As we celebrate Earth Day 2011, we encourage you to stop for a moment to think about the food you eat. Where does it come from? What are the consequences of our food choices? Modern industrial farming practices have long been credited with providing cheap, abundant food to the world. But at what true cost? Loss of ecosystem diversity, topsoil erosion, subsurface and surface water contamination, the death of soil, a reliance on pesticides and herbicides for fertility, and an uprooting of the social fabric of small, rural family farms are all directly related to our ‘modern’ energy-intensive and monoculture methods of food production.
Can a shift in the way we think about food offer a viable alternative to the current resource intensive model? Will Allen thinks so. And so do the folks at Sweet Water Organics. These are food endeavors that see the beginning in the end. These are people who have shifted their awareness from fragmented or isolated production toward an inclusive awareness. They say, ‘I think the making of food should be a healthy, life giving and beneficial process from beginning to end, from top to bottom’. No bad side effects, nothing left over for the grandkids to clean up. These are thoughts that are gracious, beneficent and regenerative. And the best part, food from these thoughts tastes better.