Have We Come So Far?
How have we reached this point in society where there are individuals who are so wealthy they could never spend it all no matter how many yachts, jets, mansions or thousands of acres they buy and a growing segment of the population cannot even afford rent, groceries, education or healthcare? For most of us the idea of ever owning our own house or god forbid buying a piece of land is some distant dream that would take an actual miracle to be a reality. Right now at this very moment in our own community tens of thousands of people are not certain how they will be able to put food on their table. Earlier this week I had an eye-opening conversation with Mellissa Blevins the CEO of the Chattanooga Area Foodbank. She explained that this year the foodbank has experienced the highest levels of food insecurity in our region in over a decade! Let that sink in, I mean really think of the implications…this is in the Chattanooga region which by most accounts is a urban area booming with tech and industry. Currently the Chattanooga Foodbank is distributing $1M per month to area residents, these are folks and families of highest need. The federal SNAP program has been assisting another $9M per month in food assistance to our region. That’s $10M per month or $120 million dollars per year just to get the bare minimum nutrition into people’s mouths! We are not talking about fine dining folks! We are talking about canned beans and vegetables, dehydrated mashed potatoes and maybe some local eggs, meat and vegetables if you’re lucky!
This government shutdown has really exposed the extent of what’s going on here and sadly the extent that politicians will use human beings, ones that may have even helped elect them to office as pawns in some silly game of political chess while people are literally going hungry. Meanwhile the wealth gap is widening at an alarming rate. Tech companies, banks, agri giants, and corporate monopolies are amassing wealth into the trillions and the middle class is desperately clawing to keep hold as they slip down the bank into the widening waters of poverty.
Most days I can only take a few minutes of news/ media before I have to tune it out, put my head down and get to work doing what I know to do. Farming, working with the earth out of doors, free from all the noise and chaos. The thing is I cant forget what I know. I cant help but wonder, can I be doing more? Can I use my privilege as a farmer on the land and a business owner in my community to be a catalyst for positive change? We need a thriving regional food system including networks of farmers, processors, distributors and purveyors working together to supply our communities (just think of all the jobs and business opportunities and all of the money circulating within our local communities rather than leaving to line corporate pockets). We need to encourage philanthropy towards programs that don’t just feed in the day of need but build long lasting sustainable models that create opportunities for more folks to live wholesome lives. We need to expose the lies that the incestual corporations and politicians have been poisoning us with (this is in a literal sense with the Agri chemical companies, junk food processors and pharmaceutical companies).
I’m not so bold as to say that I have the solutions. Really I’m just venting a bit before I put my boots on and get back to work…the stock need tending and the tractor wont fix itself. I do wonder, is it possible to find solutions if we work together the way communities used to back when we actually needed each other? Is it too much to ask to try and slow down from the busyness of life and imagine a future of reconciliation, compassion and collaboration within our communities to create a way of living that is more balanced and in harmony with nature?
