Who Knew?

We've been going on adventures on the weekends.  We've been mini golfing (which Sophie plays in the manner of hockey meets basketball meets rugby), out to neighborhood movie nights and to dragon boat races.  Today Mike surprised us with a trip to Queen Creek Olive Mill, Arizona's very own olive farm and olive oil manufacturer.  They grow their trees without pesticides, press their oil without heat, solvents or chemicals, and have a gift shop chock full of local products.  Oh, and a phenomenal selection of wines.  On our way to this little oasis we passed next week's adventure, an organic farm where you can pick your own produce.  I also saw a sign advertising sustainable pork, I'm definitely going to have to check that out at some point. 
Most of the news you hear about Arizona has to do with our certifiably insane politicians and policies.  Granted, there's enough antics to fill up the news feed just from a single session in the state Senate.  So I want to shout from the rooftops that there's a whole other side to this state.  One full of organic produce, nutty and beautiful olive oil, grass fed beef and all kinds of local, sustainable goodies.  Sure we still have our birthers, our Tea Partiers and our gun worshipers, but I am finding little pockets of love in an otherwise hostile environment.  It's a different type of environmentalism here.  A more quiet one than I'm used to.  Out here the sustainable farming community does it because it's the right thing to do, not because it's trendy or political.  They don't hype it because they don't have to, it's just the way they work. The olive farm may not be certified organic but they compost all their waste and feed it back into the earth.  Labels don't matter, quality and ethics do. 
I hold onto this simple mind set when I read the news and see all the posturing and hyperbole.  I also hold onto the idea that sustainable farming doesn't have to be a liberal idea, it can just be a sensible idea.