Why Shine?
2023/02/05 (editted: 08/08/23)
Did you ever see a naturally-overgrown city on screen and think "huh, that looks pretty nice"? Me too. Let's just get there without the apocolyptic bit.
Welcome to 2023. The planet is heating up like a kid with a fever, we all just got rocked by COVID and civil unrest swells as inflation and wealth-divisions grow. All while most people’s dreams of financial freedom quiver like a flame in a rainstorm... not the prettiest picture is it?
It's evident that our current system is struggling to serve communities or the environment. It puts the power to divide profits and make decisions in the hands of a minory while the hands of many generate said profit. In a world increasingly run by money this leaves people stuck. Stuck working for often questionable organisations in order to spend all of their money on more questionable organisations. The hamster wheels spins while the owning-class extract value. Is there any liberation from this?
This is where food sovereignty comes in. As humans we have fundamental needs: sustenance, protection, community, etc. The unfortunate truth is that corporations have managed to take almost total control of these needs. Need sustenance? Buy it. Need protection? Buy it. Need community? Buy it. It is important to note that this is not purely a fault of capitalism, I believe this is also the result of a decline in communal identity and action in modern society. Food sovereignty means giving people access to food without making them pay for it. Make food a community-enriching experience outside of capitalism, outside of economies of scale and outside of colonial wealth extraction.
Sounds nice right? But you probably don’t believe it’s possible. As politics and capitalism have come closer together people and their freedoms have been dragged apart. Divisive technology, under-funded public services and an economy of greenwashing have resulted in a confused and disillusioned public. It does not always have to be this way. Shineponics is a project set out to prove that owning our future by taking back control of our food is not just possible, it's achievable wherever you are today! It simply requires sustainable technology and resources combined with community effort and care, that’s it. The way to a technological and socially-empowered age has already been paved. Just look at the internet, an accessible resource full of collective knowledge, shared by masses and distributed over standardised data transfer protocols. People can be extremely gracious but most of our lives are governed those blinded by the dollar signs in their eyes.
Of course, food sovereignty is just one part of a much larger societal movement. But food is fundamental, so seems like the natural place to start. Not only do we need to eat it to survive but food is part of our community and identity, which only makes it more powerful to own for ourselves. This is the beginning of taking back control and showing destructive forces that we do not need them if they don’t serve us and our environment.
We all want a better future. This is a deeply important pursuit that requires action and that is what Shineponics is, action. Also it's pretty fun to write code that helps plants grow in cities. Just picture that, a city full of urban farms and forests that support local communities. Epic.
If you would like to see Shineponics in action then check out our ongoing smart farm projects at shineponics.org/farms.
Please do get in touch via the email below if you are interested in continuing this conversation.
Many thanks and stay strong!
Seb