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Shopping is an American social pastime, but the problem is that shopping from "want," instead of from "need," causes the use of planetary resources we can't afford to burn. We talked about this a little here.
Yesterday, I mentioned how much fun my daughter Isabella had running out to a farm field to harvest vegetables. Harvesting? Shopping? Harvesting? Shopping?
Wait! Aren't they kind of the same thing?
Here are the excellent thoughts on the subject of a regular reader and commenter, who calls herself Linda from Deerfield:
I keep thinking about Isabella being thrilled by "going out into the field to harvest a squash". Am I imagining things, or does this not point to a gloriously healthy direct substitute for shopping?
I read about a potato farmer who ran out of harvest time and profitability, so he invited the public to dig their own and take them home -- much to his surprise, literally thousands came. I once took my friend and little one to a rural orchard, mistakenly assuming that few people had discovered the delight of an afternoon plucking apples and sipping cider -- I was stunned by the huge line of families in cars waiting to pay their fee and gain entry.
There is evidently a great hunger within us to harvest our own food, but still we stand by and let the orchards and farms fall to developers.
