Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Bill Jones wrote:

> I like the idea of thinking of "Appalachian" as a "native" culture.
>  Even if the people of Appalachia are mostly of European ancestry 
> genetically, the _culture_ was "born" here, as surely as any other.

I'm not so sure you can say "mostly".  While that is what is portrayed
in movies, I'm not sure that is true in real life.  There is a LOT of
Native American and African blood in Appalachian culture.


> I hate to say it, but I find the people here to be bone ignorant,
> even about the things you might expect somebody to know about.  The
> only people I've met who know what fava beans are either work at the
> feed store, or are from California, Germany, etc.

Why is someone ignorant because they don't know what fava beans are?
Not everything grows everywhere, and there is a cultural thing to boot.
I had never heard of fava beans until the movie Silence of the Lambs,
and then I read something about them on the list...someone sent me some
seeds,,,,I grew them..(they didn't really appeal to me).  Most folks
around this area don't know what winter squashes are...don't grow
them...etc.  The same is true for papaya, mango, artichokes, rhubarb,
and other crops.  Either they don't grow here, or culturally they aren't
accepted, or are considered "high-brow" foods like caviar would
be...does that make us ignorant?  There is a big difference, IMO,
between an inherent bias (of which we are all guilty) and ignorance..

> But if you go to an average neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY or El Cajon,
>  CA, the typical person there is also ignorant, indolent, biased, and
>  bigotted, in addition to uncultured, unrefined, and unenlightened.

I can't believe, Bill, that you said that.  Those are strong, offensive,
words.

Bev

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.