Readers have asked me to post more on preparing food. As you know, one of my biggest motivations is accessibility. I try to promote what anyone can do and to show how to do it. My sister asked me for pictures of my fermentations in action. I happen to have a few going, so took pictures of them. I thought making a video would help show what to expect. Before[…] Keep reading →

Joe Biden can lead in a lot more ways than using authority, which is the least effective tool of a leader. The President of the United States is not some guy on the street. He’s at a leverage point of a system, with great influence. Imagine if Biden stood with the protesters of a pipeline. Imagine he simply took an inventory of his personal waste and minimized it and showed[…] Keep reading →

People are proposing wealth taxes People are talking about taxing wealth. Everyone relies on society so if you own more, you use more and benefited more, they say, so should pay more. Besides, they add, the wealthy can structure what anyone would call income so it doesn’t look like income on taxes so avoid paying any taxes. Moreover, they further add, there’s no “natural” law that makes wealth untaxable, so[…] Keep reading →

The TEDx people posted my fourth TEDx talk: Don’t call Doof Food: systemic change begins with personal change. I think you’ll like it. If you do, please go to YouTube and upvote, comment, and share it. When it resonates, you start using the term doof, and you never call food doof, let me know. I recommend using the term. It will simplify and clarify a lot in your life. Thanks[…] Keep reading →

A father in one of my online communities asked people for what advice they’d give to a twelve-year-old. I’m not a father and haven’t been twelve since the 1980s, so I don’t know how appropriate for that age, but here was my answer: Not knowing the kid (barely knowing myself), I can only guess at his interests and situation, but here’s what I would want someone to tell me if[…] Keep reading →

Following up on my post yesterday about Buy Nothing Season, I came up with a gift idea that costs nothing, takes almost no time to prepare, and only uses a sheet of scrap paper. I don’t know about you, but I would love to receive it. I think it would build a relationship. I doubt I came up with it. More likely I heard it a while ago and it[…] Keep reading →

Our culture promotes the wrong idea that buying things brings happiness. More like addiction. Stores yesterday were busy fake marking up prices to fake mark them back down. They aren’t doing you any favors. Did you know that many manufacturers make lower quality items specifically for this time of year. They break down sooner, costing you more, filling landfills more. But they really hit the poorest this way, which is[…] Keep reading →

I’ve seen this phrase more lately: “touch grass.” When someone starts sounding stir-crazy—that is, sounding as if they’ve been cooped up too long—someone will say “touch grass.” They mean, go outside and connect with nature. When did you last walk barefoot on land that humans didn’t manicure, or even that they did, like a lawn? It’s fall here, so maybe you walked on the beach. How about in a stream[…] Keep reading →

Today, picking up litter, it occurred to me that the more I act, the more I care about what I do. The less I act, the more indifferent, apathetic, and complacent I become. It could apply to picking up litter, avoiding packaged food, or many things I learned to do after childhood. I care (second) because I act (first). If you want to get technical, caring and acting are parts[…] Keep reading →