I had a chance to talk to someone this week who was interested in doing something with growing food, like what we are doing in our neighborhood gardens. His enthusiasm was apparent even if he didn't know what he was going to do, what his goals were, etc.
But as I recounted our brief journey in our own neighborhood, I realized how similar I felt when this idea of growing food as a vocation came about: so much passion, but a scattered focus.
Perhaps because food is so basic to life, it's the reason there are so many ways of approaching it in the non-profit world:
food banks, food co-ops, childhood obesity, school lunch reform, farmer's markets, community gardens, school gardens, self-sufficiency/empowerment, job training programs to name a few.
I kept repeating the refrain talking to this enthusiastic gardener that you need to have some goal in mind when you start, and then let reality sharpen your focus. This has very much been the lesson learned for us. Neighborhood Gardens started with the idea of growing food that would benefit residents and also low-income residents by donating a portion to our local food bank. But reality was that our few gardens weren't big enough for regular donations. There was no way we could provide a significant amount of food for the food banks.
That's why I hope next week's Harvest Fest on 10/30 will have as one of its outcomes a local network of neighbors and their gardens and fruit trees becoming regular contributors to our food bank while in the midst of forming community around local food. In many ways, the reality of our limitations provided an opportunity for us to look for creative solutions that are far more sustainable and community-oriented than if we strived to do it on our own.
Thank God our goals don't always work out the way we thought they would!
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