Local Food Discussion Group 5.30.19
Hi Friends of Local Food,
Modoc Harvest is launching a local food discussion group! This is one piece of our new Farmer Mentorship Program but the discussion group is open to everyone in the community. The group will meet the last Thursday of each month from May through September. Owen Segerstrom is leading the first discussion and has provided the following information including resources to check out prior to the discussion. The topic will be different each month. Do you have a suggestion for a future topic or would you like to lead the next discussion? Please forward and share this email with anyone you think might be interested in joining the conversation. Looking forward to coming together around things we should talk about more often!
Local Food Discussion Group Topic #1: The Big Picture
WHERE: Whalen’s Pub in Cedarville
WHEN: May 30, 6pm
WHY: Glad you asked. That will be our topic for this first discussion. What is your why statement? Of all activities and interests you could pursue, you have chosen to be part of our farmer mentorship program or you just care enough about local agriculture to join this discussion group. How does this fit into your life as a whole? What core motivation can you lean on when the cows are at the neighbor’s, or the pigs are in the hoop house, or it’s hotter than hell and you have some absolutely non-negotiable farm chores to complete?
Please bring a brief why statement to share with the group. It can be a couple of sentences, a limerick, a haiku, whatever. For some inspiration, here is a link:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-having-a-strong-why-statement-is-the-key-to-staying_b_5983ca40e4b0bd823202969e
There is also the Savory Institute take on this concept, authored by members of our very own Modoc Harvest team (sorry Spence), which asks you to define your “holistic context”:
To get the party started, I will share an off-the-cuff version of my why statement:
I am involved in soil-conscious, ecologically mindful agriculture because it is abundantly clear to me that we are killing the planet. Without a massive paradigm shift in humanity’s relationship to its habitat, we risk including ourselves on the list of species that have succumbed to the ongoing sixth mass extinction. Our political system has become so completely incoherent and asinine that it cannot be counted on for anything resembling mature leadership on the urgent issues that confront us. Therefore, it will be the grassroots that turn this thing around, with one community at a time putting on its metaphorical oxygen mask before turning to assist its neighboring passenger on Spaceship Earth.
Or something like that. Finally, one of my favorite thinkers, Chris Martenson, has clearly been wrestling with the subject of “why?” as of late, and he has produced a heartfelt, hour-long verbal essay of sorts on the subject that I highly recommend:
And if you enjoyed that, here is his most recent blog, focused on the plight of farmers in light of prevailing financial dynamics:
Hope to see you at the pub at the end of the month.
Salud!
Owen