food for peace!

Hi all - just fresh back from the berkeley farmer's market. And boy am I caffeinated to the gills, thanks to the blue bottle coffee folk's new orleans iced coffee. Man, that gets me everytime. And this time, I was sipping it, trying to remain calm, cool, and collected....when Taylor asked me to watch his stand for a few minutes (so he could pee). So there I was, trying to wheel and deal meats for the Fatted Calf, and almost gulping my coffee down. result? instant cracked-on caffeine high!

Let me be the first to say that my earlier post on the potential of coffee to unite the world in peace was a somewhat incomplete plan. I think that food needs to be a part of the peace effort. Sure, I'm not original in thinking this, but it is the path to peace that gets me most excited. I also think it could work. What better way to understand other people's lives and work than through agriculture?
Earlier this year I got excited about the idea of taking back the suburbs. The plan was to knock down fences and start up fields. Organic, of course. I envisioned the good orchard land of Walnut Creek being turned back into orchards. Instead of just competing with other neighborhoods at the swim meets, kids could compete for best peaches or best cherries or best walnuts, for god's sake. The big blockage there is that commercial agriculture gets commercial agricultural water prices. So, that's a pretty big problem. Not insurmountable.
Even without the suburbs retaken, farming and food could still lead us to better understanding with our neighbors and "enemies". What date farmer in the middle east wouldn't want to chat with the date farmers in CA about ways to make dates tastier and grow better? What snooty food yuppie wouldn't want to brag about how she spends one weekend a year at the farm, helping milk the goats for the goat cheese she eats by the pound? I think it could work. The more we emphasize our similarities the easier it is to get along and the harder it is to kill each other. Sure, the plan needs more fleshing out. Sure, I'm totally caffeinated, but it's good to dream.