I ran an advert this week. Nothing fancy. Just me, talking about wild plants and food sovereignty.
Within 48 hours, I’d been called far-left scum and a far-right flag-shagger. On the same post. By different people.
You couldn’t make it up.
Apparently, teaching people to feed themselves from the land is now a political act so dangerous it spans the entire ideological spectrum simultaneously. George Orwell would’ve wept with laughter.
But here’s what strikes me. We’ve arrived at a point where the simple idea of not depending on a supermarket – of bending down and picking your own food from a hedgerow – triggers a kind of existential fury in people.
Why? Because dependency is the default now. It’s the water we swim in. And anyone who suggests you might not need the system as much as you think – well, that person must have an agenda.
I’ve been foraging for my meals for the best part of two decades. I’ve lived nomadically, following the seasons, eating what the land offered. That’s not politics. That’s just life. The most ancient, ordinary, human thing there is.
Self-reliance isn’t left-wing. It isn’t right-wing. It’s older than both. It’s the punk idea that you don’t need permission. It’s the grandmother who knew every plant on the common.
So yes, I’m still pondering whether there’s any intelligent life left out there.
Maybe the question is simpler than that.
When did feeding yourself become controversial?
It’s up to you to decide what that means.