When It Rains

I have been flooding myself with resources lately and I feel that I may be a bit pushy putting them all up on facebook. But I need to keep these sources for reference... and I also want to share them.

So, if you are looking for web content about permaculture, transition towns, sustainable lifestyles, organic food, urban agriculture, or any of these related topics, I will be compiling as much information as I can here in this blog. Please point me to any resources you may have as well.

Let's start broad:
I, like many people, knew there were things going wrong with the way the world works, I knew there was something weird about what we're all doing, you know in the context of Everything, but I just didn't actually think it could be significantly different. And it's hard to have dialogue about a lot of these things because we don't have any facts; who can you trust? The whole issue seems too complicated to penetrate. So I just lived and tried to do good and have fun, tried to keep from getting ripped off as best I could (hope nobody steals my identity today), and kept my ears pricked.

I have to say that the gateway to my understanding was Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. It is a great place to start. He sorts it out, and it looks so simple it could make you cry. He makes the point that what we are talking about here is our food; Our Food. The enormous player in our everyday lives that we take shockingly for granted and know virtually nothing about, and that seems to be at the root of a lot of other things, too.

He is far less aggressive than I am, though, and much smarter so I'll leave that to him. It is a beautiful book, and definitely ascends in the second half to a place I am very eager to reach.

Now I'm reading his follow-up, In Defense of Food. Also amazing.

The point is, at least for now, the biggest way we can improve our lives, our culture, Everything, is by taking back our food. The beauty is, this is surprisingly doable. And lots of people are, well... doing it.

Here is a film that showcases some of these people, watch the trailer

"Food is at the foundation, but it's really about life."
-Will Allen