Trend is not destiny, even for small dairy farms!

The initial phrase in today's title is something I learned before I become a Recovering Planner. [I believe it's it attributed to Lewis Mumford (1928). “Architecture as a home for man: essays for architectural record” ] These days it seems to me that the phrase is more critical than it ever has been. Most of our challenges arise from the consequences, intended or otherwise, of our collective behavior. Although not always or often easy, we can change that behavior if we know what we want to achieve, how to attain it, and if we are sufficiently motivated. But, and it's a very significant but, it seems to me that the first change we need to make is to once again learn to work together. Even before that, we need to learn to tolerate those who have different priorities and values than we do.

abandoned building, failed farm?

Photo by J. Harrington

Once upon a time, I thought that "compromise" meant finding and implementing a solution that's equally unacceptable to all stakeholders. Then I learned about "win-win" solutions (or, if there are more than two stakeholders, win-win-win-win etc ...). At least as I've observed recently, and seen reported in the media, there seems to be minimal, if any, effort by our political leadership to achieve any win-win solutions. There are still a number of sane, honest, caring people, but there's not enough of them/us(?) getting elected. Many appear to have ended up in volunteer leadership roles, such as the current chair of the Land Stewardship Project's board of directors. I'm not a farmer but I've been an LSP member for years. LSP usually does the kind of work I can be proud to support. It was through LSP that I became familiar with Wendell Berry's writings. Over the years I've become a locavore, especially regarding food.

In the most recent issue of the Land Stewardship Letter, there's a column by the board chair from which I'm going to share a quotation I think is near the essence of the kind of changes in thinking and behaving we need to undertake. If you already think, feel and act this way, great! For the rest of us, consider:

"We also can't do what we do without our city neighbors. They buy our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. They are our employees. Our hardware store keeps our animals fed and our water heaters operating. Our chiropractor keeps us going. Our t-shirt printers, brochure designers, photographer, and chef friends highlight what we do. Our Chamber of Commerce is proud to have a farm as a member and supports us. Business owners and employees purchase our shares...."

I hope you get the picture. Minnesota, and most of these United States, has been deepening a rural-urban divide, one that we, quite literally, can't afford. It seems to me we need to relearn to depend on interdependence and relationships more than transactions. Where we live, we have transactions with our telephone / internet service provider. They aren't neighbors nor are they part of our community. (Nor do they deliver consistently reliable and high quality service.) We've had relationships, of varying quality, with CSA providers, farmers markets, food co-ops and other local food sources. As the economy has become more global, bigger and bigger players have attained access to larger and larger markets. Perhaps families have saved a few pennies in their food budgets at the loss of neighbors and neighborliness. I'm seeing more and more indications that local economies will be needed to play a growing role in order to respond effectively to the climate breakdown we're experiencing. (Minnesota farmers, and the rest of us, are experiencing the wettest year on record.)

Driftless Area farm fields

Photo by J. Harrington

In yesterday's posting we listed a number of resources who offer ways to agree on and implement solutions that will help us rebuild communities, local economies and local food systems. Last night we read the column from which we've quoted above. For much of my adult life, I've heard friends and acquaintances complain about a "loss of community." I'd ask, as we proceed to tackle climate breakdown and related issues, what's community worth to you? To have a neighbor, be a neighbor. That takes time and energy away from social media and commuting. Sounds good to me. On the other hand, if we keep doing what we've been doing, we'll get the results we've been getting.

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection. 

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