I think in many ways, I’ve always been somewhat of an outsider - marching to a beat that I sometimes feel that I alone can hear. Don’t get me wrong, I can and do get along with most anyone and I have an amazing group of family and friends that encourage and support me wholeheartedly.

But one of the things I love about Southern Soil is the way that it has connected me with an entire community of people that get many of the things I am most passionate about.

I get to meet some really awesome people in the course of my work and it’s nourishing to my soul to have conversations with like-minded people. People who never look at me questioningly when I say things like: “I’m really into permaculture”, “I hate grass lawns”, “How is your bacon raised?” or “How often do you feed your worms?”

Conversations that easily move from worm poo to medicinal herbs, or bounce back and forth between crop rotation and ethically-produced meats. 

I love that I get to talk to people about real solutions to some of our world’s biggest problems: climate change, food insecurity, disease prevention and the health of our environment. 

And you know what I love most about it?

I rarely know if these people that I’m talking with are Democrats or Republicans. It doesn’t matter that their race, gender, age, religion, or socio-economic background may be different than my own. Because food is something that unites us all.

Locally and sustainably produced food is something that can even bring together right-wing preppers and left-wing environmentalists! There aren’t many topics with that kind of power!!!

Those problems I mentioned above … there really are REAL solutions to those problems being discussed and put into practice every single day by men and women who are working hard in our local food systems.

Food - the way we grow and produce it, where and how it’s sold - is at the root of many of those problems and is therefore also the starting point for many solutions.

By all means, vote! Participate in your local and national political elections.

But don’t allow party allegiances to blind you to real solutions. Don’t close your heart to people who may vote differently than you do, but with whom you see eye to eye with when it comes to improving our food systems.

Let’s find the common ground where we can build something beautiful. 

Let’s grow together!