Reading this article by Michael Pollan tonight reminded me of college. I took a class called “Controlling Processes” with Professor Laura Nader (sister of Ralph, and much more interesting). Every week, as we discussed all the different ways one can be controlled in society — standardized tests, public-space architecture, consent manufacturing (a la Noam Chomsky), and on and on… the students would often express hopelessness. Which was an endless source of disappointment for Nader. Why weren’t we inspired to action?
The first three pages of the article had me pretty depressed. Global warming, carbon footprints. And you all already know that there is no way I will voluntarily install CFLs or become a vegan.
But in the end, Pollan suggests that the revolutionary action we can take is to grow our own food. From seed.
He makes very good points about how a backyard garden connects us to the earth, to our neighbors, to our own capacity to provide food for ourselves, and is a source of exercise. He says during WWII that backyard gardens yeilded 40% of the country’s produce.
Now I can’t say I’ve grown vegetables from seed yet. But I have wanted to. So I am resolving to. Maybe not right away, but sometime soon. Jonah will enjoy backyard farming, no? And we already have the fruit trees, whose output we share with our neighbors. And we compost our kitchen scraps.
The article reminded me of the mounting concern I’m having about plastics and waste. I’ve thrown away waaaaay too many plastic bags in my time. I resolve tonight to cut it all down. We WILL take cloth bags to the Farmers’ Market. I will wash and reuse the plastic bags we have. When I studied abroad in Russia in 1991, my friends all had clotheslines and pins in the kitchen for washing and hanging their grocery bags. Not to mention that soda vendors required you to bring your own bottles, and vending machines and soda vending trucks — like tankers, full of yeasty beer-like soda — actually had glasses and little bidets so you could wash the glass, drink the soda, and return it.
A few weeks back, I saw part of a documentary on how much oil it takes to make the disposable diapers we occasionally use. As well as plastic bags, etc. I looked into biodegradable diapers, but they use that Super Absorbent Gel, which I am still currently not interested in having near my boy’s sensitive skin.
Another suggestion that Pollan makes is to observe Shabbat. One day a week: No commerce, no electricity, no driving.
This weekend, we were in L.A. for Passover, visiting family. I left my laptop at home. Scott’s laptop, for some reason, would not connect to the wireless Internet at my parents’ condo. It really felt like a vacation. We were present with each other in a different way. So much so that Pollan’s suggestion of sabbath, rather than sounding far fetched, sounds really attractive. No electricity is a far piece from no e-mail, but one day of walking, a few candles, unplugging… Let’s say I have hope. It is the way of my people, after all, or at least some of them.
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