My friend Kelly showed up at Open Garden Day with these delicious fruits, "not from our foodshed, Pattie, but from my mother's foodshed," she told me. Her mom in Florida (our sister state) had mailed a box of honeybells and red grapefruits to Kelly, and she shared them with me. And as I took this photo of them in the frosty hairy vetch, I thought yet again of how we are fighting with our sister foodsheds right now over water rights, and basically, the shortage of it here, upstream, in Atlanta.
The drought was pretty much off folks' minds for awhile over the holidays. It rained something like 10 out of 14 days, it got cold, and the little share-of-mind that had tuned in to "drought conditions" had moved on to other things. That is, until this past weekend, when two big fat news headlines strutted and strode across the local papers and left me standing dumb-founded in my tracks. One said that pools would most likely not be allowed to open in Atlanta this spring/summer. The other said that no festivals would be allowed in Piedmont Park this year.
Atlanta is hot. Pools are critical components of communities for recreation, health, and even reducing crime and vandalism by providing a positive outlet for our city's youth. What's more, unmaintained pools become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. The amount of water used to top off pools all season pales in comparison to the one-day water use of our city's bottling plants and electrical facilities.
Piedmont Park is Atlanta's "Central Park"--the biggest festival there is the 72-year-old dogwood festival. The festival has only been canceled once. During World War II.
The headlines we have not seen? The ones about solutions. Innovation. Incentives.
Change. I'm not sure, therefore, why it was a surprise to me when I read the article in the latest issue of
Organic Gardening about America's Greenest Cities and didn't find Atlanta. For major metropolitan areas, it lists Portland (Oregon), Boston, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia. For cities that didn't make the list but in which the editors see "hopeful signs of change," it lists Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston and Las Vegas.
And so I am breathless and speechless, but not hopeless. Because I believe in the power of positive thinking. And I believe in the miracle of collective world energy. And I believe in the people of my city.
This week, on FoodShed Planet:
* Look for my community-building power-to-the-people Big Idea.
* Meet a man who tried to find out for himself what it takes to be as certified organic as a cow.
* Check out a wonderful woman who said, "It just doesn't make sense" and then created a solution for babies that does.
* Meet another company committed to triple-bottom-line sustainability.
* And join me in being inspired by the functional and artistic possibilities in smart recycling.
In short, join me as I hit the brick wall and say, "No! There is a way around this!"
Remember that joke?
Knock, knock
Who's there? Banana.
Banana, who? Knock, knock.
Who's there? Banana.
Banana, who? Knock, knock.
Who's there? Orange.
Orange, who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana?
Our challenge with the drought, and our food supply, and business sustainability, and the world's resources in general is no different. Doing the same things that clearly don't work is just not funny anymore.
My friend Kelly showed up at Open Garden Day with these delicious fruits, "not from our foodshed, Pattie, but from my mother's foodshed," she told me. Her mom in Florida (our sister state) had mailed a box of honeybells and red grapefruits to Kelly, and she shared them with me. And as I took this photo of them in the frosty hairy vetch, I thought yet again of how we are fighting with our sister foodsheds right now over water rights, and basically, the shortage of it here, upstream, in Atlanta.
The drought was pretty much off folks' minds for awhile over the holidays. It rained something like 10 out of 14 days, it got cold, and the little share-of-mind that had tuned in to "drought conditions" had moved on to other things. That is, until this past weekend, when two big fat news headlines strutted and strode across the local papers and left me standing dumb-founded in my tracks. One said that pools would most likely not be allowed to open in Atlanta this spring/summer. The other said that no festivals would be allowed in Piedmont Park this year.
Atlanta is hot. Pools are critical components of communities for recreation, health, and even reducing crime and vandalism by providing a positive outlet for our city's youth. What's more, unmaintained pools become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes. The amount of water used to top off pools all season pales in comparison to the one-day water use of our city's bottling plants and electrical facilities.
Piedmont Park is Atlanta's "Central Park"--the biggest festival there is the 72-year-old dogwood festival. The festival has only been canceled once. During World War II.
The headlines we have not seen? The ones about solutions. Innovation. Incentives. Change. I'm not sure, therefore, why it was a surprise to me when I read the article in the latest issue of Organic Gardening about America's Greenest Cities and didn't find Atlanta. For major metropolitan areas, it lists Portland (Oregon), Boston, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia. For cities that didn't make the list but in which the editors see "hopeful signs of change," it lists Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston and Las Vegas.
And so I am breathless and speechless, but not hopeless. Because I believe in the power of positive thinking. And I believe in the miracle of collective world energy. And I believe in the people of my city.
In short, join me as I hit the brick wall and say, "No! There is a way around this!"
Remember that joke?
Knock, knock
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana, who?
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana, who?
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange, who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?
Our challenge with the drought, and our food supply, and business sustainability, and the world's resources in general is no different. Doing the same things that clearly don't work is just not funny anymore.