Health, Healing and Community Supported Agriculture

by Christy Korrow

On a winter day in what is now the year 2002 I walk out onto a field on my farm. The surface of the ground is flat, brown, perhaps dead looking to some. I close my eyes and visualize the summerÕs bounty; green plants laden with peppers and tomatoes, frilly lettuces, aromatic herbs, and root crops like beets and carrots filling the garden with enough vegetables to feed my family and at least 30 others.

Underlying my peaceful meditation, a sense of uncertainty arises. I look across the Cumberland River to the 16 factory farm sized chicken houses, each holding 23,000 birds, fed a steady stream of anti-biotics, never seeing the light of day. My attention draws to the disheartening trends of modern day agriculture. Over 886 million pounds of pesticides are applied to our food crops each year. 2/3Õs of the U.S. soybean crop and * of the U.S. corn crop were planted in the controversial genetically modified seeds. 3000 acres of cropland are lost to development per day across America, not to mention the social implications of 10 mega-corporations now controlling 35% of our global seed supply.

We have taken agriculture out of the realm of the living; a vocation clearly bound up with the kingdoms of nature, and placed it into a world of systematic reductionism, profit margins, monoculture and abstract science. Truly there is a need to restore holism within our agriculture. More than ever humanity finds itself separated from the ebb and flow of the natural rhythms. Technology dominates and easily pushes aside the more subtle influences active in the natural world.

How then do we as a culture build a strong foundation for true health to flourish? It is the task of our modern times to take the initiative and apply the holistic healing paradigm so as to encompass not only our own individual health, but also that of our society/culture, economy and yes, even government.

One shining example of how people are working to foster this holistic interconnectedness is through the building of relationships between consumers, farmers, food and the land where that food is grown. People all over the country are beginning to see that the small sustainable farms in their region are a valuable resource. The farms are a source of the most fresh and nutritious food. They serve as models for an agriculture which does not pollute, but its opposite; building up the soil to be strong and healthy while supporting the diversity of nature.

The term Community Supported Agriculture has been given to represent a new way of looking at farms, food and local economies. A direct association developed between consumers and farmers sees to it that the food dollars are going directly to the farm in exchange for a weekly share of the harvest throughout the growing season. The food is picked the day of delivery. The difference in the vitality of freshly harvested food compared with food that has been trucked 1500 miles is quite an experience. This relationship is mutually beneficial as the farmers are supported in doing what they do best; fostering sustainability through life and diversity. This translates to producing a wide array of food, which are not just stomach fillers, but truly nourish. Eating locally grown, organic foods is a great beginning to healing the planet and us!