CHAPTER 24
The Evolutionary Catalyst and the Emerging Foodshed
Rebels share much in common with religious mystics. They hold fast to a vision often they alone can see. They view rebellion as a moral imperative, even as they concede the hope of success is slim, at times impossible.
—CHRIS HEDGES, WAGES OF REBELLION
This chapter outlines the development of an evolutionary catalyst as he or she moves through the seven stages of the emergence of a regional foodshed.
STAGE ONE: GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL FOOD SYSTEM—CALLING OR VISION
We start, of course, in the context of the industrial food system—the current foodshed is global, not regional. As evolutionary catalysts, our initial role is primarily to observe—to watch, to listen, to feel, to understand, and above all, to see. This is essentially the same way a permaculturist approaches a new site, and it is a discipline that we will continue to cultivate throughout the entire process.
During this time, we discover that we ourselves are seeds of the emerging foodshed—not only are we called to this, but we can also begin to see what might be possible. And if we are attentive, we will find others in whom the foodshed is stirring, others who are mysteriously called.
Figure 5: The Emergence of an Evolutionary Catalyst
STAGE TWO: INCREASING DEMAND—CONNECTING WITH ESSENTIAL OTHERS
The hunger for local food grows in the community, and as evolutionary catalysts, we recognize this same hunger within ourselves. We develop connections in our own area—with local farmers and ranchers, with others who are involved in local food—and we listen. We further our essential education (see the appendix and bibliography for suggestions). We seek to experience centers of aliveness in our foodshed and look for others who may be evolutionary catalysts themselves. And to the extent we can (if we haven’t already), we begin to grow some of our own food—and perhaps even learn to preserve a bit of what we grow.
STAGE THREE: INCREASING PRODUCTION—CONNECTING WITH INNER AND OUTER REALITY
With increased demand, growers increase production; CSAs and farm stands pop up; farmers markets flourish. But efforts are inhibited in many ways, such as a lack of infrastructure, the cost of land, and many inefficiencies. As evolutionary catalysts, we seek to feel and understand the dynamics of this stage at a deep level. We become increasingly engaged in the issues of our emerging food system and engaged with those on the front lines of the local food movement. What we are learning here is who we are in all this, what we are truly being called to.
STAGE FOUR: LOCAL FOOD REVOLUTION—TURNING POINT
Stage four of the emerging foodshed is chaotic, with many people and groups working on various aspects of local food, but often at cross-purposes. It is at this point in the process that evolutionary catalysts are called to something radically different, a deeper revolution, more internal than external. Unshakable realizations begin to sink into our being. We find ourselves becoming radicalized, and we begin communicating more directly with others who may be similarly called, sharing what we are discovering.
• Localizing the food supply to the greatest extent possible, as quickly as possible, must explicitly be our unifying goal and mission. How we respond to this calling will determine our evolutionary future for a long time to come.
• We must build our own regional food system, rapidly learning to feed ourselves as locally as possible. This will require us to work together in deep collaboration, which will necessitate learning many new skills. We must be united in this effort.
• Together we must declare our independence from the global industrial food system and actively withdraw from it. We must cease purchasing its products and relying on its infrastructure, and we must resist all overtures for co-optation.
• We all must become food producers, not merely consumers.
• We must bring the sacred to the center of our labors, realizing that we serve something far greater than ourselves.
• We must hold this work of food localization itself as sacred, as an expression of what is seeking to emerge in our troubled world at this time—the beginning of healing, restoration, and regeneration of life on this planet.
• It’s not possible for us to make food localization happen. It’s part of something much deeper, more important, and more organic and natural than we had realized. The stakes are also much higher than we had previously allowed ourselves to see.
• If we are to serve effectively in this situation, we must commit to our own healing and regeneration.
These are not merely hard-won insights. They are urgings from the force of evolution itself. We can consider them as evolutionary memes and choose to be part of the process of their transmission and proliferation into our society.
Here we also find ourselves at a turning point in our own lives, of course. There is great temptation here to become an activist, an organizer, a planner, a leader. Any of these may indeed be appropriate roles for us, but it is far too soon to know or to commit to them.
In spite of the chaos and conflict evident during this stage, the evolutionary catalyst quietly seeks to infuse moral and ethical values—and even the sacred—into the mix, with the understanding that building a solid foundation for long-term healing and regeneration are the highest priorities in the food-localization effort.
STAGE FIVE: BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE—INNER AND OUTER PREPARATION
In the emerging foodshed, stage five is practical: rebuilding facilities for storage, distribution, and so forth. For the evolutionary catalyst, engagement at this stage provides an opportunity to deepen one’s commitment to the spiritual path that began to open up during the chaos of stage four. We realize that we are still in the early phases of our own development, that we are just beginning to learn what it means to be an agent of evolution. As we engage, however we can, in building the local food infrastructure, we are, most importantly, preparing ourselves on a deep inner level for world-work that we will ultimately do on an external level. This is a long process of learning (which will move through seven substages), and we will have ample opportunity to learn from mistakes along the way.
Here we must also remember that we have not fully completed our own healing process, and to the extent that we still suffer from living in a world of separation, we will be limited in what we will be able to contribute.
Gradually we become aware of our mission, the role that we must play, and begin forming the crucial relationships that will eventually enable us to fulfill it.
STAGE SIX: SCALING THE SYSTEM—MISSION ENGAGEMENT
Scale and efficiency must increase dramatically for there to be a working regional foodshed. In terms of our own development, this stage overlaps significantly with the work of stage five. We are always preparing and deepening along the way, but little by little, we become engaged in our fundamental life purpose. It’s possible that this could eventually take us outside the realm of food localization, which may itself be seen, in hindsight, as preparation for something larger. We begin to see the continuity of our life and can perhaps glimpse where it is taking us. Meanwhile, we are fully engaged in catalyzing the emergence of a new future on this earth.
STAGE SEVEN: REGIONAL FOODSHED—TRANSITION TO A NEW CONTEXT
Let us plant dates, even though those who plant them will never eat them.… We must live by the love of what we will never see. This is the secret discipline. It is a refusal to let the creative act be dissolved away in immediate sense experience, and a stubborn commitment to the future of our grandchildren. Such disciplined love is what has given prophets, revolutionaries, and saints the courage to die for the future they envisaged. They make their own bodies the seed of their highest hope.
—RUBEM ALVES, “TOMORROW’S CHILD”
Just as humans are essentially a transitional species, we evolutionary catalysts forever find ourselves plowing new ground, planting new seeds. Here the pathway steadily delivers us into new and unexpected territory, into a broader context or arena of life. We will clearly see that the work of food localization has prepared us well for the next stage of our journey.