Pet Causes

A few days ago I was talking to one of my closest friends on the phone. Somehow, we got on the topic of eating fresh and locally. It’s not a topic I often bring up with people, because it’s still such a new concept for me, I don’t think I can do it justice until I actually start living it.

However, we got on the topic anyhow, and I was surprised that my friend agreed. Yes, fresh food tastes better. Yes, I would like to eat locally. Yes, yes, yes. Until we got to the part where we discuss actually doing it.

My friend had the normal arguments against it, it’s not economically sound and it requires some time and effort that a lot of people don’t have. I agreed that it takes time and some effort, and perhaps it’s not frugal in an economic sense, but I pointed out that it will never be economical or easy unless people start wanting to make the effort. The market generally bends to the majority of consumer wishes or consumer trends. Let’s make eating locally the coolest trend there is.

She pointed out that I specifically couldn’t afford it, and she has a point. I barely make enough money to scrape by, let alone by fresh produce from a farmer’s market. But, I couldn’t help but feel that I would rather make some financial sacrifices along the way and feel like I was at least taking away some of my personal additions to the levels of energy wasted by our food system.

And, I suppose, what it comes down to is this: what are you willing to sacrifice for? Everyone has his or her own pet “causes.” A disease, a human rights issue, our environment. We all determine what kind of sacrifices we want to make based on how we feel about them. I don’t often discuss my pet “causes” because everyone has a right to decide what cause they hold dear to their hearts.

I grew up around farms and people who had tried their hand at farming at some point. I grew up with the wilderness of my Grandparents and the small farm town of my other Grandparents. I grew up with a fascination for barns and cornfields and the people that made those things possible. I grew up occasionally getting a taste of fresh fruit in comparison with store bought. If someone never saw these things, I can imagine how hard it would be to make the connection and hold this cause to your heart.

Unfortunately, there are other issues involved other than just better tasting food. Greenhouse emissions, wasted energy, small farms being bulldozed and wild places being torn apart for million dollar homes. These issues, though not on the hearts of all, have a direct impact into our world and our future. I can’t help but feel we all need to take some responsibility for that. But, I am not one for banging my head against the cement heads of some. So, my activism is doing what I can, showing those interested what we can do, and teaching my children and my future students to care for the world and the wild.

Soapbox-y? Yes, but we can all take a turn on the soapbox every now and again, as long as we remember deep down we’re all trying to do something good—we just don’t all define good in the same way.