Today's photo. Taken between work and a discussion at church about "living simply, responsible consumerism &the like. More about that later. It partnered with a several themes that have beeen on my mind latel - budgeting and managing on less for an important goal (for us funding an adoption), then there is this other idea about in addition to purchasing less, purchasing more responsibly i.e. looking at hte imprint of what we purchase on the world beyond us. In church we have been talking about avoiding buying things made with slave labor - which is certainly both important and diffiicult to do in today's society. The other thing I have been thinking about is the whole environmental impact. NPR is doing a yearlong series on global warming - and it has me, and I hope others thinking a lot more about this fast approching problem. It is a problem that no one who really pays attention to teh changes that occur in climate can ignore or deny anymore. So related to this, they have talked recently about the concept in england about food miles and minimizing your carbon imprint. This partners some with what the speaker last night who is a buyer from whole foods was discussing, that we are so far removed from doing anything for ourselves and most of our food is shipped from miles away (florida, california, sometimes mexico & beyond) Take avacados I love avacados - and olives. And there are definitely healht reasons for eating these foods over other fats. But what about the rest of your food budget? I do feel good that at least buying at the local farmer's market not only do we save money - but we also can reduce the food miles in our family's weekly menu. Also, gardening - we only have a small garden becuase we have a small yard and little time - but some day I hope to have more land and larger garden. There is nothins so satisfying as hoeing the land - except maybe tasting the first of anything that you have planted for the year - first strawberry, first pea, first spinach - and later in the year first tomato. mmmmm
