Living in cities, we don't always have control of our environment, but we all have control of our kitchens.

Bill Mollison, in his book Permaculture: A Designer's Manual, wrote, “The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for own existence and that of our children.” and “Cooperation, not competition, is the very basis of existing life systems and of future survival.”

He listed these as the permaculture ethical principles:

• Care of the Earth
• Care of the People
• Setting limits to population and consumption
• Rules of Necessitous use
• Rules of Conservative Use

All of these can easily be carried out in our kitchens (maybe not limiting population, but certainly setting limits to consumption). It is here that we can have the greatest access and the most understandable place for us to begin the lifestyle changes that will spread out and connect us to our family, friends, community. The skills we learn in the kitchen are ones that will help us survive in tough times and in disastrous times, and bring us comfort and joy in prosperous times. The kitchen, the hearth, is the place where we nourish our bodies is the place where we nourish our families and souls and communities. It is here, in urban kitchens and country ones, that we can make the essential adaptations to whatever the future brings us. Some people talk of this in a doom and gloom way, citing the end of fossil fuels and widespread famines. I don't believe the depletion of fossil fuels needs to lead to war and famine and other disasters. With a permacultured kitchen, the future is much happier.

Personal choices in where and how we spend our money, what foods we buy, what tools we use, are critical to the building of a permacultured kitchen. Start by making an inventory of your kitchen tools and equipment. This will give you a baseline of what you will need to get from where you are now to a fully permacultured kitchen. If you have an income that would qualify you for food stamps, whether you get them or not, permaculturing your kitchen will let you stretch your food dollars further and feed your family better.

Some equipment is basic and essential, and I'm not terribly picky about name brands or whether you have it manual form or electric. I like to have both the manual version and the electric version where possible because there are times when I need the speed and convenience of electric, but honestly, manual equipment is just as good. Check out Lehman's and Mast Store Online for examples of manual kitchen implements.

After you inventory your current kitchen tools, consider what you eat and how you eat. We make thousands of food choices a year. What are yours?