Thoughts

Last night or this morning or sometime lying in bed, I remembered an interaction I witnessed at my job last summer. I worked for a woman named Louise at our Fayetteville Farmers' Market. I spoke with customers, bagged vegetables, took change, and loved every minute of it. That job will always be an emblem of summer and joy and health. The Farmers' Market was and still is my oasis -- and environment in which most everyone else appreciates food and music and beauty.

(Me, ecstatic at the market last summer.)

The aforementioned interaction took place on an otherwise insignificant Saturday. A young man making his rounds stopped by our table and scrutinized our produce. With a suspicious eye he asked Louise, "Now, you don't use any fertilizers, do you?" At first, perhaps startled by his tone, she said no. Then Louise told him, rather abrasively, "Well, yes. I sure do."

Said man gaped momentarily, collected himself, and rephrased. "I mean, you don't use any pesticides or insecticides or..."

Louise, smiling wryly, said no.

It is this young man I think of now. Well-intentioned and otherwise sharp, he tried to squeeze into the hot topic that is environmental awareness. He wanted to be in the "in" crowd. He wanted to care if his food was mistreated in any way. And frankly, I think that's great.

In a way, I feel like that man. I care, and I want to care so much that sometimes I forget what to care about. I know that an idea is shifting, but I don't know what from and where to, etc. I'm not a farmer, so I only know the theoretical difference between insecticides and pesticides and fertilizers. I lack the experience and foundation to tell people what they ought to think. I am young, and I am naive.

But I do care.

Caring, I think, is more important. Saying so might just be a defense mechanism, I admit, but believing in an issue is the first step. Really trusting an issue, knowing that it is true on every level, takes faith. And I don't mean in God or any other deity. Advocating for change requires faith in yourself, the philosophies behind the program, and the value of the accomplishments already made.

And I have that.

Now all I have to do is get down to the nitty gritty of things. Like Ryan, our team co-coordinator, says, you have to do the legwork. Prove to your objectors that this is worthwhile. Shove your sources in their faces and say, "Listen! This is important! Care like I do!" And even if they aren't convinced, and even if they walk away, you have so much faith that it doesn't matter. They will come after the others do. Even if the idea itself does not claim them, the idea backed by the community and leaders and friends will.

So with these ideas in mind, I start my day.