FEBRUARY 25, 2006
"I
think the number one environmental problem, aside from nuclear war, is agriculture." This provocative statement is from Wes Jackson. Wes was a lecturer at the First Annual E.F. Schumacher Lectures at Mt. Holyoke College in 1981when he made this statement. In his remarkable lecture called
Call for a Revolution in Agriculture, Mr. Jackson warns that the
"contamination and loss of the soil resource, in the long run, is the loss of ourselves as
people.
The E. F. Schumacher Society offers a kaleidoscope of voices articulating and debating economic, agricultural and social policies that provides an integrated vision that could lead to a sustainable, decentralized economy nurturing the earth and its inhabitants." Is not this part of our role as cultural creative; or whatever progressive thoughtful people are called today? By our actions we will be known and our choices indicate where our priorities lie. Mr. E. F. Schumacher offers a clear vision of tomorrow today.
In Small is Beautiful he writes, "In the simple question of how we treat the land, next to people our most precious resource, our entire way of life is involved, and before our policies with regard to the land will really be changed, there will have to be a great deal philosophical, not to say religious change."
Back to the basics, should be the mantra of every institution in America, beginning with the church that has been entrusted with keeping the garden in good shape. Changing religion one congregant at a time seems doable, but the change must begin with me first if I am not walking the talk I should not be preaching from the pulpit.
Religious change is required if we are going to place all in creation in a value centered arena that says all are here for a purpose, all are here contributing to the integrity of the whole. And, the story begins at an elemental level. We must honor the soil from which all life springs. If we treat it like dirt then we will suffer. The reverence for the Garden of Eden, a metaphor for the earth, must begin at the point where our feet touch the sacred land we have inherited.
--Peter