Today, I'd like to share some personal reflections on climate change and local food. I hope my story will bring us to a place where we feel motivated and inspired together; I invite you to have an open mind and heart as I begin with the part that I find the saddest.
A few days ago, after reading a newsletter on climate change, I went back to bed and cried. I felt a great sense of despair, as I deeply value the well-being of people and the Earth. I remembered a recent presentation by a First Nations woman who shared with us the story of how her community in the Yukon has been affected by global warming. She showed us images of a lake, where she had spent time as a child, that has now completely dried up. Her people have been caretakers of the land for generations, and now, in her lifetime, she is seeing the permafrost melting, storms and weather becoming erratic and unpredictable, and thousands of pregnant caribou aborting spontaneously (the caribou are a vital resource for her community).
Last week, we attended a climate change vigil organised by a couple of local people. I was touched by the gathering and was reminded of how much I value community, caring, presence and collective contribution. We were perhaps twenty or thirty people with candles standing on the steps of Town Hall, sharing our thoughts and feelings about climate change.
Last year, when my partner and I spent the winter in Vermont, we tried to buy only local foods that were IN SEASON. Perhaps you can imagine how challenging it was to find locally grown, organic food at a time of the year when there was snow on the ground. So, this year, instead of getting frustrated about organic veggies being shipped across the continent, we decided to stock up in the fall, like people used to do in the "good old days" :)
