One of the deepest insights Imagestreaming has given me is that you can often be right without knowing why. Our mental powers combine with the creative side and the intuitive side to produce stunningly simple solutions. Another insight is that you can Imagestream a solution and find it, but not truly understand its significance. I just caught a glimpse of such an insight attending a presentation of the UK’s Capital Growth project, sponsored by the Lord Mayor of London , Boris Johnson. His project, to cover London with food gardens is spookily reminiscent of the first chapter of my Imagestreamed book, “Inventing for the Sustainable Planet”.
Back in the late 90’s I started imagestreaming to find the answer to a simple question: what would a sustainable civilization look like? The first imagestream revealed a city where everyone grew food everywhere. The explanation they gave was that it was in their culture.
I never really understood at the time, but pressed on to finish and publish the book. To my delight, London of all places is coming to a stage in its development where small gardens, balcony gardens and community gardens are springing up, sponsored by the Lord Mayor himself. Read more on this admirable initiative here.
But to the next point … to truly understand its significance. Here is a list of reasons why a culture of growing food everywhere provides a sound cornerstone of the sustainable society.
It fosters a sense of control of your own destiny: if you can grow food and not be hungry, then you have the strength to address your situation. You are not at the mercy of a destructive counter sustainable consumerism.
- Food grown locally needs very little energy input, and with the right techniques, waste organic material produce locally makes fertilizers.
- It gives a feeling of security. Food security is one of the foundations of prosperity and peace. Peace costs so much less than war to run.
- For more insights from the book, see the collection of newsletters from the future.