DISCLOSURE - I dream for a living, so please excuse my idealism.

Watched the Super Bowl yesterday.  Good way to kill 6 hours on jetBlue flying from Boston to Long Beach.  Great game. Less than scintillating ads.  So I was thinking about what would have made it spectacular and brilliant. 

Here’s a dream…

What if the Obama administration used some of our bailout dollars to purchase the entire Super Bowl media buy?  I know, it’s pretty much blasphemy to talk about misusing bail out dollars, but after seeing how Wall Street torched us all with big bonuses in 2008, I figured what the heck.  And what if the next generation of thought leaders and brands were given 30 seconds or 1 minute to share their stories?  Stories about what could be:

• Tesla talking about how a new age of auto development is on the horizon.
• John Todd talking about healing mountains in Appalachia using natural resources.
• Ray Anderson sharing his team’s monumental transformation from one of Earth’s greatest plunderers to sustainability icon at Interface.
•  Cameron Sinclair presenting a mission to create a whole new paradigm for school structures and classrooms at Architecture for Humanity.  
• Janine Benyus and the Biomimicry Guild inspiring and awakening us to the genius that surrounds us called Nature.
• Millennials & Generation Y (affectionately referred to heretofore as Generation WE) discussing their hopes and aspirations for the emerging future. 
• Patagonia chatting about what it takes to be a bonfire brand and creating trust through transparency and traceability.
• Seventh Generation revealing the art of being a leading corporate responsible brand.
• Steve Glenn @ Livinghomes extolling the virtues of a home that creates more energy than it uses.
• Michael Pollan eloquently discussing how food is not a thing but a relationship.  Followed up by Guillermo Payet and Erin Barnett at LocalHarvest sharing the incredible undercurrent of folks gravitating towards local farms, local markets, local food and CSA.

Crazy idea I know.  But then again, the beauty is that it is all real…incredibly real.  So at a time when our culture needs inspiration, hope and optimism, I simply thought it would be cool to start sharing a beautiful mosaic of what could be.  Perhaps we should all start dreaming for a living?

 Wide right.   

Imagine if we had the same reverence for Janine Benyus, Buckminster Fuller, John Todd, Paul Hawken, Michael Pollan, Paul Rice and David Suzuki that our culture has for Tiger Woods?  What would shift in our behavior and every deliberation?

The possibilities would be endless.

My newfound obsession - discovering the trimtab that can make it a reality…

THE LH POSSE - Erin, Guillermo, Amber (baby Joaquin), Kerry

In his book In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan speaks about how food is not a thing but a relationship.  It is such a simple and wonderful thing to ponder.  Imagine if we looked at all things as a relationship.  How would that change our behavior?  

Guillermo Payet and Erin Barnett created LocalHarvest with the goal of letting us see how food really is a relationship.  A relationship with real food, real farmers and real community.  In a relatively short time and on a tight budget they have created a website that houses the largest database of farmer’s markets, family farms and other sources of sustainable grown food in your area.  What they have accomplished to date is simply inspiring.  They have created an incredible community and network that provides acres of inspiring thought and information when it comes to local farms. 

They are both kindred spirits who have an unbridled passion for sharing their love for food and community.  The first time I met Guillermo at his home in Santa Cruz we went immediately to the beach for a little body surfing action.  I never had a meeting beyond the break treading water…pretty darn cool.  Oh yeah - note to self - pass on the journey into the cove with the blowhole…yowza!  You immediately discover that Guillermo, a native of Peru, is an adventurous spirit who is ardent in his desire to do the right thing.  Erin is amazing in her own right.  She’s a mom and entrepreneur living in Minnesota with a kindred spirit and a wonderful gift for writing as evident by the monthly newsletters.

Two people making a huge difference.  Two people with a simple vision moving mountains!

One last thing.  If you have not tried CSA you are missing out on an amazing experience.  It grounds you and allows you to appreciate the connection with land, community and food in a way that you previously did not consider.  If you have kids there is even more reason to engage.  They’ll learn early on a relationship with food that can last a lifetime.  Check out LocalHarvest for the nearest CSA farm near you.  You’ll be glad you did!