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Who will grow the food?
When I pod and pads, internet biz and tech industry rules every part of our lives, not just most of it, who will grow the food?
We live in a tiny nation. It has a new thread running through it stitching together North, Central, and South Americans, Chinese, and Costa Ricans. The thread is change. Wow, the changes are happening so fast. This country was slow to change; resisting change like a child resisting the dentist. New world-class stadium, new progressive values challenging traditional values, teens wanting office jobs, and less wanting an agricultural lifestyle. Cars and more cars, crime and more crime; physical labor is out. Sitting and poking the pad on your phone our keyboard is in. More return for less physical exertion. Doesn’t sound any different then perhaps where you live right?
Eventually there will be less and less of us who want to grow the food. Could we be happy spending time growing our own food? Sure we could grow food almost anywhere in Costa Rica, but would we? Would you spend time growing a garden?
Why would anybody want to live an agricultural lifestyle? Tying oneself to the land has been a world tradition since day one. Growing food, farming, acting to the rhythms of nature to produce crops is primal.
As I witness and reflect upon the countryside, I so cherish in this volcanic wonderland, I see happy faces running alongside winding roads and green hills that wonder of into the sun seem endless. Then I drive into the concrete caverns of the capital and the difference is well apparent: no more smiles. A lot more stuff with a lot less smiles makes you wonder why so many of us think evolving into technical wizardry is advancement of the human being.
Was Timothy Leary really right when he said “tune in, turn on and drop out?” Did the LSD society give his profound message a bad taste without anyone really going deeper than the wrapper?
The social contrast of Costa Rica country living compared to city life is obvious. The country folk are genuine and unhurried. So is less really more, or is more really less?
It’s hard for me to say as I come from consumerism. Although it is too late for me to convert to country living tied to the land in a way that comes as second nature, my children live with those attached to the land. The consistent and predictable changes bring a sense of adventure and sanity, predictability that things change, and a confidence that those changes are within reasons. Here in the country it is not change for the sake of change but following a logical natural progression of differences that repeat themselves known as nature. How much of the natural world do you find in a city? Change is abundant in the city, but how much of it is natural?
A recovering consumer choosing to raise my child here in the countryside so she may at least have a chance and a choice as to who will grow the food and to appreciate those who farm for more than their produce, but for who they are and their cultural values. Simpletons you may think. Maybe. But simple does not mean easy, just as those who have mastered simple living are incomprehensible to those of us who find living in country to be boring and predictable; hard to do. We can figure out a complicated computer software program but a natural program that rewards us with strong bodies and healthy minds seems out of reach. Not so here in the countryside, where smiles abound and ox carts are in no particular hurry.
there’s a whole movement in the States to support small farmers who grow organic food. it has suddenly become chic to be a small farmer, and that’s what has to happen here, otherwise there will be nothing left to eat except GMO crap from Monsanto. we should all be growing something to eat ourselves or that we can share with someone else who is also growing a few things, and at the very least we should all be growing herbs, which are not only nutritional but impart great flavor to your simple food. i have 18 citrus trees, 10 banana trees, about 8 different types of lettuce, and every herb imaginable, and i wish i had more time to garden because i would do it all on a larger scale and grow enough to supplement what i can’t grow myself because of where i live. the newest generation has been weaned on gmo foods and processed stuff so many of them don’t even have a clue where there real food comes from or what it is. what a sad commentary.
Farmer’s Markets are a huge deal in Washington State with virtually one in every town and the most famous being Pike Place Market, the longest continuous running market in the country. But the growing season for greens and berries is short, so most of us have freezers in the garage. We also have the benefit of having our grocery stores stocked with local organic produce, including Costco. The San Jose area has numerous farmer’s markets (ferias) with the most spectacular one in Grecia. Even lowly Cobano has a produce store and a farmer’s market on Saturdays. It is the only way we buy produce from May-October, then we depend on Chile for fruit, with the exception of apples.
That is an impressive post,inspiring nonetheless. Still stuck in Texas for now where my backyard garden flourishes for 4 years now.
Thanks:Dkevin,
tell us why you have a backyard garden? Enjoyment, food production – please elaborate. I am thinking of starting one even though the feria here has stunning produce. tell us more. Why do you think the post is impressive? In which way do you resonate with it?
[quote=”2BNCR”]kevin,
tell us why you have a backyard garden? Enjoyment, food production – please elaborate. I am thinking of starting one even though the feria here has stunning produce. tell us more. Why do you think the post is impressive? In which way do you resonate with it?[/quote]Im a bit of a conspiracy theorist and have been keeping tabs on monsanto and their efforts (via lobbying congress) to outlaw backyard gardening in the US and fully incorporate GMO seeds for public consumption,so therefore I find it inspiring that more people are getting back to the land and self reliance versus going to the supermarket for vegetables or meat,of this crowd some 45% believe that the supermarket is where food comes from and do not understand the chain of distribution,we’re surrounded by fools here in the states.
fools is an understatement. i saw one program where a 10 year old didn’t have a clue where eggs came from.
my grandparents and parents always had big gardens. it’s just what they did so i grew up eating homegrown food, and i want to carry on that tradition.
[quote=”maravilla”]fools is an understatement. i saw one program where a 10 year old didn’t have a clue where eggs came from.
my grandparents and parents always had big gardens. it’s just what they did so i grew up eating homegrown food, and i want to carry on that tradition.[/quote]me too,marinating a wild pig roast right now,stuffing her with pineapple,onions and cilaantro n bell peppers,slow cooking for 6 hrs.
[quote=”2BNCR”]Who will grow the food?
When I pod and pads, internet biz and tech industry rules every part of our lives, not just most of it, who will grow the food? [/quote]
Some of us will refuse to let the electronics rule our lives. I grew up on a 2 ½ acre “farm” where we learned to repair what was broken. It wasn’t convenient to go to town for everything you need. The family raised a couple of hogs, 200 chickens and grew a garden every year during those years (1950-1962). Since the 1950’s I have been accustomed to the T.V. and the music and appreciate the advances in playback devices. I swore I would never own a cell phone in my previous life but now carry one. I have a computer (desktop) but have no other network devices nor the need to be connected 24/7 and I have no idea how these things work.
[quote=”2BNCR”]We live in a tiny nation. It has a new thread running through it stitching together North, Central, and South Americans, Chinese, and Costa Ricans. The thread is change. Wow, the changes are happening so fast. This country was slow to change; resisting change like a child resisting the dentist. New world-class stadium, new progressive values challenging traditional values, teens wanting office jobs, and less wanting an agricultural lifestyle. Cars and more cars, crime and more crime; physical labor is out. Sitting and poking the pad on your phone our keyboard is in. More return for less physical exertion. Doesn’t sound any different then perhaps where you live right? [/quote]
Where have you been all your life? Have you not seen the changes coming? Globalization is a fact with people becoming more mobile with the passage of time. It was inevitable that Costa Rica would want to modernize and I see no problem with a new stadium with the national enthusiasm for futbol. I do have a problem with the inferior Chinese imports which is making it harder to find quality tools and other items. Although there has been an increase in automobile traffic I believe that the phrase should be “motos and more motos” with the idiots who do not know the rules of the road and insist on passing a line of cars on a blind curve. We have a little over an acre of land and have begun planting fruit trees of all varieties that will grow here for our own consumption. We have a garden and raise chickens for eggs and meat.
Of crime we see very little. That is a product of the cities where people do not know each other and care little for the problems of their fellow man. Here where the population is more sparse we depend on each other and we watch out for each other.
[quote=”2BNCR”]Eventually there will be less and less of us who want to grow the food. Could we be happy spending time growing our own food? Sure we could grow food almost anywhere in Costa Rica, but would we? Would you spend time growing a garden? [/quote]
A family of nine Ticos lives with us and luckily one of the boys (age 12) is very interested in the agricultural life. He is hard working and I depend on him for help with maintaining the property and animals. With the other boys I do see a “how little can I do and how much can I get” attitude but I saw that with my own children until they reached an age when they realized that it was necessary to work for a living. Read up on the history of agriculture in the U.S. where barely 3% live the agricultural life as did 100 years ago.
As an adult I worked within the confines of cities and yearned for a return to the country life. Now that I am retired I have what I have wanted, I love it and I am doing it. I also know that when I am gone there will be a young man who appreciates the life and will have learned what I have to teach.
[quote=”2BNCR”]Why would anybody want to live an agricultural lifestyle? Tying oneself to the land has been a world tradition since day one. Growing food, farming, acting to the rhythms of nature to produce crops is primal. [/quote]
It is for the satisfaction of seeing things grow and for the satisfaction of growing the vegetables that we had available in the U.S. that are normally not available here.
[quote=”2BNCR”]As I witness and reflect upon the countryside, I so cherish in this volcanic wonderland, I see happy faces running alongside winding roads and green hills that wonder of into the sun seem endless. Then I drive into the concrete caverns of the capital and the difference is well apparent: no more smiles. A lot more stuff with a lot less smiles makes you wonder why so many of us think evolving into technical wizardry is advancement of the human being. [/quote]
Your association with the city is with the downtown area. Move into the neighborhoods and see the smiles and the neighborliness. Do you not remember the differences in the U.S. or is it possible that you did not associate with the suburban or rural life there. The problem isn’t with the advances in technology, it is the nature of the commercial life in the cities. When I visit the local ferreteria I am welcomed there with smiles and called by name, not so in the city.
[quote=”2BNCR”]Was Timothy Leary really right when he said “tune in, turn on and drop out?” Did the LSD society give his profound message a bad taste without anyone really going deeper than the wrapper? [/quote]
Leary was right but it did not require chemicals to be aware. You have to experience the rural life to be tuned into it and you may or may not be turned on to it. The dropping out part of his advocacy is to turn your back on the structured life of the work-a-day and staying up with the Jones’s.
[quote=”2BNCR”]The social contrast of Costa Rica country living compared to city life is obvious. The country folk are genuine and unhurried. So is less really more, or is more really less? [/quote]
It is not the social contrast that is the difference, it is the business contrast that is the difference. The farmers life is lived at the pace of the plants growing while the retailers life is lived at the pace of the number of sales. So for the farmer the pace is slower while the work is more physically taxing, for the retailer the pace is faster and the work less physically taxing.
[quote=”2BNCR”]It’s hard for me to say as I come from consumerism. Although it is too late for me to convert to country living tied to the land in a way that comes as second nature, my children live with those attached to the land. The consistent and predictable changes bring a sense of adventure and sanity, predictability that things change, and a confidence that those changes are within reasons. Here in the country it is not change for the sake of change but following a logical natural progression of differences that repeat themselves known as nature. How much of the natural world do you find in a city? Change is abundant in the city, but how much of it is natural? [/quote]
I dare say you will not find an expat in Costa Rica who was a farmer in the U.S. It is not in the nature of the farmer to uproot. As to the rest of us, we are all consumers. Very few will turn to “doing it yourself” but there are a few who will. Plant a tomato and watch it grow, plant a tree and watch it grow. It is not being tied to the land, it is embracing it. By planting the tomato you may find that you don’t have to “convert” you might find yourself slipping into something that is satisfying. Encourage your children to find out what farm life is like.
[quote=”2BNCR”]A recovering consumer choosing to raise my child here in the countryside so she may at least have a chance and a choice as to who will grow the food and to appreciate those who farm for more than their produce, but for who they are and their cultural values. Simpletons you may think. Maybe. But simple does not mean easy, just as those who have mastered simple living are incomprehensible to those of us who find living in country to be boring and predictable; hard to do. We can figure out a complicated computer software program but a natural program that rewards us with strong bodies and healthy minds seems out of reach. Not so here in the countryside, where smiles abound and ox carts are in no particular hurry. [/quote]
No one is a recovering consumer, it is in the nature of man to consume. If it were not so the earth would not be in the sad shape that it is in.:shock:
Wagonerr41,
Excellent reply/perspective
It is man’s nature to consume, but in moderation. There is a huge difference between use and abuse. The US economy is based on unsustainable consumerism. Its an abuse.
Now here comes China and the second huge wave of consumption. Glad I have my hunk here. Why do you think the want of so many material items became so great? I think it is from peoples desire to occupy there time from birth to death; a lack of security.
The only real thing is education and strong relationships. These are the things that last. What is real is what cannot be taken from you, that which lasts. Free your mind and your ass will follow is another 60’s saying that has a lot of truth to it.
If you don’t educate yourself culturally, philosphically and practically, it is a sure bet that just like the multitudes of young Ticos one will fall into the consumerism trap.
I also think it has to do with women selecting mates. The nest thing. They look at it like the man with the most material comforts is the best mate. I guess I can see the logic if it is done as family building, but most of them seem to choose this on vanity, self agradizement/ Look at my clothes and car; and it promotes abusuive consumption and materialism.
The effect womens values have on culture is profound. How many women out there want to start a family with a farmer?
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