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| ISSUE NO. 709 |
| THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER . . . marks another trip around the sun for Good Food Jobs. We officially launched GFJ in October 2010, and another birthday has us reflecting on how one rotation of the year can lead us at once back to the same spot... but to a totally different place. We look to nature to know that beauty and bounty come not from straight lines, but in embracing the curves, the waves, the cycles, the spiraled helix. Look to the water, the sound waves, the strands of DNA: they are built on foundations, but have profound undulation - an ebb and flow, a give and take, ups and downs - which support their strength. This past year we did a lot of work that you might not have noticed. Practically, our web developers rebuilt the entire web framework upon which our website works. You might liken this to completely rebuilding the septic system in your house - it takes a lot of investment and a lot of work, and everyone benefits from it, but nobody will ever see the work because it's hidden. In fact, it's the best possible scenario that nobody even notices the changes, because that means everything is working smoothly. Alas, we know that transitions can be hard, and despite our best efforts, you may notice (or have noticed) some funny glitches or errors in the past few weeks. If so, let us know. We are so grateful for your feedback, which helps us get to the bottom of issues much more quickly. With this project wrapping up, we look to the coming months as the opportunity to continually build on our fundamental foundations, the spirit with which we started GFJ 14 years ago: a quest to stay curious and build the type of world that we want to live in. As we observe the outside world in the last year, we see so many ways that we're all being stretched, and instead of undulations we're more often subject to extremes and binaries. We notice how exhausting the world has become, and how shut off many people have become because there is a fear that if we fully absorb the realities - the extent of the destruction - that we all might just fall apart. So the other work we've been toiling away at is to continue to build our webs of support, the ones that allow us to be open and honest about the challenges ahead, think about creative solutions together, and work collectively to make them so. This work - just like the practical behind-the-scenes programming work - takes time, energy, patience, and resources. But it's critical work to bolster us for the days ahead.
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tidbits...resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . . "It is a reminder, we are capable of great love." - Desiree Adaway on collective care opportunities in and around Asheville, NC.
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