Food Crisis?

Reading the editorial section of our local paper this evening, I found myself drawn to an opinion piece entitled “Flawed energy policy is fueling our food crisis.” While I’m not sure that I completely agree with the author’s assertion that government mandated ethanol problems are the root cause of rapidly rising food costs, I do believe she may be getting close to the real issue.

How far does your food travel?

Be it oil or corn (or both) that provides the raw material which fuels the transport, shipping a tomato a couple of thousand miles is costly and subject to market forces beyond my, or your, control. As I’m typing this I’m recalling that even corn-based ethanol relies heavily on oil in the form of petro-chemical fertilizers. It’s quite the complex web.

The real issue: overly complex distribution systems and extreme reliance on such.

Yep, most of my food comes from afar. Are we trying to rely less on that? Sure. Are we fanatical about it? Nope. But buying local products when possible from the grocery store or the upcoming Asheville City Market and supporting the folks that actually live in your community is great. There’s also something really rewarding about watching the first spinach plants of the season grow in my own backyard.

I’ll raise a glass of homemade beer as a cheers to the newly planted hops rhizomes and other treats in my own backyard that won’t have to travel but a few feet to my pint glass and plate.

Some consideration of the front yard

Most of our work seems to revolve around the backyard, whereas the front yard is mostly just a place that needs the grass mowed.

We do, however, have a beautiful plum tree in blossom now that resides in our front yard. We certainly don’t want to short change the other front yard trees: there is a whopper of an oak tree (just across the property line but we share in the bounty of acorns and leaves), a weeping cherry that gives us a short but wonderful display each year, a tripled-trunked birch, and a few miscellaneous, yet-not-quite-remarkable others. We’ll provide more details as time passes… in the meantime, please enjoy these images of the early plum blossoms.

The Almighty Chicken

These images were printed, framed, and submitted for the Madison County Arts Council “The All Mighty Chicken Exhibit” juried contest. An opening reception is scheduled for April 4th @ 6pm in Marshall. Hope to see y’all there.