Ben Wiehl: A Continuous Harmony #2

Think Little: "In this state of total consumerism--which is to say a state of helpless dependence on things and services and ideas and motives that we have forgotten how to provide ourselves--all meaningful contact between ourselves and the earth is broken."

In our search for the best anti-wrinkle cream or the plastic diamonds made specifically for decorating your cell phone, we have become a nation literally consumed by consumerism. Materialism is glorified all throughout the media - magazines, televisions, tabloids. Buy this new car, customize it, and then show it off on your facebook profile. None of all that new stuff matters if no one gets to see it! Through our ignorance we have let ourselves become one of the most wasteful societies in the world. In our time, mealtimes have become a sort of ritualized process. This cuts out the cultivation process and allows the consumer access to a finalized product of which they cannot pronounce half of the ingredients on the back of the box. Although we do not practice reciprocity in our relationship with the earth there has been a movement back to the organic seen. At least this is what it seems like in some of the grocery stores. You see a bigger and more diverse crowd out shopping consciously making an effort to better themselves and the world around them. It saddens me to think about the farmers who have always gotten the raw end of the deal it seems. They are the ones who take the responsibility of providing for the masses, but with little return in comparison to the big businesses and such that take in earnings much MUCH greater than any farmer. I feel that it is necessary to support the local farmers markets more then chain grocery stores anyways. Besides, part of what your paying that grocery store if for shipping costs anyways. Buying local removes the need to transport the goods as far as usual - thus making it easier on the environment. Plus direct support to the local growers will do much more for them, and will give their products more value in the long run. I think they would be much happier if they could visibly see a market for their products instead of just a list of numbers on an order form to stack in the back of a truck. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.