Of Bread and Soup and Gifting Trees

A big part of the inspiration to start this adventure was a project that I was working on and thought I might get a grant to take around the country. I build these Abundance Trees, which are essentially gifting trees that also act as a room in which to discuss the world around us - my hope is that these trees will eventually be built in every city and people will use their interior sitting area to discuss creative solutions to the problems that plague our society. The trees themselves are made from discarded branches and other recycled pieces and it was our intention to install the trees in areas that were hardest hit by the recession - following a list of places where home foreclosures were highest and hitting a few tent cities and such along the way. Homelessness has always seemed such a bizarre issue to me. We have empty houses and buildings that sit that way because there is more to be made by the owners in tax write-offs than by renting them to those in need for less than market value.

So it's sort of fitting that we're beginning this adventure with a Stone Soup Swap and that's just what we're doing today. Everyone is bringing one piece of fruit for the drink and one veggie for the soup and stuff to swap to start our entry into homelessness. I keep thinking to myself that this cannot be that hard - finding creative solutions to problems. I think we've just been brainwashed into thinking there are only these few, very competitive ways of doing anything and so perhaps the first steps to creative thinking is exploring any other way than the first thing that comes to our minds as a solution. Perhaps I should have had a swap meet before I had a sale.


Note:
For anyone who likes baking bread - check out the More With Less Cookbook - it's a Mennonite cookbook that not only has a bounty of bread recipes, but also has some great how tos on making all sorts of stuff you never thought you could from scratch, like ketchup, mayo, grape-nuts and English muffins. None of this stuff is particularly difficult. Try it. You can get the book on Amazon for a song. Well, a few dollars and a song. They probably wouldn't actually take the song either. But I would - come sing for me and I'll trade you my book as soon as I write down my favorite recipes and take your number in case I forget some.