Cultivating Passion

Sometimes during the course of the daily grind I start thinking things like, "Am I wasting my time seeking out local and organic food and dreaming of being a farmer/rancher? Wouldn't my energy be better focused on something that might, say, enhance my current career skills? Am I even making any kind of a difference? Is there any real point? Why can't you just be content with all the blessings you already have and enjoy the fruits of modern society?"

And then I pick up a book like Deep Economy by Bill McKibben and reality beats me over the head with a genetically modified, toxin filled, chemical-tasting frozen "dinner" that consumed 12 times as many oil calories as it offers and left staggering environmental, economic and social destruction in its wake. I read half of it this evening. I was only able to put it down because I had the overwhelming urge to tell someone (Gerard and my blog) a little about it. On the rare occasion when the flames of passion start to cool and I start to question my own philosophy (ie. I get lazy and doubt myself), a book like this is just what I need to remind me of the moral reasons why I care so much and why these things are so important that I've restructured my life around them.

People just don't understand what they're doing to the world and to themselves when they buy food at Wal-Mart or Safeway. It's huge. As much as I've learned about it over the years, it still boggles my mind. And the more I learn the stronger my convictions. I don't even like Whole Foods all that much anymore (gasp!) nor many of their suppliers. The very nature of a corporation and what it must do to survive (let alone thrive) goes against nearly everything I stand for. The single most profound effect you can have on this world is buying local and organic food because it touches EVERYTHING. I'll stop there before I end up rewriting the book, but I have to put Deep Economy on my "highy recommended reading" list.