Well, it’s all done.  I wasn’t going to write a final entry, and maybe it’s not really the last one, but it’s the last bit in this chapter.  I recently submitted a directed studies paper, and as I read through it, I thought that it had some excellent closing comments for my degree overall.  So here it is.

Confessions of a BSc Who Wants to be a Frmr.

When I started out, I wanted a degree that would allow me to travel. I looked into international relations at UBC, with the thought of becoming a translator. And then I stumbled upon the faculty of Land and Food Systems, and the major entitled, “Global Resource Systems”, which would allow me to focus on a topic, a region of the world, and a language. I was in. I applied and came to UBC the following September to begin my five year pursuit of knowledge. What have I learned in that time? Well, mainly that there’s a lot of work to be done in the world, and not enough people are willing to dig their hands into the dirt and grow the food that allows our cities and societies to thrive.

I took courses in Soil Science, Ecology, Land Food and Community, and filled my language requirements with French. The summer after my third year, I spent four months in the city as an intern with Inner City Farms, to get an idea of what the physical aspect to my degree might involve. I come from an agricultural background of sorts – my mum raised horses in the Okanagan while I was growing up, but our farm never involved food production, aside from hay. The summer I spent gardening opened my eyes to the connections, camaraderie and community that urban farming can create. Not only did my opinions change, but my tastes too! At the beginning of the summer, I lamented the fact that we were sowing what seemed like endless amounts of zucchini plants. “Camiiiiiil!” I complained, (he was our head farmer and chief of operations), “what are we going to do with all of these? Nobody likes zucchini this much. Do you know what happens with zucchini in the country? It gets “gifted” to people via their unlocked cars. People bring over their gigantic “prize” zucchinis and try and pawn them off on any unsuspecting visitor. This is ridiculous; we’re going to have truckloads of composted zucchini carcasses.” He ignored my antipathy, and we planted rows and rows of “summer squash” despite my repugnance, and the summer began to unfold…

Working for Inner City Farms, whose mandate is to go around the city and turn people’s lawns into veggie gardens and sell the produce in a CSA, opened my eyes to the world of urban farming, and to its many benefits and challenges.   One of the most beautiful benefits I experienced was the social aspect of growing food within city limits. Our urban centres are increasingly individualised, and technology seems to make us simultaneously more connected, and yet distant and aloof in the real world (Price, 2011; Alleyne 2009). Working in the gardens facilitated conversations and connections quickly and easily. I was constantly amazed at how differently people reacted as they walked by when they saw that we were growing food. From questions about the vegetables and what they were, to the most common question of, “Aren’t you worried they’re going to be stolen?”, the veggies seemed to break down the walls of separation that seem to exist in many neighbourhoods. All age demographics stopped to talk, and even people who barely spoke English were compelled to point and make broken conversation about weeds and lettuce.

There seems to be an inherent aspect of trust and reciprocity in farming. People have to rely on one another, and it creates connections and networks. Not only do farmers have to rely on off-farm inputs, like seed companies and fertilizer sources, urban agriculture often has to rely on volunteers. But it’s not all sunflowers and sunny days. Urban farmers, like most farmers, often struggle to break even or make a living. This was the case with Inner City Farms: almost all of the labour force is made up of interns. Read: volunteers. And volunteering often affects workers’ relationships in a positive way – there is a certain level of mutual benefit and satisfaction that must be obtained for people to continue to contribute. However, it’s easy enough to read about the tough economics of farming in textbooks at university. It’s another thing entirely to be faced with the fact that what you love doing will not pay the bills because our society values material goods more than the food which they subsist on. As Philpott and Jones et al. point out, “the smaller the farm, the less profitable it is” … “farm operating margins become more negative and share of household income from farm sources decreases as farm size diminishes.” These statistics and realities not only make it difficult for rural farmers on small acreages, but also for urban farmers with the limited plots and spaces they must work within in our increasingly populated urban centers (UN DESA, 2014).

Urban agriculture doesn’t just reflect the economic aspects of larger-scale farms, though; it also represents the environmental aspects. We live in cities full of mini mono-cultures in the form of perfectly landscaped lawns. Heaven forbid a dandelion head should explode. The front yards taken over by Inner City Farms are anything but monocultures. Many had intricate rows of lettuce, beans, kale, flowers, and of course, zucchinis. But these yards were the ones people stopped to look at, to chat about, and to admire. When you grow up in a world of concrete and astro-turf aspirations, I can only imagine that the vibrancy of a yard full of miscellaneous, unknown plants is compelling enough to break the fourth wall. It’s enough to get the passers-by interested in what we’re up to.   They see us digging around in the dirt, laughing and chatting, and hopefully it could spark more interest in farming in general. As Halweil points out, “Our urban-centered society has even come to view rural life, especially in the form of small family-owned businesses, as backwards or boring, fit only for people who wear overalls and go to bed early – far from the sophistication and dynamism of the city.” I think it’s safe to say that farmers are fast becoming an endangered species (Halweil, 2013; Beaulieu, 2015), and we need to do something about it. Understanding is the first step, and a step in the right direction for our food systems. Urban farming is both a great place to start and a great thing to work on expanding.

That being said, I don’t mean that everybody should need or want to become a farmer. It certainly isn’t for everyone! And urban agriculture may have a lesson to teach there too: getting your hands dirty once a week and learning what it means to be bent over raking and tilling, crouched down planting, crawling along weeding and thinning, and doubled-over harvesting, may be enough to make some people realise that agriculture just isn’t their jam. That’s fine too. So long as these urban acres lead more and more people to the understanding that farms and food are the foundations of futurism, and that without them we are feral.

For me, urban agriculture opened my eyes to how food connects people, and how it shapes our interactions and society. It made me realise that my degree, which I pursued without intentions of a career, has turned into a passion that I intend to pursue through life.

I’m graduating from GRS this spring! This has put me into a state of severe turbulence. Or perhaps it’s that I’m 25 and it’s a quarter-life crisis, I’m not quite sure which. Regardless, it seems that every other day I have a new idea, and every week my plans change as to where I want to go and what I want to do once I graduate. I’ll perhaps write more on this in another post, but for now I want to focus on exploring one idea that I’ve had for actually much longer than the last semester or two. I have always wanted to shave my head… maybe not always, but for several years now. I thought to do it in grade 12, but chickened out because of grad photos. Instead I compromised by cutting my hair short and donating the ponytail. The next time I came close was when I cut my hair the shortest it’s ever been to remove my dreadlocks. Once again, but for different reasons at the time, I backed out of buzzing it all off in a Sinead O’Connor-esque style. Looking back, I think that both of those decisions were best at the time. But that leaves me with the perdurable desire to experience what it’s like to have a buzz cut.

When I started to think about writing this blog, I was reminded of my dreadlocks, and a post I’d written when asked about them for a radio show. The questions I responded to then included, “…what is your ethnicity?  Did your ethnicity have any influence on why you decided to dread your hair? (Why did you decide to dread your hair?)  What do they mean to you?  Do you associate yourself with a religious/spiritual connection because of them, or has wearing them changed you in any way (diet, beliefs, empowerment, etc.) And if you could see yourself ever cutting them (why/why not?)”. Being bald is an entirely different look, and would be perceived very differently within society. Nevertheless I’m sure similar lines of questioning would arise, and also my motives would be somewhat overlapping. For example, the drive behind both is ^aesthetics and curiosity.   I never felt connected to an external motivation. However, I did write in my post about having them: “Since I got my dreadlocks, they have become more and more a part of who I am. They definitely affect the way people see me and judge me, I noticed that the day I got them. But personally I feel that it is for the better. Wearing them has definitely influenced me in a lot of ways. I believe that the people I meet are different because of them, … As with any learning, this has led me to see things, and a lot of aspects of life, differently.” On that note, I have a feeling that shaving my head will also create reaction and judgment. As Kate Fridkis wrote in her blog post about shaving her head, “Women are supposed to be attached to their hair, and their hair is supposed to be attached to them. It’s one of the most obvious signs of femininity and if a woman shaves it all off, she either has cancer, is majorly depressed, or is rebelling against society. My decision to buzz my hair was not for any of those reasons. I am not dying of anything. I’m not that rebellious.”

She went on to explain, “The only reason I am “getting away with it” is because I did it anyway. A funny thing happened once I got a buzz cut. I feel sexier than before. I feel more feminine. I started wearing higher heels, I started dressing up more. I was suddenly striking, and it has been incredibly fun. My closely cropped hair draws attention to the little things that make me different. It highlights my strong nose, my profound love of big belts, my smile.” And that, “Buzzing your hair knocks down that fourth wall.”

Another great blog post by Shannon Haley expresses the same reaction I get from people when I say I’m going to shave my head. They think that I am being “brave” or “daring”, which is simply not the case. Shannon writes, “So when I shaved my head, nothing annoyed me more than being told how “brave” I was. Sure, it was a drastic change, but I don’t need anyone complimenting my decision as brave. I understand the intention behind the word is good; I know that to the people who said something, going against a societal norm seems daring. I appreciate the sweetness and kind words that have been directed at me, but I just can’t get on board with the idea that it’s brave. I cut my hair because I wanted to.  Not because I’m sick or anything to do with sexual identity or trying to make a point. I did it simply because I wanted to and I could.”

She continues that, “It’s easy to associate long hair with femininity because this is what we’ve been told since childhood. But, I have very short hair and I’m still a woman. I still move, create and love as a woman does.   I’m not trying to imply that all women should shave their heads to feel liberated. But using a word like brave to describe a haircut shows just how screwed up our society’s ideas of what constitutes beauty — and bravery — are. I am brave, but not because I cut my hair.”

I’ve stolen quite a lot of words from Kate and Shannon, partially because I don’t have those experiences yet, but also if I do shave my head, I have a feeling that my sentiments will be similar. Perhaps not, but their words resonated with me. I suppose there is only one way to find out…

Fridkis, K. Girl Talk: Why I Got A Buzz Cut. 2011.

http://www.thefrisky.com/2011-10-12/girl-talk-why-i-got-a-buzz-cut/

Haley, S. It Took Me 10 Years To Shave My Head. This Is What Annoyed Me Most After I Did. 2015.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-21387/it-took-me-10-years-to-shave-my-head-this-is-what-annoyed-me-most-after-i-did.html

During development week, I wrote this.  I was uncertain about sharing it.  But decided to be brave.

Others’ Silence

Us.

Them.

They, we, those.

They sound different.

Music, laughter, words of braille.

Us. We are similar.

Common grounds.

Shared earth.

Fractal differences.

Language barriers, divides,

Chasms.

Of misunderstanding.

We should help.

Help them.

Help us.

Help those who…

Falter.

Mistrust.

Uncertainty.

Undecided. Indecisive.

Different eyes. Different Worlds.

One earth.

So many divides.

Help us, help them.

Help who?

Language, laughter, love.

Silence kills.

Afraid to reach.

Afraid to touch.

Afraid to change the changing.

Souls shrouded in earthly difference.

Seeking. Longing.

Subdued.

Strangers.

Between the music,

the laughter,

the audible utterings,

those fractal differences so sharp and telling….

is Silence.

Shared silence. Silence between us. Silence amongst us.

In silence we are one.

I wasn’t able to make it to an event during development week at UBC, but as it happened, an interesting video came up in my news feed around that time which got me thinking about development issues. It is my perception that development agendas have come a long way: people have a more nuanced sense of what the word means in different contexts; how it can be a catalyst for very positive change, yet also detrimental if wielded unwisely… although perhaps that is the biased perspective of a GRS student!

The video which caught my attention was entitled, “Adopt-A-Dane Foundation. Africa is rescuing old people from Denmark.”   In it, the founder, Jackson Nouwah, echoes the worries expressed by many Danes on Facebook and on other social media platforms: that Danes are spending too much money on Africa and not enough on their own aged community members. He says, “Old people are not a burden, they are a wonderful gift – in Africa we cherish our old people.” He goes on to state that despite their many social and physical problems in Africa, according to Facebook posts, it seems elderly Danes are worse off. So the African communities are rallying together to adopt Danish seniors and welcome them into their communities with open arms.

The video is satirical, and was funded both by DR-P3, a Danish radio station, and Danmarks Indsamling (DKI) (which is an aid organization) in order to raise awareness about development issues. It was also sparked by the “jewellery bill” that, “would permit Danish officials to confiscate valuables from refugees” (Huffington Post, 2016). This bill obviously drew considerable attention and criticism, as Denmark is known to be “one of the richest countries in the world per capita” (Huffington Post, 2016).

The video was certainly provocative, and I am surprised it did not receive more attention from the media and social media networks. But perhaps the reason it did not stems from some of the discussions we had about Ujjal Dosanjh’s post, “The Silencing of the white men of the west!” In some ways, discussing this video may bring up tensions that are uncomfortable and difficult to navigate. Why is it so ironic to think that African countries might be able to help people from wealthy European nations? It’s definitely contrary to our doctrines and the perspectives we have grown up with. I felt the video imparted a provocative statement about how development affects our world, and its power and financial/resource imbalances. This video should have received more attention and discussion than it did.

Bellware, K. 2016. “Satirical Video Urges Africans To Rescue Old People From Denmark. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/adopt-a-dane-video_us_56b0eac9e4b0a1b96203d453