The Glade 4.0

I grow my own vegetables, partly as a way to honor the past, and partly as a way to build the future. By growing things like cucuzza or tomatoes from seeds that have been in my family for the last century, I have a way to keep that history real, tangible, and alive. By teaching my family where their food comes from, I can instill a greater sense of respect, reverence, and responsibility for the earth.

Slow food is, in a sense, the opposite of fast food. There's no instant gratification, just hard work and persistence. For example, my grandma wouldn't give me her minestrone recipe until I could get my own tenerumi, because the soup just wasn't right without it. There's something to be said for the first line of your recipe being "first, dig a hole and plant the seeds". When my grandkids canned their first jars of tomatoes this spring, it was the culmination of their planting (and caring for the plants) that gave them an appreciation for something that takes longer than hitting a button or swiping a screen. When my stepdaughter asked if I could start her a basil plant, or my stepson came to me and asked how to start a garden at his new house, it showed that I'm having a positive impact, and that it's helped strengthen our family bond.

I'm not an activist, a hipster, a yuppy, a foodie, or a tree-hugger. I enjoy a lot of foods that are bad for me, and I think most of that organic mumbo-jumbo is a scam. I went into the Health and Fitness forum here once, but that was on accident, I was trying to get into the Tech forum. Anyway...

Despite all that, I found a group that matches up with some of my ideals, and since you're reading the food forum, maybe it'd be interesting to you too.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ or click the snail in my signature.

One interesting goal that they have is something called the Ark of Taste. They're promoting conservation and distribution of endangered food species, and encouraging biodiversity.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-of-taste-in-the-usa
http://www.seedsavers.org/onlinestore/Ark-of-Taste/

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Thanks for this.

We had a pretty nice vegetable garden at our last few places, and we're about ready to start one at our current place.

I have several friends that run heirloom seed banks in the area, so a great source of local seeds and plants when we do get started.

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Darksiege: You are not a god damned vulcan homie.