Author: jennynazak

“Food shortages.” A phrase no one likes to hear.

I have had forebodings my whole life that “something” was going to happen, and I feel like I’ve been mentally preparing for “it” my whole life.

Like a lot of you, I’m concerned that my local community is not well prepared physically (OR emotionally) for food shortages, water shortages, or whatever else. I speak at my neighborhood group, city meetings, churches, etc about various aspects of preparedness/resilience and of necessity, I try to do “triage” which right now for me is trying to get people to collect rainwater, turn their yards into “water sponge”, etc. If we can slow down/reverse the parching of our landscape we can grow food.

Also I’m trying to get people to see the connection between our landscaping practices and the health of our waterways. Since I live between the ocean and a major navigable river, fish can be a major food source here if we repair the damage we’ve done to the ecosystem.

I also try to show, to anyone who will listen, the wild edible plants growing all around here.

Lately to spread the message I’m starting to do humorous talks about the zombie apocalypse. Also I’m gatting back into arts & crafts, but I am setting out to use only “scavenged” ingredients. (Making bags out of canvas from discarded beach chairs etc). All of this is tiny but raises awareness in a fun way and helps people cultivate a more resilient, can-do attitude.

I also do mindfulness practices and spend time in nature and strengthen my spiritual faith — all of which helps me to focus, stay present & avoid going down rabbit-holes of despair which I am prone to do if not careful.

Here is a post I made to my neighborhood watch group’s Facebook page today:

Downtown Daytona Beach Farmers Market closed today due to forecast of severe weather … No problem! I can pick fresh greens & herbs from my little “freedom cube” garden, and also the neighborhood is filled with tasty wild spring edible greens (that some people dismiss as “weeds” but many of us know better)! I can also knock on the door of the house down the street with the really prolific loquat tree, introduce myself to the new owner and ask if they’ll let me pick some fruit (the previous owner was fine with it). And I can go visit my other friend/neighbor’s magnificent mulberry tree!

Downtown Daytona Beach Farmers Market closed today due to forecast of severe weather … No problem! I can pick fresh greens & herbs from my little “freedom cube” garden, and also the neighborhood is filled with tasty wild spring edible greens (that some people dismiss as “weeds” but many of us know better)! I can also knock on the door of the house down the street with the really prolific loquat tree, introduce myself to the new owner and ask if they’ll let me pick some fruit (the previous owner was fine with it). And I can go visit my other friend/neighbor’s magnificent mulberry tree!

Check out this mini vid & other snippets on my Tiktok video channel. (I show pics of my “freedom cube” garden and some foraged green booty (wild plantain – yum!.)

For anyone who might be interested in learning more about this topic: I offer talks & presentations in person and by Zoom, free to the community, to help boost our household & neighborhood food security, water security, and energy-independence!! Building a resilient community is a team effort and I am here to help.

A letter I wrote this morning:

Dear City Leaders & Fellow Citizens,

Although I spoke out last week against the idea of an ordinance that would impose restrictions on grassroots charity (specifically, handing out food to people in public spaces), I want to clarify that I am sympathetic with the businesses in the downtown area, and with their customers (of whom I am often one). And I wish to apologize to Commissioner ___, to the other business owners, and to anyone else who may have interpreted my comments as dismissing their concerns.

What I was trying to say is that there is an issue here that can’t be fixed by restricting grassroots acts of compassion. (In fact, such acts of compassion are a cohesive force in society that helps make communities more resilient against whatever disasters or hard times may come, which is why it’s not a good idea to try and restrict such acts — even if good works were not required under the religious and spiritual beliefs many of us live by).

The issue at hand: The presence of people sleeping in doorways, on sidewalks, and so on is sometimes creating extra work and expense for the business owners, and often creating an atmosphere that some people find threatening or just not conducive to spending time enjoying our beautiful downtown and patronizing businesses.
So how do we address this? Does anyone have any ideas? Should we have a workshop? Or should we encourage citizens to attend an upcoming Downtown Development Association meeting to brainstorm ideas?

In the meantime, I have a few thoughts, from the viewpoint of someone who mainly gets around by foot, and often spends extensive time in the public space.
It may seem counterintuitive, but I think a big part of the solution is to ADD amenities along Magnolia Ave that make it more inviting for MORE people to linger. Benches; maybe a fountain. Definitely a public toilet (even if it’s just a porta-potty). These things make a difference to elderly people; families with children … and even to relatively rugged individuals like myself who are willing to sit on the curb in order to eat and take a break. Without these amenities, people just jump in their cars and drive home.

When people linger in the public space, they create happy lasting memories and social connections, and it makes a multiplier effect. It also raises the general level of trust in a community. Oh and from a business standpoint — people who linger tend to spend more money!

Thinking about our unhoused population and other citizens who are down and out … reminded me of that old saying: “The poor will always be with us.” Maybe that is true. But I will say, in places where I’ve spent extended time hanging out in public spaces, from Orlando to Asheville to Amsterdam, Madrid, Tokyo, Washington DC etc etc etc, a common factor in “safe-feeling” public spaces has been BENCHES and public restrooms.

Additional amenities that attract people to linger include:

fountains

shade structures

vendors on a steady basis

In such settings, “the poor are still with us” — there are still “people who are down and out”; they might be lying on sidewalks and in doorways etc — but the overall atmosphere is still safe and welcoming because so many other people are around.

Thank you for reading to the end of this lengthy missive. Let’s create win-win solutions together; I know we can. We are a city with heart, and creativity.

All the best to you,

Jenny Nazak

PS. (Speaking of public restrooms, Daytona Beach Permaculture Guild would be delighted to sponsor an organic porta-potty, beautifully embellished by local artists.)

Calls to suspend gasoline tax in the USA are growing as prices surge. This is not a good idea! We need to help people be less oil-dependent, not enable our petro-addiction & entitlement! (The high prices people are complaining about are still a fraction of what people pay in other countries where the price of gas more accurately reflects the true cost.)

Removing gas tax would be good for motorists’ wallets in short term, but bad for longterm, overall economic resilience & bad for the planet.

Better ideas:

• Reward innovation, ingenuity, grassroots solutions. (Example: making biofuels from invasive plants in each local area. Wouldn’t it be cool if each community could produce at least some of its own transportation fuel?)
• Give incentives to employers for allowing employees to work from home.
• Organize a nationwide “Fossil-Free Transportation” design festival where schoolkids and university students design sun-powered vehicles and other alternative transport. Make it fun!
• Give people some kind of bonus for carpooling, commuting by bike, and other individual actions that reduce gas consumption and petro-dependency.
• Give people vouchers to try out public transportation.
• Effective immediately, switch government meetings and other public meetings and conferences back to virtual rather than in-person. They did it through the pandemic — the Supreme Court did deliberations by phone, remember? — they can do it again now!
• What else can you think of to add to this list?

We must reduce unnecessary petro consumption! Nobody is entitled to low gas prices that do not reflect the true cost to people and the planet. Our national security and wellbeing is at stake!! And oh yeah, the health of that pesky biosphere thing we depend on.

By the way, I have heard that of every dollar we spend at the gas pump, the vast majority — like 80 cents or more — immediately goes out of the community. All of my ideas above would put money into the pockets of local people and communities.

(Preface: Regardless of what our government leaders do or say, there is lots that we can do as everyday people; that’s really the focus of my blog. My occasional rants about the powers-that-be notwithstanding, I feel that we the people are the real power-that-be.)

Shame on President Biden for barely mentioning climate in his State of the Union Address. And for not including climate action on his short list of unifying priorities.

“So tonight I’m offering a unity agenda for the nation. Four big things we can do together, in my view.”

• Address mental health, good.
• Fix opiate crisis, good.
• Support veterans, good.
• Fighting cancer — nothing wrong with that.

But no mention of climate action in there (other than electric cars)? Really??
Nothing about repairing the water cycle; building regional food resilience; insulating homes; retrofitting buildings for rainwater collection and graywater harvesting — and other sensible actions that might help check biospheric collapse, stabilize temperature extremes, and make us more resilient to what may come.

There’s more to infrastructure (a favorite rah-rah word) than just roads and bridges. We need to invest heavily in green infrastructure. Things like wetland restoration, regenerative agriculture, planting of vegetation to restore bare hills and mountains that are susceptible to erosion and mudslides. Projects to harvest excess nutrients that are polluting our waterways, and transfer those nutrients “uphill” to farms and barren landscapes that need the minerals and organic matter. Projects to rebuild topsoil. Restore dune and prairie grasses. You get the idea.

Besides building deep infrastructure, climate-action projects give people of all ages and walks of life the chance to be heroes. People need paths to glory and heroism besides the military. (Actually I would love to see our highly capable military forces deployed for climate-action projects.)

President Biden’s virtual silence on climate was almost like a live demo of #DontLookUp!
“We really did have it all, didn’t we?” — and our official and collective stance is to just take it for granted.

On the subject of stabilizing climate, there’s a video I would really like for you all to watch. Watch it now if you can. Or sometime today. It’s about 11 minutes long, and gives an exceptionally clear and concise overview of how we have “broken” the natural rain cycle, leading to drought-flood extremes, wildfires, and desertification. The good news is we can fix it.

Although obviously flooding and hurricanes are a major concern, the thing I worry about most is a “heat dome” like what happened in Portland and Sicily and other places last year. Temps soaring up to 120F, with a high-pressure bubble keeping away rain. And wildfires are another big worry.

This is why I wore burnt toast and carried a flaming thermometer poster at City Commission: to raise awareness of heat & the importance of repairing the natural water cycle.

This video points out that water is the main regulator of temperature extremes on our planet. The animated illustrations of how clouds are formed with the help of trees, how water gets pulled around the planet thru the atmosphere, etc. are excellent.

The video, by Water Stories, is called “Hope in a World of Crisis: Decentralized Water Retention.”

Please watch this today if you can! And think about how it applies to the place where you live. What have you observed about rainfall & temperature patterns in your area; how have they changed? I look forward to hearing your thoughts. And if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer.

Further Reading:

• Here is the transcript of the State of the Union Address.

• Water Stories website. Water Stories is “A learning, training, and action platform focused entirely on Water Cycle Restoration. Water Stories offers a community-centered approach to solving our most pressing environmental crises. One that delivers meaningful results after the first rainy season. We empower people to create healthy landscapes and water abundance by transforming water-sheds into water-catchments. People around the world are learning how to quickly create real substantive change for the health of their landscapes and communities — by working with water.”

My aim as an eco educator is to explain in simple terms how things are connected, and how we can each make a difference. To do this, I often have to boost my own knowledge first; it’s easy for my brain to get tangled up in the various connections and causalities. Fortunately I have lots of really helpful expert resources to draw on. For the facts in this post, I’m deeply grateful to Flight Free USA.

This post is about how we, everyday people, can take away the power of global bullies by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

How does our oil- and gas-dependency support tyranny?

In a nutshell: 1) In the particular case of Russia, oil and gas account for 60% of their exports, and thus are a major source of funds for their military actions, including the current invasion of Ukraine. 2) Because disrupting the flow of oil & gas causes global prices to rise, our own dependence on fossil fuels limits our leverage and political will to impose sanctions, for fear that we will have to pay higher prices at the gas pump (in the USA) or that home heating prices will spiral out of control (in Germany and other European countries). 3) Access to the vast riches generated by control of oil and gas resources enables thuggish behavior in general, be it by governments or private interests. 4) Because oil and gas infrastructure (as well as nuclear) are centralized, it’s easy for an enemy to knock out a power plant or gas refinery with bombs. Not so easy to go around a whole country knocking out every solar panel, windmill, or woodpile.

Furthermore, since oil and gas go into pretty much everything, a rise in oil and gas prices causes pretty much all prices to rise. This makes us very vulnerable and thus unwilling to rock the boat for fear of antagonizing oil and gas interests. But every single act of conservation we can do; every shift to renewables we can make, helps weaken this stranglehold. However tiny it may seem on the household level, every little drop makes up the ocean.

Back in World War II, the Allied governments put out posters and leaflets informing everyday citizens of their duty to support the war effort by conserving gasoline and other resources.

“When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!” admonished one US government propaganda poster from 1943. “Join a car-sharing club today!”

In this case the purpose was to save gas at home, so we could use it for the war effort overseas. But now we know that conserving fossil fuels and other resources can help reduce the grip of authoritarian and tyrannical regimes in a broader sense. Furthermore, this effort is essential to defeat the most deadly enemy of all time: climate change; the collapse of our planet’s life-support system.

You can read more detail in the articles linked below.

The information in this post, including all of the article links, comes from Flight Free USA’s email newsletter, which you can subscribe to by visiting their website.

On a personal note, even if my efforts to minimize my dependency on fossil fuels (and on electricity, which is still mostly generated from fossil fuels) were not helping (however infinitesimally) to reduce the destruction of Spaceship Earth’s life-support system and weaken the grip of evil empires, they make me instantly more free and less vulnerable. And that’s power.

P.S. People living in cold climates, particularly, might like to look into compact energy-efficient woodstoves for home heating and cooking. And people everywhere should look into passive solar heating (and cooling). Also, people everywhere should insulate their houses (and landlords should insulate their apartments etc.) as much as necessary/possible to buffer against extremes of heat and cold. I have touched on these topics in my book and at various times on this blog; you can also get a wealth of current info by turning to our dear friend Google.

Further Exploration:

• “Caring about the Ukraine is caring about an end to oil and gas,” says Flight Free USA in its latest email newsletter.

• Flight Free USA website urges us to “Sign the #FlightFree2022 pledge to stay grounded for the climate. PLEDGE TO FLY A LOT LESS, TALK ABOUT IT MORE, AND DEMAND SYSTEM CHANGE.” (I recently signed it, choosing the option “for life.” You can opt to take the pledge just for the year, just for vacations, or for life.) Says Flight Free USA: “The solution to the climate crisis is straightforward: to significantly reduce our emissions. Flying in an airplane is the most polluting activity we commonly do. Pledge to not fly, as a signal to our communities, leaders, and businesses that climate solutions are needed now. Together, we can reduce emissions by choosing to not fly, shifting the fossil fuel norm, and laying the foundations for strong climate policy.”

• “This is how we defeat Putin and other petrostate autocrats” (Bill McKibben; TheGuardian.com). Clear explanation of the various connections between petro-dependency and tyrannical regimes. “If you’re an apologist for fascism, high gas prices are your first go-to move. So now is the moment to remind ourselves that, in the last decade, scientists and engineers have dropped the cost of solar and windpower by an order of magnitude, to the point where it is some of the cheapest power on Earth. The best reason to deploy it immediately is to ward off the existential crisis that is climate change, and the second best is to stop the killing of nine million people annually who die from breathing in the particulates that fossil fuel combustion produces. But the third best reason – and perhaps the most plausible for rousing our leaders to action – is that it dramatically reduces the power of autocrats, dictators, and thugs.

• “What It’s Like to Give Up Air Travel to Curb Climate Change” (Emma Pattee; wired.com). “These three families gave up flying to reduce their emissions. Here’s how it’s shaping their relationship to people and places.”

• (This one is from the New York Times “Climate Forward” newsletter): “U.S. Oil Industry Uses Ukraine Invasion To Push for More Drilling at Home” (Hiroko Tabuchi; nytimes.com). “The goal is ‘energy security,’ lobbyists said, although clean-energy advocates counter that wind and solar provide more protection from boom-and-bust oil markets.”

• Good news update: “The leaders of the European Union are expected to announce a proposal next week that would ‘accelerate the clean energy transition and reduce permanently our dependence on imports of natural gas.’ If it goes through, it could significantly blunt one of the Kremlin’s most formidable economic weapons: piped gas to heat and power the continent. … The 26-page E.U. draft proposal, seen by The New York Times, proposes to swiftly renovate old, leaky buildings to reduce energy demand, simplify regulations to attract investments in renewable energy, encourage more rooftop solar installations and produce more energy from biomass. … If the major elements of the European proposal are carried out, Russia’s war in Ukraine could have a huge, albeit unwitting, consequence: It could hasten Europe’s transition away from fossil fuels.” (Somini Sengupta; NY Times Climate Forward newsletter.)

File under #WhatsWrongWithThisPicture:
Free food distributions by churches, nonprofits etc. are becoming more common, to help remedy the food-insecurity that many people are experiencing as rent and other costs of living keep getting higher. What I consistently notice on the announcements is the instructions “Please remain in your vehicle” (as in car — I gather this is for Covid reasons).

So, what’s wrong with this picture? If you’re about to say “Well if someone can afford a car (especially a big or fancy car), they have no business taking food handouts” — No, that’s not what I’m getting at.

What I’m getting at is: Large numbers of people deal with food insecurity on an ongoing basis. And yet, most people, because of the design of the typical USA-merican life, don’t have the option to cut expenses by doing without a car. In most places it is difficult to impossible to do without a car, and that is bad design. It’s a combination of many things, including the fact that things are big and spread-out (giant homes distant from giant shops & schools & workplaces); how unfriendly most roads are to anyone not in a motor vehicle; how hostile our overall culture is to public transportation (having buses and trains and things be supported by publuc tax dollars is communist, right?).

I have heard it said that car ownership costs the typical household an average of something like $8,000 a year when you factor in insurance, repairs, gas and all.

Now, I’m not saying every household will become automatically food-secure and housing-secure if they find a way to do without the financial burden of owning a car. I’ve spent most of my adult life car-free, and yet at times in the past I’ve experienced extended periods of both food-insecurity and housing-insecurity. That said, being free of that huge 4-wheeled expense was one factor that allowed me to stay afloat and continue at my desired freelance occupations and community work. And I have been able to manage without government assistance. (Not bragging here, and also definitely not disparaging anyone who has needed government assistance. I may need it at some point — like if I need to get health insurance. Am just saying that cutting major expenses like car ownership helped me avoid needing to seek out government assistance for food, housing, etc.)

Now. Even in cases where a person/household could feasibly do without a car, there is another obstacle to living car-free. This obstacle is cultural rather than logistical. I’m talking about the fact that our culture views car ownership as a marker of success, prestige, and respectability. I would even go so far as to say our mainstream culture views car ownership as ESSENTIAL to being a “real adult” / “respectable citizen.”

If car ownership is part of how our culture defines prestige and success and respectability, then of course people are going to aspire to own cars. I have lost track of how many times I’ve heard people be all happy and excited because they just got a car. Never mind that they are having trouble keeping a roof over their head or getting enough to eat (none of which is their fault, by the way — this is structural, societal stuff).

Mainstream cultural norms are emotionally compelling and very stubbornly rooted, even among many of us who like to consider ourselves “free thinkers.” All is not lost, though: Many of the people adopting car-free lifestyles are on the wealthy and privileged side of the socioeconomic spectrum. And for better or for worse, what rich people define as “cool” and desirable tends to catch on. Of course, if we want it to catch on, there need to be plenty of walkable/cycleable/wheelchair-able neighborhoods and plenty of commute-free work options for people.

When I see those community food distribution announcements instructing people to stay in their cars, I always cringe. I have often contacted the organizers to ask if they offer alternative arrangements for people arriving on foot or other human-powered transport. And they generally say yes; that the person can just come up and get food. But it’s disturbing to me that as far as I know, I am the only person who has questioned this or brought it up. I see this as a marker of just how deeply the cultural norm of private automobile ownership has its hooks in us.

Hospitality doesn’t depend on having a fancy house or matching silverware or perfectly clean floors. Hospitality isn’t something to postpone til after you dust the furniture or get a big enough dining-table. Hospitality is simply extending your heart and receiving someone as an honored guest. Whether you live in a mansion or a trailer park or a shed or garage, or even if you don’t have a roof over your head at all, your hospitality is a unique blessing that only YOU can offer. At my tiny trailer-home in an urban RV park under the oaks in south Austin, I hosted tea-parties and cocktail soirees and late-night kaffeeklatsches and slumber-parties, and was blessed with hundreds or maybe even a thousand guests over the 10 years I lived there.

I’ve dined with millionaires and kings (well, the United Statesian version), and have stayed in the richest palaces — and yet, possibly the most heartfelt, generous hospitality I ever received was a drink of coffee in a styrofoam cup! The man who shared it with me lived on his sailboat. He had only one cup, but he offered it to me, a stranger on the beach. (This was back around 2004 in south Florida; I was on one of many trips to “find myself”.) Our conversation started casually, but it quickly left the safe shallows and plunged into the offshore depths. The leather-skinned stranger spoke of sailing over to Africa as casually as many folks talk about driving to WalMart. We sat on the edge of a pier, but I felt as though he had sat me down on a plush velvet sofa in front of a 12-foot-wide, 3D television with surround-sound, the better to treat me to the breathtaking footage of his life.

So no, don’t wait til after your house (or trailer, or garage, or car, or bench) is perfectly clean to have people over. (Psst: Re. “perfectly clean” — that’s never gonna happen.) Ask that friend or stranger you’ve been meaning to invite; don’t count too much on “someday”.)

Honestly, I think the deepest and biggest form of hospitality is simply a smile, and a listening heart.