About Hanna

I went to Smith College and focused on environmental science and policy, and natural sciences in general, the study of which more often than not left me feeling utterly discouraged about the state of our planet. I was frequently angered and overwhelmed to learn how mindless and selfish our human systems are, how out of sync our priorities and practices seem to be. Our lands are drying up and the animals are dying, our water system is thrown out of whack and stressed beyond belief, the planet is warming, weather is weirding, people in developing countries are exploited and their resources taken from them to help some industry make billions, on and on and on. Not only was I enraged to learn these things, I was also totally shocked because no one was talking about it in the news or politics. Why weren't our politicians fighting for environmental and social justice? Well, I quickly discovered the scope and influence of the mighty dollar and found that the question of why people aren't addressing these issues answered itself. Someone at the top is making money. Bottom line.

So, post-graduation I decided I needed to get out of town, Charlie Brown. I wanted to flee the scene. I needed to go somewhere where people did things right, and I didn't know where but I did know that this magical place was not in the Western World. So I received a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in Thailand. Beautiful. They must live more wholesome lives in Thailand, I thought. So it was settled, I was going.

Well, life certainly had other plans for me. I discovered I was going to have a baby with my boyfriend, Jon, of 5 years. Shocking news for both of us. The idea definitely took some getting used to, but there was no question that this was my path now. The universe had spoken. So I prepared to do quite the opposite of going off to live in an exotic foreign country. I prepared to settled down in my hometown and start a family.

As I pondered my new path, it didn't take long for me to realize the fault in my way of thinking. I was trying to escape, trying to evade the problems that I had spent my college career learning about. What kind of a response is that? A very irresponsible one indeed. Moving to Thailand would not have helped anything (although it probably would have been a kickass time). But as far as making positive changes in the world, that was not the way. Soon it became clear that becoming mindful in my daily life and making good choices for myself and my family in my community is the best way to go.

Now I have an amazing son, Chase, who is nearly 4 months old. Everything I do will be an example for him, so setting up a life full of positive thinking and dynamic action is one of my main priorities. How he grows up will determine how he chooses to live his life, so I hope to show him (and myself!) what it means to be a compassionate and engaged global citizen. I have chosen to focus on eating local, responsible and sustainably grown food as the most important thing we can do as a family to help make the world a better place. So here we go!