Starvation in his lifetime…OMG!!

Dick Smith with Barry Mangelsdorf, watching the burning of Barry’s citrus trees at his farm near Loxton in South Australia

The other night I saw the end of Dick Smith’s documentary - The Population Puzzle. Gavin gives a great snapshot / intro over here.

A friend rang and told me I had to turn on the tv, so I only managed to catch the last 15 minutes. But the thing that will stay with me is the statistic that there is a 30% chance that Little B will see starvation in his lifetime.

I’m a girl of visuals and that gives me such a strong visual. And while it inspires horror in me, it also makes my inner mama lion roar and I feel strong and angry and passionate. I will do everything I can to prevent this happening to my baby, and makes me hold fast to our move to a more simple, sustainable and community-based lifestyle.

I’m also glad that we have started teaching him fundamental life skills – like growing veggies, cooking food from scratch, and fixing things. And there will be more to come as he gets older as he gets old enough to expand on the things we want him to know how to do. For example, he’s gagging to learn to knit but we’ve decided that he will get his knitting bag and things for his fourth birthday.

I know that some people will be in denial about this documentary, and some will find it too depressing but I hope that it inspires people to make change, do better, to build community, to be inspired to fight for our future and our well being.