By Alaine Owsley Davis
One of the ways we care for each other in this church community is by sharing food together. Food is an essential, visceral way that we demonstrate our love for one another. Going out for lunch, cooking together, having friends over for dinner: These are all ways that we deepen our bonds.
WUUC is a pick-up site for Full Circle Farms, a local organic farm that participates in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Anyone can purchase a weekly (or bimonthly) CSA subscription and get their fresh, organic produce delivered to a local site like our church. In exchange for being a pick-up site, WUUC is granted one free CSA box per week, and we pass this box on in a rotation, with members selected to receive a box, for example, the first Thursday of each month and someone else the second Thursday of each month.
One such individual had been receiving the box for a while and decided it was time to let someone else enjoy it. This person wrote me a letter that reminded me of why this church exists, why I choose to be a part of it, and how some of the small things we do can make a big difference for others in our community.
Dear Alaine,
I think it is time. I am now working every day and feeling like life is going to work out eventually. It is time for me to thank you for the farm boxes and let someone else receive that bounty.
I would like you to know how much more than just the veg this has been for me. I was profoundly shattered and definitely not buying fresh items because of their cost – and the sadness of the change to cooking for one in a tiny apartment kitchen.
These boxes brought me into my happy cooking place, creating healthy bakes and soups and such to eat and fill my freezer. But much more than that, they were a manifestation of the care I felt from the WUUC community at a time I was bereft. It was basic human sharing. So special, so meaningful. Each box was both a hymn and a hug.
Thank you so much for being a part of the path out of darkness, a path paved with carrots, fennel and leeks!