“Organic agriculture does not use the poisons and fossil fuels that will kill everything from eagles and butterflies to our fish supply. It retains soil so that fertile sediments are not lost into the sea. It builds healthy, living cells in human and animal bodies which do not contain such high levels of carcinogens, all without destroying the necessities of life, like fresh water, air, soil and oceans…its sustainability is evident in that it produces the multiple dividends that always appear when our method of producing what we need is in harmony with natural systems. It’s cheaper; it’s easier; it requires less fuel and no expensive chemical inputs, but it does require more human labor, all of which the world seems ready to see once more as desirable…if practiced properly even over the short term, organic farming is fully as productive as industrial methods. Over the long term, it is incomparably more productive. The fact that it continues to grow at such strong rates - over 20% a year - give us great hope, not only for our soils and freshwater, but for the seas; as we demand more and more organic methods of food production, legions of terrible contamination and conservation problems will simply melt away.” - David Suzuki and Holly Dressel Good News for a Change: Hope for a Troubled Planet
How grateful was I to pick up this book? My family and I have not watched Television for 10 years and one advantage of that is that we are not hammered twice a day with the bad news. Reading Suzuki and Dressel’s book was a godsend. It is packed with inspiring stories of change. And I wouldn’t have known about a tenth of the Good News Holly and David have to offer, if I had’ve relied on the evening news.
Have you ever noticed what type of advertising pays for the news? Your watching the latest bombing or mass murder, natural disaster or system wrought, feeling confused and horribly ineffective. “How can my family treat each other this way, why is our world so insane, why are our efforts of peacemaking not working?” Then suddenly in the midst of your anguish and depression - the answer - the latest sports car, furniture, flashy magazine, fashion or sugary lump of love will make you feel better. You’ll forget all our troubles and fulfill all your desires, if only you buy this.
I turned off the TV forever in 1995, shortly after an advertising campaign by a large insurance company which ended with the words “for the most important person in the world…. you.”
I didn’t know about 911 until my husband’s incredulous cries called me into the computer room the morning after it happened. I wasn’t subject to the 48 hour playing and replaying of the horror, the sensationalised violence and fear mongering that others told me about. 5 years later, I was busy having a good time at the Woodford festival when I came across a makeshift stall set up by Oxfam to raise funds for the Tsunami…”What Tsunami?” Pretty soon everyone at Woodford knew about the disaster (without a TV in sight) and money started pouring in for the relief fund.
For the past few years, I have trusted that what news I need to know will come from my immediate community. Now to get my news I read websites like Ode Magazine’s Inspirational site and The World is Changing, another good news site.
Thanks to Morgan Daly of World Peace One for these inspiring sites.
Others I have found are
Positive News.org
Positive News.net
Positivepress.com
About the Author...
Joanne Hay, Editor of Nourished Magazine, Chief Nourisher and Mother of three is very grateful to live in Byron Bay and be able to share all she has learned about Nourishment. She has trained as an Acupuncturist (unfinished), Kinesiologist (finished) and parent (never finished). She serves the Weston A Price Foundation as a chapter leader. She loves sauerkraut, kangaroo tail stew, home made ice cream, her husband Wes and her kids Isaiah, Brynn and Ronin (in no particular order…well maybe ice cream first).
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