Pierre Rabhi, farmer, writer and thinker of French-Algerian origin, is one of the pioneers of organic agriculture and the inventor of the concept "oasis everywhere." He urges a form of society more respectful of people and the earth and supports the development of agricultural practices accessible to all, particularly the poorest, while preserving the heritage which nourishes us. Since 1981, he has been spreading his know-how in the arid countries of Africa, as well as France and Europe, seeking to restore their own food to the people. He is now recognized as an international expert for food safety and participated in drafting the UN Convention for the fight against desertification. He is the founder of the "Mouvement pour la Terre et l'Humanisme" (Colibri), and the author of numerous books including "Earth Song, from the Sahara to the Cevennes", and "Consciousness and Environment: Seeds of the Possible" (co-authored with Nicolas Hulot).
Here is a brief article he posted to his blog recently on the importance of localized food production:
To grow one's own garden is today a political act
It's no surprise that there is a growing chasm between ordinary citizens and those meant to represent them. Who still feels he or she can participate in choices which concern their future? Yes, our leaders came to office through the vote, but too many of their decisions do not correspond to what they were elected to do. Their function seems limited to piloting the meandering daily flow of the status quo, which opens no perspectives for the future. Worse, it obliterates them, by assuring the continuation of a model of unlimited growth, a model which everyone understands to be incompatible with the truth of our finite resources.
In spite of our incredible technology, we have created the worst performing society of human history, the most wasteful in terms of energy, in social terms the most destructive, and the least resilient ever, depending entirely as it does on a combustible fossil resource which is running out. And we persevere: that which we call "politics' looks more like a therapeutic assault on a moribund economic system. While mistrust toward politics is spreading, precariousness and malaise are also increasing. We blame by turn bad management by the state or the abuses of industry, but few call into question the foundational principle of our society: this mercantile logic, which confiscates from humanity that which Nature has given us: life, water, the soil, the seeds… Extending this logic, one can imagine a global cartel possessing the planet and making all of us renters upon it.
To reinvent politics we must protect our sources of life from this mercantile logic which destroys ecosystems and impoverishes entire populations- even in countries rich in natural resources. Ecology must be more than a band-aid on the wounds of the environment. It must lead us to rethink our industry, our medicine, our education, our food. It invites to walk away from the organized pillage and restore the economy to it's most noble function, that is to see to it that basic needs in goods and services are available to the greatest number of people. Our consumer choices are political acts. Everything we can do to become autonomous, that is to satisfy our needs without passing through the corporate machine, is a political act. Even our own country, a 'developed' country, can no longer assure it's own food supply. We have killed our soils with pesticides, our waters are polluted, our bees disappearing, and GMOs are a despicable sham. And when the petroleum runs out, we are assured of famine.
This is why it is so vital to support local farming and to create networks of CSA farms- (Community Supported Agriculture).
To grow one's own garden is today a political act.
- Pierre Rabhi July 8, 2010
- translation: S. Miller
Orginal post
Colibri: Mouvement pour la Terre et l'Humanisme
Colibri Video Presentation (fr.)
Association pour le Maintien d'un Agricuture Paysanne
USA: Community Supported Agriculture
