Monday, March 8th, 2010

What the Soil Could Do

Toronto, Ontario

Daruka from Winnipeg knows me too well. He was off to Union Station on foot, a good 45 minute walk. There he would catch a train for Ottawa. He invited me to accompany him. It’s an honour to walk almost anywhere. If I was given an offer for a ride I would feel less privileged. Here, Daruka, who drove my support vehicle in the summer of 2008, wanted some company. Dwija, our first class monk from the ashram, also came along.

There was not particularly great scenery to write about. It was still dark. We cut through Queens’s Park, one of the forested areas our guru, Srila Prabhupada, ventured through one morning in either ’75 or ’76. That’s rather special. The only other thing to get a little bit excited about was the CN Tower in the distance. It glows from pink, to red, to green. In the daytime a person from its peak will see 90% of the best soil for growing anywhere. Only problem is that most of it is accounted for and covered over with concrete. This is the urban reality of today. In any event, Daruka just wanted some association and I was happy to comply.

Daruka went off. Then Vyapaka came in. He arrived from the States. He said that the economy is bad. So we have heard. I mentioned to him that perhaps Detroit, disheveled as it is, should be ploughed under and the land returned to the farmers. Vyapaka, who is an agriculturist, suggested Toronto could do that too, implying that it’s got the quality soil.

Okay! Let’s redo the Great Lakes region. It needs an over-haul. But who is ready for urban agriculture in North America? Is there anyone ready to go the way of Krishna and herd animal and see that the grains will grow and be harvested? Are we ready for good local food?

There is a Whole Foods store, a branch of this popular chain food organic outlet, that Dwija and I passed by. It’s a mere 5 minutes from our temple. They have good natural food but it’s not local. That’s sad!

Spring is in the air and you can start to envision the potential growth of plants beyond concrete zones. Will edible plants and people ever be intermingled or will they always be distances apart?

7 KM