When I agreed to take a break from farming for the 2014 season to help put up this building, I will admit, I did it for semi-selfish reasons. I was really interested in acquiring some carpentry skills, i wouldn't have to get up as early, I got to learn about and use lots of different tools, etc. It seemed like a win-win situation, and for a season why wouldn't I do it? I was excited about the fact that the building would become the outlet for what we would grow on the farm in the future, but I had no idea that it would come to represent so much more than that, to me, and to our organization as a whole.
The past year has brought a lot of ups and downs for me and for the co-op, but through it all the things I remember and the things I try to hold on to are those full of love and hope. And almost all of them have taken place in that building, that I can say I got to help build. This is why I think it is more than just a building, it's a symbol of what we are trying to achieve as an organization. A place, built, owned, and operated by the people who inhabit it, where everyone collaborates and together reap the benefits of their hard work. The only reason we want to grow good food in the first place is so that we can feed it to you, and the store represents that connection to you in the most physical sense. You can become apart of our community just by coming in to shop and chat, and you can even do one better and own the store by becoming a member! I've had a wonderful time being apart of this community and watching it grow over the past year, I can't wait to see what else we can accomplish together!
Til' next time,
Louis