The Topanga Model is all about how you too can form a local IG-GARDENS, or "Interest Group - Garden/ing", or participate to an existing one, and why you should do so. It is also about creating a conduit where such groups can cooperate with each other for their mutual information and benefits.
Such Interest Groups are formal or informal alliances formed by people known as "STAKEHOLDERS". Therefore, a local IG-GARDEN is an alliance formed by individuals, families, landowners, community groups, work contributors, etc, collectively known as STAKEHOLDERS. Anyone can start one or originate one -- no need to be a landlord or even a gardener!
The PURPOSE of such a COOPERATIVE ENDEAVOR is to sustainably producing organic, wholesome, functional and non-poisonous foods. It obviously would make little sense for anyone to endeavor to produce "conventional grade" "foods" of dubious value. If that is what you want to eat, no need to bother, as this can be done cheaper by conventional agribusiness, and can be bought anytime at any supermarket.
Of course, there is a problem with that, though. The problem being that as we all do as long as we don't "get it", we are going to pay for these "foods" not only with money, but also in terms of health.
Pr Otto Warburg, the only physician to ever get TWO Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Physiology, missing a third one by a hairwidth, was totally persuaded that all "modern" degenerative and chronic diseases ultimately found their source in mad-made chemicals in our immediate environment and foremost, in the foods and beverages we ingest.
In fact, one of our main inspiration in these matters is a study on human nutrition which has been hailed by Dr F. V. Annenberg in the following manner: "There is absolutely no doubt that the 'China Project' is the most authoritative research in human nutrition ever made. The results of this monumental endeavor that spans decades are of such a profound importance relative to human health and nutrition that they have yet to be completely understood and to fully impact our ways of living and of eating. There is no question that the lessons to be found there are of priceless value, and should be the very basis of our understanding about 'How to Eat Right'. Any endeavor to bring functional foods to the marketplace should be based on this study. Any attempt to grow food for one's own consumption or for the marketplace should be grounded on the lessons learned from Pr Campbell and Pr Warburg. Anyone who faces disease will have to choose between continuing to eat and live as they do, and pay the ultimate price for it, or to stop for a moment, think, and perhaps change their priorities."
And here is what Robert C. Richardson, Ph.D., also a Nobel Prize winner, Professor of Physics and Vice Provost of Research at Cornell University, had to say about it:
"The China Study is the account of a ground-breaking research study that provides the answers long sought by physicians, scientists, and health-conscious readers. Based on painstaking investigations over many years, it unearths surprising answers to the most important nutritional questions of our time: What really causes cancer? How can we extend our lives? What will turn around the obesity epidemic? [Etc.] The China Study quickly and easily dispenses with fad diets, relying on solid and convincing evidence. Clearly and beautifully written by one of the world’s most respected nutrition authorities, The China Study represents a major turning point in our understanding of health."
We could multiply such quotes. This short introduction about what we do and why we do it, and why you should do it as well, is not the place for it, but rest assured that "you are what you eat", no doubt about it. And more, that 90+% and perhaps as much as 99% of your health problems and the health problems of family and friends depend principally on what you eat and what they eat. And that nothing is more important to your health than inexpensive access to locally-grown wholesome organic and sustainable produce, fruits and vegetables.
Not persuaded yet? Here is the opinion of Neal Barnard, M.D., the President of the "Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine" on this study: "Everyone in the field of nutrition science stands on the shoulders of T. Colin Campbell, who is one of the giants in the field. This is one of the most important books about nutrition ever written -- reading it may save your life".
What is there more to say? Read this book, and read this blog.
The goal of "The Topanga Model" is to give people usable guidelines and a solid base of useful references. And to show people how to organize to share wholesome foods among STAKEHOLDERS on a non-profit basis, and possibly for wider DISTRIBUTION on a for-profit basis in the case of "Market Gardening".
To work together in a win/win manner and as efficiently as possible for the best interest of all, it is better to follow models that pre-address numerous actual or potential issues. The best one we know of is the one described here, and since this model, based on research and experience that goes back to 1919 and before, and to which many giants of human thought contributed, was finalized in Topanga Canyon, CA, it is also known as "THE TOPANGA MODEL".
In times of ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE, greater HEALTH AWARENESS and even greater ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY, of MAJOR ECONOMIC CRISIS actually, such efforts become increasingly important for the well-being of all, and should therefore be widely REPLICATEd. Here, we will provide anyone interested in better health and a better life with all the relevant information, and with the tools to organise so to have steady and reliable access to what is perhaps the most important input when it comes to one's health: Wholesome, organic and sustainable foods.
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The following post will be a sitemap and the overnext will define the terms used. The SITEMAP FOR "THE TOPANGA MODEL" overviews what is available here on this blog and will allow you to navigate directly to the posts which are most interesting to you.
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