Food and Connection

So, some of you may be directed here by the blog page from the West Georgia Locavore Challenge.  So it's worth knowing that while we haven't posted here for a while, that changes today.  For the month of July at least, I'm gonna do my darndest to post at least 3 times per week.

As my initial Locavore Challenge post I thought I'd expand on why local food is important to me.  I've been pondering that for a few days, and how it fits in my overall mission of working towards a better, healthier world.  What mostly comes to mind is that I think one of the greatest detriments to our society is how disconnected we often are.  We interact with machines instead of people at the bank, grocery store, and gas station.  We are in such a hurry that we often whiz by hundreds of miles without noticing much about what's going on.  And the list could go on.

Our culture is suffering from a lack of connection.  When we don't connect with each other, and often even ourselves, things often get problematic.  Go to espn.com and watch a comment thread, or even worse go to a news site that is covering the recent health care legislation/court case.  People who don't share a real world connection can be awful to each other, and our discourse suffers.  Likewise other violations ranging from simple rudeness to violent crime to massive corporate fraud (hello Mr. Madoff) are easier to perpetrate when we aren't connected to the people around us.  Disconnection is a real problem.

For me, when I think about what culture is, food is one of the first things that comes to mind.  I think Italy - I think pasta, Japan I think sushi, or for home I think of country style steak, mashed potatoes and gravy.  There are certainly other major components of culture, but food is also high on the list.  And then I look at most of the food in the grocery store and I have no connection with it.  The bananas are from south america, the tomatoes are from California, and the meat is from who knows where.  I don't have any connection to that food, or the people who grew it.

So, in our food we are as disconnected as everywhere else in our culture.  So as some one who would like a more connected culture, one way of trying to have a positive effect on the world is to work for a food system that supports connection instead of disconnection.  When I shop at the Farmer's Market I connect with people, and gain a greater appreciation for the food and the work they do.  When I work to grow my own food I gain a greater appreciation of the wonders of our world, and the magic that happens between a seed being planted, a tiny plant emerging, and a luscious tomato going into my sandwich.

Alright, so there is my sermon for the night.  If comments come in and spark conversation I may follow this thread some more.  Otherwise my intention is to post pictures of meals that I make during the month, discuss what is in them, and a bit about the cooking I did (tonight's dinner, which may get posted about tomorrow, involved a spaghetti squash explosion in the microwave!).

Eat on!