what the heck is kernza?

You might ask what the heck Kernza is?  It's about sustainable agriculture.   Sustainable means in short eternally renewable from within, which is without bringing in outside products.

We almost take for granted the annual winter seed buying ritual from seed catalogs.  But I always thought that buying those decorative annuals for the garden was a bit of a waste, compared to perennials that come up every year again, no worries, no money, no effort.  Wouldn't it be nice if our wheat came up every year again?  No buying seeds, no sowing, no tilling, less effort, less money.  Researchers have been working on exactly that: developing perennial varieties of our staple cereals, and Kernza is one of them.

This is thinking more in terms of permaculture (please read my previous post on it), a perennial polyculture, which is what most ecosystems look like as Mark Bittman explains in a recent article:  "In perennial polyculture, the plants may fertilize one another, physically support one another, ward off pests and diseases together, resist drought and flood, and survive even when one member suffers."  How does that sound for a wonderfully cooperative plant community?  No Darwin here.

You can start small in your own garden by saving seeds from this year's harvest for next year's planting instead of relying on the big seed companies; or look for a local seed library for some interesting heirloom varieties.  Local seed libraries  (see Hudson Valley Seed Library) work collaboratively and require you to bring back some of your own seeds to keep the library replenished.

Think in renewable cycles.

divorce is not an option

That's what Bill Clinton said about our interdependence with our planet in his keynote address at Omega Institute's recent conference on sustainability which I attended. We must all wake up to the fact that climate change is here and that it is real, that it is manmade, that it is happening fast, and that it is a scary thing.  As a matter of fact, Jeremy Rifkin, the writer and economic and social visionary actually called it "terrifying."

But then, out of crisis and chaos new things are born.  Environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken's message at that same conference was to embrace carbon, our supposed enemy.  "Carbon," he says, "is the business of life and the answer to our nightmares," the subject of a book he is currently writing, because carbon is "the currency of abundance," a concept we lack in our present interest based economics of scarcity (see also Charles Eisenstein's Sacred Economics).  Interesting, because spiritual traditions have always advised us to embrace our enemies who mirror back to us what we lack or need to embrace.

So, since divorce from our planet is not an option, and closing our eyes and ears just prolongs the agony, we each need to wake up - quick quick.  The break, or consciousness shift, that the Mayans may have seen in the ending of their calendar with the year 2012 is here.  Change is opportunity, and we choose how gently or how chaotic change happens.  Through embrace and acceptance change happens more gently.   Do your bit  -  we must get off carbon as an energy source and embrace it in other forms.  Get a Prius, insulate your home, realize that the world is changing, eat much less meat and not the supermarket kind, open up to your intuition, speak kindly to others, and most of all enjoy life!  That way "life does not come at you, it comes from you," as my wise yoga teacher Aura Lehrer said.

It's no longer business as usual!

Also see recent posts on what sustainability is and the conference notes.

The Great Transformation

Hold on to your seats ...then go with the flow.  The Germans are calling it "Die Große Veränderung," "The Great Transformation."  The shift is here, the consciousness shift (the Mayan calendar ending, 2012 et al.) that is driven by climate change.  Or we could say that climate change (which we created) is now accelerating our consciousness shift.  Oh well, they all inform each other reciprocally anyhow.

It is the Great Transformation to a cooperative, peer-to-peer (as Jeremy Rifkin, the economist, writer, public speaker, and consultant to the German government, says), lateral (no more from-the-top-down) culture and consciousness structure that will radically transform our approach to energy and its distribution, and with it to our culture at large.  And, Rifkin states, it will all happen within one generation!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (If we don't get off carbon in 30 years, he says, we are doomed, so we better go with the flow, and fast, than resist, because otherwise it'll be even more painful).  I do want to scare you a bit out of your slumber, as Rifkin did at this past week-end's conference on Sustainable Living, when he said about climate change that we are really not being told the seriousness and urgency of the issue here in the US - Germany, Denmark, as well as Costa Rica are on the forefront of all things climate and energy change.  Rifkin says about climate change "It's terrifying!"

So this consciousness transformation, that my book and blog are about, albeit from a slightly different twist (more about returning to a more balanced heart and spirit based way of living as a basis for healing from the inside out) is actually forcing itself on us from the environmental side.  And from there it will transform our economy from the bottom up, and with it our entire culture.  Out with scarcity based economics, in with an economy of abundance (see also Charles Eisenstein's Sacred Economics).   In importance this shift is bigger than the Fall of the Roman Empire, and it will happen faster and reverberate around the entire globe.

Cultural change here it comes!  The thing is - if you are an active participant it's an exciting opportunity to help create a new cultural paradigm; if you resist it (or even deny that climate change is happening) you will be dragged kicking and screaming along in the wave of change.  So, you choose - creative opportunity and empowerment vs. victimization.  We live during such a crucial, a bit scary (why is change scary?), yet such an incredibly momentous period in the history of humanity, let's make the most of it!

Also visit my previous post on the notes from the conference on Sustainable Living.

conference notes - sustainable living conference

Totally inspiring conference at Omega on Sustainable Living this past week-end, awesome speakers, all on the forefront of this new consciousness paradigm. Bill Clinton made two major points: Americans are not politically active enough (hence the Congressional mess - 40 years in the making he said, go vote, not only in the presidential elections), and from here on in it's  all about cooperation and community, win-win for all.

Economist Jeremy Rifkin, who consults the Germany government on how to transition to the new energy paradigm (not enough people listening on this side of the Atlantic yet, oops) foresees the new cultural paradigm arising out of the climate change calamity and predicts a lateral energy and infrastructure development, solar go! - Germany and Denmark are developing it now, America - look there for the future.

Environmentalist Paul Hawken is currently writing a book on loving our enemy: carbon - isn't that what they teach in all the spiritual disciplines, to love your enemy?

Biologist Janine Benyus teaches think tanks to use the natural world as a model for new technologies.

Rob Hopkins of the Transition Movement, which is about living without fossil fuels, preaches local + community + cooperation.

Environmental professor David W. Orr and architect Bob Berkebile are developing entire sustainable communities, not just individual buildings.

Live stream of conference can be watched until December 5:  http://www.eomega.org/workshops/conferences/where-we-go-from-here

Let yourself be inspired!  These are people we need to listen to.

on sustainability

You may wonder what all the buzz is with sustainability and "green" practices and what it actually means. Most of our current manufacturing processes are linear, energy intense and they create waste, thus damaging the environment one way or the other. Just imagine how corn flakes are made (not that I'm an expert). The various ingredients - GMO corn (oh no), food coloring (just saying), high-fructose corn syrup (oh well), preservatives and additives (ahem) - have to be shipped to the corn flakes factory from various locations at the expense of a lot of energy (trucking, gas) and packaging material. The packaging waste of the corn flakes ingredients goes into the garbage or recycling (if we are lucky) stream. Then the cereal is being manufactured (don't like that word for food) by machines with high energy input and some waste products (waste water, steam and fumes, and who knows what else). After that it gets packaged into sealed inner plastic bags and outer cardboard boxes (another high energy/high supply input process) and shipped to distributors (trucking, gas - you get the picture), after that to the supermarkets, where they have to recycle or throw away the pallets/shrink wrap/outer cartons. Finally the cereal gets purchased, and the retail packaging goes into the waste (the inside plastic pouch) or gets recycled (the exterior cardboard box).   Overall it's a process that requires huge material and energy inputs all along and creates enormous waste and pollution.

A sustainable process should require no exterior input of energy or material. It is a cyclical and wasteless process that repeats itself indefinitely without damage or side effects to the environment. The easiest example of such a process is a vegetable garden. If we save the seeds from one year to the next, if we fertilize with compost created from organic home and garden waste, if we use manual labor to tend to it, it becomes a wasteless indefinitely renewable cycle that requires no outside energy or product purchase other than elbow grease. All natural cycles are thus sustainable. Permaculture is such a sustainable agricultural/cultural system (please refer to an earlier post on permaculture).

On the homefront the better our houses are insulated for example, the less outside energy we need to introduce to heat and cool them, and the more sustainable the home energy cycle becomes. The Passivhaus is a residential building concept with such stringent insulation specifications that the house retains a constant temperature and requires no heating system (heating the hot water is another story, and energy to run appliances and lighting is yet another). A Passivhaus also takes into account the heat output from lights, people, and appliances in its energy calculations. There is also a zero-energy house, which is sustainable and generates its own energy needs. A zero energy house may include a geothermal heating/cooling system, solar panels to offset the electrical needs, LED lighting (the lightbulbs are good for 50,000 hours!!! - something like 20 years, and consume minimal energy), triple-pane windows (see a previous post), and a few other new cutting edge mechanical systems, in addition to superior insulation.

Sustainable is the way to go, it is gentle on the planet!

put your money where your values are

In the spring we switched our electric energy supplier to Viridian and chose 100% renewable energy (they also have a 20% renewable energy option).   Viridian is a socially responsible (another worthwhile value) power company that supplies clean energy from local wind power. I found that cheaper is not necessarily better, because this is no longer my only value and consideration when making a purchase.  Oh - I do admit that I buy things at Walmart - where else can I get sewing thread, school notebooks, cotton socks, a sink stopper, pens and envelopes, marshmallows for our camping trip all in one place?  And at Trader Joe's (lots of inexpensive organics).  But then they have certain values attached to them, which I buy into.  Walmart (the new Woolworth) offers lots of different utilitarian things in one place (important since I live in the country and have few specialty stores), and Trader Joe's means organics for the masses.

I am conscientious about what I buy and where I buy it:  meat from local farmers (or venison from our own fall harvest), produce from food coop, local farm stands, or the farmers' market, organic grocery staples in bulk from the coop, eggs from a friend or a local farmer, clothes for myself and my daughter mostly from local second hand stores, pet supplies from the local pet store for the corn based cat litter (and I make my own cat food), 100% recycled copy paper for the office: from Staples (only place that has it), 100% recycled toilet paper and paper towels from Trader Joe's (lots less than the local supermarket), to name just a few choices that indicate clear values.

Imagine what would happen if 80% of Americans stopped buying GMO corn and soy products? And remember, if you don't buy organic they'll keep spraying the pesticides that are killing the bees, which are our main produce pollinators (!!!). So be aware of what values you fund, or don't fund with your purchases.  Cheap is not the only value.

Also see a similar post on voting with your dollars.

be patient!

We have become used to instant gratification.  Information is now available at the touch of a finger.   We no longer write letters, barely even send e-mails or make telephone calls, we text and twitter.  Our attention spans have become shorter, as teachers have noticed, and the movie and TV industries exploit and promote it, which then self-perpetuates.  On the material side the credit system has enabled us to buy now and pay later, since we choose no longer to be patient until we have saved up enough money.  Besides houses and cars we can also get everything else instantly without paying for it upfront (just pay Amazon an annual fee and you'll get 2-day shipping on all your orders).  We have lost our patience, we live on credit, and we are banking on a better future to acquire today’s perceived needs now.

The belief that this system will work long-term is also coloring our relationship with nature.  Many don’t want to believe - yet, as it seems - that oil and natural gas reserves are finite.  Many don’t want to believe - yet, - that we have a huge garbage problem.  Many don’t want to believe that we have any number of grave environmental challenges to deal with.  We’ll fix them in the future – or so many still like to believe.  Environmentally speaking, we live thus on credit instead of investing now into our environmental future.  From indigenous cultures we need to relearn patience and a long-term outlook on issues.  

Native Americans look seven generations ahead into the future!   We must invest in a viable future for our children, grandchildren, and five more generations out, instead of leaving them to mop up our messes. The Lorax is a good book by Dr. Seuss on what happens otherwise.

why men need women

Women are more generous than men, Adam Grant noted in his NYT article of the same title yesterday.  Yesterday, too, a friend raved about her daughter's female boss, who provides her with benefits and vacation time even though the daughter works only part-time. I am not saying that women make better bosses.  But we are naturally more nurturing and empathetic, while men are more driven and result oriented, the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy.  Yet, we shouldn't want to do away with the guys in business.  Balance is everything, and we need both energies - the driving and the nurturing one.  The article reports that women inspire the men in their lives to greater philanthropy and generosity - i.e. Melinda Gates is the driving force behind the Bill & Melinda Gates philanthropic foundation according to Grant).

I believe that the incoming cultural paradigm is or will be more balanced, more heart based, more sustainable, because we are beginning to realize that strict bottom line capitalistic exploitative yang behavior is dangerous to our health (environmental damage etc) because it is unbalanced.  We need both energies, since they complement each other perfectly.

Women are slowly leading men away from ying domination to greater balance.  The rise of women's empowerment, their greater involvement in business and politics, and their slow and steady recognition as equals attest to that.  Adam Grant concludes his article with the (wise) recommendation that men follow our lead.

why fair trade?

Have you read about the awful recent garment factory collapse stories in Bangladesh?  Do you know what fair trade coffee or what a fair trade banana is? Well, here it is.  According to Elizabeth Henderson, an organic farmer for 30 years who helped organize the Domestic Fair Trade Association, "a fair price is the right price with a triple bottom line people-profit-earth."

Fair Trade began with such crops as bananas, coffee and cocoa from South America because the local farmers were being exploited in the interest of a low sale price and the biggest possible profit for Dole or Chiquita or Chock-Full-O'Nuts or whoever else.  The idea of Fair Trade is a facet of the "new economics," the newly arising cultural paradigm of watching out for all of us, not just some of us  - the health of the farm worker, a fair wage for the farm worker, a sustainable agriculture that does not harm the earth, a healthy product for the consumer, and a fair profit for the banana exporter/importer or cocoa powder maker.  See WFTO and Fair Trade USA for more information.

Fair Trade is a win-win situation, all parties involved profit from it; non fair trade is win-lose, because only one side wins.  Of course this means that the end product costs a bit more.  But what's wrong with that if in the end we all profit from it?

The DFTA (Domestic Fair Trade Association) now promotes the same principles of health, justice and sustainability on a domestic level.  And, to complete my loop to the recent garment factory disasters, through all our awakening to these issues the beautiful win-win principles of Fair Trade will surely make a leap to the garment factories abroad so those workers can work in safe buildings and work for fair wages.

shark fin soup and hope

If the Chinese are back peddling on shark fin soup, so ubiquitous at all festive banquets of the past, there is hope for changes in our attitude about a lot of other things as well.  I am thinking of idling stances on such pressing issues as climate change, pollution, animal welfare, GMOs, child prostitution, and many other ugly realities.  It seems to me that ultimately our collective indecisiveness on these issues boils down to the hesitance of wrestling ourselves away from the profit-first model.  If we only realized that the wellbeing-first model benefits us all around. Bonnie Tsui wrote this week-end in the NY Times about the changing attitude of the Chinese on serving shark fin soup at important banquets, previously a sign of "honoring (and impressing) your guest."  I was served shark fin soup at several banquets in my company's honor in the late 1980s when we lived in Hong Kong, and was oblivious of the gruesome practice (which I can't bear to describe here, but you can look it up).    Because it has been such an inherent component of Chinese food culture I was really quite amazed to read that "last summer, the Chinese government announced that it would stop serving the dish at official state banquets."

Here's to change for the better, change towards wellbeing, change towards respect of nature and all living beings.