FOLLOW THE HONEY
Follow The Honey is documenting a National Guard's Agriculture Development Team who came to northern New Mexico for a crash course in Permaculture* before being deployed to Afghanistan and then their mission in Afghanistan.
Their mission: to bring back a once-thriving agricultural economy in eastern Afghanistan near the town of Gardez The area was once famous for its dried fruit and honey. Due to decades of orchard destruction from Russian land mines, the bee population had been destroyed, along with the lush orchards and ancient water systems that once brought life and a productive farming to the region.
This seemingly pastoral mission in a combat zone creates a provocative dichotomy just as worldwide beehive collapse provides an apt metaphor for societal collapse. What can bees teach us about sustainability? Are bees an appropriate tool for nation building? Does the military agree with experts that bees are agriculture's canary in a coalmine?
*Permaculture offers a unique approach to the practice of sustainable farming, ranching, gardening and living by observing the dynamics of natural ecosystems. It fosters knowledge in designing constructed ecosystems that serve the needs of human populations without degrading our natural environment, integrate plants, animals, landscapes, structures and humans into symbiotic systems where the products of one element serve the needs of another.