Hearing The Call of the Land | Civil Eats

Hearing The Call of the Land

Let’s not confuse “agriculture” with “agrarianism” says Steven McFadden in his new book, The Call of the Land: An Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century. Then we might think more deeply about our relationship to the earth.

Our industrialized food system with its processed foods; confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs); long-distance distribution networks; chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers; and genetically-engineered seeds (GMOs) is totally dependent on oil and technology. However, it overlooks our relationship with the land.

“As a matter of survival, the land is calling out to us. As a matter of survival, we must listen and respond,” he says. “We have the potential to do this with a wisdom that will reverberate for generations to come.”

McFadden is a journalist and Reiki Master who is also influenced by Native American spirituality. In fact, he produces an e-book, “Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for 2012 and Beyond.” It taps the wisdom of contemporary Native American spiritual elders regarding the land, which can be especially useful as we transition out of the Oil Age.

Basically, the book is a resource guide describing projects citizens, communities, farmers, churches, and even corporations have pursued as options to our industrialized food system. The book also provides information for readers who want to become part of a network for change.

Although Call of the Land makes for somewhat dry reading, its advocacy for an “agrarian ethos” that seeks an “environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially fair” way of life is inspiring. What this means is that we must be in right relationship with the land and organic farming is key. Its methods, even though they are labor-intensive and time-consuming, will result in wholesale social and economic reform that needs to take place in order to “heal the land.”

People are “healing the land” to make “sustainable oases” in their neighborhoods and communities because they are stepping up to provide their own leadership, gifts and talents rather than rely on government or some outside body to give them answers to our future.

We’ll bring the news to you.

Get the weekly Civil Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox.

“The best and possibly the only way to ensure a healthy, sustainable future is to create it,” says McFadden.

He also contends that if we choose agrarianism, we can “encircle the Earth with a sustainable culture of integrity, beauty and natural prosperity.”

Lofty words and visions but they could be indeed a means toward a more sustainable future and a closer, more authentic relationship with the land, Nature and each other.

Today’s food system is complex.

Invest in nonprofit journalism that tells the whole story.

Olga Bonfiglio is a freelance writer, journalist and contributor to the Huffington Post.  The former professor, public relations director and nun has written for newspapers, websites and national magazines on the subjects of food, religion, social justice and travel.  She also does organic gardening and volunteers at small dairy farm in southwestern Michigan. Her blog is http://olgabonfiglio.blogspot.com/ and she may be contacted at olgabonfiglio@yahoo.com. Read more >

Like the story?
Join the conversation.

    More from

    Agroecology

    Featured

    a trio of illustrations showing a black farmer, corn growing in front of the US Capitol Building, and a white woman with a baby paying for groceries with a SNAP-enabled card

    This Farm Bill Really Matters. We Explain Why.

    As communities struggle with food insecurity and farmers face a range of climate-fueled disasters, lawmakers have a chance to build a farm bill that tackles both in 2023. Will they?

    Popular

    How the Long Shadow of Racism at USDA Impacts Black Farmers in Arkansas—and Beyond

    Arkansas farmer Clem Edmonds sits on his riding mower in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Brown)

    School Food Chefs Learn to Plot Healthier Menus With a New Fellowship

    A trio of school chefs working in the kitchen as part of the Healthy School Food Pathways program. (Photos courtesy of the Chef Ann Foundation)

    Forging Pathways to Land Access for BIPOC Farmers in Georgia

    Johanna Willingham (left), who manages Georgia FarmLink on behalf of ALT, and Jean Young (right), the first incubator farmer at ALT’s Williams Farm Incubator Program, walk the greenhouse at Williams Farm. (Photo credit: Oisakhose Aghomo)

    Pay-What-You-Can Farm Stands Feed Communities Against Tough Odds

    Marc James. (Photo by Gabriel Pietrorazio)