Be the connector
It’s been a very big week and today I’m vegging out on the couch dipping into my YouTube feed, which though informatively delicious is deeply disturbing.
I write down a list of some of the things my feed wants me to know….
- There’s a 35% chance economy is about to go into recession
- We’re on the brink of nuclear war
- In 90 days jobs won’t exist
- Eating these 5 foods will reveal everything I thought I knew about health is wrong
Reading my list back I feel stressed and quite fearful, and not even the 741hz Restorative Recovery Music clip for replenishing my mental & emotional reserves can help calm my nerves.
A logical response to this stream of doom would be to start prepping my compound, unfriend everyone who might want to come and stay and get growing the “200 pound crops of potatoes in 6 square feet” like Backyard Bill does on his self-sufficiency channel.
But despite all the fear flooding our feeds, there’s something stronger pulling us together.
In Brunswick East on Saturday CERES held its annual Harvest Festival, bringing thousands of people to an old city tip site turned urban farm to feast, learn, dance and celebrate the food we grow and cook, the farmers who look after the land and Mother Earth for her endless generosity.
Harvest Fest grounds and connects people to the small but important things in our lives – showing off the vegetables from our gardens, the cakes and preserves we make at home, sharing farming knowledge with each other and making the scarecrows that will decorate Honey Lane Farm.
In the week after Harvest, the question at Fair Food is how do we build on this connection every day and not let the fear from our feeds seep back in?
The answer has always been the same – be the connector – support talented, ethical farmers like Rachel and her crew down at Joe’s Garden or Simon at Schulz Dairy or Andrew Mahar at East Timor Coffee; pay them a fair price and stick with them through the seasons, never stop telling their stories, share recipes to make the most of their delicious produce, deliver it as widely as possible and let you champion the food and the farmers from there.
Happy Harvest!
Have a great week
Chris
