Greetings all,

Bowo suggested a few days ago taking some time to brain-storm about how to transitions the usability of WiserEarth to maximize toward the greatest simplicity possible while maintaining the greatest inclusiveness for the for a majority of people -- and I would like to add also documenting interrelationship which aren't always apparent to the activeness community. Like everyone else I know, I too have gotten caught-up in my issue of focus and have lost sight of, and maybe even offended, potential allies to my struggles.

Given all the resources of documents, groups, organizations and people that are a part of WiserEarth, it seemed to me that perhaps expanding the role of Areas of Focus to be more macro in scope might be a way bringing a lot of people together to focus on the 'bigger picture' of what is happening.

Take NUTRITION for an example. Most people might assume that when one talks about nutrition one is talking about junk food verses something that might actually have some beneficial value. But in actuality, the quality of the food we consume depends upon the quality and quantity of nutrients available to the animal or plant we are consuming. So in large measure, the quality of our nutrition depends on the appropriateness of an organism and the integrity of its environment.

Example: Growing food plants breed for agro-industrial production utilizing massive amounts of petro-chemical inputs including fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides produces "food-stuff" that is high in carbohydrates but low in nutritional value which is part of why people eat more and obesity has become an issue. It also destroys the natural food web of the soils and all the supporting fauna and flora that once existed in an area -- think honeybees!

So Nutrition as an Area of Focus really takes in Soil Science, Entomology, Ethnobotany, Heirloom, Native and Open-Pollinated Plants, concerns at the heart of Biodynamic and Organic Agriculture as well as Permaculture, Community Supported Agriculture, the Small-Farms movement and a large number of globalization-adverse concerns. It also includes those who view food as medicine as the Ayurvedic practitioners have for about five-thousand years, and many people involved with whole-foods awareness such as the Weston A. Price Foundation and others. Surprisingly, even some doctors are beginning to realize the importance of quality food in the treatment of autoimmune challenges such as Autism and other dis-ordered states of reality.

My desire in offering this brief scenario is to open discussion about expanding the notion of Areas of Focus from what I feel too often represent more narrowly defined 'Issues of Concern' to Areas of Focus that show the interrelationships of what we are all concerned about; and, that it would hopefully would make it easier for people to find organizations and resources with interrelated concerns -- thus providing potentially more allies in the struggle for sustainability.

Allowing existing groups, organizations and resources to be listed and linked more explicitly would also facilitate the integration of interrelated causes and concerns.

Ciao,
jp