The intersection of food, politics, agriculture, health and economy is a breading ground for controversy and worthy of a lifetime of newsletters. But to what end do I scribe? Debate for debates sake, much like talking about the weather to make conversation, seems pointless unless we’re asking the right questions, setting the right goals and have the willingness to bring about necessary change for the betterment of all.

How do we create meaningful positive change? It starts with dialogue. For example, over the weekend we were at a wedding in Niagara-on-the-Lake, or NOTL in acronym speak. This wedding was a truly special occasion with great family and friends on hand; the day and well into the night filled with good cheer and great memories. However, Laura and I were as usual on the hot seat with so many old friends and acquaintances wanting to know why we had stepped out of the mainstream and onto the soil. After showing them the blisters on my hands as proof of our trials, then remarking on how wonderful Laura looked at 4 months as a testament to the rewards, we set about tackling the nitty-gritty of agro-eco politics over cold beverages and good food.

More meaningless debate? That remains to be seen I guess, for one never really knows what impact your words or actions will have on the universe. For example, an old neighbour of mine and I got into a mutual furor over the denial that most in the productive Niagara region live with over the health impacts of the conventional soft fruit production that engulfs their communities. Again this question of, “Why aren’t we doing more studies that could shed light on the relationship between chemical intensive agriculture and human/environmental health?” The answer, of course, is because too many people don’t want to know the truth for fear of the economic consequences. To make matters worse, I’m told that the last in-tact tract of native Carolinian Forest in the Niagara region has been earmarked for development as a summer concert venue – once again economy trumps environment.

Alas, as the evening wore one and my rantings grew louder and longer, I (think I) began to convince others that it was time for us to move beyond this shortsightedness and realize that when we account for the full costs of conventional agriculture combined with the emerging consumer demand for organic goods, we’d be stupid to do anything but begin the transition as soon as possible. Ditto for energy policy – why aren’t we moving away from fossil fuels and more quickly towards renewables? While we have seen some leadership from the province in this department (new nukes aside…grrrr), we’re still light years behind and running out of time…oh, but not to worry because there’s lot’s of oil in the Arctic and as global warming melts the ice caps we can just sail up there and fight with the Russians and the Danes over the remaining reserves (bonus – polar bears will soon be extinct so our intrepid Arctic oil men won’t have to worry about them!)

As for agriculture, you’ve got to wonder when our politicians will wake up and smell the chemicals on their Ontario soft fruit. I was encouraged to hear that more vineyards are trying to go organic in the region, but can one truly grow organic grapes when one’s neighbours are polluting the wind, water and air which they share? Sadly, as Laura and I left the region passing by stand after stand of perfect looking peaches, we rolled up the windows and carried right on by…shame really, I used to love Ontario peaches.

One final quip.

Bottom-up or top-down? In development circles this question often arises as far as how to implement change. If we want to move towards a new greener paradigm of existence, can we wait until enough people come to their senses and start changing both their living and voting habits? Can we trust that the military-industrial complex, the multinational corporations and the authoritarian regimes that rule the world will allow change to happen if we at the grass roots demand it? Will our governments continue to avoid addressing the tough issues in order to remain popular with the powers that be?!