Articles · 8th July 2008
Linda Solomon
by Linda Solomon
Manson's Landing-For as long as anyone here can remember, some have moved to Cortes Island to survive the end of the world.After 9/11, a fresh wave of immigrants washed up onto the shores of this sparsely inhabited island situated in the Georgia Straight. Upon meeting one of these refugees and hearing his concerns about the catastrophes about to befall the world, one longtime resident recalled old times. "I came here to survive the end of the world, too," he said, with a touch of nostalgia. "That was thirty years ago."
Here, as elsewhere, some believe that climate change trumps them all. Some believe that the REAL end of the world may be coming fast. These folks are building bigger gardens and growing more food. They're glad they have deep water wells and community that, despite rifts and political differences, tends to rally around those in need.
Imagine if someday the food supply has run out, one friend said the other day over tea. A barrel of oil costs so much that transportation as we know it has come to a halt. You couldn't sell your car if you made it sprout wings. There's not an airplane in the sky, except for the rarely seen jets owned by billionaires for private flights from one fortified location to the next.
People in the cities are f---ked. BC Hydro rations electricity. Elevators are no longer allowed to operate. Water doesn't flow out of taps. Stores have no food. Urbanites fan out into rural areas, demented by starvation.
Here they come towards Cortes Island: pirate ships from Kitsilano, Kerrisdale, Point Grey. Hungry crews power rickety row boats from Fairview, Mount Pleasant and East Van.
Pirates anchor and make haste for the food the locals have been growing in preparation for surviving the end of the world.
Now what?
"If that happens," a farming friend told me tonight, "we'll feed as many people as we can. If somebody comes in and says that apple tree you planted over there isn't yours anymore, and the next person takes the vegetables, and someone else demands our house, we'll just get in our kayaks and paddle. We'll live on oysters and nettles and clams. We'll go north."
Editor's note: Cortes Island has a small population and a small food supply. The gardens aren't that good. Much of the food is actually shipped in from off island. During the winter, supplies are sparse. The scenario above is based on fantasy, not reality. Related Article: Invitation Rescinded Photo by Brian Powell
It has happened before!
Comment by Martha Abelson on 5th July 2008
Hey Linda,
A footnote . . .
When I first came to BC, I came to Quadra Island, the Jones Farm on Francisco Point on the southern tip of Quadra to be specific.
That was the summer of 1969. Down the sandy cliffs to the beach were small beach shacks scattered along the high tide line.
Although I usually slept out under a big fir tree at the bluffs edge, once in a while I would go sleep in one of these simple structures. They were gable roofed, about 8' x 10', with a door at one end and windows facing south to the water. There were some benches and shelves. They were not insulated, just boards which were both siding and walls.
The story is that during the depression, families came up from Vancouver and lived there by the water living off clams, oysters, salmon, and, perhaps nettles. And, maybe vegetables from locals gardens.
So, it has happened before!
Best,
Martha Abelson
Martha Abelson
Wild Imagination to Say the Least!
Comment by Stan J. Oliver on 4th July 2008
It amazes me how some can be so naive to think that Cortes Island can produce the abundant amount of food suggested by the author. For one, the jobs here are limited and fast becoming extinct. One can't even get a mortgage on the wages offered by most.
Now onto the most realistic part of this submission, HOUSING! There is none! At best there are winter rentals offered by the wealthy or people from other parts of the world. Certainly not LOCALs. During the peek summer rental period (summer), people are displaced and booted out so the owners can make "BIG BUCKS" from visiting vacationers.
Maybe the story should have started with,
"Once upon a time."
This is amazingly thoughtless
Comment by Richard Lawton on 3rd July 2008
To invite millions of people in Vancouver to raid Cortes if times get tough and imply that the people of Cortes have ample food and don't mind is misleading and untrue.
In Vancouver people work, earn money and, after numerous people take a share, spend some of what is left on food. In less "advanced" places a more direct approach can be useful. Some of their time is spent growing food for themselves.
But... there isn't much of it, certainly not enough to justify a long journey from Vancouver, and other people, from Cortes or anywhere else, are NOT welcome to help themselves unless invited!
Not long ago, before people arrived exclaiming "Oh wow, we're in nature!", the fairly rugged and very independent people of Cortes looked after themselves. They were well able to deal with cougar, wolves, bears and other predators if necessary, and anyone trying to steal their food would get a rude awakening.
So I suspect your conversation, sipping organic tea with fellow urbanites whose vision may have been a bit modified by the local wild tomatoes, may have been somewhat misleading...
On another topic, why is it that the boat from Seattle was the one "fully armed"?
The gun culture here takes some getting used to. As the Romans (may have) said: "When in New York, do as the New Yorkers do. When in Vancouver or Cortes..."
Now how were people from Cortes supposed to vote in this website contest?
Please! THINK before you write this stuff
Comment by A concerned Cortesian on 3rd July 2008
Most people on Cortes would prefer that you don't put welcome signs on their food. Isn't that obvious?
