THINKING GLOBALLY, ACTING LOCALLY
Those of us of a peculiar persuasion have long espoused verbally, if not by our actions, this simple aphorism. It is an acknowledgement of our place in the world, and an affirmation that money spent in our local community benefits far more than the farm or business, or restaurant where they are spent. This is known by the coldly scientific term, synergy: to work together. The parable of the "loaves and fishes, from the New Testament, is a good example of synergism. The people were hungry, Jesus fed them, and they stayed to marvel at his sermon. But on this subject I am hardly qualified, so I will try some other examples which I may be more qualified to discuss. I will, first focus your attention to the backyard and gradually widen the focus. There is no greater connection to the web of life than composting. When done right, composting starts with our non-meat kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells, combined with the dead leaves of autumn, pl...