GoFarm Goes to Santa Fe!

"Food is the field in which we daily explore our harmony with the world."

After GoFarm! decided to stop installing backyard gardens, I made a visit to Randy Jewart over at Resolution Gardens. Resolution Gardens currently installs and maintains backyard gardens in the Austin area - just in case you're looking - and has a cool home base over off of 35th and Mopac. We talked a lot about how we might create a sustainable food system and the general state of food production in Austin, Texas. He mentioned getting a group of greenies/foodies together, hopping in a car and going to Santa Fe for the national gathering of the Slow Money Alliance.

I told Randy that I would marinate on the idea and get back to him. The next day he sent out an email to me and several other people inviting us to figure out how to get ourselves there. After several chains of emails, and some coordination work from Randy and Mason Arnold, five of us decided to hit the road in a mini van and check it out.

So far, it has been an amazing experience. Santa Fe appeared on the horizen as the sun was coming up this morning. We were all delirious after the twelve hour drive and excited about the conference. The pink and purple bruised sunrise over the yellow desert was an unexpected gift and - to me - a good omen for what was to come.

We dropped off our stuff at our condo, had time for showers and headed on over to the Railyard in Santa Fe. The city of Santa Fe has spent a lot of time and money on creating a community center at the Railyard that includes a farmer's market, several art studios, a train station and restaurants. What a great place to hold a conference about discovering where compassion, economics and food coincide.

"As it circulates the globe with ever accelerating speed, money sucks oxygen out of the air, fertility out of the soil, and culture out of society." - David Orr

The day started out with Woody Tasch, founder of the Slow Money Alliance, giving an opening address. Carbon output, population and the New York City Stock Exchange have been accelerating at an unprecedented rate. Our money is out of control. Our food systems are failing. Where do we get our food? Where does our money go? How can we address these problems?
Genghis Khan

The target of Slow Money is the mobilization of investors, civic transformation and the creation of Nurture Capital Industries. "We are not out to defeat capitalism - we are out to complete it." Tasch quipped. "We need to put the seed back into seed money."

He ended his presentation with putting up pictures of Susan B. Anthony, Julius Ceaser, Ghengis Khan, and Abe Lincoln. He asked us if we knew what they all had in common?

The answer? They all ate organic food - but it was just called food back then.

Lots of other things happened today, but I cannot begin to explain to you my current level of exhaustion and general brain scrabbled-ness. I did take a lot of notes - hopefully they are coherent - and I will write more as I process it all.

Right now, I will leave you with this: I am so impressed with the group of people from the Austin community that I made this trip with. They are all so graceful, humble, open, and committed to the cause. I have felt overwhelmed and ignorant at certain times today, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to become aware of things that I didn't even know that I didn't know.

More tomorrow. As always - Go Farm yourself!