Originally published in Lake of the Woods Area News, Volume 54, Number 3, Summer 2024
In my last article, I talked about the importance of creating a sustainable story; a narrative that we can fit our lives into, to locate ourselves on a path that leads to a sustainable future. In this article I want to focus on a very important part of that story: relationships.
The planet can be understood as a network of relationships. From the cells in our bodies, to the wild ecosystems that surround us, to the great weather cycles—the unique components of our biosphere interact with one another. The action of any one creature has effects, positive or negative, on some other creatures.
When we think about what kind of relationship humans have had broadly with the rest of the earth, we often see an abusive one. The kind of relationship where one is always thinking of themselves and taking at the expense of others. We extract natural resources to grow our economies, while at the same time diminishing the riches of the biosphere. It’s this biosphere that has helped us thrive up until now, and we are going to need it if we want to continue thriving.
What if we thought about these natural resources as natural relations, as author Daniel Wildcat suggests in his book Red Alert. Rather than seeing the materials of the earth as something for us to extract, consume, and discard, we can live our lives in relationship with the world around us, where we collaborate, share, use, and give back.
You might be thinking “This philosophy sounds great, but how does this help us live more sustainable lives?” I believe that when it comes to sustainability, the challenges we face are not technical problems, but cultural ones.
The way our culture lives is unsustainable, and without addressing the core reasons for that, we cannot lead sustainable lives. Our culture is defined by the way we understand our relationship to the rest of the world. If we can start with a perspective that we are in relationship with the world around us, and do our best to be in good relationship, then we can let the decisions we make flow from there.
This may sound like it will make our lives harder, but my experience has been that when I ask not what can I get from the world and my relationships, but what can I give, my life becomes more joyful and beautiful. When we connect to the world around us and ask, “What is my purpose here?” we open up the potential to receive guidance from the wisdom of our relationships with the natural world.
It’s this kind of thinking that I bring into my work as a vegetable farmer. I have the privilege of working with dozens of different varieties of produce, and my goal is to grow them into vibrant and healthy food that will contribute to the health and vitality of my family and my customers. To do that, I need to keep the plants healthy. In order for the plants to be healthy, the soil needs to be healthy, which means that the microbes in the soil need to be fed. Spraying poisons would have the temporary benefit of eliminating pests in the moment but in the long term, this would have a negative impact on the health of the soil, and therefore the health of the plants and the people that eat them. So, I must instead find ways of managing pests in ways that maintain harmony in the living ecosystem. I find myself in a nexus of relationships that require me to act with respect and consideration for the other beings so that we may all thrive.
Living life at the lake, we are in relationship with the fish, the birds, the plant life, and the other lake residents, now and all who will live there in the future. How we choose to live among and with these creatures affects long term sustainability of the ecosystems we are a part of. Keeping the lake clean, and shorelines healthy is a way of being in good relationship with the fish and water plants. Leaving native trees to stand keeps us in good relationship with the birds. Planting pollinator gardens helps us to be in good relationship with bees and other insects.
And of course, we can’t forget the importance of our relationships with each other. Our ability to support one another and work together is what enables us to do great things. In our fast-paced lives, we ought to invest energy into the people around us, listening to and sharing about the things that are important to us, helping each other to be the best version of ourselves.
Living in good relationship with one another gives us the practice we need to live in good relationship with our natural world.
Born and raised in Kenora, Jacob Boutwell spent several years travelling and learning about agriculture, activism, and sustainability. He applied what he learned co-founding the non-profit Harvest Kenora and the vegetable farm Muriel Shores Farm.
