
Discover more about FREE THINKING at: http://freethinkingmontel.com/ or anywhere you get your podcast (I-heart, I-tunes, Spotify, etc.)
This interview covers the topics of the importance of Growing Your Own Food, the critical need for Healthy Communication in our world right now, as well as my book, From The Root, A Memoir and Philosophy for Balance in Our World, and my contribution of a private lunch with Prince in Erica Heller’s new book, One Last Lunch (Abrams Books). Watch Now
Photo Credit: Teun Voeten, Wardrobe: Ralph Lauren, Location: Largest Urban Farming Community Garden in Detroit, in the Fall.
Max Tucci graciously donated, live on-air, to Urban Farming during the interview, to kick-off a fundraiser to help more families grow their own food! Thank you Max! Taja and Max also discuss Taja’s new music and her contribution of a lunch with Prince, in Erica Heller’s One Last Lunch (Abrams books). Listen Now
Taja and her husband, Les at a PRN Alumni Foundation Fundraiser Event, after Taja spoke about Prince and his philanthropic work. Capri Theater, Minneapolis, MN.
Individuals, communities, municipalities, states, and nations have historical influences that have shaped our present reality. When we slap bandages on wounds and keep moving, we never heal our roots, or pull up the roots of the weeds that impede our progress. Our collective mending includes healing ourselves first, from the root. Starting with individual healing, our broader communities are healed as well, and this restoration leads to healthier nations and a soothed global family. What applies to the individual applies to the whole and where we choose to apply our time, energy, and resources determines our direction. There are currently trillions of dollars that are wasted annually that can be recaptured and reallocated to better serve our world. The manner in which we manage our resources affects the quality of our mental and physical health, as well as our global relationships.
Here is one solution to recapturing and reallocating wasted capital, and for balance in our communities, that I put forth in my new book, From The Root, pp 76:
Invest in school and workplace programs, and media and entertainment platforms that focus on Healthy Communication in our communities. Human Infrastructure Municipal bonds (HI Bonds™, which I will elaborate on in the next chapter), can be created with the specific goal of Healthy Communication in mind. This will help to reduce the conflict and crime rates and their associated costs. The public and private sectors can formulate a strategy for the return on investment. This action will build the healthy, safe, and secure human infrastructures for our communities. Corporate incentive to invest: investment of this type will help to reduce or eliminate many or all of the employee-employer misunderstandings. And, additional investment incentives include: reducing bullying, divorce, suicide, depression, and acts of violence, and creating more peace in our societies—which according to the Institute for the Economics of Peace, will save trillions of dollars of wasted capital.
Please visit Amazon to purchase my new book, From The Root:
Also, please check out the book: All God’s Children, by Fox Butterfield.
It’s worth the read! It helped me to see the roots of where our pain emanates. I cite it in my book, to illustrate that the majority of us have come from roots of pain and heartbreak. When we can see that, we can begin to have more empathy for all of our fellow humans.
Learn About Taja’s book, From the Root, and her connection to KMOJ as a DJ!
Who would imagine how important a community garden of free food could be…I am so grateful that I was moved to start Urban Farming. As I have mentioned in a prior blog, this “calling” changed my life for the best. I have learned so much about our world and how we are all so intricately connected. Below, I will share an excerpt from my book, From The Root:
On this particular day, in the very beginning, we stood at the first official Urban Farming Community Garden on the corner of Collingwood and Cascade on the west side of Detroit. This was the same garden that would be featured on the Montel Williams Show only weeks after this encounter. A young woman approached me and told me how happy she was to be able to pick free food. Her voice was saddled with burden, and her face was visibly battled. Her story unfolded as we talked. She told me that she was desperately trying to transition out of homelessness. Our free garden gave her the ability to eat any time, day or night.
She shared how soothing this was for her, as she pulled me aside and spoke in a soft undertone, offering more of her story. Many times she had been so hungry she’d had to beg for food. Tears welled up in her eyes as she told me that she had recently asked a man to help her buy some food. He demanded that she perform a sexual act in exchange. She felt dirty and worthless, with an increased broken trust in men. That man saw a woman in need and instead of protecting her and helping her, he took advantage of her. Clearly he was also a broken spirit, and likely from similarly rooted circumstances. The young woman broke down and cried, letting me know that the garden was a place where she could go to eat without compromising her dignity. That was why it was of such special importance to her that our gardens provided free food and free access 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. I was moved and shaken.
–Page 44 and 45 of From The Root, A Memoir and A Roadmap for Balance in Our World.
#LoveIsContagious
#HealOurWorldFromTheRoot
Watch Greg Dunmore interview Taja Sevelle in this in-depth, personal, and powerful interview.
The 10th Annual Urban Farming Mother’s Day Free Plant Giveaway Events are in TWO cities this year!
Detroit, Michigan: On May 4, 2019 at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Urban Farming will give 1,200 free vegetable plants to individuals and families who add their gardens to the Urban Farming Global Map. The first 100 people who arrive will receive 12 free vegetable plants for their garden, along with other gardening resources! We also have five rain barrels that will be gifted to the first 5 people or community garden representatives who arrive. Music and goodness!
Join us from 9:30 AM until 11:30 AM at: 18100 Meyers Rd, Detroit, MI 48235. Special Thanks to: Telly’s Greenhouse, Avis Ford, and Home Depot.
Los Angeles, California: On May 11, 2019 at “A Place Called Home,” Urban Farming will give 12 free vegetable plants and other gardening resources to 250 community members. There will also be music, food, activities for the whole family, and a free raffle with two grand prizes each valued at over $500.00!
Join us from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM at: 2830 S Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90011
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