The Cure: Systemic Thinking
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Dear Friends, 
We have been looking at remarkable individuals, companies, and organizations over the last several months. The very kind of groups we need to support and create more of—to right a world that is terribly off-based—and as you know per my research, is de-evolving at an alarming rate. To create a world of true environmental quality, social equity, and economic sustainability requires more of us coming to the plate and joining the fight—joining the revolution. Let’s look at some more luminary companies and individuals guiding the way. The organizations we have looked at thus far derive their principles for right action by observing nature and how sustainable ecosystems are created. Nature exudes the reality of systemic thinking, and therefore, gaining an understanding of what it means to be a systemic thinker is of utmost important. One of the world’s leading proponents of systemic thinking is Fritjof Capra, who in 1975 excited readers around the world with his first book, The Tao of Physics. This was followed over the decades by his other books— The Turning Point, Uncommon Wisdom, Belonging to the Universe, The Web of Life, and The Hidden Connections. In this instructive clip you will see Professor Capra lecturing to his students on systemic thinking and the theory of living systems from the point of view of sustainability and ecology. He says, “A sustainable community is designed in such a way that its ways of life, its technology and its social institutions honor, support and cooperate with natures inherent ability to sustain life.” He asks. “How does nature do it? How have ecosystems evolved to sustain the web of life? This understanding is what I call Eco-literacy.” Dr. Capra is the founding director of the Center for Eco-literacy in Berkeley, California, where he lives. The center is dedicated to education for sustainable living. “Eco-literacy is organized to help K-12 educators and parents to educate and inspire ecological and system thinking into their young lives. We provide information, inspiration, and support to the vital movement of K-12 educators, parents and other members of the school community who are helping young people gain the knowledge, skills and values essential to sustainable living.” I hope you take a moment to click on this link and check out their offerings. For example, if you go to their home page and the tab, Resources, it will take you to a wonderful list of resources. Check out the first one, entitled Action for Nature. Action For Nature (AFN) is a USA-based nonprofit organization that inspires young people to take action for the environment and protect the natural world in their own neighborhood and around the world. At the AFN home page look to the left hand margin and click on the Eco-Hero Awards. Then click on the red arrow the reads “2009 Winners”. The boy at the top of the winner list is 12-year old Cameron Oliver. Check out his community work. It will inspire you! It gives hope for the beautiful creature from last week’s email whose picture I identify at the bottom of this email. What better way is there to change the world than to educate our children to love and respect the natural world in which we live. Teaching them not to be afraid to take action: to stop the degradation of the environment around them, the annihilation of many of the creatures—including human beings—is perhaps the most important of all our actions. It is truly amazing and inspiring to see what these kids accomplished. What steps can we each take individually to break through the inertia of our life’s path? What can we do today, a small step, to become involved? Last summer I became aware of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) but wasn’t willing to change our shopping and eating habits, as I felt that shopping at an organic co-op, as we have done for the last thirty years, was good enough. This year I am more committed to the direct support of small organic farmers. So over the weekend I went to the home page of our bioimmersion.com and clicked on our Green Facts link at the bottom of the page—Inside the Meatrix. In the middle of the Meatrix home page it says, “Sustainable Table celebrates the sustainable food movement, educates consumers on food-related issues and works to build community through food.” To the right of this statement you will see a place to put in your zip code, which then will take you to a listing of farms in your area, including CSAs. My search returned 230 listings within 20 miles of my zip code—from U-picks, to Co-ops, to Farmers Markets, to organic stores, to CSAs where we could get our provisions. I clicked on the CSAs and found 20 listed. In case you are unfamiliar with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) I have including this link to the Helsing Junction Farm for you to check out. Their description of a CSA says it nicely: “CSA is simple yet revolutionary. As a CSA member, you join for the whole season and pay the farmer directly for your produce, which provides a secure retail market for the farm’s crops. This gives financial stability to the farm, which in turn enables the farm to commit to high quality produce at fair prices for you. With CSA programs there are no banks or government subsidies involved, just farmers and people working together to sustain small farms and provide quality food. Join a CSA program and become part of the growing movement striving to keep water and soil safe as well as maintain open spaces and farmland for the future. Help us put the culture back in agriculture! “ We will get our first delivery of produce today as we try out the Helsing Junction Farm’s system (I’ll include a picture of what we get in next weeks email). It was hard to choose, as there are a number of wonderful choices. Another farm that really tweaked my interest, and that we must physically check out, is Jubilee Farm. As with Helsing Junction Farm they are organic, but they add the dimension of biodynamic farming. In the 70’s I spent a week living and working in a biodynamic farming commune in Covelo, California under the leadership of Alan Chadwick. In 1982 Mother Earth News wrote a wonderful obituary for the passing of this great man. I quote the first paragraph for you, “Most regular readers of this publication already know Alan Chadwick as the founder of the biodynamic/French intensive school of horticulture. Many, no doubt, can even name a few of the sites — the University of California at Santa Cruz, the Green Gulch retreat, Virginia’s Carmel in the Valley, and others — whose soil has experienced his magic. It’s strange, then, that few people know much about Alan’s background. . . about the influences and forces that fed this exceptional man to develop what could well be the most truly wholistic gardening method in existence.” It was absolutely, utterly amazing to see what they could grow, truly magical, and it was all organic. The following quote is from the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association website: “In the early 1920’s a group of practicing farmers, concerned with the decline of the soil, sought the advice of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, founder of anthroposophy, who had spent all his life researching and investigating the forces that regulate life and growth. From a series of lectures and conversations held at Koberwitz, Germany, in June 1924, there emerged the fundamental principles of biodynamic farming and gardening, a unified approach to agriculture that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to that of the entire cosmos. This approach has been under development in many parts of the world ever since. Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, who worked with Dr. Steiner during the formative period, brought biodynamic concepts to the United States in the 1930s. It was during this period that the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association was founded in 1938.” So we will have to take time to visit this Jubilee Farm. I will report back to you. How are you? What are you finding that you can do to move our planet in the right direction? It is going to take a critical mass of us moving in the right direction to shift the consciousness of this de-evolving world. And, as I have said before, as health practitioners, you are on the front line of the battle, for you are seeing in your patients the ramifications of our environmental and life style misdeeds. Finally, I want to posit with you the idea that your patients can be a tremendous force for change across the country, and the globe. We need more activists to change our world. Sincerely yours, Seann Bardell Clinical Note: We have found a pristine source for organic Chlorella! Watch for it on our website in a few weeks. The organic Chlorella will be a 500 mg. pressed tablet with no excipients or binders.
The Last Quiz Answer: This amazing creature is a rare Bactrian wild camel of the Gobi desert of which there are about 800 individuals left. Their habitat is extremely harsh— the temperature in the Goi may reach 60 to 70 deg C (140 to 160 F) in Summer and -30 deg C (-22 deg F) in Winter.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, human population grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion people during the course of the 20th century. (Think about it: It took all of time for population to reach 1.6 billion; then it shot to 6.1 billion over just 100 years.) During that time emissions of CO2, the leading greenhouse gas, grew 12-fold. By Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine |
