It is all about community. And our obligation to support the kind of community we all crave. Without that support it dies and our dream becomes just that.
I dream of a community that feeds and supports us. That calls on us to be our full and honoring selves, and to understand the importance of our role and full participation. A community that both holds us and asks us to support a neighbor or someone with whom we disagree, but who is in need.
Community is not convenient. It calls on us in countless ways to step up, support and serve. It asks that we not assume its inevitability, not assume that it will always be there for us even in the absence of our reciprocity. In our anonymous, transactional economy it is easy to be lured by something more seductive and seemingly effortless, to slip into the mindset of “the customer is always right.” This is not community.
In the end, we are building something real, wholesome and good for us—good for our families, our community and our children’s future and health. This is the long game, with long-term returns on investment for health, healing, food security, and a return of culture.
Fourteen years ago I set off on a journey with my family to find authentic community and it landed us here in central Vermont. In the first week we were here, there was a knock on the door. Nel from next door stood there with a beautiful welcome gift, and in the same instant informed us that Suzi up the street had gone in for breast cancer surgery and we were on to cook Tuesday night dinner for her husband and their two boys. Real community! We said all there was to say… of course! To this day we remain close to both families. And when our youngest got ill and we were stretched to the breaking point, the reciprocity was instantaneous and so beautiful! What a wonderful feeling of support and love!
This is the kind of world I want to live in. It is the motivation behind Farmers To You: a world in which we feed and support each other.
Thank you for being part of our community. Thank you for being there to support its health and vitality.
With Immense Gratitude,
Greg
