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do? It is easy to wring one's hands in despair at the enormity of the problem. However, one little candle lights another and we all need to throw our light into making a difference, starting at grass roots.

Teachers and parents should be educating themselves and setting examples to children so that they will grow up conserving the world's resources. Great strides have been made with recycling; the next logical step is for all people to grow something edible, even if only in a pot, so that we re-learn the joy of producing food and working with the earth. We should be supporting the many farmers' markets, so that those who make their living growing food can make a decent living and not be swallowed up by huge corporations. We especially need to support organic farming to save the environment from pesticides, thus restoring air and soil quality. We need to have a love affair with Mother Earth once more and respect her. This century has seen her mightily abused.

Our education at home is vitally important for future generations and for the future of the planet. Fortunately there are organizations that take education further afield and do good work in other parts of the globe. The Peace Corps, for example, sends dedicated men and women to distant places world-wide. Another group, Amigos de Las Americas, sends well-trained volunteers to Central and South American rural areas, teaching and helping local communities with worthwhile projects. Often this includes taking seeds with them and helping plant gardens, while at the same time showing good farming methods that aid production naturally.

A significant cause of world hunger is poverty, with a vast discrepancy between rich and poor. If we are fortunate to have enough food on our plates, we need to consider the vast numbers in the world who do not. Remember Marie Antoinette, Queen of France. When told there was no bread for the masses, she is reported to have said, "Let them eat cake." As we know, she lived to regret her indifference. If we are getting something very cheaply, someone else has most probably paid a dear price for it. We need to be prepared to pay fairly. Sweat shops, child and slave labor are still with us in the 21st century and as consumers we share responsibility for them. Organizations like "Fair Trade" address this and we should support these organizations.

Progress and globalization come with a big price tag. It is now possible to eat bananas in Alaska and enjoy Shrimp Louie in Arizona any day of the year. Anything is possible; - or is it? California has just banned all salmon fishing, both commercial and recreational, as the species is under threat in the Pacific North West. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has adopted the ban to include most of Oregon and Washington. Not only has salmon been over fished, but their environment has been destroyed in some instances. Rivers are altered and the fish are unable to return upstream to spawn. In 2002, 75,000 adult Chinook salmon returned to spawn; the number expected back this year is 54,000. Sadly, not everyone monitors patterns like this, taking measures to avoid disastrous consequences, and so many species world-wide are threatened and it goes unnoticed until too late. First world countries with their rampant consumerism are wasting resources from the earth and oceans; vast amounts of food end up as garbage. More is culled than is used, all to give demanding customers a big choice.

Yes, we still need to teach people how to fish, but we also need to teach them to fish just enough for their needs. There was a reason why our great-grandparents said, "waste not, want not." We should have listened to them a hundred years ago; let's pay attention now, before it's too late.

Learn more about this author, Glynnis Hayward.
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