April changed me. Others tell me April changed them, too.
Order Now
Good Food, Healthy Planet is a Globe and Mail and National Post Top Cookbook of 2024
Get your copy:
🇨🇦 Amazon.ca | Indigo
🇺🇸 Amazon.com
"It's modern-day comfort when you want to nourish yourself and the planet." – Julie Van Rosendaal, The Globe and Mail
It’s as if a switch flipped, and things became clear. Do you feel this too? There is yet another ugly war in West Asia, ceasefire talks have failed, and the world is holding its (our!) collective breath to see how all parties will respond. In addition, there is the news about Jeffrey Epstein and his deep-rooted network of allies. We are all having a hard time fully grasping how 100s of rich and powerful men, leaders of industry, could be paedophiles themselves or active supporters of those who were.
A powerful, robust, incredibly wealthy, deeply influential network of grimy men operated for decades, swapping political and financial favours, abusing children and exercising enormous influence over our society, culture and economy for decades. Wih impunity.
The war in West Asia is continuing for the immediate future, and the Strait of Hormuz – a critical passage way for the transportation of goods, fuel and fertilizer – is blocked for Western countries. This means everything we eat, use, and wear that follows a convoluted system of production, labour, factories, refrigeration, processing, and distribution is impacted severely. Climate change was already hitting growth patterns, production, storage, and more. Now, with the US-Israel attacks, fuel and fertilizer that are needed to make and grow everything are stuck on the other side of the world.
Our global systems are straining at the seams. Things are going to get expensive. They already have, as you know, and prices will keep climbing.
So what’s the solution?
A big sustainable practice that we have discussed here before
Support local organisations, agriculture, production and communities. This boosts local employment and economy, and builds a sustainable future wherever you are. Not just food and farmers’ markets, this choice applies to everything.
If local options are not available, choose small companies and organisations from around the world. Buying food from small/ local farms that follow organic practices is a big and meaningful way to build a sustainable system. Another way is to demand renewable energy plants for our communities. Local Power – Local Energy – Forever Renewable. We’ll discuss this more in the next edition of Grounded. Let your friends know that they can sign up here if they like.
Finally, I came across this poem by 12th-century Sufi poet Jalal-al-din Rumi recently. Rumi lived in the area we know today as Afghanistan, and recently his words have really helped ground me and also open my perspective. I hope it does the same for you.