growingCities: Finding Food + A New Balance in the City

A growing number of foodies are seeking out new hidden spots in the city that have nothing to do with the café or restaurant scene. From gathering edible greens in a park to digging for clams along the coast, urban foragers harvest a surprisingly diverse range of fresh (and extremely local) foods in cities across North America.

In New York City, naturalist and “Wildman” Steve Brill leads foraging groups through several public sites in the area: including Central Park, and Prospect Park. His tours span from March to December (at a suggested donation of $15 for adults). Finds of course vary by season, and include a huge range of plants – many of which you may not have heard of. More familiar species include: apples, apricots, peaches, strawberries, cherries, plantains, wild carrots, garlic, walnuts, and a variety of mushrooms.

via growingCities: Finding Food + A New Balance in the City.

Futurology

Are you Afraid of the Future?

I don’t see it that way myself. I think things will go on, changing as we evolve. Overall, I have hight expectations for people to change for the better and make things work. I don’t think the worst of the destruction and mayhem will really happen. Why would we let it? Why would our future people (the children now and their children after them) let things end? We all want to live, to survive. People seem to lose track of that basic fact when they get into creating end of the world scenarios.

So, I look at the apocalypse art, the end of the world stories as fiction, creative and imaginative and a warning to those who can make decisions to keep the really bad things from happening. Actually, that’s all of us, in case you were in doubt. We all make big and little decisions which can cause change or leave things the way they are.

What are you Doing About It?

Are you littering or recycling? Isn’t that such a small thing and yet it’s a choice each person can make everyday, several times a day. On this planet we live on, are you a recycler or a litterer? Do you keep things going, care about what you’re doing or do you casually throw it all away expecting someone else to come along and clean up your mess? You might be waiting a long time for someone else to clean up your mess… maybe right to the end of the world.

Think about that next time you flick a cigarette butt out the window or onto the grass. Think about that next time you throw out paper instead of recycling it. Think about that next time you’re shopping and buy items you don’t really need and then think about it again as you throw out all that packaging from the thing you didn’t really need. War isn’t the only thing that can end our world, one way or another, it’s all about the people in the world and what they do with it.

Body Modification: Will Foot Binding Make a Come Back?

I’m not a piercing fan. Some of it looks nice but some looks too far gone. I’ve seen stretched ears where the flap of skin is dry and pulled tight. It turns my stomach. The little bit of ear skin left at the edge looks like thin leather about to snap. I can’t deal with people who have this – my focus is on their ear rather than what they are trying to tell me. I’m not against body modification, I just don’t want to see it when it looks painful or like it’s about to require stitches/ surgery to fix it.

Green Travel Ideas

Don’t litter.

You can at least control the trash and waste you create yourself. In Ontario we used to have "Keep Ontario Beautiful" on vehicle license plates. I miss seeing it there. But, the slogan was all about appreciating what we have and keeping it clean and looked after.

Reuse plastic bags, they are great for repacking when you have dirty clothes and your walking shoes.

Walk.

You see more when you walk anyway. But, you also make a much smaller carbon footprint. For an adventure explore other ways of getting around that don’t rely on fossil fuels. Other places have different situations and weather conditions, you could have a great day exploring on horseback, renting a bike, or even taking the local bus (at least you’re not consuming extra fuel resources that way).

Eat In.

Shop at the local stores and pick up whatever fresh food you can find. Fresh food will have less packaging and create less garbage.

If that isn’t practical you can still buy food from the grocery store and have a picnic outside or bring it back to your hotel and eat indoors. Give support to the local economy, save yourself some money and don’t eat food that has been imported from "back home" when you aren’t at home.

Power Off and Save Water.

Energy and water are world wide problems. Be energy and water conscious even when you aren’t at home and won’t see the bill at the end of the month.

Take Tour.

Being in a new place can be intimidating. Make sure you get out, take a tour recommended by your hotel, site outside somewhere and people watch, go for a walk. Make sure you see more than your hotel before you head home.

Pick up a map and find local attractions, historical places, art galleries. Some museums and galleries will have free admission days during the week.

Be Careful What You Buy.

Chances are any natural exotic product is going to be a problem when you cross the border going home. Exotic animals and plants are a big NO, even if they are no longer alive. Understand the rules before you start spending your money.

 

Obsolete Technology and Lost Crafts 

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old black telephoneI’m interested in history, the people the places and the things they used. Have you ever found an old tool or gadget and wondered what it did and how it was used? It seems the more technology we gain, the more we lose of ourselves and our past knowledge and ingenuity.

Have you ever dialled a rotary phone? Do you remember carefully placing the needle on the record player? Would you be able to sit at a typewriter and write a letter, using carbon copy paper? Do you still have cassette tapes, even after you lost track of your tape player?

Do you remember using a pay phone in a phone booth rather than a mobile phone? Spending money on film for your camera and then spending more to get your film developed at the store? Do you remember floppy disks? Do you remember paying extra for a letter to be delivered the next day when there wasn’t another option? I doubt you can even find a wind-up wrist watch now. Wrist watches of any kind are falling into being obsolete as the mobile phone has that function too.

Analog anything is not so easily found. I wanted a clock radio for a Christmas gift and couldn’t find one, not a well made one. The only clock radios I found were cheap-made, so cheaply made I wouldn’t ever have bought one. People aren’t listening to the radio as often these days.

Technology leaves so many things behind as it grows and changes. It’s expensive. But, the computer is just a modern technology still, there are older technologies and crafts which have been replaced or lost before computers came into popularity. Even something which used to seem so essential as writing in the cursive script. It’s not even taught in school now. My nieces can only print. They can read my cursive writing, but don’t know how to create it themselves.

You can still find a blacksmith, stonemason or a bookbinder. But, you would have to look a lot harder to find a carriage builder or a lighthouse keeper. Some of those old trades have changed a lot and aren’t much in use except for someone who wants something created just like it was 100 years ago.

You won’t find people telling time with sundials or hourglasses now. You won’t find telegraph machines busy with use either. Next up are the old calculators. Not because they aren’t being used, but they aren’t being used on their own, as one machine not connected or a part of something else.

Two things in the modern versus obsolete technology I don’t agree with are books and landline phones. I don’t own (or want) a mobile phone. I like the landline. I can leave it at home and check messages when I want to. I’m not paying a huge bill for a phone I don’t really want to answer. I’m not availalble for people to phone me, unless I want to be available. In the case of books… you just can’t take an eReader to bed with you the same way you can take a book to bed with you.

It’s a bit sad, seeing those old friends left behind as technology changes. I like to see how people are finding new uses for some of the old things, not as a joke, but as a real use, keeping them practical. I like the term repurposing.

Links to Find and Read by the Fireside

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