The Emerson Inspiration

I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods. Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup. ~Wendell Berry

As I sit here, in my room, eating a banana and with a stomach gently rolling over its recent meal of grilled pork steaks, tender steamed broccoli and Tim’s “famous” potatoes, I feel a small twinge of guilt washing over me. Lately, I have been reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver, better recognized from her recent best-selling novel The Poisonwood Bible, that addresses many subjects that are combative to we Americans’ everyday and comfortable lives. Her main attack is on the food industry and culture (or lack thereof) that has become so overwhelming in America. Other barrages are directed more specifically at the reader’s own life choices in a country that is covered in nutrient-depleted soil, rained on by artificial chemical ‘fertilizers’, and forced to grow genetically modified versions of the foods that used to supply our forefathers with everything that they needed nutritionally.

If I step back and honestly look at my food choices I would have to admit that I am a contributing factor to the rapid decline of any food-culture that we might still be digging our claws into as it slowly but steadily is falling out of our grasp. My banana most likely grew in California and the rest of my food probably came from other states as well. My food was packaged and sprayed with preservatives and traveled from thousands of miles away just to get to the supermarket so that it could sit on a shelf and wait for me to come along and say “hmm, that looks good – I think I’ll have that”, all the while slowly getting less and less fresh, purging its nutrients as it goes. It’s quite the harrowing thought – to think that my food is more well-traveled than I am. And that doesn’t even mention the amount of gas and carbon emissions encountered in the process of simply packing and shipping the food. What are we doing to our planet? Just so we can have asparagus in December? Excuse me if this sounds a little harsh, but I am sick of being a food-slut.

What ever happened to the good old days of people growing their own food? What happened to canning and preserving? What happened to the pride we used to take in preparing food? Our lives have become too complicated and too distracting to allow us time to see how we are poising ourselves. Aside from all the chemicals, monosodium phosphates, and genetic modification of our foods, by shopping for our veggies out of the frozen food section and buying ready-made meals that you simply put on the stove and stir we are poisoning our culture. Here’s an exercise: I’ll say a country or area and you think about the foods that are distinct to that area. China (Asian noodles, rice, water chestnuts, teriyaki, sesame oil, snap peas, bean sprouts, chop sticks, etc), French (wine, foie gras, diners and cafes, coffee, hole-in-the-wall bistros, rich decadent foods), Mexico (tortillas, rice, beans, tacos, chilies, and a few exotics). Now try America. If you honestly sit back and think about American food culture, what do we have? The only thing I can come up with is roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, fast-food joints, and food courts filled with imitations of other cultures’ dishes. Do we really want our legacy to be fast food? Look at the impact it is having on our overly-obese nation as it is. We have abandoned quality for convenience, naturally rich flavor for chemical-pumped monster-fruits, and gardens for super-marts that pressure local growers out of business because they can’t compete with mass-produced prices. The map of the world (above) is a chart displaying each country as it produces carbon emissions. The bigger the country, the larger the emissions. Gee, look which country is "winning"!

Michael and I have spent a lot of time talking lately about this issue, most recently today while we were out in the dirt on our hands and knees picking bags full of green beans. We really want to set ourselves up so that we can live off the land as much as possible, getting our sustenance from the ground that we live on and pour our blood, sweat, and tears into. Honestly, I don’t really care if I can only eat asparagus for 1 month out of the year. I love asparagus more than any other vegetable, but there is something about abiding by the laws of nature that is genuinely appealing to us. I know that I am putting a lot of extra work onto myself by doing it this way and I know that it will be hard at times, but the idea is to eventually be completely self-sustainable and hopefully produce enough for others as well. I’m sick of polluting the world just so that I can have pineapple for dessert. It just isn’t worth it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Adopt the peace of nature: her secret is patience” and that is fully what we intend to do. We will wait for the asparagus in May and we will pluck the tomatoes off the vine when they are ready and what we cannot use immediately will be set aside and canned for use in less plentiful months. We will plant every seed with intention and tend to that seed and watch it grow. It is through this that I believe one can truly begin to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us and value nature for what she gives us.

-bethany joy-