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Pig-inspired insight

Posted at 11:03 AM on January 11, 2008 by Donna McClurkan (1 Comments)

Predictably, questions are being asked. In different ways, the same thing: Why are you doing this? The questions don’t lend themselves to sound-bite answers.

It feels right to start with books. One in particular, The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood (Sy Montgomery, Ballantine Books, May 2006), came along as I was feeling crushed under a seemingly endless stream of grim statistics about climate change, tainted pet food, colony collapse disorder, deterioration of the Great Lakes, etc. I whipsawed back and forth between what can I do? and why bother?

In the reader’s guide to the The Good Good Pig, Ms. Montgomery was asked how she deals with the fact the prognosis for our planet grows increasingly dire. She replied:

I can’t believe it’s ever too late. Otherwise I would eat the cyanide pill and stop sucking down perfectly good oxygen. Of course we need to vote the bad guys out of office. And we need to vote with every purchase, every meal, with the words we say and the sort of life we lead.

This claim – we can vote with every purchase, every meal and everything we say and do – really resonated with me. It speaks of optimism, the power of choice, and hope (our most important renewable resource, as Barbara Kingsolver fans may know).

Sy Montgomery calls us to consciously map our values to all decisions we make in the course of a day, every day. I can do this.

It can start with food.

Comments (1)

Donna, thanks for taking up the torch on this important topic. Other than breathing, there is nothing more important to every individual organism on our planet than eating. It is tied up as individually and personally rewarding, as well as at the core of our social and political lives. This is true whether we are conscious of these profound connections or not. Blessings on your new journey.

Posted by Bruce Schultz | January 27, 2008 6:47 AM