Before I get into today’s blog entry, I’d like to thank the anonymous folks with the wifi network called “Belkin” in their home. I am sitting in a parking lot outside of the baseball field and the aforementioned wifi network is BLAZINGLY fast. I am impressed. I can only imagine how fast it would be if I were actually inside the house.
I am enjoying some of the gray October day during my lunch hour, opting to let the cleaning crew at home do their thing uninterrupted. I am listening to NPR (it’s not a ‘news’ broadcast right now, so it’s safe for me to listen to); Diane Rehm is conducting an interview with the author of “Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture” by Darrin Nordahl. The interview is quite interesting as the author is discussing the reasoning as to why the “urban poor” are getting fatter in this fine 21st century; he believe it’s because of the lack of quality produce in larger urban areas. I guess this is something I never really thought about. I understand that there is a tendency for those less fortunate to rely on fast- and convenience food because it’s cheaper to buy but I never really associated it with just a lack of produce in urban areas. I’m finding the interview to be quite interesting as they are discussing the concept of edible landscaping in public areas (fruit trees, vegetable plants, etc). This makes sense to me. I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before.
I guess I find it surprising that shortly after World War II the United States had nearly six million farms and now we have around two million, with a larger population of course. The small family farm has given way to the corporate machine, it’s a little disturbing. I suddenly feel the need to engage in a Green Acres experience, or at the very least visit Homer and Henny Penny or Brett and his family.
