Every year, my grade school would take a trip to a farm in upstate NY. We would stand in line and briefly take our turn milking a cow in machine-like precession before holding a baby chick, petting a goat and getting back on the bus… That was about the extent of my connection to animals, the great outdoors and any sense of where my food came from.
Growing up in NYC in the 80’s you didn’t often have a feeling of connection and gratitude to nature or a sense of responsibility to care for it. In fact, I really felt like NYC was the center of the world and we were pretty much invincible in our cobbled, concrete and congested bubble. I had limited awareness of the world outside the city that kept us fed and fueled.
At the age of sixteen, for a number of reasons, I decided to give up meat. I read about the hormones used in animal products and innocently thought that my teenage veins were chock-full of enough boy-crazed hormones to last through my twenties. The health effects of eating meat over time made it seem an unhealthy choice and was shocked by the amount of recourses it takes to produce a pound of meat vs. the same amount of protean from plant sources. It just made sense and I considered myself a fairly sensible sixteen year old.
As I’ve gotten older, my non-meat consumption (I settled into being a pesceterian) seemed to define me. I began a career as a singer/songwriter and have become much more aware of the environmental impact of all the choices I make. I try hard to balance being a responsible consumer with the path I’ve chosen. Just getting to my shows puts tons of carbon emissions in to the atmosphere. Let alone amplifying and lighting the show once I’m there, manufacturing merch or using my computer for the better part of each day to book those shows and tend to the plethora of work I have to do.
For me the balance seems to come in the middle of that awareness. It’s within the details, like not eating meat, that I make decisions everyday to lessen my footprint. I have rented cars to tour in because they were more fuel efficient then my own, opted for recycled cardboard for CD manufacturing though less cost effective and bought mostly vintage/recycled/up-cycled clothes to rock on stage and for photo shoots.
All of that is not out of judgment or self-righteousness but rather from gratitude and out of fun. That spirit is what inspired the making of the new music video for my song, “Most The While.” It was shot outside over two days at local locations with only the filmmaker, their camera and myself. No crew, extraneous gear, power or vanities were used. We felt that the environment and the music was enough to make a beautiful video. And after seeing these locations I think you’ll agree there wasn’t any need to bring a generator and light the already stunning environment.
For many of us it’s become second nature to buy organic, recycle, purchase reusable and up-cycled products and generally not consume or even bring into our homes what won’t be put to through use. There is always going to be more that you can do and new information coming out to keep you informed and making healthy choices for yourself and the environment.
I want to encourage you to take time to validate those choices and be inspired by the world you’re preserving and protecting. I hope the video inspired you to connect to something out in nature that’s non-manipulated and unpackaged and just enjoy the simple beauty and magnificence of our world.
Almost two years ago, I moved temporarily to California to make my new record. I ended up sticking around and eventually living on an organic farm with chickens (“The girls”) and goats… needless to say, it’s a far cry from NYC. Sometimes I miss getting lost in the streets and subways of the city or being able to get anything I need anytime I need it. Most of the time though I find it balancing out the New Yorker in me and putting those grade school trips to hold chicks at an upstate farm to good use.
For the first few months I lived here I tossed in my kitchen scraps to the chickens and happily took eggs when the farmer gave them to me, but I resisted a total connection to “the girls” and helping myself to the eggs in their coop. One day I was really craving scrambled eggs and finally asked if I could help myself to some. Ten minutes later I was eating the freshest, most delicious scrambled eggs of my life. My bubble of consumption and connection was blasted wide open and with each bite I was so grateful to “the girls” and completely connected to the land I live on.
Growing up in NYC in the 80’s you didn’t often have a feeling of connection and gratitude to nature or a sense of responsibility to care for it. In fact, I really felt like NYC was the center of the world and we were pretty much invincible in our cobbled, concrete and congested bubble. I had limited awareness of the world outside the city that kept us fed and fueled.
At the age of sixteen, for a number of reasons, I decided to give up meat. I read about the hormones used in animal products and innocently thought that my teenage veins were chock-full of enough boy-crazed hormones to last through my twenties. The health effects of eating meat over time made it seem an unhealthy choice and was shocked by the amount of recourses it takes to produce a pound of meat vs. the same amount of protean from plant sources. It just made sense and I considered myself a fairly sensible sixteen year old.
As I’ve gotten older, my non-meat consumption (I settled into being a pesceterian) seemed to define me. I began a career as a singer/songwriter and have become much more aware of the environmental impact of all the choices I make. I try hard to balance being a responsible consumer with the path I’ve chosen. Just getting to my shows puts tons of carbon emissions in to the atmosphere. Let alone amplifying and lighting the show once I’m there, manufacturing merch or using my computer for the better part of each day to book those shows and tend to the plethora of work I have to do.
For me the balance seems to come in the middle of that awareness. It’s within the details, like not eating meat, that I make decisions everyday to lessen my footprint. I have rented cars to tour in because they were more fuel efficient then my own, opted for recycled cardboard for CD manufacturing though less cost effective and bought mostly vintage/recycled/up-cycled clothes to rock on stage and for photo shoots.
All of that is not out of judgment or self-righteousness but rather from gratitude and out of fun. That spirit is what inspired the making of the new music video for my song, “Most The While.” It was shot outside over two days at local locations with only the filmmaker, their camera and myself. No crew, extraneous gear, power or vanities were used. We felt that the environment and the music was enough to make a beautiful video. And after seeing these locations I think you’ll agree there wasn’t any need to bring a generator and light the already stunning environment.
For many of us it’s become second nature to buy organic, recycle, purchase reusable and up-cycled products and generally not consume or even bring into our homes what won’t be put to through use. There is always going to be more that you can do and new information coming out to keep you informed and making healthy choices for yourself and the environment.
I want to encourage you to take time to validate those choices and be inspired by the world you’re preserving and protecting. I hope the video inspired you to connect to something out in nature that’s non-manipulated and unpackaged and just enjoy the simple beauty and magnificence of our world.
Almost two years ago, I moved temporarily to California to make my new record. I ended up sticking around and eventually living on an organic farm with chickens (“The girls”) and goats… needless to say, it’s a far cry from NYC. Sometimes I miss getting lost in the streets and subways of the city or being able to get anything I need anytime I need it. Most of the time though I find it balancing out the New Yorker in me and putting those grade school trips to hold chicks at an upstate farm to good use.
For the first few months I lived here I tossed in my kitchen scraps to the chickens and happily took eggs when the farmer gave them to me, but I resisted a total connection to “the girls” and helping myself to the eggs in their coop. One day I was really craving scrambled eggs and finally asked if I could help myself to some. Ten minutes later I was eating the freshest, most delicious scrambled eggs of my life. My bubble of consumption and connection was blasted wide open and with each bite I was so grateful to “the girls” and completely connected to the land I live on.