garden, this must sound like elitist and idealistic bull. If a fungus just killed off the crop that was going to feed your family or community, seeing the buddha in that situation is near impossible. I'm not going to pretend that I know an answer to that situation. Only that if as a community, local or global, we were able to practice this level of acceptance, perhaps there would be less people in the world faced with such devastation. Perhaps, we could attend to the present needs of our community, than be distracted by our constant thriving for the future. Is this idealistic bull? I don't know. What do you think?


(Orginally posted on growfoodfeedspirit.blogspot.com)

Wandering Reflections

Slowing down to explore the abundance, connectivity and wonder of the more than human world reorganizes and checks the ego's assumptions, images and the like that are so pervasive in every second of our lives. Within seconds of letting go it becomes easier to sense the wonder and mystery of place. This letting go also opens us up toGaia's natural cycles and systems that so gracefully support the abundance of life found all around us. These are the very cycles, systems and forms of life that we've mechanistically disconnected and removed ourselves from over the past 8 - 12,ooo years. Even in death and decay Gaia has a creative cycle in place, rejuvenating and revitalizing herself and all of life. She is open and transparent about this process. Death, to all life, is inevitable and Gaia is atop of the food chain. I am moved by the honesty, process, color and vibrancy of her creation.

The Second Cocoon

“To relinquish your former identity is to sacrifice the story you have been living, the one that defined you, empowered you socially - and limited you. This sacrifice captures the essence of leaving home.”
Bill Plotkin

Leaving home (both literally and figuratively) is perhaps the most pivotal and yet horrifying phase on the transcendental journey from adolescence into adulthood, or in Bill Plotkins’ words, “... into the fully embodied life of your soul.” Bill refers to this process as the second cocoon, “the time between death and rebirth.” He further illustrates the meaning of this time in one’s life and the gentleness, mentality, perseverance and creativity needed to wander through this arduous phase through a poem by T.S. Elliot:

I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be to love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
Whisper of the running streams, and winter lightning.
The wild thyme unseen and the wild strawberry,
The laughter in the garden, echoed ecstasy
Not lost, but requiring, pointing to the agony
Of death and birth.

As a wanderer in the second cocoon, “Two essential tasks must be addressed: saying good-bye to the old and making yourself ready for the new.” He adds, “There are two subtasks involved in truly leaving home: honing your skills of self-reliance, and relinquishing attachment to your former identity.” Bill provides us with the examples of seven commonly used practices to assist us, the wanderers, through this process: completing unfinished business from earlier life stages, giving up addictions, welcoming home the loyal solider, healing work with the sacred wound, learning to chose authenticity over social acceptance, making peace with the past: the death lodge and learning the art of disidentification through meditation.

The example of learning how to chose authenticity over social acceptance spoke to me the most. “Now in the second cocoon, you must take up the practice of reversing the priority between acceptance and authenticity. Authenticity and integrity become your foundations for asking the deeper questions of soul.” I think I’m a pretty authentic person but there’s something that stirs from within when I think of, read or hear the word authentic. I’ve given this a considerable amount of thought and I think the source of it all is that I’m ready to move on in my wandering. I’ve realized that my soul’s journey is still in adolescence and that I continue to live and guide my life according to ideas, ethics, morals and systems that were formulated when I was both physically and mentally in adolescence. It’s something to realize, truly realize, that the only hinderance in becoming the person you want to be is yourself, or rather your adolescent self. The identity that I’ve so carefully constructed and protected up to this point has served it’s purpose but it’s not who I want to be anymore. It doesn’t reflect the world I see. I sometimes feel like I’m multiple people throughout the day. I have the version of myself that goes to work, the social version, this version of me typing behind the computer, the version of me that... well, you name it. It’s exhausting to even think about, and for what? Social acceptance? Because I’m a Libra and want everyone to like me? It doesn’t make any sense. Bill, in his seemingly infinite wisdom, has this to say about authenticity:

“Distinguishing authenticity from deception - at any stage of life - requires the ability to access and understand your emotions, desires, and values. But the more advanced practice of choosing authenticity over social acceptance requires something more: you must tell yourself and your intimate others the truth, all of it, as deep as you can, especially when it’s difficult. What you express is from the heart and intended to serve both yourself and others. You must adopt the practice of making all your actions align with what you know to be emotionally and spiritually true.”

I believe that authenticity emanating from the souls purpose is key to creating sustainable and effective communities. These are the communities we want to reestablish, right? Communities made-up of people who want to be there, who need to be there. I also understand that communities can be a source of authenticity. Perhaps the reason we lack fully authentic people (and therefore, soulful adults) is because our culture subscribes to or is even based on inauthenticity, secrecy and the like?

I end this post with an announcement... I have decided to join a men’s group called, Making Soup from the Bones: Grief, Initiation and the Healing of the Masculine Soul. Our purpose will be to mythically and creatively redefine and heal our souls through community. I also plan to begin taking art classes sometime after the new year, working with music in someway shape or form and I will take part in my first week long vision quest (hopefully via Bill Plotkin’s organization or Rights of Passage here in Washington) shortly after graduating at the end of next spring / summer. I can feel my soul reaching out, wanting to change. It’s been doing this for some time now and I’ve managed to ignore it but I can’t any longer...

--------------------------------

Suddenly the outline of his life shimmered like a mirage and twisted itself into an entirely new shape in his mind, and he nearly laughed out loud.

“Of course,” he whispered triumphantly. “Of course!” And he meant by this: Of course I’ve betrayed myself. I was sure I wouldn’t, but of course I have. For comforts, for pleasant companionship, for acceptance, for respectability, for security. For the sake of appearing to be a sensible, mature fellow. I thought I could get away with it, but of course I didn’t. No one can.

It didn’t matter now. The betrayal was over. By night fall he would be behind the wheel of his Volvo with all he would ever need from this life in a single suitcase. It was going to be a nightmarish day, an agonizing day. There were other lives to be shattered along with his own, because other lives had been molded against his. Three others would share in the common disaster, but he would defer all guilt until later. This was the way it had to be.

Because it was time to resume the abandoned search. The search for a road. A certain road.

- Daniel Quinn, The Holy.