Things I'm learning along the way

It's a gorgeous sunny 75° day in Brooklyn and I'm working at a friends house. She's preparing her PhD dissertation papers for publication, and I'm, well, blogging and reading "Days of War, Nights of Love" by CrimethInc. Have to love hi-brow and low-brow mixing like this. We needed a snack/sun break, and I haven't met any shop owners in her neighborhood so I suggested biking the mile or so to Fort Greene to Urban Spring. We stopped in and chatted with Gordon, introduced him to my friend Rachel, ordered some sandwiches and iced coffee, and then went off to show her the neighborhood and the new Fort Greene Flea Market. It was a longer break than perhaps she wanted, and it involved getting out her bike and not really knowing what the options were going to be when we got there. But aside from the food being great and the iced coffee fresh, it was worth the effort for me to walk in somewhere that I knew the owner and the back story, where I was greeted by name and with an acknowledgment that I had been there before and would be there again.

I guess that's a big part of the answer to "Why am I doing this?" that I get so often. Being aware of where my food and purchases come from allows me to be further involved and engaged in my decision to buy them. I know who I am supporting, and what goals I am helping them to achieve. And it allows me to be part of something bigger than myself and my own little world. I didn't just grab a snack today, I was part of Gordon's plan to create a neighborhood community and promote sustainable living; I was part of Harold's attempt to run a coffee bean business that he loves; and perhaps (I'm not sure if it was Nicaraguan coffee I drank or not) I was part of Mausi's mission to provide positive working and living conditions for her farm workers and innovative solutions for self-sustaining coffee farming.

Before starting this project, it was easy for me to think (or not think at all) that the things I bought sort of came into existence when I bought them, for the sake of me buying them. Knowing the stories and personalities involved in their creation blows that away.