Fall Update From Michael Dimock

Nov. 3, 2008
Fall is usually a good time for sober reflection. More so this year, given the context in which we find ourselves. Together we face a very dramatic election, framed by a dramatic financial crisis, brought about by a dramatic collapse of faith in our nation’s ability to fulfill its debt obligations. As the noted economist Herman Daly wrote for the on-line publication, The Oil Drum this month,

“Can the economy grow fast enough in real terms to redeem the massive increase in debt? In a word, no…. The population of “negative pigs” (debt) can grow without limit since it is merely a number; the population of positive pigs (real wealth) faces severe physical constraints…. The problem is not too little liquidity, but too many negative pigs growing too fast relative to the limited number of positive pigs whose growth is constrained by their digestive tracts, their gestation period, and places to put pigpens…. US growth in real wealth is constrained by increasing scarcity of natural resources both at the source end (oil depletion), and the sink end (absorptive capacity of the atmosphere CO2). Further, spatial displacement of old stuff to make room for new stuff is increasingly costly as the world becomes more full, and increasing inequality of distribution of income prevents most people from buying much of the new stuff—except on credit (more debt)..."

Using this very appropriate agricultural metaphor, Daly points out that the economic paradigm in which we have live has collapsed, and for good reason. We all know, consciously or subconsciously, that the ecological carrying capacity of this planet is finite, and the healthy function of all systems is currently imperiled. The United States must come to terms with physical reality in order to rebuild her wealth. People will believe in economic productivity again when we deal with peak oil and climate change. Thus, now is the time to reframe the economic system that guides our nation and the world. Thomas Friedman elucidates the only way forward in Hot, Flat and Crowded; we need a green economy that will emerge from a green New Deal.

As Michael Pollan pointed out in his October, 12 piece in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, “Farmer In Chief”, agriculture and food are at the heart of the matter. Elegant solutions to interlinking problems of energy, ecology and health can be found in retooling the food system. By last week, Senator Obama was quoting Pollan’s article to Joe Klein, the Time Magazine correspondent. So now is the time for all of us to be thinking about how to scale up our activity amidst a severe economic downturn and potentially major political realignment. That is just what the Roots of Change is doing with our programs and projects.

In October, the 2008 ROC Action Fellows began to discuss how four teams of grass roots leaders can accelerate the rate of change related to labor conditions, regional food systems, food access for low income communities, and ROC’s engagement with the conventional agriculture community. We have asked them to think big and work with us to uncover public and private funds to fuel the projects that emerge from their work. We will keep you posted on this work as it evolves over the coming months.

With allies from American Farmland Trust, SAGE, San Francisco Department of Public Health, and Public Health Law and Policy, ROC has just launched the State’s first Urban-Rural Roundtable with the direct involvement of San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom and California Secretary of Food and Agriculture, AG Kawamura. These two very different, but innovative men were joined at UC Davis on October 22 by a group of city and country leaders for a day of brainstorming. The goal of the San Francisco Roundtable is to recommend prioritized actions that will create more useful markets for producers and more sustainably produced food for low-income folks in the city. It was the first of three sessions. At the core of the conversation is the questions of how city and country might collaborate and leverage their respective resources to more fully develop the food shed concept. A report will be made available by March 2009. ROC hopes this will be the first of six large-city efforts to link with producers and other stakeholder in their food sheds.

As many know, ROC unveiled the Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture at Slow Food Nation as a tool for building mass public support for reformation of federal food and agriculture policy. We have doubled the number of endoresments gathered Labor Day weekend and hope to reach 10,000 by January. We are in what you might call a beta testing phase, experimenting with some on-line viral marketing concepts while we seek funding for launching a major campaign to gather a million endorsements by fall 2009. Once we have funding, the viral campaign and a policy platform will become our primary objectives as we prepare with allies from all across the country for a September 2009 event in Washington DC to deliver a call for fundamental reform to policy makers. Please contact us if you are able to lend a hand in the funding, planning or implementation of this vision.

Despite the economic storm clouds, I am positive that the issues and activities in which the ROC Community is engaged will attract the necessary resources, including money, to maintain momentum. Like a good recipe, if you do not have enough sugar you can use some honey, or if not enough rosemary, you can use thyme. The flavor may change, but the end result remains delicious and nutritious. Let’s keep our eye on the prize and our faith in our species’ ability to adapt and thrive.

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