‘The fundamental basis of the community is agriculture…All must be producers…The question of economics must commence with the farmer…for the farmer is the first active agent of human society..” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
No matter where humans have determined to live, the need to feed themselves is priority number one. The question over time is how to continue to sustain adequate food production as populations grow. So many spaces are becoming urban sprawls building over aerable land and using up the water supply. In the community of Squamish for example, urban sprawl is very evident as it creeps northward onto historical farming areas. There are several efforts to create islands of agricultural oases with the purpose of beginning the project of making food a sustainable resource. Perhaps we can consider the idea that a community can be an agriculturally focussed neighbourhood – an ‘agrihood’. Marcia Mikai and her organization(in Brazil), create zones that work in tandem with nature, so that they become part of the natural environment. Shared green spaces reconnect residents with their food and community and the biodiverse environment actively sucks carbon from the atmosphere, turning urban growth into climate action. “Agrihoods have so many advantages,” says Ms. Mikai. “They save water, protect biodiversity and allow people to eat locally produced food. We see them as places where the young, the old, rich and low-income people all live together and integrate.” (United Nations-Global Perspectives) ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá has indicated. “The supreme need of humanity is cooperation and reciprocity. The stronger the ties of fellowship and solidarity amongst men, the greater will be the power of constructiveness and accomplishment in all the planes of human activity.” Shoghi Effendi wrote: “We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.” “We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. The inward life of man as well as his outward environment have to be reshaped if human salvation is to be secured.” Bahá’u’lláh, wrote “Shut your eyes to estrangement, then fix your gaze upon unity. That one indeed is a man”…“who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “For every part of the universe is connected with every other part by ties that are very powerful and admit of no imbalance, nor any slackening whatever.”
Resources:
Bahá’í International Community—Struggle Against Hunger
--Towards a Sustainable Food System
-- Oneness of humanity essential to food system reform-(Bahá’í World News Service—The Future of Agriculture in the European Union)