Garlic is healthy. I eat a small, raw clove most days. On meeting days I wait until I return home. I don't mind promoting the use of garlic but aromatic special effects are unnecessary.
I have not yet grown my own garlic. I have an excellent source nearby who brings his chemical-free, hand-worked garlic to the Saturday morning market. It will be sometime yet, before I will be able to buy fesh garlic. I can wait, hopefully, last season's supply is getting low.
What do I mean by right livelihood? Let us start here:
Right livelihood -- making one's living in an honest, non-hurtful way. Here's one we don't talk about much in our society today. One can only wonder how much suffering comes out of the greedy, cut-throat, dishonest careers we often participate in. This by no means means we must all be monks: Imagine the good one can do as an honest, compassionate, hard-working accountant, business person, lawyer, or politician!
Framing and gardening meet the criteria for right livelihood, as long as no pesticides are used and the focus is on ecological farming. No pesticides, no chemical fertilizers no practices that harm the earth are acceptable. Farmers can fulfill the role of earth steward when they work and live sustainably.
The benefits the urban centres derive from the rual area go far beyond bringing food from the field to the table. Small scale and family farms provide ecological services. The persistent shout for low cost food does not take these services into account. It is time that we quit trying to balance our budget on the backs of the farmers and took our share of the responsibility for feeding ourselves and our community. This change in attitude can moves us along way down the path to right livelihood and sustainability.
Next week we will continue our look at food and right livelihood with an exploration of cooperatives and the role they can play.
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