There was an interesting article in today’s New York Times Magazine about a new activity called “crop mobbing,” which is happening at small, sustainable farms in my area of North Carolina. A group of mostly young people who are interested in sustainable farming volunteer to work on a local farm for one day, pulling off big projects like building a greenhouse that might otherwise take weeks (or never) to complete. The volunteers say they are doing this to build community, support something they believe in and learn more about farming.
This reminds me a lot of the Amish tradition of coming together to build a barn and similar practices in agricultural communities, which are mostly lost today. In today’s culture of “I’ve got mine, you can’t have yours,” stories like this give me a sense of hope. It seems there are so many people out there screaming about what’s wrong with our country. But these young people aren’t screaming; they’re out there doing, making positive change. I find that inspiring.
Field Report: Plow Shares (NY Times)
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What an absolutely marvelous thing for those young people to do! I’ve said for years that if everyone took care of others as they take care of themselves we wouldn’t need welfare, food stamps, even social security. Or we’d at least need a lot less of it. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I’m inspired, too!
Maybe the pendulum is swinging back away from the “me” culture…