5 miles to go

Our house recently got a brand spankin new roommate, Evelyn. Everyone, meet Evelyn!

Everyone, Evelyn. Evelyn, everyone.

Great. She's great. She hails from San Diego by way of Abilene Christian University, and has brightened our house with her laid back nature and ever-ready laugh. But the reason she matters for this blog, which I have not gotten her permission to write, is the reason she came to Austin, TX in the first place.

Evelyn is interested in the slow food movement we have seen a rise of in Austin. If any of you took a studio with Jack Sanders, you know about this movement intimately. The term "slow food" refers to the international movement that began in Italy in 1986 as an alternative to fast food. It strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. In Austin, the slow food movement is exemplified by the consistent farmers markets and co-op farms around town, but recently Evelyn told me about an initiative that reminded me a lot of what we talk about in class. It is called 5 Mile Farms, and is a product of a desire for hyper-local food sources.

5 Mile Farms exists in conjunction with Resolution Farms, and both seek to bring our food source to our front yard. As they state on their website, many people would love to have fresh food growing in their own backyard but don't have the time or the confidence to do so. 5M and Resolution seek to bridge that divide and provide first time and seasoned farmers alike the skills and equipment necessary to grow their own food. Austin Green Art founder Randy Jewart, who runs the Resolution Farms non-profit, was quoted in Edible Austin discussing Austinites' receptiveness toward utilizing their underutilized yards. ''We think that the cooperative approach is going to be more user-friendly for people,'' says Jewart, ''because we know what it takes to have a big garden that’s your own. It’s a pleasure, but it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of stress because things are always trying to go wrong.''

The idea reminds me of our in-class discussions of park proximity because while food is considered "local" if it's grown within a 25o mile or 100 mile radius, 5M and Resolution want to bring that dimension in to 2 feet; so that the vegetables can "walk to where they're going." Most importantly, 5 Mile Farms is working to make pure, homegrown food accessible to everyone. “When you go the farmers market,” Jewart notes, “you’re hanging out with a lot of nice people who have enough awareness to go to a farmers market. But it’s not diverse. So the idea is that you could get people even more involved in a very authentic way that’s based on proximity." Evelyn tells me that their hope is to have a farm within 5 miles of everyone's home, and I love that idea.

I encourage you to look up 5 Mile Farms and Resolution Farms on the internet. I couldn't get the pictures to upload onto this page, but they have helped build lots of different kinds of homemade gardens. They have a lot of information about starting your own garden plot and eating locally. Something that could help us out in a variety of ways.

like forever

I don't know what to blog about this week. I think I have a lot on my mind. Or nothing.

I'm starting to get sentimental about graduating. I can't believe 4.5 years ago I thought that 5 years was temporary. Now I know better than to think more than 3 days in advance, or dream more than a year away. Back then, we were used to 4 year plans, class schedules and sports schedules (well... maybe not sports) that were set in stone and reliable. Even in architecture, they had a 5 year track laid out (suggested) for us. We knew that if we took those classes in that order we would graduate in May of 2012. -- Isn't that odd, by the way? To think that we, who can not definitively say when we will go to bed at night, think we can decide our futures? Really, this whole CRP class exists because in the past intelligent men and women solved wicked problems the best way they knew how and were wrong. Now we have to fix it. -- I digress.

When I left for New York, my Young Life area director (aka Phil/one of the wisest and most ADD men I know) gave me the best advice I got: Live there like you're going to live there forever. He was speaking from experience of being called to Kansas City, MO for a 2 year stint and staying 14 years. Because we don't control our lives as much as we like to think. I took his advice (like I take all of his advice) and lived in NY like I intended to stay.

It was incredible, and in seven months I became so richly rooted in the community I found in NY and the rhythm of the city, that I could stay there for life (as soon as they start working shorter hours). Upon returning to Austin, I regretted not living with the same mindset here. Yes, I've made lifelong friends and yes I have volunteered more than I have studied, but I didn't take the time to get to know Austin as a city. I hardly go to the park or Barton Springs; I have just started spending time on the east side this year; I don't know my neighbors' names or even the baristas' names at Medici for goodness sakes; I never took the step to officially join my church even though I have gone since practically the first Sunday of freshman year; I never mowed, watered or weeded any lawn I have ever lived on in the last 3 years. In my head, I was just passing through, using Austin for it's school and friendships and vibrancy and taking what I wanted when I graduated.

I think that might be how a lot of us feel? Because I feel like if I were going to live like this is forever, I would know about the city's efforts to improve itself; I would know the stories of the people I order coffee from; I would care about the town meetings and bike lanes and traffic, and I am starting to. As graduation draws nearer -- and I inconveniently find more and more that I love being with new friends who are permanently (for now) in Austin, and I assess what type of lifestyle I want, and I hear of local firms that sound great -- I think more seriously about staying. Of course, whether or not I stay here until I'm 25 or 80, I will try to live here like I'm going to live here forever. Go big or go home.