Perspectives, Organic and Industrial

Plant a seed in the ground expecting to grow food, and you become connected with the world. The cycle of the seasons suddenly looms large, and new dates like Last Frost and First Harvest appear on your calendar. The weather becomes a relationship, friendly and supportive when sunny or appropriately damp; fraught with danger if the wrong conditions prevail. This natural connection exists whether you plant that seed in Iowa, Chicago, or the Australian Outback. You are part of an ancient dance, partnered with the Earth and God.

That was the perspective I'd read about before planting our garden, and the insight I expected to gain from the experience. I didn't expect to gain fresh respect for the selfsame industrial food machine that I was, in part, rebelling against.

The American food system is nothing short of miraculous. I'm not talking about the chemists who contrive Go-Gurt and Pop Tarts, I mean simply the produce that fills our stores. When I walk into any grocery store, be it Whole Foods or Jewel, I expect to find tomatoes, onions, peppers, potatoes, celery, carrots, and mushrooms. I'd better see apples and oranges, bananas and kiwi, grapes and mangoes. And not just one variety, either: imagine if Dominick's had only a single type of apple! The outrage! Furthermore, I expect to be able to buy as much as my budget can afford and my shopping cart can carry, and I expect to be able to do this any hour of the day or night on any day of the year I choose!

I planted carrots on April 4th--absolutely as soon as authority recommended. The greens are now almost 2-1/2 inches tall and the roots are about as thick as a 12-gauge wire. Is it dinner yet? Hardly. The onions are barely wisps of chives, the strawberries are green nascent buds, and the squash and cantaloupe have only a few leaves per stem. Only the lettuce could be potentially harvested at the moment. Yet the produce section at the supermarket brimming with goods.

Obviously, such produce is shipped from around the country and around the world at great cost and a huge carbon footprint. I know that it is produced on huge industrial farms who use every chemical they can think of to increase yield and decrease growing time, and that much of the flavor and nutrition are lost in transit. I even understand that constant access to vegetables and fruits without regard to the cycle of nature disconnects us from the true concept of seasons.

Still, wow. We are so blessed to have such a daily cornucopia at our whim. Remember that, too, as you try to break from the industrial food machine. We are so fortunate to have a choice.