“When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.” – David Orr

When I think of freedom, I think first of food. Perhaps because nourishment is our most basic need. Our mothers hold us and feed us to soothe our bodies and bring the peace that can enliven our spirit. The Earth is no different in its capacity to nurture. And yet, most of us marvel at neither the seeds nor the soil that hold within them the greatest of treasures. It is no wonder that conception is spoken of in terms of seeds. Within the soil gestates the intelligence of the past and the splendor of the future, but all too often we fail to value it. What is surprising is that we recognize the miracle of humanity while rendering the Earth an object to be conquered, poisoned and annihilated through our choices for cheap food rather than nutritious and organic food.

The future begins with the farmer: the one who respects the Earth, that great body from which nourishment flows.

Today, we are charged with building our own path to freedom, a path that recognizes the interconnectedness among all forms of life. By first illuminating and then severing the chains that keep us bound to addictions and destructive behaviors, we can rise up to fulfill our true potential. As people awaken to this new reality where the truth cannot hide, we need to be aware of who we are empowering to build the new world around us.

Freedom means that we can no longer escape the responsibility to steer the course of our lives in a way that is mindful of its wholeness. Our bodies, spirits, and minds must grow in equal measure if we are to succeed in surviving this new cycle. No longer is it okay to demand justice in the streets while accepting toxic food grown under slavery to fuel our daily lives. Our seeds need healthy soil to be strong.

The tension that exists today is felt from the ground up because we accept to feed on tainted soil. The poisons in our bodies make us susceptible to accept the poisons in our lives. We tolerate and perpetrate more explosive violence and misogyny at every turn because we feed on it from the minute we wake. It is a cycle that binds us to wasting our days in fear and anger instead of in growth and creativity.

In order to see this change, we need to be willing and ready to accept the dissolution that occurs as a result of it when it comes. What we are seeing today is no less than the eruption that is necessary for renewal. The current [food] system must die so we can replace it with one that values genuine health and healing first. We must cease to support the corner stores and supermarkets that pump more disease into communities by fostering rampant destruction of life and welcome those businesses thatcollaborate and support organic farmers.

Freedom means releasing our dependency from the same systems that promote our very destruction. When Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. implored us to get to the mountaintop with him, it was to spur our duty to strive towards an internal place where peace grows naturally into the world around us so we can move towards “external direct action” and motivate whole communities to “withdraw economic support” for those businesses that feed on our own destruction and enslavement.

To have true freedom we must rebuild our country from the soil to the skyscraper. The current food system is still built upon slavery. Food workers and farm workers toil away for next to nothing putting their health at risk from the chemicals that poison the very ground upon which we grow.

Dominion does not mean domination. The Earth is in our charge. We must protect what grows out of it. We have to love the seed and the soil before we can have true justice. Equality begins with a transformation in how we tend to Mother Earth, which directly affects the quality of the food we eat, which leads to better health and a more appropriate foundation for remembering and acting as though this life matters.

Take action today by supporting the growers who want you to be healthy and whole.