Community: Have we lost it? Should we care?

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, a visitor from France, wrote that Americans were good at coming together whether for political or social reasons and that this was our strength.

"Civic engagement" wrote De Tocqueville in 1835, was key to our success as a democracy.

Bowling Alone, written 160 years later by sociologist Robert D. Putnam, warned that the community praised by de Tocqueville was breaking down.

Putnam blamed television, two-career families and suburban sprawl. Only a few decades before, he explained, thousands of Americans were bowling league members, but by 1996 people were more likely to bowl alone. He concluded this was leading to disturbing trends, from a lack of good manners to an increase in violence.

Is the web to blame?
Web surfing, video gaming and our busy lives are now taking the blame for a growing lack of community in our culture. People argue that too much time online means much less time for human interaction.

American families spend an average of 3.6 hours a day online according to a report on ZDNet, and that report is three years old! If you subtract school, work, transportation and sleep time, that doesn't leave much for family together time.

Disturbing trend? Perhaps. I believe strongly that human beings need community to thrive. But another thing about humans, we usually find a way to get what we need.

Is hope on the horizon?
I've noticed two trends that seem to contradict the idea that community is dead or dying today.

• Knit 'n' bitch groups, reading groups, play groups have all gathered speed in the early 21st century. I think this is an effort to reach out to others and form new communities. We may not be home to borrow sugar any more but we are reaching out.
  
  
• Volunteerism among young people is on the rise. The President made service to others a key point in his inaugural address, and it appears a lot of people are taking him seriousy. According to a recent report on volunteerism on Minnesota Public Radio the upside (if there is one) of the down economy is that people are giving of themselves because they can't afford monetary donations.
  
  
• Voluntary communities, created by Internet access and facilitated by social networking sites such as Facebook and My Space do help keep people in touch. I've heard so many stories about people reconnecting after years through these sites. That can't be all bad.
  

Hope springs eternal as they say and even Putnam, who seemed pretty doom and gloom in his 1996 book, has co-written another book, Better Together, and is trying to start a movement to encourage re-engagement. The Better Together website lists "150 Ways to Build Social Capital," a great resource for community building.

What do you think?
More questions come up whenever I talk to people about this topic. For example:

• While shared interests are bringing people together from all over the world over the Internet, if we only associate with like-minded folks are we missing opportunities to expand our horizons?
  
  
• Texting, email, instant messaging, cell phones, tweeting—in some ways we're more in touch than ever before on an individual basis. In fact, many would argue we're too in touch. But, do we interact in a meaningful way with others?
  
  
• Have we lost community or have we just replaced one type of community with another?

Illustration by Donna Collingwood.

Wild Food Foraging in Madison

Food grows wild all over Madison. In fact, the makings of a tasty salad may be growing right in your backyard. You just have to know where and how to find it.

Finding free edible eats in Madison, basic steps:

1. Educate yourself. Doing your research is by far the most important step. Learn what grows here, what is edible and what is NOT edible.

• Visit and talk with experts at the Schumacher Horticultural Library at Olbrich Gardens.
  
  
• Take a class with a local or regional wild food expert such as Kathleen Wildwood at Wildwood Herbs or Rose Barlow at Prodigal Gardens.
  
  
• Buy an illustrated plant guide for our area.
  Some good ones are Samuel Thayer's The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting and Preparing Edible Wild Plants and Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants in Minnesota and Wisconsin by Mathew Alfs. The Alfs book is out-of-print but available at most libraries.
  

2. Locate a good spot to forage. Your backyard is a great place to start but you can also find food growing in most fields and parks.

• Be careful and respectful. Private property without permission is taboo.
• Removal of plants is forbidden at the UW Arboretum and area Conservation Parks, although these often offer educational wild food walks.
• Avoid rail beds or public utilities as these are heavily sprayed with pesticides.

3. Prepare to forage. Check the weather and take the following.

• Illustrated plant guide
• Scissors or knife for cutting
• Small shovel for digging
• Basket or bag to carry your treasure
  
• Gloves and comfortable clothing
• Notebook and pen to record plentiful areas

4. Harvest with care. Make your experience a good one. Respect your surroundings, and follow the forager's code, "take only what you need." And, when in doubt, don't eat it.

• Take an experienced forager with you first time if possible.
• Check a plant guide to know what part of the plant is edible.
• Don't eat if sap is milky or turns black when exposed to oxygen.

5. Go for it! Wash your finds carefully and check out these recipes from Prodigal Gardens for ideas on how to enjoy your harvest.

Look for these incredible edibles this spring:

• Nettles — Highly nutritious, nettles can be subsituted for spinach.
• Burdock — Burdock root is good in stir fry.
• Dandelions — Great in salad but try dandelion wine or roast roots for a dandelion coffee!
  
• Violets — Violets pretty up any spring table.
  
• Wild Leeks — Ramps to some, stir fry these or add to salads.
  
• Garlic Mustard — Pungent and tasty, garlic mustard is great in a spring salad.

For more see How to Forage for Edible Plants on howcast.com or check out videos on foraging by "Green Deane" at eattheweeds.com.

All photos courtesy of shareware via Wikimedia Commons.