Circle M Farm

Back when I lived in Chicago and was peripherally involved in the indie-folk music scene, I chanced to be in a band with a fabulous Rastafarian bassist named Spark. He would occasionally piss us all off by refusing to play in a particular venue. His reason? He objected to how the kitchen was run.

Perhaps Spark comes to mind now because I’ve gradually come ‘round to his way of thinking. When I played with Spark I was in my early 30s and he was likely in his early 40s. I was at a point where I just wanted to LIVE and playing out in bands, anywhere, was part of that experience. Spark, though, had been around longer, been in more bands and played in lots of places. He was at the point where he wanted to LIVE WELL.

As I remember him in my mind’s eye, Spark was a tall, thin, very fit black man with a huge head of dreads stuffed into a crocheted hat. My kids just loved him. He rode his bike or the bus lines throughout the city, eschewing cars out of principle, and in fact, was exceedingly motivated by a highly developed personal value system. This value system is what got him into so much trouble with the band.

Not only a serious vegetarian, Spark was a highly intuitive eater. As he put it, he didn’t want the negative energy of the cook or the kitchen to poison him. And that’s why he didn’t want to play at bars, cafes or even coffee houses if their kitchen had an unpleasant work atmosphere. Not only would he steer clear of the food, he didn’t want to promote their establishment by playing music that would attract more customers.

At the time I laughed off his quirky extremism with the rest of my band mates, but now I look back at Spark’s dedication with great admiration. And understanding. In support of his beliefs, Spark worked for very little money at a local natural foods co-op as his day job. No wonder he didn’t want to compromise that integrity by supporting opposing institutions with night gigs.

My husband Shannon and I are now in our early 40s, and we are ready to live well. Like it did for Spark, part of that for us involves eating well-cared-for foods. Another part also involves doing good work—for us it’s at our homestead and other local organic farms—in support of a lifestyle food system that provides valuable compensations of its own.

And while giving up cars like Spark or mucking around with animals isn’t for everyone, there are lots of less eccentric, just as meaningful steps people are taking to live well and commit resources to causes they believe in. Here’s a great recommendation from the award-winning Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver:

“If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.”

Yeah! Bon Appetit!

By the way, one of the musicians I partnered with in my former life is still making terrific music in Chicago. In fact, just yesterday I popped an old CD in the car player and was freshly astounded at the cleverness of his lyrics and the tender spareness of the production. You can listen to some songs, both old and new, at maxeltoft.com. cdbaby recommends Maxel Toft if you like Wilco, Iron & Wine, and Sufjan Stevens, and I think that’s pretty accurate, but you may also hear Velvet Underground or Pedro the Lion in there.