I’m writing from an old farmhouse in Vermont where some of our 350.org coordinating team is busy preparing for a potluck with some new and old friends to discuss how this campaign could continue over the coming year. May is working on the hummus, I picked up some local beer, and Jon is concocting something that involves a local-chicken, wheat-berries, and a few other mystery ingredients. And I think Will’s sister is bringing some cookies — perhaps we can make a big 350 out of them like these students in Germany:

It’s hearty fair and a reminder of how important food is to this movement. The most obvious connection between food and climate change has to do with our modern agricultural system. As writers like Michael Pollen, Vandana Shiva, and Bill McKibben have eloquently pointed out, our food system has become completely out of harmony with the natural world. Bill put it simply in an interview: "The average bite of food has to travel 2,000 miles to reach an American’s lips. That means it is, for one, marinated in crude oil and, two, tasteless. We’ve agreed to this because the food has been cheap — but it’s getting less so now as the price of oil starts to soar. So if you’re interested in controlling global warming, one of the many things we must do is stop ordering takeout from the other side of the continent." A good place to start is looking for local vegetables, perhaps the carrots at your nearest grocery store:

Food is also important for our organizing because it brings people together. When we started this campaign, Bill wrote a letter that described organizing an event as a potluck: set a date, a time, and then count on people in your community to provide the different ingredients for a successful gathering. When we share food, we share a common experience. Cooking meals together is a way to relearn what Bill sometimes refers to as the "technology of community." Because to solve the climate crisis, we’ll need to do more than learn how to install solar panels and wind turbines. We’ll also need to learn how to work together as neighbors and friends to transform our cities and towns, engage in local governance, and adapt to the inevitable changes the climate crisis will cause.

And in the process, maybe we can pick up some good recipes along the way and learn to appreciate some new foods, like these grasshoppers that some of our Malaysian friends are digging into in the photo below:

If you’re interested in learning more about the connections between food and climate, check out our "Food and Farm" section here on the 350.org website.

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