Activism, Choices, Community, Events, Faith, Food Equality, Food Insecurity, Food Justice, Marginalized, Neighbors, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Public Policy, Service Organizations, Social Justice, Thoughts From the Porch, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming

Rain, Rain, Don’t Go Away – Just Come Less Frequently

It’s raining once again so that means it must be Sunday. I am so grateful for the rain – the plants at the farm love it – but it can be a mixed blessing. I have the rest of the Spring planting to do before it gets too hot! Then again, I got to take a nap this afternoon…

This has been another great week at Opal’s Farm. We’d love to thank the Bank of America volunteers that came out Wednesday. I was in Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Growing Hope conference and was amazed when I came home to see the work that had been done. Thanks to Stacey and Joey for all their hard work and making the volunteer event a great day.

As I mentioned, I was at the Growing Hope conference hosted by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) in Fayetteville this week. It was an excellent conference reminding (and teaching) us of the importance of what we do as farmers and folks trying to change our local food systems.

I toured two different non-profit farms, Cobblestone Farms and Apple Seeds, and learned of our common mission to fight food insecurity and educate others – especially our kids – about healthy growing and real nutrition.

I also spoke with an amazing group of farmers and activists about the fight for food justice – not just food access and food security – but the justice that gives everyone a seat at the table (both literally and figuratively) to create safe, equitable local food systems. I’d love to give a shout out to all the folks at NCAT who put the conference together. It was one of the best conferences I’ve had the privilege of attending – full of new ideas and re-energizing me for the fight for food justice and equity.