A couple of links to sustainable agriculture signs of hope, leading to a Martin Luther King Day connection.
(Update: MLK links fixed, thanks to Alison for noticing)
First link from Alison: California Coast & Ocean magazine, published by the California Coastal Conservancy. Alison recommends the Summer 2004 issue for its many articles on small sustainable farms and the role of consumers in protecting the environment.
Next, the SF Chronicle features the EcoVillage Farm Learning Center, a five acre sustainable farm along two creeks in the middle of urban Richmond. The center's director, a former public health official in Berkeley who grew up picking cotton in the South, was inspired by words of Martin Luther King to begin farming in the inner city.
"(Dr. King's speech) was a challenge to war protesters to see themselves as part of the broader struggle for a universal ethics."In his prescription for spiritual well-being, King spoke of poison and of health in terms of a person's and a nation's soul and in view of the environment. To protest war, according to King, is to stand against the poisoning of the American soul and stand up for healing the land.
"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values," King said. "We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society."
The EcoVillage has a produce garden, a barnyard with three sheep and a small orchard that grows heirloom apples. Children and teenagers from surrounding schools visit to learn to work the soil and care for domestic animals, in hopes of teaching them to feel connected to the earth.
On Monday, January 17, the Farm will open its gates for a "Day of Service" honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. Visit the link for a photo tour of the farm.
Regarding the King speech: Shyaam Shabaka, the director of the EcoVillage, was inspired by the speech to begin farming in the inner city. He wants to heal the soul of his community by healing the land. The speech, however, is not really a manifesto for urban agriculture - it's a famous analysis of America's role in Vietnam, and the future of our nation's soul. Go read it and shiver. Unfortunately, the parallels to our current adventure in Iraq are marked.
I want to point out specifically why I find the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (http://www.malt.org/) so inspiring, and why its existence is pertinent to this blog. The activities of MALT are described in the _Coast and Ocean_ articles like http://www.scc.ca.gov/coast&ocean/summer2004/pages/one.html
All over the Bay Area, developers and environmentalists are fighting over the conversion of ranches and farms into housing. Often these controversies pit ranchers who need the money development would bring against those who oppose any development. The geniuses who founded MALT realized that environmentalists and farm families that want to preserve their way of life are essentially on the same side. These founders realized that if farmers sold the development rights to a land trust that they would be able to stay on their farms. The intellectual breakthrough that occurred with MALT allowed former opponents to unite in a common cause. The result is widespread preservation of dairy farms in coastal Marin.
A very Dovish follow-on question is, what do other bitter enemies want in common? Asking such questions can be a method for finding novel solutions.
Posted by: Alison Chaiken | January 16, 2005 at 12:30 PM