Not only were these new permaculture-style gardens more productive of nutritious foods, they were also hidden from the view of armies looking for fields to burn. It was a common battle tactic of the times to starve out the enemy by destroying their crops. But the small intensive gardens now feeing much of the population were much less visible, and the people less vulnerable as a result.

It was really always a question of “what meat will I be having with this meal?” rather than “will I be having meat with this meal?”. This small shift in perspective, in awareness, really cemented the progress I had made.

Because when I say these companies co-opted the power of billions of ordinary people, I’m talking about you and me. Ordinary people who had grandparents or great-grandparents who grew a good portion of their own food are now somehow convinced that growing food is “a lot of work” or “too expensive.”

Today, fewer than 200 cultivated plants contribute in a substantial manner to food production worldwide. Of these 200 food crops, only nine represent 66% of the total agricultural production.

The most profound and lasting gift being a gardener gave me was the gradual awakening and expansion of my senses to the natural world. By taking me outside of myself, by putting me there in the soil I will one day become, gardening put me back into my self.

See, as far as regulatory bodies are concerned, “organic” just means that a food was grown without chemicals (herbicide, fungicide, or pesticides). Or in some cases, like “organic” potatoes in the USA, it means only a minimum of chemical applications. Yes, really.

We know we’re better than the consuming numskulls we’ve become. But we’re bored. We’re confused. And above all, we’re distracted. And that’s just how the system wants us. Distracted, and spending.

Looking at a screen all day as a way of learning the world is like circling your wrists all day for exercise. You've barely moved, but your wrists are aching.

I pay these kids a fair wage. They work five hour shifts. They’re healthy and well-fed. They give me side-eye when I give them my banana bread and peanut butter cookies to snack on while they work. Like, uh, we eat, patrona... our moms feed us.

"Long chain distribution patterns" is one of those phrases I read when I’m researching systemic problems about food. My eyes glaze over when I read it too, but we are the individuals creating the system, so let's see how your basket of groceries here really matters.

Swirling some sunflower oil in a pan you think, man, when was the last time I did this? The ginger, garlic, and curry hit the hot oil and the smell is heaven.

You thought you were just going out for groceries so you could stop eating out so much - you are really trying to be part of the solution. Strangely enough, here you are with a pile of soy sauce packets and a near-tanked bank balance, unable to shake the vague sense of guilt that you might actually just be part of the problem.

The little pollinating bugs scorned the water tanks. Only tepid slime gets us sexy. No goo for me, no cacao for you. The scientists shrugged. Give them back their goo, they told the export barons. You made a very expensive mistake. You overdid it.