Urban farming

“The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them” 

~Albert Einstein

One reason I am falling in love with Philadelphia: the new way people are thinking about food here.

In the latest issue of Philly's Grid Magazine, they had this great article (page 11) about urban farming and the success of Will Allen in Milwaukee. This is what Allen had to say about it:

“We can create thousands of jobs with this new kind of farming, with urban agriculture. Just think of all the categories of jobs: you’ve got installers, carpenters, plumbers, truck drivers, accountants, electricians, aquaculturists, planners, architects. In a rural area, you don’t need these jobs. Industrial agriculture gets rid of jobs; the machines do everything. This is hand work, it’s communal work, which is important and fun for all of us, all the generations, from little kids to school-age kids to teenagers to college kids. Everybody is involved.”

Jobs, healthy locally grown foods, community-building.... how can we not do this?

(For more, check out this great NY times article about Will Allen)

Books and ideas

Food and medicine are not two different things: they are the front and back of one body. Chemically grown vegetables may be eaten for food, but they cannot be used as medicine.” ~Masanobu Fukuoka

I spent a lovely chunk of the day in the windy park with fun, thoughtful yogis talking about this amazing little book:

The One Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka.

Some passages to remember... 

“Do nothing” stance to farming 

He talks about a “do nothing” stance to farming, teaching that the best methods for food cultivation are those aligned with nature -- minimal soil disruption (no tilling or weeding) and no application of chemicals (be they fertilizers or pesticides).

(This really resonates with me for thinking about medicine… what are we farming in our bodies? What are the best methods for health cultivation? Seems to be those that are aligned with our natural bodies - minimal disruption of bodily processes and no application of chemicals.)

Pursuing a subject in its wholeness

He condemned the “piecemealing” of knowledge by specialization; he believed that a subject should be pursued in its wholeness.

“An object seen in isolation from the whole is not the real thing. Specialists in various fields gather together and observe a stalk of rice. The insect disease specialist sees only insect damage, the specialist in plant nutrition considers only the plant’s vigor. This is unavoidable as things are now.”

(This is why I like Family Medicine -- a pursuit of medicine in its wholeness) 

Seeking the essential nature of man

“Various religious groups have come to take up natural farming. In seeking the essential nature of man, no matter how you go about it, you must begin with the consideration of health. The path which leads to right awareness involves living each day straightforwardly and growing and eating wholesome, natural food. It follows that natural farming has been for many people the best place to begin.”

(Yes! Just like how the practice of yoga leads people towards these ideas of eating whole, local, natural foods) 

Human tampering

“Human beings with their tampering do something wrong, leave the damage unrepaired, and when the adverse results accumulate, work with all their might to correct them. When the corrective actions appear to be successful, they come to view these measures as splendid accomplishments. People do this over and over again. It is as if a fool were to stomp on and break the tiles of his roof. Then when it starts to rain and the ceiling begins to rot away, he hastily climbs up to mend the damage, rejoicing in the end that he has accomplished a miraculous solution.

It is the same with the scientist. He pores over books night and day, straining his eyes and becoming nearsighted, and if you wonder what on earth he has been working on all that time – it is to become the inventor of eyeglasses to correct nearsightedness.”

(Sounds similar to the huge cost of medicating people for problems we create through our poor lifestyle choices -- including the food we eat and the way we treat our bodies)

The four principles of natural farming 

1. No cultivation: no plowing or turning of the soil... the earth cultivates itself naturally by penetrating plant roots, microorganism activity, animals, etc.
2. No chemical fertilizer or prepared compost: this interference drains soil of nutrients… if left to itself the soil maintains its fertility naturally.
3. No weeding by tillage or herbicides: weeds are important in building soil fertility.
4. No dependence on chemicals: weak plants, disease, and insect imbalance develop as a result of unnatural processes. 

(I think these principles could similarly be applied to medicine and health of the human body) 

Naturally grown fruits and vegetables
“No matter how hard people try, they cannot improve upon naturally grown fruits and vegetables. Produce grown in an unnatural way satisfies people’s fleeting desires but weakens the human body and alters the body chemistry so that it is dependent upon such foods. When this happens, vitamin supplements and medicines become necessary. This situation only creates hardships for the farmer and suffering for the consumer.”

The Western Diet

“One might suppose that Western dietetics, with its elaborate theories and calculations, could leave no doubts about proper diet. The fact is, it creates far more problems than it resolves. One problem is that in Western nutritional science there is no effort to adjust the diet to the natural cycle. The diet that results serves to isolate human beings from nature. A fear of nature and a general sense of insecurity are often the unfortunate results.” 

(So true... we may talk about eating nutritiously but we rarely talk about eating with the natural cycle... this is one reason I am so drawn to the idea of eating locally)

Sickness

“Sickness comes when people draw apart from nature. The severity of the disease is directly proportional to the degree of separation. If a sick person returns to a healthy environment often the disease will disappear. When alienation from nature becomes extreme, the number of sick people increases. Then the desire to return to nature becomes stronger. But in seeking to return to nature, there is no clear understanding of what nature is, and so the attempt proves futile.”

“Doctors take care of sick people; healthy people are cared for by nature. Instead of getting sick and then becoming absorbed in a natural diet to get well, one should live in a natural environment so that sickness does not appear.”

Death
“When rice is planted in the spring, the seed sends out living shoots, and now, as we are reaping, it appears to die. The fact that this ritual is repeated year after year means that life continues in this field and the yearly death is itself yearly birth. You could say that the rice we are cutting now lives continuously…

The same thing that happens to rice and barley goes on continuously within the human body. Day by day hair and nails grow, tens of thousands of cells die, tens of thousands more are born; the blood in the body a month ago is not the same blood today. When you think that your own characteristics will be propagated in the bodies of your children and grandchildren, you could say that you are dying and being reborn each day, and yet will live on for many generations after death.”

Horse chow & food for thought

“Here are some factors for health and a long life which we have put into practice: positive, optimistic thinking; a good conscience; outdoor exercise and deep breathing; no smoking; no alcohol or drugs, including coffee and tea; a simple diet – vegetarian, sugar-free, salt-free, low in calories and fat and 55% raw. These will vitalize the life span. Avoid medicines, doctors, hospitals.”

~The Nearings, from Loving and Leaving the Good Life

In honor of our book club meeting today, we tried out the Nearing's horse chow (which they ate every morning). Simply mix together:

• 4 cups oats
• 1 juice of a lemon
• 1 cup raisins
• dash of sea salt
• olive oil to moisten

Horse chow. It grows on you :)

Some more food for thought from this book…  

Have less, be more philosophy:
“It’s what you are, not what you have on that is important in life… I regard being and doing as the essential ingredients of life; merely living and having can be an obstruction and burden. It’s not what we have but what we do with what we have that constitutes the real value of life.”  

Television:
“One of the horrors of civilization. Direct experience is what we need; that’s what we’re here to get: experiential education, not through television, where we’re physically separated from doing. It separates the individual from reality; encourages passivity; implants deleterious images directly into the unconscious; dulls awareness; gives the illusion of experience; has a hypnotic addictive quality which is totally dangerous and obnoxious.”  

Fasting:
“One day a week, usually Sunday, we gave our digestive system (and whoever cooked) a rest, by eliminating our already light breakfast and lunch and fasting during the day. Having no scheduled activity except perhaps a walk or a swim, or putting up a bit of stone wall, we took the day easy. These fasting days were ended in the evening by the fire with a supper of popcorn, carrot juice or cider.”

Scott’s reaction to a doctor who told him to take vitamin B12 and get routine medical tests:
“If I did this I would be trying to prolong my life under medical supervision for the rest of my life. Thank you, but I would rather die much earlier than follow such a course… My formula is to stay well and live as long as I can, in moderate health and vigor. If I cannot stay well by a normal diet and temperate living, the sooner I did, the better for me and the society of which I am a member.”

Why be vegetarian:
“For every possible reason, but primarily ethical. George Bernard Shaw always answered the same question by another: ‘How can you justify the disgusting habit of consuming animal carcasses?’ We know of no valid reason for eating flesh. The rotting carcasses are full of diseases and poisons. Raw fruits and vegetables and nuts are vital and clean if organically grown. A vegetarian diet is simpler, more economical, and kinder.”

Farming & Medicine

The first seeds are planted for our garden (beets, mixed greens, and cilantro) and I’ve been reading The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. This book is opening my mind to the world of farming. Most surprising though, is how this little book about farming is also about my world of medicine.

An excerpt from my reading today that parallels many of my thoughts on modern medicine and medical research:

Before researchers become researchers they should become philosophers. They should consider what the human goal is, what it is that humanity should create. Doctors should first determine at the fundamental level what it is that human beings depend on for life.

In applying my theories to farming, I have been experimenting in growing my crops in various ways, always with the idea of developing a method close to nature. I have done this by whittling away unnecessary agricultural practice.

Modern scientific agriculture, on the other hand, has no such vision. Research wanders about aimlessly, each researcher seeing just one part of the infinite array of natural factors which affect harvest yields. Furthermore, these natural factors change from place to place and from year to year…

Modern research divides nature into tiny pieces and conducts tests that conform neither with natural law nor with practical experiences. The results are arranged for the convenience of research, not according to the needs of the farmer. To think that these conclusions can be put to use with invariable success in the farmer’s field is a big mistake…

Even if you can explain how metabolism affects the productivity of the top leaf when the average temperature is eighty-four degrees (Fahrenheit), there are places where the temperature is not eight-four degrees. And if the temperature is eighty-four degrees in Ehime this year, next year it may only be seventy-five degrees. To say that simply stepping up metabolism will increase starch formation and produce a large harvest is a mistake. The geography and topography of the land, the condition of the soil, its structure, texture, and drainage, exposure to sunlight, insect relationships, the variety of seed used, the method of cultivation – truly an infinite variety of factors – must all be considered. A scientific testing method which takes all relevant factors into account is an impossibility.