Welcome
Et in Arcadia ego - Literally translated from Latin as "And I (too) in Arcadia" - Virgil
The idea for this website has come from antiquity. Arcadia is defined as "a region of ancient Greece in the central Peloponnesus. Its inhabitants, somewhat isolated from the rest of the world, proverbially, lived a simple, pastoral life. Any region offering rural simplicity and contentment. The term Arcadia is used to refer to an imaginary and paradisal place."
Arcadia Organics is a website that gathers together resources for people who are developing sustainable models for living with the natural world, rather than against it, to create an earthly paradise, in the real world, now. Drawing from various sources, Arcadia Organics will show the method for sustainable living: that it is possible to live a life that is harmonious, balanced, and genuine with authentic local elements, yet a life that is consciously connected to the rest of the world.
This site will initially present local, organic and sustainable solutions to the problems people face in a region of California stretching from Big Sur in the south, to Mendocino in the north. This is the geography that I know well. The diverse group of people actively finding ways to live in harmony with themselves, with their communities, and with the earth, is growing, as new technologies and time-honored knowledge and skills are combined in unique ways. From this local perspective, I will add details of projects from around the world, showing how to "think globally, and act locally". After all, there is only one planet earth.
Since change begins at home, I am using this site to allow you to follow the development of our gardens and microfarm on 3 acres in Santa Cruz County on California's Monterey Bay where over 100 varieties of fruit and 100 varieties of vegetables are grown year-round in rotation depending on the seasons. There is plenty of room for a wide variety of flowers, for the bees, the birds, beneficial insects, and of course simply because they are beautiful.
In addition, we have a close working relationship with Camphill Communities of California whose only facility on the west coast is in Soquel, adjacent to our gardens and microfarm. They have an expanding biodynamic garden, including a fruit orchard with peaches, apples, cherries, pears, avocados, nectarines, and soon olives. In a separate area they have a newly planted citrus grove including lemons, limes, and oranges. In the spring, winter, and autumn, the vegetable gardens meet many of the cuilinary needs of residents. Camphill is a symbol of what is possible when people work together as a true community, and replace human relations based on economic exchange with ones based on shared interests as human beings.
Personal experience has shown me that Arcadia is not in the past, it is not in the future, it is not in the heavens; it is on earth, now. But Arcadia does not exist by accident. It is the result of determined action by many people active in their communities to make a sustainable future happen - encouraging people to see the earth as a living system, of which humans are but a small part of the whole.
Soon, for the first time in history, the majority of people on earth will live in cities, and they are losing connections with the land that has sustained all cultures from the beginning of time. The ancient concept of community, which has been rooted in villages and towns is being replaced by market forces in cities around the world, where people must buy the necessities of life with money. Such new relationships break up regional economies and devalue authentic culture, sustainable patterns of land use, and truly independent societies. These conditions are grounded in decisions made by consumers around the world, every day of the week.
Nothing less than a new land and food ethic is needed. Everytime we buy food, clothes, and any other consumable, our choices shape farms and nature and communities somewhere in the world. It's the most political decision we make, and we make it every day. When viewed in this light, the decision to buy at a local Farmers Market, or at WalMart is important. With awareness of the true costs of each purchase, we can "show the method": support people and institutions that are creating the world that we want to live in, and deny support to the people and institutions that are destroying the world we want to live in. It really is as simple as that.
By providing access to information and expertise, Arcadia Organics is helping people to live in harmony with themselves, and with the earth that sustains us all.
"For it is important that awake people be awake. Or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep; The signals we give -- yes or no, or maybe -- Should be clear: the darkness around us is deep."
- William Stafford, American Poet
|
