Locavores, or I feel bad about my diet

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver (HarperCollins, 2007)

So it may or may not be the case that at one point the reader sat down with both this book on a year of local eating and a bag from McDonalds. I can promise you that if it were the case, this reader was aware of how incongruous and embarrassing it was.

In short, Kingsolver and her family (husband, two daughters) moved full-time to their property in Virginia, and after some time settling in, embarked on a year of knowing the provenance of their food. Most of it, they grew themselves (either in the plant or animal husbandry sense). While this was a big commitment (duh) this was a foodie family that had roots in the world of fresh, local, home-grown food. They had grown up with gardens; they cooked with fresh ingredients; the youngest had already been raising chickens. This contributed to the success of their project - imagine if they didn't already know how to cook - and helped communicate that the kinds of lifestyle changes involved are not (or at least don't need to be) great hardships. On the other hand, they started out from a point so far beyond where many American families currently reside... it's easy to get overwhelmed and think, this will never work for me.

I'm not a cook. I don't get excited about it. I wish I did. It seems so romantic in Kingsolver's description. It makes me want to try harder. At the very least, maybe I'll start going to farmer's markets again so that at least I know what's in season, even if I refuse to give up my bananas. (Hell, I live in Southern California - I have more access to fresh produce than almost anyone else in the country.)

As the book was winding down, I was planning this post around a frustration that I didn't real feel connected to what was happening in their lives. I didn't get a sense of adventure. I didn't see how it fit into the rest of the narrative of their lives (and apparently it was an eventful year). And then I got to the chapter about turkey mating and was utterly won over. And then I came to the final chapter, where Kingsolver confronts my troubles as a reader:

I am old enough to know I should never, ever, trust I've explained anything perfectly. Some part of the audience will always remain at large, confused or plain unconvinced. As I wind up this account, I'm weighing that. Is it possible to explain the year we had?

This question, more than anything, made me feel comfortable with the book. It acknowledged the distance that would always remain, and I appreciated that.

Plus, seriously, fresh and local food. I promise.

Me and everybody else

Happy Blog Action Day! Apparently I am one of thousands of bloggers worldwide who are joining together today to post about the environment.

Those of you who know me know that I'm a bit compulsive about recycling. I have a friend who swears up and down that recycling is actually uses more energy and creates more waste than it saves, but has yet to send me any back-up documentation. So I say hmph.

We do however both agree that not creating the waste in the first place is ideal. And while I have given up plastic water bottles in favor of my Klean Kanteen, my favorite waste-avoidance tool is the canvas bag. I have oodles, and they go with me to the grocery store and just about everywhere else. Over the past few years, I have found I get far fewer confused and dirty looks from baggers. It's finally gone mainstream (and a little too hip), but I was at the head of the pack, I swear. If you need bags, check Siel at greenLAgirl, who is constantly having giveaways.

And for more reading, Siel is also blogging for the LA Times at Emerald City.

So while I'm only really going eco on here for today, I try to be green all year long. And so should you.

Recycled Paper... mmm, my favorite

I have of late been dedicating myself to the daunting task of reading through the e-mails I have amassed in the past month. (One observation: I am beloved by several political mailing lists.)

While I was doing so, I came across an old Co-op America newsletter that had an interview with Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese, paper-recycler extraordinaire. Now I love recycling, but it never occurred to me to make it into a business. Woodhouse-Keese, on the other hand, founded Twisted Limb Paperworks, which turns office paper, junk mail, and more into unique and super-green invitations. Or, more poetically, "we blend our love of paper and colors with our desire to preserve the Earth's resources and to make a difference in our community."

Why didn't I think of this?! Anyway, Twisted Limb is doing good work. Check them out.

Plan B for the Earth - and why it needs to happen now

I have been sloooowly reading Lester R. Brown's Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. I wish it hadn't been such slow going, but lots of technical details (and repetition) have a soporific effect on me. In the end, I was pretty much reading it like an academic text - pulling out information rather than really digesting each sentence. It's the kind of book you want around as a reference, full of facts and figures and lots of suggestions.

Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute, and he is writing to attempt to save the Earth from collapse. Our use of resources is unsustainable, and even so, far too much of the planet's population lives in poverty. So Plan B is two-fold: poverty-alleviation and "earth restoration." The annual price tag for the two: $161 billion. Sounds steep, until you realize that the United States spends more than three times that much on defense each year. And we know that some of that money is being wasted. So the money is there (and in lots of other places too, for those of you Defense Dept. boosters).

While reading, I vacillated between optimism and despair. We are in bad, bad shape. And my mind still boggles: what on earth were we thinking that oil - a fossil fuel that takes eons to form - would just never run out?! Or trees? Or topsoil? But on the other hand, lots of places are doing amazing things. Sweden and Germany have reformulated their tax systems to better reflect the costs of unsustainable activities. Bogota has dramatically dropped crime while making the city more pedestrian-friendly. New technologies have so much potential for sustainable energy, water, and more - and will create new jobs at the same time.

But it's a big, overwhelming task. We need to take it seriously. As Brown puts it, "We have won a lot of local battles, but we are losing the war." It's winnable. And we have to win.