Menno village thoughts
Hey I've been meaning to share a little bit about general Menno Village stuff so here are some thoughts from a conversation we had with Ray and Akiko(the farmer couple who basically run the farm), not long after we arrived.
Menno Village is a CSA(community supported agriculture). An organic veggie farm, but also a community. They are a business, not a nonprofit org.(a surprise to us actually! we are employees, not volunteers).
Having said that- the focus is not on making money, but on
Education
Communication-to share the vision
Hospitality-connecting people with people and the earth
Through relationships, hoping to be a living example of a different way of life, the Kingdom of God.
Menno Village has many volunteers who come and do a variety of things based on their strengths. (I'll introduce people one of these days soon I hope.)
Ray mentioned that Menno Village gives it's members a chance to share in an alternative lifestyle, in my words-food grown for people not money, close relationships between the grower and the consumer, and a greater awareness of the earth itself.... and hopefully some of what our fast paced cultures are missing out on these days, community and connections with nature and the food we eat.
Ray and Akiko have been very active politically, especially about GE issues(genetically engineered seeds). Ray does little seminars and talks with various groups to inform people of the issues and to warn of the inevitable negative impacts on Japanese Agriculture and life in general. Recently a Christian TV journalist did an hour long documentary on Sapporo TV comparing this farm and Ray with a conventional farm and farmer, showing the impact on agriculture and culture in general. It showed pretty clearly the way that the big farm mentality has torn apart community, she did a pretty amazing job.
Some info from a seminar Ray did recently-Dominant thinking: Land is private property, seeds are software or private property, commodity production and food is "sold" . As opposed to Land is a place of belonging, Seeds are a source of security and a means of community building through sharing, Growing food to feed people, Food is a "gift" .
Maybe I could say that the vision for Menno Village is to invite others to participate in a new way of living and thinking, invite questions and discussions- being a living example of an alternative to the predominant system.
Reality is that community living is challenging, organic farming is AS challenging and swimming against the flow is exhausting at times, from what I've observed so far, and yet there have been signs all along the way that people's lives are being touched and their thinking challenged.
There is so much more I could say, but I'm slow, and got to get some sleep.....please ask questions, would love to have discussions with any of you who are wondering what I'm talking about here, maybe I'll figure it out even more for myself to that way!
Menno Village is a CSA(community supported agriculture). An organic veggie farm, but also a community. They are a business, not a nonprofit org.(a surprise to us actually! we are employees, not volunteers).
Having said that- the focus is not on making money, but on
Education
Communication-to share the vision
Hospitality-connecting people with people and the earth
Through relationships, hoping to be a living example of a different way of life, the Kingdom of God.
Menno Village has many volunteers who come and do a variety of things based on their strengths. (I'll introduce people one of these days soon I hope.)
Ray mentioned that Menno Village gives it's members a chance to share in an alternative lifestyle, in my words-food grown for people not money, close relationships between the grower and the consumer, and a greater awareness of the earth itself.... and hopefully some of what our fast paced cultures are missing out on these days, community and connections with nature and the food we eat.
Ray and Akiko have been very active politically, especially about GE issues(genetically engineered seeds). Ray does little seminars and talks with various groups to inform people of the issues and to warn of the inevitable negative impacts on Japanese Agriculture and life in general. Recently a Christian TV journalist did an hour long documentary on Sapporo TV comparing this farm and Ray with a conventional farm and farmer, showing the impact on agriculture and culture in general. It showed pretty clearly the way that the big farm mentality has torn apart community, she did a pretty amazing job.
Some info from a seminar Ray did recently-Dominant thinking: Land is private property, seeds are software or private property, commodity production and food is "sold" . As opposed to Land is a place of belonging, Seeds are a source of security and a means of community building through sharing, Growing food to feed people, Food is a "gift" .
Maybe I could say that the vision for Menno Village is to invite others to participate in a new way of living and thinking, invite questions and discussions- being a living example of an alternative to the predominant system.
Reality is that community living is challenging, organic farming is AS challenging and swimming against the flow is exhausting at times, from what I've observed so far, and yet there have been signs all along the way that people's lives are being touched and their thinking challenged.
There is so much more I could say, but I'm slow, and got to get some sleep.....please ask questions, would love to have discussions with any of you who are wondering what I'm talking about here, maybe I'll figure it out even more for myself to that way!
posted by Unknown at
2:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home