Labels

It's amazing how many different branches of environmentalism there are. You can declare yourself a follower of

• shallow ecology
• deep ecology
• preservationism
• conservationism
• ecofeminism
• environmental justice
• environmental [insert religion here]
• radical environmentalism
• environmental anarchy
• "OMGCameronDiazIsDoingItSoItMustBeCool" ism
• etc, etc, etc

The list goes on and on... and I am coming to believe that is a good thing. The more multi-faceted our work towards mitigating environmental issues the more likely we are to succeed. We need people fighting to stop pollution as much as we need people fighting to change the way our culture views the planet. We need to protect large areas of Wilderness as much as we need to find a way to use natural resources more sustainably. We need to fight for the rights of the humans (often those already in poverty or otherwise discriminated against) negatively affected by environmental degradation as much as we need to fight to protect endangered species. We need to change national and global policy as much as we need to participate in local, community based service days.

Maybe I am being an idealistic college kid, but I truly think it all helps and is all making a difference. Even in environmental sci 101 you are taught that diversity strengthens an ecosystem (or a bioregion, or a species, or the earth as a whole) by making it less susceptible to disaster. It seems the same principle should apply to the environmental movement.

So why all the arguing? Why the either/or decisions? Why not be some crazy combination of everything (excluding ecoterrorism perhaps...)? Perhaps there is more work to be done emphasizing all the ways the different frames connect instead of tearing apart why one or another is "wrong"...

Half Empty of Half Full?

An either/or question: Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Immediately, pessimist is ruled out. I try to find the good in life, people and shitty situations. Yet it feels naive to declare myself an optimist. The world has so many dark aspects (most of which I am lucky to have never encountered) that blatant optimism feels like a luxury of the uninformed.

Yet today I am feeling grateful.

I am grateful that is it 70˚ and brilliantly sunny. I am grateful that I am a 5 minute drive from beautiful, uncrowded trails that wind through pine forests.  I am grateful for a strong (enough) body that does what I ask it to without complaint. I am grateful to have the  luxury of taking a morning for myself to just be in the outdoors.

I am grateful for my new veggie garden, however lopsided and unproductive it may be. I am grateful for my cute lil' Swedish roommate who gardens with me (in her pink polka dot gloves). I am grateful for all the other amazing, intriguing people I seem to continually meet all across Missoula. I am feeling so thankful I even have fuzzy feelings for my cranky neighbor who yells at me for turning my car around on his property.

I am grateful to live in a country where I have the opportunity to be in college. I am grateful to be studying something in school that I am passionate and genuinely interested in. I am grateful for clean water flowing from my faucet and good food in my fridge. I am grateful for a community that values sustainable agriculture, local farmers, slow food and backyard gardens.

I am grateful for my parents and the way they raised me. I am grateful for all the doctors, nurses, researchers, and community members who have ensured Dad gets another spring on his mountain bike and summer on the river. I am grateful to answer a phone call from home without my stomach tying into knots. I am grateful that I have a younger brother who is growing up to be a funny, intelligent, genuinely interesting person (and can have a half hour phone conversation without being painfully awkward).

I know, I know, I sound like a cheesy Hallmark Channel movie.  But when I go outside, listen to the birds chirping, feel the sun on my bare shoulders and take a whiff of that beautiful, wild, warm, vibrant, SPRING smell I can't help but realize... whether half empty or half full, there is water in the glass. And on a day like today, that is all that matters.

E-I-E-I-O

Over spring break I headed to the Flathead Valley to spend a week at Swallow Crest Farm, owned by an old family friend.  The farm is located in a beautiful spot on the northeast side of Flathead Lake, nestled in the foothills of the Swan Mountains. One of the first things to strike me when I arrived was the complete, utter quiet. There is no interstate, no trains, no Family Guy blaring from the television. Neighbors dot the hills, but the setting feels decidedly rural. I left my computer at home. I had a guest cabin and wood stove all to myself. It was a welcome break to the hustle and bustle (c'mon, let me pretend) of life in Missoula.

Julian, the owner, provides around 150 CSA (community supported agriculture) shares to families around the Flathead Valley. After three solid months of school, it was a treat getting to paint trim, plant starters (basil, cabbage, head lettuce, swiss chard...), transplant starters into bigger containers (tomatoes, peppers and eggplants), build a hoop house frame, water plants in the already standing hoop houses, create soil mix (two parts peat, 1/2 part perlite, 1/2 part soil, 1/2 part compost) and help out with other chores around the farm. It was an even bigger treat to spend long meals and afternoons talking with Julian and the two full time apprentices, Amanda and Kevin.

Talking with Julian and watching him work I was struck by the amount of knowledge it takes to run an organic farm. From soil chemistry to weather patterns to growing schedules to carpentry to animals to dealing with weeds to business to public relations... I could barely keep up. I was also stunned by the amount of labor that goes into producing food. And as Julian pointed out, "A farm isn't particularly sustainable if the farmer burns out, now is it?"

I wonder, how can we make sustainable agriculture more accesible to people as a career choice? How can we make sure it is economically profitable to those who farm (whether it be through government subsidies or individual consumer choices)? How can we make this work on a large scale (even if that means multiple localized food systems)? These are things I would love to study and focus on in school...

In the meantime I am working on starting my own garden in my own backyard. It's no CSA, but a couple rows of peas, lettuce and spinach seem as good a place to start as any.