Saturdays are the blessed for me! A true day of rest that always begins with a trip to the Farmers Market and visiting my Abbo friends, often bringing them delicious treats for breakfast. You see...they work until the wee hours of hte morning (often past midnight) to pick the tastiest vege and bring it fresh to the market. This is heaven for me, being able to pick my own fresh fruits and vegetables and know that my friends and mentors are the ones who cultivated it and gave me this gift. Anyhow, i like to return the favor by bringing them something yummy to start their early morning at the market and in the past I have brought home made blueberry muffins, coffee and always lots of fresh fruit.
Well, a few weeks ago I stopped by Wild Oats (started in Boulder, so it is kinda local) which is right down the street from the market because I needed some toiletries and I figured it would be a great idea to get them some organic produce. I bought some mangoes, Colorado Kokopelli peaches, berries, figs and walnuts. It was a delicious array of organic fruit fit for a king. Now, I want to point out that i AM aware that it is not all local to this region and I am a supporter of the local slow food movement. Anyhow, I bring the Abbo folks the fruit and go on my way to shopping at the market. I got beautiful array of organic flowers from a local grower--this is one of my favorite parts about bringign the market into my home! When I came bcak to the ABbo booth and was chatting with my good friend, he informed me that one of their restaurant-buyers from DEnver had scolded me and them about the fact that they were eating tropical fruit and that they shouldn't eat it because it is not bought from someone at the market. Apparently--for lack of better words--she ripped me a new one about not buying local fruit and my friend communicated to me how upset she was.
At first, I was taken-aback and insulted that someone would criticize my efforts to go green because I think I do a darn good job of living a green life. After I stopped being defensive and taking it personally, I could appreciate what she was saying and she IS right--I have no excuse to not buy local. It is another step that doesn't take much effort and has a huge effect--stimulates local economy, better for your diet to eat what is seasonal, and less food-miles (meaning less transport). She is right and because I am informed and active in the green movement, I could appreciate what she was saying.
After this interaction, a lot of things came to a head. What she said to me stuck with me for a couple of days and I couldn't figure out why. And then I did. What bothered me was the way she went about communicating her point and how greatly it differed from mine (and Yourguidetogreen.com's). I believe that the best way to inspire change is to not tell people what htey are doing wrong and make them feel guilty abotu their ways, rather it is to say, "Here, this is an easy thing you can do that has a huge effect and it saves you money. Give it a shot" I make no judgement of their past ways and I only want to share with them the positive effect they can have. But what this woman did was point out all the wrong and tell them the negative, therefore discouraging the efforts of someone to go green.
That is important to me. And important for me to share. Inspire people to change, don't guilt them to shame.
