The Serviceberry: Book Review

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Robin Kimmerer, 2023. This book is a follow up to Braiding Sweetgrass, again emphasizing the gifts from the natural world and the importance of reciprocity. Of particular interest to me is her discussion of economics, of which she takes a dim view.

All Flourishing Is Mutual. The serviceberry (Juneberry) has small fruits that are eaten by birds and mammals and are culturally important to some people. “Calendar plants like Serviceberry are important for synchronizing the seasonal rounds of traditional Indigenous Peoples…. Instead of changing the land to suit their convenience, they changed themselves. They were an early pollen source for insects. Eating with the seasons is a way of honoring abundance. … We force the food to come to us, at considerable financial and ecological costs. … Plants offer whatever they have, to whoever needs it” (p. 3). The berry was used in making pemmican. It is part of the gift exchange, which suggests sharing, respect, reciprocity, and gratitude.

There should be an emphasis on gratitude, both practical and ceremonial. “Ecopsychologists have shown that the practice of gratitude puts bakes on hyper consumption” (p. 12). In a serviceberry economy … with a dish of berries to my neighbor, who makes a pie to share with his friend, who feels so wealthy in food and friendship that he volunteers at the food pantry” (p. 21). Consider working for the Department of Earthly Gifts. Water, for example, should be pure and free, versus systems that commoditize everything, promoting accumulation over sharing. Old growth forests were extracted for profit.

Kimmerer talked about economics and a different perspective. She uses the American Economic Association definition: “it’s the study of scarcity, the study of how people use resources and respond to incentives” (p. 29). Her point was that economics is based on commodifying goods and services.

Ecological economics is defined as: “a growing field that integrates Earth’s natural systems and human values and ethics into conventional economic theory. … [Also]: how we organize ourselves to sustain and enhance its quality. It’s a way of considering how we provide for ourselves” (p. 30). Gift economics came before the academic alternatives. Wealth means having enough to share, status is based on giving: “goods and services circulate without explicit expectations of direct compensation” (p. 32) or generalized reciprocity. Prosperity is measured by relationships, not goods. This could include giveaway ceremonies. Gift economies function in small communities.

Free Farm Stand. Zucchini is at the top of the list for giveaway food, but front-yard giveaways is common in some areas. It is particularly useful in times of crisis. “When human survival is threatened, compassionate acts overrule market economies” (p. 42). Forget Adam Smith’s “Rational Economic Man.” Libraries are similar to gift economies. The US is a mixed economy, but those of most developed countries have universal healthcare, education for all, and other support. Scandinavian countries have “cuddly capitalism” versus the “cutthroat capitalism” of the US.

Garrett Hardin claimed in “Tragedy of the Commons” that shared resources will be destroyed by self-interest. However, collective action and cooperation can lead to mutual well-being. Indigenous peoples had Honorable Harvest.

Biomimicry is common in plants, mainly to attract insects for pollination and birds to spread seeds in fruit. Capitalists like oil companies are “ecocidal” willing to destroy the environment for profit (and lie about it). Natural systems can be similar to economic systems. It helps if economic systems align with ecology. Otherwise, it could be an “engine of extinction.”

Social capitalism is “banking goodwill.” Charles Eisenstein: “In nature, headlong growth and all-out competition are features of immature ecosystems, followed by complex interdependency, symbiosis, cooperation, and the cycling of resources. The next state of human economy will parallel what we are beginning to understand about nature. … The economy will shrink, and out lives will grow” (p. 92). Then “regenerative economies” or “doughnut Economics: an economy bound by ecological limits and rests on a foundation of social justice” (p. 94).

Tools can be “incremental change” and “creative disruption” to change culture. “Berry-picking is the medicine we need to create a legion of land protectors” (p. 104).