Who Are Your Heroes?

4 thoughts on “Who Are Your Heroes?”

1. My hero is the essayist and modern day agrarian Wendell Berry. He deserves a great deal of credit for why I believe gardening and gardening with heirloom / open-pollinated seeds is so important for our nation’s food security.

   In one of my favorite essays of his, “The Pleasures of Eating,” he notes that eating is an agricultural act. His advice to city folk who ask what they can do to act on this truth is to “Eat responsibly.”

   In a progression of seven things that articulate more about this responsibility, he goes from advising people to “Participate in food production to the extent that they can,” (even if that means simply growing some herbs on your windowsill) to “preparing your own food” to learning more about the origins of where your food comes from.

   Berry posits that we cede freedom if our food and its sources are controlled by someone else. In one observation, Berry notes:

   “The food industrialists have by now persuaded millions of consumers to prefer food that is already prepared. They will grow, deliver, and cook your food for you and (just like your mother) beg you to eat it. That they do not yet offer to insert it, prechewed, into your mouth is only because that they have found no profitable way to do so.”

   I absolutely love Berry’s way with words.

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2. That’s easy for me- it’s Jesus. (more later).

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   1. In fact, Jesus is the answer to many of the questions asked here, in my opinion.

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   2. Definition of hero (Entry 1 of 3) from Merriam-Webster
      1a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
      b : an illustrious warrior
      c : a person admired for achievements and noble qualities
      d : one who shows great courage

      Jesus is all that and more. He is the founder of the world’s largest faith tradition, with more than 2 billion followers.

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