Food Revolutionary's Back Pack

There is a food uprising happening in America. Those who consider themselves amongst the revolutionaries must pack a backpack of knowledge and tools to make major change happen. Today, I begin a series of blogs that will help us reach the goal of educating the nation about the health, economic, and social benefits of the much-needed new food economy.

 Excerpt from Growing Out Loud: Journey of a Food Revolutionary

 We live under a commercial food system that is broken and beyond repair. It demands replacement. Urban agriculture is a solution. A paradigm shift has already taken place. The true revolution is evolving from the urban rebellions of the 1960s. Social and community structures that were destroyed in urban centers fifty years ago are being replaced with systems that address the essential needs of the people. Fundamentally, communities need control over their own food, clothing, shelter, and education.

 Catalyzing the new paradigm of community control is the New Food Movement. In order to have a viable community, you must be able to feed, clothe, and shelter your people. All health, all wealth, all life comes from the soil. The New Food Movement takes on the imperative of local control by bringing the production of naturally grown, nutritious food close to where people live. 82% of Americans live in urban centers, according to 2018 data from the Population Reference Bureau. The United Nations 2018 data project predicts that 68% of the global population will be urban by 2050.

 Across the nation, urban food revolutionaries are growing crops wherever they can find a patch of soil. Vacant lots, abandoned fields, balconies, and prison yards are just a few of the places being transformed into oases and community gathering spaces. Urban dwellers are being reacquainted with the land and the growth cycles of the planet. Likewise, homesteaders, women, and small farmers are transforming the rural landscape. Thousand-acre monocropping, with no actual food for miles around, is being replaced with naturally grown vegetable gardens, organic farms, and humane ranches. Culinary artists are growing herbs and vegetables in farm-to-table operations that provide a holistic experience for workers and patrons alike.

 My book describes the life and times of this food revolutionary, whose food odyssey began during the turbulent 1960s and continued through the innovation-driven new millennium. As an elder revolutionary, I am offering my journey in the context of a set of principles and practices that marked my growth, and the growth of the food revolution. I hope the lessons I learned will inform a new generation of people who want to use our urban centers as a place to grow food, people, and community.