Originally posted at Writeindependent.org on February 13, 2012
I teach people how to grow food. That’s my “thing.” Right now, the peaches are fattening on my trees and when the neighbors walk by, they see the beauty of life and its affirmation.
People have a visceral recognition that growing food is the most basic stuff of life. Even when all hell is breaking loose, when there is nothing else, there is still hunger. For life to go on, there must be something to eat.
When my daughter was born, because of a false positive for staph infection, she ended up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and I had to drag my poor anemic body over to where she was staying. Though there were several babies, I could tell her cry from all the others. She was calling for ME, because she was hungry, and I was her food.
Things are no different now. She could be with Daddy all afternoon and forget that she wants to nosh, but as soon as she sees me, she suddenly thinks of food.
Women with children have this same understanding, and they are probably laughing by now because it’s so true. Truth is the bond that makes us all realize we are human.
This connection to the power of food is why I am calling on my sisters to join me: will you please help me secure the future of our food supply, make the earth clean again, and promise our children the bounty that naturally comes from this soil when we care for it properly?
I will be writing about the soil and seeds in upcoming posts, because everyone needs to know where their food comes from and how it is grown to ensure our safety and posterity.