In a previous post (Small Is The New Big), I briefly mentioned the water-energy nexus, which sounds more like an evil secret society plotting to turn humanity into drooling mutant energy drink junkies instead of a man-made co-dependency between the source of all life and the need to make life comfortable.

Hmmm…On second thought, maybe I’m on to something. If you happen to be fortunate enough to live in your city’s nightclub district, then you have likely witnessed a few “3 AM” individuals with a curious loss of facial muscle control tossing spent cans of adrenal-gland-viagra on the ground.

These drinks are so pumped that throwing them in the city recycling bin would just cause them to eject themselves 10 blocks over and ram the hood of a taxi incessantly honking below your bedroom window. That I would like to see. Hey, if they’re going to litter anyway…

While the nexus is a human construct, there is another relationship prevalent on this beautiful planet of ours which trumps anything humanity can intelligently (or not so intelligently) design. Any guesses? (no peeking)

The relationship between burning fossil fuels and global warming, you say? Good one, but guess again.

The affair between mega-farms and oceanic dead zones, you add?  Ooooooo, another good one. Try again.

The bond between mother and child, you ask?  Excellent! But sorry, it even trumps that!

How about the relationship between your female cravings and that double chocolate fudge sundae, you offer? I feel your pain, but now you’re just being silly. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 🙂

Give up?

Blasphemy!…Of course you don’t give up. You are a Woman Not Waiting. You just choose not to wait anymore. So here it is.

  • Water is food. Food is water.
  • Water grows food. Food filters water.
  • Water is life. Food is alive…

…until we kill it and eat it or just consume it “raw and wriggling” like Gollum.

Well that’s not news, you scream impatiently. And I duck. So let’s investigate this further.

Are water and food really in a relationship or are they one and the same? An interesting philosophical question we can table for another post.

A more urgent discussion to have however is whether we humans are upsetting the balance of the water-food-life triad. And messing with a Triad has far more reaching consequences than sticking it to an evil energy drink cartel.

To fully understand the kind of earthly retaliation we are in for, this article from EcoWatch on peak water does a fantastic yet disturbing job of presenting the challenge, which is:

Our current business model for feeding the staggering 7 billion people on this planet (and the additional 3 billion coming by 2050) by sucking life out of Earth’s secret stash— the stash she has sealed away from the water-food-life triad in vaults deep below the surface of the planet— is seriously flawed. The drilling hoodlums are cracking these safes one by one and cleaning them out.

Once the blue gold is gone…it is gone!!!

These deep water havens are not connected to the aquifers. They are a capsule in time, out of time.

I don’t know about you but that trumps anything anyone can conceive of other than the entire universe imploding on herself.

So what can we do?

As the EcoWatch article on peak water states: “California’s highly productive Imperial Valley agreed in 2003 to send San Diego County enough water to meet the household needs of close to one million people each year.” Farmers are starting to sell their water rights to cities. Shriek! Where is the food going to come from as city demands increase?

Before you run off to the store to hoard supplies of oh so delicious Spam for the impending famine, pause, take a deep cleansing breath, and think about the blue gold coming your way.  Water is food, remember?

The peak water challenge is one of healing amidst the horror.

Earth is essentially kicking the blood-thirsty irrigation vampires (us) off her turf and telling them to integrate sustainable urban farming into their homes, their yards, and their rooftops. She is giving each of us the opportunity to take back our food, save money, save pesticides, save shipping, save soil erosion, stop desertification, and the list goes on.

What a gift!

So what are these vampires waiting for while there are other Vampires Not Waiting?

Time for me to give my thumb a Shrek makeover.  I’ll start with growing my own sprouts.

What about you?