Nikki had a confused look on her face. “I don’t get it, why does it take somebody making a TED talk to realise this?”.
She’s right of course. In a culture where obesity and diabetes is on the rise how come we need somebody to point out something so obvious like the need to reconnect to our food production and return to fresh produce. Whilst this video is based in the US, I also can’t help but be reminded of a conversation I had with someone in the South East of Melbourne who pointed out how easy it was to get fast food and how difficult it was to get fresh fruit and vegetables.
We need to get away from the concept of growing your own food as being unusual, odd or different to the point where the concept of getting someone else to cook for you is looked on as a rare treat and the concept of buying a ready meal from a factory just plain odd. Sure there are times when convenience is needed but if we’re going to stop illnesses like type 2 diabetes and obesity becoming even bigger problems then something has to change.
I also love the idea of sharing, and yeh I know I’ve written about this already but I’ve seen the power of it. We are still a long way from being self sufficient but it always thrills me when I can give a handful of greens, some garlic, a zucchini or some eggs away. It’s a simple way of building community and whether its a friend, a neighbour, a family member or a complete stranger I think it always comes back to you in the end.
I look forward to the day that people can walk down our street and pick something every time. Even better when there is a space in every community where these people can come together to cook and share what they have grown. I know there’s a lot of work in those statements, but we need to take control of our food and make this the new normal.
A Life of Treading Lightly 