Wanna save the world? Drink beer! Okay — It’s not as simple as that, but Christopher Mark O’Brien’s beer book — Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World — clearly shows how your drinking habits can affect the world around you.
Open this book while drinking your favorite local, organic beer, and you’ll start to feel like you really ARE changing the world while getting tipsy — and more informed.
Fermenting Revolution covers a lot of ground. We get the history of beer, including its ties to major religions and its principal figures. We see what beer’s made of and how it’s brewed. We find out how brewing went from being a woman-led, home-based craft to a corporatized consumer item.
Chris sees a huge gender imbalance in the making, marketing, and drinking of beer — and calls for more female beer makers and drinkers! In fact, if you’re a girl reading Chris’s book, you’re likely to at least consider brewing your own beer — or even starting your own brewery — at least for a few seconds.
Fermenting Revolution includes a 24-point action plan on how to drink beer and save the world — points that go from the very simple — bringing your own bag to the grocery store for beer transport — to the very dedicated — brewing your own beer. Most importantly, drink local, organic, and/or fair trade beers. You’ll support local community, encourage craft brewing, allow for sustainable agricultural practices, etc.
What most impresses me about Chris’ activism is not the fact that he found a way to combine beer and activism, but that he shows us that activism is simply doing whatever you love to do with an active and critical mind. Activism doesn’t mean having to sacrifice a hobby you love; it’s using that hobby to fuel your activism.
I first wrote about Chris the Beer Activist here. To find out what he’s up to, check out his blog. Chris — The next time you’re in the LA area, we’ll have to put together a beer tasting for LA beeractivists –
February 24th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
My wife and I tend to make hard ciders . . . we get the organic apples from Oak Glen in the fall, press them on our hand-cranked cider press, and wait anxiously to see which experiments turn out best . . . This year we had one three-gallon leftover batch that we did nothing too — the natural airborn yeast got it started fermenting, and we let it finish that way . . . so far those two dozen bottles have proven the best . . . There is something amazingly self-sufficient about being able to make your own alcohol (grin).
February 26th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Well, I like beer and I want to change the world. However, I won’t be posting at the Activism Forums about this idea any time soon. :)
February 26th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Following one’s passion can make a positive and meaningful contribution to a more ecologically sound and sustainable way of living on this planet, which incorporates the vital need to support organic agriculture and promote coming together in local communities for the creation of vibrant local economies.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:05 am
And breweries and coffee shops definitely help the coming together in local communities part :)