A dude with Crohns trying to make a difference

I seen this dudes video today and was very happy so see what he is doing trying to help local farms and I'm 180% Behind these kinds of efforts. It always makes me happy when I see people really going out and trying to change the world where they can-Jay

I am sending this email out to on behalf of Green Angel Gardens.  I wish to raise funding to save this farm from foreclosure.  

My blog: peaceandfood.blogspot.com

I have ulcerative colitis and to manage this disease I have changed career goals from mental health counselor to farmer.  Since loosing my health I have been bound and determined to find my health.  My focus on wellness has been nonstop, for better or worse.  With my focus on wellness I researched all avenues.  This had me juice fasting, water fasting, eliminating grains, green smoothies, meditation, yoga, interval and weight training, chiropractic, energy work, and finally lifestyle change.

Notice the above has a lot of references to food.  For the past 2 years of ill health I was convinced that cleaning up my diet would clean up my health.  Diet alone has not been enough.  I thought diet and western medicine would do the trick, nope. My diet has changed dramatically and my search for balance and peace has finally surpassed my previous search for powder and surf.  My mantra has changed to peace and food.  My blog has been aptly named: Peaceandfood.blogspot.com.

Peace, food, peace, food……  Must find peace and food.  With my priorities simplified I began to see and feel where I wished to direct my life.  I am now a farmer.  The minute I said the “F” word I knew I should pursue this path.  Farmer bounced around in my mind as comfortable as words like skier and surfer. 

I am now staying at Green Angel Gardens in Longbeach Washington with my new friend Larkin Stentz.  Larkin came into my life weeks ago and directed me to Willets California to learn the “Grow Biointensive" method of growing vegetables.  I contacted the school and due to funding, my goals, and that weird “gut feeling” we all can relate with I decided to not pursue that path.  Larkin had directed me from his farm to Willets because, unfortunately, his farm may be lost to Bank of America.

This knowledge of a farmer loosing his livelihood stayed with me for about two weeks.  Finally I could not ignore this problem, it wasn’t mine, but yet it was.  I started to see the loss of this farm as my problem, because I want food that is local, grown organically and sustainably.  The majority of the time I am stuck with California produce or worse yet Mexico produce.  I am not a locavore, I like bananas, avocados…… and so on too much.  Yet kale, chard, and many other veggies can be grown year round in green houses in Washington; why depend on other states or countries? 

I feel that places exist on this Earth that radiate peace.  I have felt this peace in the moment a wave builds behind me and slowly and gently nature moves me.  This place did just that, yet it grows food and educates interns every season. 

The minute I arrived and opened my car door I felt this wave of peace and food wash over me.  I ran around this property taking in the two green houses which grow food 12 months out of the year, the Geodesic Dome, composting toilets, solar water heater, meditation and yoga studio, and food stand; supplying the community with fresh produce. 

I realize we are struggling to make ends meet.  Many of us are so busy we may have not even made it to the end of this note.  I am with you, I understand.  That is why I am writing this and sharing this story with you.  I do not want my future children to worry about food prices and quality.  If we stop, breathe, and then look for food, it becomes apparent that our food system is fragile.  I started to ask myself questions like: “If gas prices double, will the prices of Kale do the same?”  “How much more nutrient dense is local food?”  “At the very least how do I solve my food dilemma?”