A term as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire sparked my curiosity about farming in the USA
Reflections on "Dirt Work" and Why I am Up To My Elbows In It
I may be Kristen the Cook, but I too have done my share of organic vegetable growing. A term as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire sparked my curiosity about farming in the USA. (I had never seen a real U.S. farm in my life). Since then, I have worked with organic farmers and gardeners in New York, Kansas and Arkansas, and occasionally out in the fields of Angelic Organics.
The industrial revolution and technological advances have seemingly saved humankind from the menial labor of our ancestors; by mechanizing what was once done by men, women and children, people were freed up to enter the pink collar world of desk work and soft services. And still some people insist on farming as a way of life. They think food production should be a human rather than a corporate enterprise.
My mother finds my appeal to farming ironic. Farming is what her father escaped from, leaving behind the tending of animals and stomping of sauerkraut in the Old World for jobs wielding power tools in this, the "Land of Milk and Honey", as Grandpa puts it.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire, I stood in awe of the dogged stamina of men and women whose meal that night depends upon how much cassava, corn and peanuts they can wrestle out of poor soil, how much water they can carry the mile walk home after a day's work in the fields. Their strength, evident in their powerful bodies, could not prevent them from piercing bare feet on sharp thorns as they worked barefoot for lack of money to buy shoes. The beauty and the pain came together, a package deal.
Back in the USA, we, the interns at Angelic Organics, are part of a movement, small but inspiring, "back to the earth". Still, it is hard to see the dignity of labor after a 12 plus hour day in the fields, as we try to wash the dirt out of ears, belly button and nose. We do not exactly look inspired at the end of a long hot day. So why do it??
Since childhood, I found out about the "empowerment" of free choice. It's a whole different ball game hiking up out of the Grand Canyon because YOU want to, versus because your parents dragged you along on their summer vacation. We are here, farmer and interns alike, of our own free will. However, a desire to experience 12 hours scraping soil with a hoe while beaten about by wind, baked by sun, & filmed with dirt is not exactly why I chose a farm internship. Many a young new farmer does not realize what she is getting into, & what a demanding taskmaster her piece of earth shall become.
Why oh why, then, do we do it? I can't answer for others. For me it is something about "the basics". What could be more basic than using one's body and mind to bring forth the basic necessity of food? Maybe it also has something to do with the challenge of moving with grace within the perimeters set around you by powers beyond your control or comprehension. Humbling and exalting at the same time.
