HONORABLE MENSCHEN

Colin, Brad, Noel and Dave won a gold medal for their garden. Who the hell are they, and why do we care?

Unless your religion tells you otherwise, it all started about 13.7 billion years ago. Time passed, and things happened. Then, about 10,000 years ago, with help from god, aliens and/or a talking sloth, humans, as they are now known, began to plant and harvest crops deliberately.

Well, depending on your religion and/or your political views, various other things happened or did not happen, inluding but not limited to the rise of civilization, culminating in the mall at fairfield commons, in beavercreek, Ohio, U.S.A. though there is much contention regarding why civilizations vary, nearly all of us agree that they all depend on agriculture for their subsistence. Organized farming, weather permitting, provides a surplus of food, which, politicians permitting, nourishes a community, creating a division of labor with vastly diverse employment opportunites ranging from street sweeper to shoe salesman.  Then, in turn, educated people are able to attract much deserved attention by arguing just how much these activities contribute to the spiritual perfection of individuals.

As we all now know, this vital human labor has been increasingly mechanized, resulting in harmful externalities such as water, soil and air pollution, genetically modified organisms, atmospheric depletion, etc.  it appears that, despite their unyielding drive to produce and distribute fairly and evenly the products of their labor, humans have accidentally overused their resources, manipulated their less fortunate members and begun an apparently irreversible process of cosmic disintegration.

That's where Colin, Brad, Noel and Dave come in. Living and operating in seattle proper, they are properly viewed as seattle's organic, urban agricultural movement. One of their goals is to put people back in touch with one of the basic skills that most human's have not developed: how to grow their own food. It's simple, and it's brilliant. There's not much space left here, so i'll direct you to their website.  There, you can read their "mission statement," look at pictures, follow colin's blog, connect to their facebook page and view the excellent short film, made just weeks ago, chronicling the gold medal installation you see above.

We'll leave it to the poets and academics to address the significance of converting the quintessential product of 20th century industrialization into an urban cornucopia. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves, and go learn something.

seattleurbanfarmco.com

Author: James Jennings

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