Change Begins at Home.


The weather continues to be above normal. Dry and mild, we get the promise or as some prefer, the threat of snow but it never gets quite cold enough and the frequent strong winds quickly dispel the gathering clouds.

Relationships define how a community works. If you have a bit of land you have a place to begin to define your relationship to the land and all that lives with it. You could decide to become a a wildscaper and encourage the land to return to a more natural existence. Or you can incorporate edible landscaping into your overall greenscaping plans.

The successful home food security system requires the home grower to act as a land steward. A steward esures that the needs of the land are met and does not take shortcuts in order to maximize the bottom line. Your food security future is your bottom line. It all begins and ends with the land, if you abuse the land, you will adversely impact on your ability to provide food for your family over the long haul. You may get good results for several years but the land will lose its vitality.

You do not need to own a large piece of land or even any land at all, to become a land steward and develop a healthy relationship with the land. You can participate in habitat restoratoon programs and plant a tree. The tree can be somewhere other than where you live, at least you are participating in building a helahty environment.

Food security begins in your own backyard. The farther away from your backyard your food supply is the more perilous it is. Perhaps, one of the fundamental relationships which exist is our relationship to the land, the question: "Whose land is it?" is very significant.

Land use, such as sustainable urban agriculture has a very different impact than the building of strip malls and parking lots does. One is motivated by profit and creates little of lasting value, the other builds a future where all thrive.

The alternative community that we will build is one where all will thrive; one where the food system reflects our belief that we do not own the land but are taking care of it, not only for future generations but for all lifeforms which depend upon it for their existence.

The copyright of the article Change Begins at Home. in From Field To Table is owned by Bob Ewing. Permission to republish Change Begins at Home. in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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