Inspired by a Symposium!!!

My winter-time drudgery of work, sleep, rinse, and repeat has been delightfully lifted by the soft showers of spring. Much has transpired in the last 3 months. Our green business, Grown-Up-Permaculture, is off to a great start. Work is already underway on multiple rooftop garden projects with several major clients. Needless to say, I have been in work fanatic mode for quite a while now. It's not easy keeping the day job and a hobby-turned business at the same time!



So to scout out the landscape of the green movement here in NYC, I decided to take a field trip today to the 27th Making Brooklyn Bloom Symposium held at the famous Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. So in the soft rains of march, I made my way to Prospect Park and entered the main Botanical building. The conference hall was packed with Green businesses, non-profits, and community groups of all sorts. There were companies and organizations representing almost every aspect of the Green movement as it relates to food production. There were CSA(community supported agriculture) provider groups, urban farmers, educators, forest gardeners, human-powered produce delivery firms, poultry raisers, seed distributors, resource recycling outfits, and a host of other green niche groups. So many people attended today that the conference hall and every single workshop for the entire day was packed and overflowing with New York urbanites.

I found much useful information( and amusement ) while attending a series of highly detailed workshops ranging from urban soil lead mitigation to raising chickens in the city to the fine arts of indoor seed sprouting and dwarf tree pruning! I felt energized by the sheer level of dedication, enthusiasm, and hope that so many people at the conference seemed to genuinely have. Prior to today, my notions of the purpose of a garden spans the vague concepts of natural self-sufficiency to that of an interesting stress-relieving hobby.

But this gathering has expanded upon those initial ideas. Using organic agriculture and perma-culture, we can actually change this city, and the world, for the better. The conference's themes of teaching the needy to gain nourishing sustenance for themselves, providing honest work for those without opportunities, and achieving a degree of equality(even if only dietary :P ) for everyone, these messages simply strikes a solid cord within me.

I know that the foundations of our world cannot and will not change. Politicians will always be corrupt, big corporations will always try to suck people dry, and the elites will continue to do anything to maintain the status quo. No matter what we do, we'll still face the challenges of resource depletion, weather changes, and economic dislocations caused by our own foolishness. But despite these looming issues...we still have within our hands the means of making our world so much better. This gift of knowledge, just the knowledge of growing food for one's self and family, it shouldn't be denied to anyone. And if people with the means simply had the heart and will to spread this knowledge to their friends and neighbors, just think of how awesome our world would be. I saw a glimmer of such heart in a bunch of ordinary people today, and it really inspired me. Perhaps I'm still too young, but I can't help admiring these people who try so hard to make a better world despite the odds stacked against them. And come to think of it, it would be my greatest fortune if our own little quest can end up making a positive difference in the lives of others.