Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
But with time, our lives as consumers in the capitalist economy will appear frail when compared to a life in the home economy. And eventually, we’ll come to understand that this is about more than making cupcakes. A lot more.
When it comes to applying these lessons to agricultural history in Britain or elsewhere with a view to creating a just and renewable agrarian future, what I take from Sahlins’s thought is almost the opposite of what a superficial reading of ‘The original affluent society’ might suggest.
To wrap up this series on accessing fresh, affordable food in an urban setting I’m focusing on food waste. Could we eat better by changing what we consider “waste”?
Community Supported Agriculure (CSA) can transform the way producers and consumers relate to food as a local commons.
And that was bean week. All in all, there are worse ways to spend your days!
This week I’m looking at foraging local plants and animals. Vancouver is a coastal city with beaches littered with Pacific mussels and varnish clams, and lush parks overrun with rabbits and Canada geese.
Integrating Indigenous food systems like forest gardens into today’s urban setting will take some work. But we can look at models of food sharing and community building in Indigenous societies to help us reimagine what is possible in non-Indigenous urban centres…
So I’m setting off on a quest to find fresh and affordable food here in Vancouver and documenting my findings in a four-part series.
Cargonomia officially was launched in 2015. It came out of the idea: how can we connect the farm, bike messengers and a bike workshop?
Anyway, that’s the ground where I stand: convinced of the need for ruralization and an orderly turn to agrarian localism so that it doesn’t happen by default in a disorderly way…
So where people are going to live is probably going to sort itself out. Just like it always has. Still… it’s probably a good idea to get started. We have an awful lot of work to do…
But I’d like to be able to take what I need out of the garden and then, rather than fretting over all the veg that will go to waste because I can’t eat it or store it, just open it up to the neighborhood.
