Monday, June 10, 2013

The Grey-Green Gradient

The upside of being assigned a teeny, tiny itsy bitsy airplane is that you can see out of both sides and out into the big wide world. And, as I sit here, looking out at southeast Michigan, I am struck by the difference between the view out of the right and left windows. On the right, I gaze at the Detroit River and see all of the trademarks of heavy industry: the billowing smokestacks and I swear I see the growing piles of petroleum coke that have been so hotly discussed by the media (although surely this must be my imagination). On the left,west of the city, I see a myriad of small lakes gleam silver in the early evening light; dense wooded areas, as well as the regular, rectangular fields where I know a farmer is lovingly tending crops.

At all times, but particularly at times like these when I have a bird’s eye view of the world that I am reminded o the importance of events such as the Homegrown Festival and the greenbelt initiative. The Festival works to build community support through people’s hearts (and stomachs). Support that is vital to the initiation and continued support for political actions that will protect and conserve what makes our community green. I have found, through recent experiences, that there is nothing more powerful than communication and community involvement when working to affect change. This change could be altering peoples’ spending habits, whom they elect, or what ballot initiatives they support.


So let’s work together to stay on the green side of the gradient. Support your local farmers. Support your local parks. And, put September 7, (6-10pm) on your calendars and have a great time supporting Homegrown Festival 2013.