Take care!

What is it about spring and the onset of warm weather that makes us want to get out every piece of cleaning gear in the house and get to work? Or a week spent in the country which invokes a desire to plant tomato plants, eat locally and go back to basics? Spring seems to be here, and it came at the same time I took my daughters to enjoy some fresh country air. So what's a (small) city dweller like me to do after I have aired out the beds and found every bit of dirt in the (city) house - just after spending a week at one with nature? Do I pack up my home and move? Or do I do what I can right where I am...

Not helping much with this matter is having watched the movie, Food Inc., right smack in the middle of all this. Our farming as we know it has changed dramatically in the past decades, and I strongly believe if we don't do something now, if we sit around and do nothing - our grandchildren will suffer tremendously. I won't get into the details of this documentary, but please, take an evening out of your time and watch it. It's a wake up call, it's a push in the direction of demanding for better things, and for supporting the right people that we want growing our foods.

So what to do with the country versus city debate?! One of my favourite things about going away for a few days is coming home, as this is where home is most comforting, most welcoming, and more beautiful than at any other time. And in this I know the answer - I am at home in suburbia, with traffic noise and shopping malls. With high speed Internet and coffee shops at every corner. However, I have a new project brewing in my head... it has everything to do with farms and our beautiful land which we call home. Stay tuned in the next weeks and especially the upcoming warmer months as I turn a "should do" into a "must do".

In the meantime, let's focus on the things we can do...
Eat locally, this could be as simple as visiting a local farmers market.
Eat in season. Do your research and find out what that means in your area.
Find sources of organic meat and dairy. With your support, this industry will grow and it will become the norm.
Take pride in where you live, and find a new desire to leave our environment intact, replenished and nurtured for the next generation. This is, of course, something we do for others, not our own gain. But I think even we will reap the rewards from this in our life time. Let's be the generation that puts an end to GMO madness, to mass produced and tortured animals and let's go down in history as a movement that made food better again.
And lastly, ask yourself this - how do farmers raise whole animals and manage to sell them for just a few dollars?