Everything is changing.
We are washing and sanitizing everything. We are going through a lot of soap and a lot of gloves. We have given up our beloved “lunch club” where we take turns cooking lunch for each other. We are even eating at separate tables.
It all feels so… strange. Little is certain.
Here is what we know:
We are still growing food.
We are showing up every day to plant seeds. To water them. To spread compost and make beds in the fields for them to grow in.
We are finding ways to adapt our CSA to overcome these new challenges. We are exploring ways to keep everyone in it as safe as possible, while continuing to grow and distribute food as planned.
We are showing up for our students. While the Poughkeepsie Food Power at Home program is on hold due to school closures, we are collaborating with Chef Dave and PCSD to make bagged fresh vegetables available to our students and their families. Last week we distributed 180 bags of carrots, radishes, and turnips at 6 meal delivery sites in Poughkeepsie. This week we are delivering 200 bags.
We are showing up for our emergency food providers. Now more than ever, our Foodshare Program is needed. In the past four weeks we have scrambled to donate 3,000 pounds of produce to organizations like Dutchess Outreach, Hudson River Housing, Salvation Army, Second Chance Foods, and the Rondout Valley Growers Association. (If you haven’t already, join us on Instagram or Facebook to follow along with our community efforts.)
We are still breathing. We are moving air in and out of our lungs, and not taking that for granted.
We are feeling grateful to have fresh, nutritious food to eat -- and to be able to provide that food to others.
We are feeling lucky to be able to come to work every day; to be able to perform an “essential service” for a living, and to love doing it.
Having work. Having food. Sadly there are plenty of folks who have not been assured of a constant supply of both of these things. But many of us -- at least until recently -- have not had to worry about these things.
We have been able to take them for granted.
We have even taken for granted the chance to have a face-to-face conversation; the twinkle in the eye of one of our CSA members whose deadpan jokes often go unnoticed by those around her.
Food. Friends. Occupation. Now, more than ever, these feel like gifts. We will strive to hold these gifts in our conscious awareness -- now, and months from now. After folks have returned to work. After grocery stores have ceased to become scary places, and people can thoughtlessly brush shoulders in a crowded aisle. After things have returned to “normal”.
May you find moments of peace and gratitude amidst this chaos. May you find your own lessons in it, and ways to feed your body (and your soul) throughout it.
Breathe.
And if you’re hungry, reach out to us.
