Last Ditch

Somehow I find myself at the end of another year and since it has been an age since I last posted, I thought I would take a look back at the year that was and offer a few thoughts.

It’s been pretty hard to feel hopeful these last few months, especially with the overwhelming silence from food producers and the permaculture community in the face of genocide in Palestine. I know this topic is off limits for many and I humbly ask you to look deeply at why that might be. If you can’t stomach watching children’s body parts being pulled out from rubble in Gaza, maybe you don’t get to weigh in on the topic.

The environment feels very much like the 9/11 wars all over again (which killed an estimated 432,000 civilians), where any time you mention the Palestinian death toll, you are immediately met with all manner of statements meant to dehumanize people who had nothing to do with Hamas’ attack on Oct 7th. How can we condemn violence against one people but not another? At what point is the response so utterly disproportionate, we question whether we have any basic humanity left at all? There are so so so many Palestinian and Jewish voices speaking about these issues right now and they are connected to food security.

However you feel, I don’t think it can be argued that most people still see food security and permaculture as entirely separate from mass displacement and death. People want to dream up pretty gardens and talk “self sufficiency” and log homes. The bulldozing of homes, seizing of land and crops, destruction of water sources and civilian infrastructure are all glaring examples of what is on the line when we talk about food security. None of this even factors in accelerating climate change.

I have been struggling to know what I can possibly add to the conversation around topics I am passionate about, especially now. Last Ditch was always just an idea dumping ground but I have to confess that the ideas have been few and far between these days. Videos about permaculture and farming are everywhere and there’s actually a lot of great content out there. While I do enjoy making videos and talking about food growing, I still do find a lot conversations to be really lacking in critical approaches and often incredibly white.

One thing I have been giving thought to for my own approach is how I can better curate the content of other creators, especially those who challenge the status quo and offer decolonial perspectives. As a very small start, I offer this YouTube playlist. I hope you find it a useful starting place and good food for thought.

In my own garden, I am very proud of growing just over 9 Kgs (about 20 lbs) of food on less than 178 square feet in the middle of a city. Tomatoes and peppers grew in great abundance and here in Vancouver we had incredibly mild and “normal” year. While Canada and BC experienced the worst wild fires we have ever seen, Vancouver was spared the worst of the effects of climate change this year.

I’m really happy with my home food production but definitely want to adjust a few things for next year. The first thing I want to change is to simply grow fewer tomatoes. As much as I love them and as productive as they are, we simply ended up with too many. I think it’s pretty common for folks to really lean hard on a crop that does well but it also doesn’t feel good to compost food you have grown so I am looking at expanding pepper production (easier to dry) and to try a few new crops, including sesame seeds.

I hope to post in the new year and focus some much needed attention on the YouTube channel but as ever, I’m mostly scattering seeds into the wind to see what takes.

May the odds be ever in your favour.

Disclaimer: I know at some point someone will attempt to take this out of context so I am adding this: of course I condemn anti-semitism and the loss of Jewish life. I vehemently condemn acts of violence and retribution against the Jewish diaspora. 2023 saw a huge rise in antisemitism in the media and in communities around the world, which I also condemn and will continue to speak out about. I have listened to Jewish voices, read a lot of news from well respected UN and non-government sources, talked with friends who have lived in Gaza, and of course, listened closely to the voices of Palestinians. I hold a Masters degree in history and study the social impacts of revolutions and war.