Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Face-to-face


Friends of ours share a beautiful farm with thier parents and will eventually take it over themselves one day.  They have recently acquired around25 chickens and started selling the eggs by word of mouth.  I just love the various sizes that come in one carton, the bright yellow/orange of the yolks, the way the whites just zoom out of the shell...so fresh! 
For the past several weeks our friends have been delivering their eggs to interested people in our church.  I have just loved watching these exchanges: people bringing back their cartons from the previous weeks to be reused, trading their hard earned dollars for farm fresh, hand gathered, lovingly raised free range eggs, seeing all the eggs cartons carefully labeled by name and date in the church frig.  I love when agriculture & community take on this interconnected relationship: farmer and eater exchanging goods in person, talking about the chickens, how the weather is affecting production, what future plans of the farm are, and chatting about life, community, work, etc.  Person to person, instead of farm to truck to store to consumer to table.  It is amazing how much more valuable an investment becomes when it has a face & a name, when it is your neighbor.  This is how all of us do more than merely eke out an existence or make ends meet, this is how we live a life: face-to-face.

peace

4 comments:

MJ said...

I love this! Fabulous writing, sister. I couldn't agree with you more.
Does your church have a Creation Care Team or carry out any green initiatives? Just curious. A good friend of mine is doing her dissertation on faith-based environmentalism and she has gotten me really interested in the topic!
Alight, I'll stop now...ha!
Love ya!
Megan

Sara said...

Thanks, Megan! We don't have anything that formal at our church. We are a small congregation, 25-50 on a Sunday. But generally the area we live in supports efforts towards a healthier environment. The liberal environmentalist and the conservative farmer may have different reasons for doing so but I think both goals are more similar than different.
And, hey, anytime you want to visit and do some research on how we run our camp, you are welcome!
peace

Anonymous said...

I was so moved by this Sara! I mean to actually have friends that not only support us, but understand exactly what we believe in and are trying to convay to this area... it's just so nice. I think I actually cried a little ;) We love you guys and absolutely are more than greatful to have you in our lives! ~Elisha

Sara said...

The feeling is mutual, Elisha, and thanks for the yummy eggs. :-)

peace