issue no. 800

IN CASE YOU HADN’T NOTICED . . .

it’s our 800th newsletter.

Sixteen years of GFJ has brought us here to this lovely number, which means little in terms of the difference between this week, last week, and next…and a lot in terms of how our lives, and the work of Good Food Jobs, have changed because of this platform.

This space was the glimmer of hope in our eye when we started GFJ, all those long years ago. Like all such glimmers, we could not fully imagine what it would become, and I think that’s because we needed you to co-create it with us. And you have shown up. Every day, we learn from you and feel touched by your efforts in the world. We are so glad you are here - whether you arrived today for the very first time, or can no longer remember when you got here.

At this moment, we are at work on an update to our website design. Our overarching goal is to maintain the importance of ‘jobs’ in GFJ, and to equally emphasize the ‘more than jobs’ that we offer: the energy, inspiration, and connection this newsletter has come to signify.

We are also working on more flexible ways to support the newsletter through one-time contributions, and will share more about that as soon as we are able. In the meantime, if you are someone who finds value here…and if you rarely or never post a job with us…and if you have the means to support the ongoing impact of our work…please consider a paid subscription. (You can also gift one - perhaps to a recent graduate, or someone struggling with the ups and downs of the hiring process.)

This brings us to the balance of working within a system of unregulated capitalism where money both falls short of valuing a person, and is a necessity for our livelihood. It has us circling, lately, around a persistent question: How do we coexist with the things that harm us?

As a pretty boundary-loving person, the downfall of learning how to know myself and my limitations is that I sometimes place too strong of a boundary between myself and someone or something else. There is an additional pain point here that is related, but not quite the same - it’s the tendency to wish for, or to will for there to be a boundary that could never exist - a protection that is not only unreasonable, but impossible.

This is a particularly hard habit to avoid when the painful realities of being human in this world mean that you will have knowledge of people living hour to hour, not knowing if their home will be bombed or if their children will be shot dead…of young students accessing the basic dignity of an education, on a campus where perpetrators of sex crimes will find it easier to graduate than the women they harm…of a justice system where the lawful decision can be made to end another person’s life, and the resulting pain, torture, and lack of dignity reveal the foolish human desire to claim certainty in the wide and nuanced field of justice.

I’ll always be an advocate for boundaries. I also think it’s important to be able to name wrongs and injustices, even when we can’t fully protect ourselves from them. But what do we do with the leftover feelings, when we interact with something harmful that no boundary can resolve? I believe we each have a responsibility to care for ourselves, and - at the same time - a responsibility to our common humanity. It’s this last one that calls me to ask: What kinds of boundaries are we reaching for out of an urgent desire to believe that we can have boundaries at all? And when are those efforts resulting in even greater harm?

For the last week or so, Taylor has been sharing the progression of a pretty excruciating run-in with poison ivy - the result of precious, life-giving hours spent in the garden. As I witnessed her suffering, her waiting, and her healing, we shared voice notes back and forth about how to work with the pain that comes of being alive in the world, with the gorgeous variety of nature-made elements that can harm us. I thought about how often I was stung by bees and wasps, growing up on a farm. How many times my small feet brushed through grass where venomous snakes were traveling.

In my suburban community outside New York City, I’ve also been witnessing increasing concern about the presence of coyotes. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this witnessing is that coexistence is necessary, even when we are afraid. In fact, it’s human interference - whether by creating unnecessary food sources, or removing coyotes, which triggers unwanted population bursts - that causes the most interaction between two parties that would much prefer to leave one another alone. Even in cases when a coyote may be rabid, it strikes me that the response is the same: we need to pay attention and care for one another, as well as the animals that most often improve our wellbeing (by eating smaller animals that spread ticks, cleaning up rotting carcasses) and sometimes cause harm by spreading sickness.

I’m finding that these tangible memories and experiences provide a strange comfort to me when I’m distressed by human rights violations, near and far. Although we could argue about whether anything man-made provides as much value, in the end, as what Mother Nature provides - even Her less obviously divine choices of mosquitoes or poison ivy - we are also made by Her. Everything we create is an extension of Her power. Her ability to sustain life - whether we humans can remain a part of that heterogeneity, or not - is the presence that I return to, to be reminded of what endures. And what walks beside us as we endure, on four legs, on two, on a slithering belly, a creeping vine, a buzzing hunger, or a glowing light in the dusk. We belong to one another. What will we do with that knowledge?

To the countless ways we are connected,

Dor + Tay

^{photo by Azra Sadr}

tidbits...

resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we’re reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . .

Do One Small Thing . . . What elements of harm - natural or unnatural - are you struggling to coexist with? What boundaries do you find helpful? We’d love to hear from you - reply to this newsletter, share in the comments, or email us at info@goodfoodjobs.com.

What a gift it is to grow older. Two of our favorites turned 40 recently, and with it we celebrate the wisdom that they’ve gleaned as they cross the threshold. See the wise words and lessons from Hala Alyan and dive into Megan Leatherman’s wise ways of weaving challenging truths of our shared history to set forth a new foundation for how we can collectively flourish.

The quality of our relationships - with ourselves, with each other, and with the mystery - shape the quality of our lives. This week there are two different ways to engage with the practice of learning and growing the relational arts. For a more physically embodied experience join Natalie Deryn Johnson in Grief Party. For those that transform through talking, check out Ginny Muir’s The Lovers Collective. Sign up for both by October 12th.

It’s that time of year again…to sign up for the Bean CSA. If you’re looking for a diverse array of dry beans shared seasonally, from pantry staples to uncommon heirlooms, farmer-owned and grown in the Finger Lakes region, this CSA’s for you.

We know deep in our bones that storytelling both brings us alive and heals us. Join one of our favorite food writers and historians Sara Franklin for her course on Oral History 101: method, Craft & Uses. Starts Oct 20th.

Speaking of learning through stories, Imbolo Mbue’s latest novel Every Story Is A Love Story comes out today and we can’t think of more honoring themes for these times.

Swati Singh’s Somethingburger is back with essential thoughts on rotting potatoes that you will Not want to miss. Come for the belly laughs, stay for the truth-telling.

Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project (UBHP)is a nonprofit focused on food access, urban agriculture, and workforce development in Harlem and the Bronx. Are you a high school or college student? Join them for Careers in Ag and NewAge Ag on Thursday, November 5, from 10AM to 2PM at Bronx Community College (CUNY). Are you a business or organization that would like to attend or host a table? Contact ubhp@ubhealthyproject.org.

As admirers and proponents of Francis Weller’s work, we want to share this clear and thorough request from Holly Truhlar that “organizations and people who continue to platform or materially benefit from Francis’s work to provide enough information about his history of abuse of power and harm for people to make informed choices about how they engage with him and his work. This includes publishers, educators, and people who have hosted public conversations or interviews with him. We are not asking that Francis or his work disappear, though some people may choose to stop platforming or engaging with his work all together. We are asking that this history and his patterns of abuse of power do not disappear.”

Last Friday’s episode of GOOD COMPANY was a special one, guest-hosted by GFJ’s very own Samantha Spigos: listen to her Gee’s Bend Dreams.

Have you picked up a copy of Dorothy’s first book of poetry? You can order Imagine a Woman from the publisher, from any local bookstore, ask for it at your local library, or on the Libby app.

View and share this free guide to How to Write a More Equitable Job Post, and stay tuned for new resources to deepen this work.

got a tidbit? drop it here for us and we’ll share it in next week’s newsletter.