Be The Change You Want To See

Have you ever considered what shapes your thinking? Is it the people around you, your family, special mentors , writers, tv productions?Often when you are around a 'good thing' you soak it up ....unfortunately when you are around a 'bad thing' you soak that up too.
What got me thinking about this for a start was Tricia's post on Little Eco Footprints on her challenge to stay away from the big supermarkets and large corporations.Then she did a post about a small producer(Udder Farm).

We spent an enjoyable week in the city not long ago, and I realised just how much we do stay away from the 'big boys' . Shopping at a large supermarket felt unusual to me and yet I ended up at the checkout with things I would not normally buy , thanks to advertising and clever marketing. Of course I was away from home and didn't have the benefits of my garden or local shops , but still in a matter of minutes that big supermarket was tugging at parts of my mind that I obviously need better control of. The thing that turned that seductive siren song off , was a giant poster at the end of the supermarket that proudly proclaimed that the fresh produce came from growers in the Sydney basin- as I looked at my carrots, I couldn't help but think ...'great , I am buying food miles (at least 3 hrs worth ) when I have local producers growing carrots right here in the valley.

At present we are watching a series of ABC tv called 'The People's Supermarket' . It is about a chef who starts up a supermarket and if you join ,you own a part of the supermarket ,work in the supermarket sometimes,and get a reduction in costs as a result. This supermarket goes to local farms to source as much as their produce as possible.

The People's supermarket also cooks up any left over produce before it goes bad or ends up in the bin  and resells it as 'home cooked' food. (Pop on over to the Greening of Gavin's post on 'bin diving' to find out what our big supermarkets do with their waste)

This documentary is a marvelous insight into human nature.At times the 'share holders' of the supermarket wanted more products on the shelves...but couldn't understand that by buying from the nearby Tesco , they stopped their own supermarket growing to become something they wanted in their area. They had to learn to put the time in , they had to learn to accept that just because a vegetable was a 'funny ' shape, it still tasted good ,they had to learn to make do with the products that were on the People's supermarket shelf and cook accordingly....not start with the recipe first. The little quirks of human nature come out so well in this series, one of which is that old tendency of only thinking in the present .

Really what these Londoners and the rest of us are doing is overcoming a life time of brainwashing over what we can eat , what we should buy and what we need.If you are reading good literature , blogs ,websites on the subject and communicating with like minded people,....these mind shaping changes come so much easier.If I can be affected simply by pushing a trolley around a supermarket when I am on holidays....imagine how much harder it is for our friends and family who don't have that amazing thought shaping network and are bombarded with other information instead.

I think Tricia is onto a good thing with her challenge this year, when we do things as a group we are more likely to commit and stick to it....just like the people who became part of the People's Supermarket in London. It is like going to a fitness class and doing 10 more pushups than you would normally do because the person next to you hasn't run out of puff yet. What we create in doing this is the world we want to live in and the world we want our children and grandchildren to live in.

I start the challenge in February in earnest .I intend to grow as much as I can (milk and eggs are already coming in plentiful amounts),and use Organic Feast deliveries(they source local products wherever possible) , use our local hardware and local IGA (to go anywhere else would involve 30-60 mins driving where we are).It is something we do regularly anyway(being more isolated does make these choices a little essential at times!), so it won't require too many changes....just committment and above all planning. 

Be the change you want to see ...there is nothing stronger than a group of people thinking good things.

Thankyou also to the people who shape my thinking, your words and ideas spread far and wide creating good changes and great outcomes.