RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MORE THAN HUMAN WORLD

One of my core beliefs is that deepening our relationship with the more than human world has to have what might be called an economic or productive aspect.  This is a theme that Wendell Berry rightly emphasizes. He’s not saying, I’m not saying, it is cheaper to raise your own chickens for meat than buying them from avian concentration camps.  He is saying, and I am following him, that it is morally better.

We humans, like all beings, are designed to get our basic needs met in working with the more than human world in which we find ourselves. When we are radically divorced from getting these needs met by direct contact, when food comes only from the grocery store and is often prepackaged so we can just pop it into the microwave, clothing from a mall (virtual or otherwise), and shelter is something that we outsource to someone else to build and fix, we are in trouble.

What that economic aspect looks like can vary radically from wild harvesting to raising cattle to gardening, to sewing, to cooking meals. I also believe that the more we do it, the better off we are because the more connected we are to who humans are meant to be. As some of you know, I used to raise cattle, but I’m not starting a farm at my age.  So I am looking at four steps that I am considering.

          Raising more of my own food through a commitment to gardening

          Putting more food by that is grown locally for the winter months

          Eating more locally—that means, for instance, getting wheat that is grown relatively locally more directly from farmers, finding a local source of grass fed dairy products etc.

          Preparing more of my own food

Does any of this resonate with you?  What kind of actions can you take to engage with the more than human world in an economic or productive way?