Grape Leave—Secured Food
Avoiding nature or going contrary to nature can be dangerous. The last few years we have heard about human-made disasters, like the flooding in New Orleans or the emptying of Lake Delton in the flooding in Wisconsin recently; we hear about how the world-wide food shortage is human-made, and even about how the oil prices have gone up as a result of human error. In all these cases and many others nature plays a role but the disaster or danger is caused by humans. The same can be said about the dangers on our streets. If we make dangerous weapons easily available, do not deal with the roots of violence, punish but not treat persons with alcohol and drug addictions, do not value all human life, have a government that seeks force to enforce its will, yes we will see an increase in violence. Violence begets violence.
Today I asked myself if the opposite was true, can embracing nature or going with the flow of nature bring security and abundance? I do not know but believe, from the calm effect of working in the garden in my life, this to be true. As an experiment in this proposal I decided to pick at every possible opportunity that I have the next few weeks. Grape leaves are plentiful in nature. I already know that the more you pick grape leaves the more they will grow. My theory now is that the more I pick the greater the odds of my wife cooking them will be. We always seem to make and eat all the grape leaves that we pick, clean and freeze. Today I picked some from the backyard; perhaps tomorrow I will venture out to a nearby park. They are everywhere, and when wrapped and cooked with rice, meat and the right spices are delicious.
Foraging, like picking grape leaves, has always been a human act to secure food. It is almost a forgotten way of finding food today but it still is valuable. Foraging for grape leaves and other wild things, like home gardening, can bring food security.
Also today I added to the AIR page a proposal for community and church groups to use natural air for an energy savings value for low income persons next winter. Just as going against nature can be dangerous, going with the flow of nature can bring security, be it with food, energy or any other thing.
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