Women in Agriculture Network

I had the great fortune to attend a local event that featured the founder of WAgN, Denise O’Brien, as the keynote speaker the other evening. I have to say I was inspired to find so much hope and activism right here within my own community. The genuine humanness displayed between this particular group of women, in a time when so much is being lost, was touching.

Not only did it affirm my belief that women have an intuitive, instinctual drive to sustain our species, but it confirmed that there are women out there doing something about it! As one women trying to get lots of ideas out into the world, it was refreshing to be in the company of other passionate women. It is comforting to know that there are many women holding the vision for a different kind of world.

There was a thoughtfulness that went into planning the entire evening - from the beautiful bouquets of flowers that adorned the tables, reusable plates and various antique tablecloths, to the awards recognizing women within the agricultural community. The genuine nurturing of the essence of the feminine was endearing.

It was also reassuring to know that there are other women out there who are just as concerned about our food supply and the infiltration of GM crops into our food supply. From college graduates to grandmothers, there was an internal knowledge about what is really going on in our world, displayed by the statements of concern.

More than any other time in history, women have the power to shift our world. The fact that for the first time in the United States women own a greater percentage of farmland than ever before is astounding. A survey conducted by the Women, Food and Agriculture Network , the two things women who own farmland want is: more families living on the land and the conservation of resources. Women inherently know what is true.

The words spoken at this event echoed my desperate attempts to convey my thoughts in the book I am writing. It convinced me even more that a need exists and that it is intended to serve as vehicle to convey the insight of women everywhere through their stories. If you feel compelled to share your story but are not comfortable writing it down and would prefer to talk with me in person, let me know.

Slowly, women are finding their voices and speaking up. In doing so there will be resistance to what we have to say and effort to keep us quiet. But the doors are opening and the scale is tipping in our favor. We outnumber the ones who are leading this world in the wrong direction. If we mobilize and support one another we can create the change that is essential for our survival. We can affect change that will be seen in our own lifetimes if we act quickly. A great potential for positive change exists right now at this exact moment in time. Let’s join together.

The Mamalution Network

Sorting through the stories that are flooding in and have decided to create an online social network that will connect us all! I just officially launched the Mamalution Network today and have sent invites out to as many of you as I could possibly pull together from all my various lists (from reponses, posts and my personal lists) but I know I have missed some of you!

Please email me at Imani@thegreenvibration.com for an invite or try linking to http://busymomsgogreen.ning.com/ to see if you can get on.

Create your own personal profile so we can get to know each other a little better, invite your friends & find out what other women are doing with their families - each of us in our own little corner of the world. Share green tips, accomplishments, frustrations, recipes, ideas, photos...create your own groups and connect with other women as passionate as you are about making some positive change in this world!

Laugh. Cry. Share your wisdom. Learn something new. In this way we will transform, grow strong, heal, become wiser & collaborate- together in the community of women.

Thank You!

A heartfelt thanks to all the "green"moms who have responded to my call for stories in just the first week. I am thrilled that there are so many of us out there and would like to share just a couple of the responses I have received so far in the upcoming weeks. Have a story? Send it my way! Here are two great moms and a grandmom sharing some wisdom and inspiration:

Basically the thing that I am feeling lately is this rising feeling of panic and fear for the generation of babies and young children that are here right now. they are so sick! I feel like its not about the future-its about right now-we are killing these little guys. This is the first generation that will have a shorter lifespan then their parents- and everyday I am seeing why. They have 300 times more asthma, and are more likely to die from it than ever before, they are amidst an autism epidemic that we are only just beginning to understand the full impact of, they are medicated for depression, OCD, ADHD, ODD, they are allergic, covered with eczema, obese, have heart disease and diabetes (the former disease of middle age are now common for even preteens). and we are getting to a point where this is just thought of as "normal". Much like we accepted older people having a laundry list of pills everday in former generations-we now think that a healthy child is one that is maintained OK on daily doses of 3-7 medications. This is not health! It is sickness! Parents with children who are suffering know that. Their lives are scarey, frustrating and exhausting, everyday. But do they know that most of their kid's friends are sick too? I am worried that the environmental movement often speaks in terms of "the Earth we will leave our children"... and so forth, primarily in the future tense. When all around us, the evidence is there that our children are not surviving the world they have now. Mamas- The time is RIGHT NOW to save our precious babies from lives barely lived, pain and suffering that never should have been. ~Dr. Gruber-Cooley, Forest Family Medicine, West Hartford, CT


I have 4 grown children and 9 grandbabies with 1 due in July. I was not aware of "green " when the kids were growing up except not to throw trash out the car window. If you did we stopped the car and you went back and you had to pick it up (the ultimate embarassement). Just small things. But now my children recycle (and of course I do too). What I am really proud of is my daughter who is involved in my business with her children who help cut, stack and trim as part of their home school training. It is teaching them to sew and training them in business, but more importantantly they are involved in helping to save the planet from plastic and paper bags. Every day they recycle cans and bottles from our trash and on Saturdays we go to the recycle center and they take the loads to each bin. All three help with our organic garden and go around singing a cute little ditty "Recycle Recycle what you gonna do with all that trash?" ~ Cordie, owner of www.buymygreenbag.com

Dear Imani,

I love, love, love what you wrote here! It all resonates with me!! Last year, in February, I said the most sincere prayer of mylife: “God, if I am doing what I am meant to do (raising small children, freelanceediting), thank you. I am very grateful for all the blessings in my life. However, if there is more for me, and there is something else that you want me to do, I am open to it and I am listening.”

Since then, I have listened, gone with the flow which has lead me to:Starting a business www.zolagoods.com which empowers women by educating them about the changes they can make to help the environment and also gives them the opportunity to spread the message. This is a new business model that values community, & transparency, rather than hierarchies cloaked in mystery and solely driven by profit. Being part of three spiritual communities which have been very fulfilling - one is Unity (very similar teachings to Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth) and the CUUPS at the Unitarian Church which is an Earth centered practice with a very trusting close circle of people who honor the earth/divine femine, etc..

I have also gotten back into yoga and am doing mediation. All of these things help to balance, center and ground me as I follow my higher purpose, which I believe is to help heal our planet. I am also available and present for my two small children and husband and I know that when they get older they will be proud that I tried to do something to help people learn to be better stewards of the earth. Good luck! It sounds like a fascinating book! Thank you! Beth, visionary behind www.zolagoods.com (GREAT site!)

Share your stories

The Mamalution is a movement of mothers who are passionate, dedicated and on high alert. We are mothers who are tapping into our instinctual wisdom to lead us in the right direction. We are mothers who have answers and who are seeking answers.

We are mothers who care about our environment and the world that is going to be left to our children and their children. We are mothers that know that there are ways to be in the world that are more sustainable and more fair.

We are mothers who have faced insurmountable obstacles and who have learned things the hard way. We are mothers moving through fear to the other side. We are busy, overworked, overextended and exhausted. We are fiercely determined and short on time.

Some of us are stay at home moms while others work in Corporate America to pay the bills. All of us live lives dictated by money. Some of us are dependent on the men in our lives to take care of us while others are the family breadwinner. All of us sacrifice.

Some of us are still in circumstances that are painful, challenging and overwhelming. Many of us struggle to get through each day. Some of us are in relationships that are not supportive of our feminine essence while others of us may not be in relationship at all.

Some of us have yet to unleash the fullness of ourselves. Our voices have been silenced. Others of us are lacking the confidence or support of sisterhood to speak out. Some if us may have just begun on the path of “green” while others may have been screaming the same message for decades.

Many of us may have gone astray but have found our way back on track. We have overcome challenges in more than one arena. We have learned lessons the hard way. We have lost loved ones, moved, saw places we loved be destroyed and have lost battles. Yet we cling to our visions and keep going on.

We are light greens, dark greens and everything in between. We are mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters. We are doing things differently. We are inventing a new world order that serves as a model for the rising feminine rather than the privileged elite. We envision a world of many cooperative sustainable communities living in harmony side by side – not a world defined by borders armed with the threat of nuclear weapons.

The time for action is now. Whatever your circumstances, know that you are powerful. You can make a difference just in the ways you choose to live your life. You are not alone. There are others out sharing your journey. There is a thread that connects us all. There is a tapestry to be woven.

We have stories to share and wisdom to offer. If you are a woman that identifies with any aspect of this call to action, please consider sharing with me your personal story to be considered for the book I am completing entitled The Absence of Soil. Some concepts that will be included in the book are addressed in my blog http://www.busymomsgogreen.blogspot.com/ and I am available to answer inquiries via email at Imani@thegreenvibration.com. Please feel free to share this with other women that may be interested in this project.

In the spirit of midwifery and the birthing of our new world, I would be honored to have you share your stories with me – wherever you are on the path. What do you feel in your bones? What is really important? What are the barriers that get in the way? What is your motivation? Have you challenged the system? Where do we go from here?

I am seeking stories of success and stories of failure that depict the realities of our experiences as mothers and the specific obstacles we face. My book is intended to be direct with hard hitting facts about the seriousness of the issue at hand but without judgment. My hope is to soften the message with our stories and inspire and encourage mothers everywhere to follow their instinctual selves.

Many Blessings

Imani