Going organic: The siege on Gaza

Ok, so I know it's been forever...but the summer has gone by really quickly and my spare time has quickly been filling up. And what can I say, I've been a little lazy.

So here's a new blog post. Nothing spectacular, just short and sweet.

i read this article on AlJazeera entitled "Going organic: The siege on Gaza".


This article talks about an idea that I've been learning about alot this summer: eating local foods. The idea of eating local foods aims to improve the environment by using less petroleum to ship foods from far away places, as well as supporting agriculture that is sustainable to the environment. Instead of destroying our soil and adding pesticides to our foods, local, sustainable agriculture improves the quality of soil, provides healthy foods without pesticides and hormones, and surprisingly TASTES better! Buying local foods also supports local farmers and helps build relationships, because you can actually talk to the farmers who are selling their produce in the local farmers' market.

How did this new interest of mine emerge this summer? Well I'm living with my friend Emily, who is a hard core advocate. Besides that, however, I've been going to farmers' markets, eating delicious produce, cooking from amazing cookbooks (specifically Simply in Season created by the Mennonites) about eating local foods in season, and reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I highly suggest this book if you haven't read it.

Eating local is also touching a cord in my spiritual self. I like the idea of respecting this beautiful earth that has been given us and building community through cooking well.

This article makes a few interesting points:

First of all, it again discusses the siege on Gaza, which is an always present problem in the Israeli occupation. Basic needs are still denied to the people of Gaza, keeping them just above survival and giving them little opportunities to improve their situation. Despite the humanitarian situation, I find an amazing amount of resilience in the hope the people of Gaza have to continue and discover new ways to improve their situation and provide for more than their basic needs.

This article also points out the idea that Israel is fighting against itself. The siege is designed to lower the influence of Hamas. Hamas, however, continues to prevail, being the best Palestinian political party at providing for the Israeli people, not depending on foreign governments. The fact is that the siege has made Hamas stronger, rather than weaker.

Now connecting politics to food. The people of Gaza have been forced to use organic farming and find ways to grow food sustainably because they are prohibited by the Israeli government to participate in the growing global export and import economy. I heard a Palestinian American, who is actually studying at the University of Minnesota, named Omar Tesdall. He talked about how the creation of Israel is not a new conflict, but simply a continuation of Western colonialism. His emphasis was on how colonialism affected agriculture. His Master's Thesis focused on the creation of industrial agriculture in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank. Along with the creation of this industrial complex is propaganda about how the new forms of technology and agriculture the Israel has brought to the land are much better than the smaller agriculture operations of early 19th century Palestinian farmers.

This summer, I am learning that maybe it is the local, smaller scale, yet sustainable food operations that may be better and more respectful to our planet. Maybe that means that colonialism and its off-shoots, such as the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the American occupation of Iraq, are not the best for the planet and the people residing therein.

Please read the article "Going organic: The siege on Gaza" in order to understand this blog better.

Also, I highly suggest reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.