The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Scribner, 128 pages
Published November 19, 2024
“What if scarcity is a social construct?” Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer asks. Kimmerer, author of the bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass, looks to seasonal berries to describe what we can learn from the natural world. Berries are abundant and free — if we’re lucky enough to live near farmland or areas of wild growth, we can pick enough to gorge ourselves and leave plenty for others to enjoy.
In The Serviceberry, Kimmerer wonders how this “model of Serviceberries and ancient gift economies could help us imagine our way out of the mutually assured destruction of cutthroat capitalism.” In a “serviceberry economy” we eat what’s in season, share what’s readily available, and measure the value of common spaces and birdsong alongside our GDPs.
We follow the example of Kimmerer’s neighbors, Paulie and Ed, small farmers who gift berries to friends and neighbors. Rather than maximize their profit, they invite others to share in their abundance. As folks taste new berries and feel a connection to a family farm, they come back later to buy a pumpkin. It’s a community of reciprocity and “goodwill, so-called social capital” that realizes profitability and generosity can co-exist.
It is these stories that make The Serviceberry applicable and uplifting. Most of us work within the American system of capitalism, and, like Paulie and Ed, we need to earn a living. Yet we can participate in a neighborhood “free box,” join a “buy nothing” group on social media, purchase Christmas gifts at a local “makers’ market” or seek out produce at the Farmer’s Market. Kimmerer’s inclusive approach invites us to imagine a new way of being that allows us to flourish and creates a sustainable future.
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