Responses to Crisis

Hoarding by several nations is a major cause of the current food shortage (and no doubt increased prices), a recent NYT article shows. The article points out that "The current export restrictions, which mainly help urban consumers in poor countries, are the latest blow to farmers in the developing world." Also, it notes that subsidies from the developed world to their farmers, while the IMF and World Bank simultaneously pressured less developed nations to reduce farm support and barriers to trade, hurt the developing world. The article suggests that freeing trade even more - via World Trade Organization rulings, perhaps, may be an answer. Some UN officials are skeptical.

Also in the news, Counterpunch has a nice piece on eating as a human right, arguing for more local food production and support for smaller-scale producers. There is, in fact, a strong basis for food as a human right, and thinking about it through this lens gives some weight to the arguments that the food problem is one of mal-distribution and that governments have a responsibility to defend their citizen's right to access food. Definitely this link is worth checking out if you are interested in checking this issue out in a more academic way. From a more activist take on this, check out groups like Food Not Bombs.

Finally, this one takes more time, but is fascinating: Can weeds help solve the climate crisis? this study suggests yes. Very cool stuff.

Theater in the Garden

This month I've been in two exceptional garden-performance settings, both of which have blown me away .

Yesterday, at Ginko Community Garden, located a couple neighborhoods south of me, an experimental theater troupe called Walkabout Theater, in co-sponsorship with NeighborSpace, performed a piece called War Garden. The piece is about the origins of the community gardening in Chicago. According to the story, World War I support-the-war-at-home through food production had people gardening - and fighting slum-like development in the city (especially the George Streeter character, - in community garden initiatives, all run by women. We're talking very strong women going gardening, and pies - for victory - way before victory gardens and all that WWII hulabaloo started happening. The performance featured a really hilarious script, some acting that did good stuff with tableau and with song, and a cabbage cannon. Yes, a cabbage cannon. It is being performed every week at a different community garden in neighborhoods all across the city. And you can make a seed bomb and drink lemonade and meet the neighbors and gardeners before and after each show! The rain didn't slow down the performers - or the audience - one bit. I hope to follow the show to some other gardens on future Sunday evenings, it was such good fun.

The other, more personal experience, was in mid-June, hosted by my aunt Ruthie. She invited us to share in an "offering" of a theatrical production of readings from Mary Oliver (see especially the poem Singapore, which may remind many of you readers about our own airport experience there!) and readings from a book that was recently published (I will re-post with its name soon) in her back-yard garden, which has a koi pond and is quite serene and lovely. The theater works were performed by none other than my grandmother, grand-uncle, aunt, and uncle, with musical entertainment featuring my step dad on cello, songs by a cousin (a few generations removed) and my brother on keyboard. Aunt Ruthie and her family had just gotten back from a trip to China, and the party was a way of beginning to share some of that experience, and to bring family and friends together again after a long winter. The sun was hot, but the performance was stellar, the food delicious, and the garden really flourishing. Not your average garden party... but hey, that's how we roll in my clan.

Yes, We Have no Bananas

Summertime is here.
My mom served seedless watermelon, orange honeydew melon, and some gorgeous large strawberries for dessert last night. Yummy. The fruit was delicious.

It occurred to me that probably all of them were GMO's of some sort. And that this is increasingly the trend which we'll stick with, given the food crisis and all the attention to boosting food production that we're seeming to turn towards as a solution. The stuff tastes great, is beautiful, longer-lasting on the shelves, frost/mold/bug resistant or whatever, and there are no known side affects to our health. WRI just put out a good briefing on GMO's and food production that mentions the UN's finding that we do need to up our food production levels by 50% by 2030 so as to meet the growing demands for food. The potential benefits and potential risks of GM crop production are a great short primer on the issues.

As long as I'm on about fruit, let's talk bananas. They are one of the oldest crops (perennial herb, actually!) that humans have manipulated, though I'm not sure what percentage of bananas we get in the US are of a GMO variety. There's an editorial I read today about banana prices going up over $1 a pound, which mentions a banana virus going around which is so damaging that we may not have many more left in Latin America, in between 5 and 20 years... Hearing stuff like this adds some substance to the risk that monocrop production and fewer varieties of a given crop will do us in, because of the loss of our traditional varieties that might otherwise buffer us from massive crop failures. This is complex stuff and I'm no expert; it does seem natural to me, though, that bananas should cost more than the ridiculously cheap 39 cents a pound.

The international trend, however, seems inevitably to be turning towards boosting our food production levels substantially, and only after this to start looking at re-integrating traditional knowledge. At least that's my take on the international policy directions, throug reading this report from the IAASTD.

I am reminiscent about the delightful messiness of watermelon seed-spitting contests. It is hard to find a seed-containing watermelon these days. As for finding one of those tasty, small golden bananas that I ate every day in Brazil, or finding anything other than the Cavendish banana variety in these Chicago grocery stores, I will try not to dream of it today.

A poem

Lamb’s Quarters

I know a secret about you.

You’re not such a scourge after all.

Scorned by others as a weed

It’s not for nothing you sow your seed.

You’re called Pigweed.

You might be dirty but you’re smart.

Vitamin A and nothing tart

I don’t think it lewd

To call you food.

You’re a gem, especially because you’re scorned.

Even City Farm aimed to deny you a space,

But your worth in my stir-fry was a better place

Eating you was pure satisfaction

Your ancient role in constant reaction

I take silent subversive pleasure

In eating a wild urban unloved treasure.