A Plant that would Feed the World by Marie Cartier

I have thought a lot about planting seeds—seeds I want to plant and of course grow– the new varietal of blue mustard green, for instance.

It’s the thing to think about in fall– harvesting and planting.

But what else? What if I could plant—anything. Anything at all.

What would I want to grow? What would I want to plant?

I want to grow long rooted plants that stretch to my neighbors’ house– to see if everyone is okay next door, and across the street, and a few houses down by the railroad tracks.

I want those roots to pop up with plants, and maybe true happy meals. So, people can be happy—and fed.

There are so many people hungry—who can think without food? One in four kids goes to bed hungry… twenty-five percent…and ten percent don’t know where their bed is…where they will sleep.

I remember when I was in Istanbul this summer there was a woman sitting with her legs splayed out in the street and she was going through a bag of restaurant left overs—maybe? — a big black garbage bag open between her black stockinged legs…and she was sorting scraps of leftover bread. She had a small pile of bread scraps to her right hip, that she was adding to.

Next to her was a baby carriage with two babies in it—maybe a year old each and they were nose to nose in the carriage, asleep.

I want to plant some seed that feeds the world.

But I don’t need to go to Istanbul to see that… I remember it because of her black hijab flowing around her and the blue mosque outlined behind her and the two babies, of course, nose to nose.

But I can see the same thing – different woman different children –when I get off the 405 and drive under the over pass on my way to work in the Valley and I see tent cities and there are women and there are children and there are hungry children

I want to plant seeds of action. I want to plant seeds of fullness. I want my plants to burst open with pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot chocolate and ice cream.

It is so hard to be in the world. It is so hard and I went to Sprouts today, a rather high-end natural food store, where I bought the pumpkin spice products, I tell myself I won’t fall for again- but here I go with pumpkin spice pancake mix and pumpkin spice sweet potato chips and pumpkin spice filled, gluten-free cookies. I mean all of this stuff is so expensive really—and then again, I buy it because I do work hard and I have no time to go out to eat and I have to bring food to work, and I don’t eat wheat… and there are still people hungry, starving, and I think about that woman in Istanbul so often and those two nose to nose babies and that mosque behind her—Allah protect her, Jesus protect her.

Protect us all goddess of the hearth Hestia– throw your seeds into the wind and imbue them with magic so that the world is fed… how to do it?

Why aren’t we doing it? We criminalize giving food to the homeless in Florida.

And this is the time of harvest. There is so much and we share so little

Earth air fire water, my teachers. I am a witch of the elements.

How to bend the arc of justice? Oh Martin, the arc of the moral universe is long …but it bends towards justice.

Spell the wand and bend the arc in this time of year when the plants are ripe, the corn yellow, the pomegranates red.

I throw my seeds. I cast my lot. Maybe I buy happy meals.

–Marie Cartier

With thanks to Queerwise performance group, September 2023

Note: Criminalizing feeding the homeless is not just happening in Florida. You can learn more here.