A New Beginning

Check out our new farm!

Truffula Farm

Daniel and I have both been fortunate to have experienced several “new beginnings.” We have both moved around, had different jobs and volunteer positions, meet new people, and discovered a lot about ourselves and what is important to us which is how we have come to create Truffula Farm…the newest of our new beginnings.

overlook Us at Overlook Farm in Massachusetts.

Over three years ago, Daniel and I both found a new beginning at Overlook Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts. Daniel came to Overlook after a one year Americorps job working as a cook in a homeless shelter in Alamosa, Colorodo. I was working as a waitress in Madison, Wisconsin, lamenting the fact that my shiny new college degree seemed to have only gotten me a mountain of debt and not much else. We both applied to be residential volunteers for a year at this non-profit educational farm run by Heifer International…

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NPR’s Unfit for Work

NPR’s Unfit for Work

Holy shit there are a lot of people on disability in this country.  Whether or not these folks are actually deserving of the benefit is irrelevant in my view.  But the way the system is set up right now is untenable.  We cannot continue with so many people on disability.  At least not on federally supported disability.  Is there a way that local communities could help people with disabilities be more productive and more fulfilled in their daily lives?  I, of course, imagine that with more local consciousness we can provide better lives for everybody, but then again I am naive in that way….

Newborn Rabbit kits

Newborn Rabbit kits

So my girlfriend and I have a strong interest in raising our own food. We have both worked on farms in the past and she works on a farm right now. As part of our agricultural adventures, we decided to try and raise rabbits for meat. This is a picture of our second litter, which consists of 9 kits (rabbit babies)! We had a little trouble getting things going at first and finally about a month ago one of our does had a smaller litter of 4 kits. We are really excited about our new arrivals. Since we have shared a lot of our litter’s progress on social media and at work, we have gotten questions about whether we are going to eat the babies. My answer is always “Yep, that is the plan.” I try to be as matter-of-fact as possible, to let people know that I do not have any qualms with this idea. People always seem to cringe when I answer this way or ask how I could possibly do that with the cute little bunnies. I, of course, start to feel guilty at first, realizing that we are now outside of present social norms. But then I remember that I am doing this not because it’s trendy or that I want the attention for it, I am doing it because I truly believe it is right. We are so disconnected from our food in our society, and I can’t think of a more morally upright position than raising and killing my own meat, even if it is cute and cuddly. I know this sounds very black and white, and in many ways it is, but honestly I am tired of the reactions I get from people who have no compunction about eating a chicken that was raised in a one square foot box by Tyson and yet have an “icky” feeling about me raising these adorable little guys only to turn around and eat them. I have even found myself having to explain myself to my own family. They are mostly wondering if, when the time comes, I will be able to do it (which is a valid question), but I just feel like sometimes I am under scrutiny when it should be the current system that should be put under the microscope.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/03/29/175684862/on-making-it-up-in-the-media#comment-851161369

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/03/29/175684862/on-making-it-up-in-the-media#comment-851161369

Interesting article from NPR’s 13.7 blog.  I am always intrigued by their thoughts over there.  I think this article raises some fascinating points but I don’t think the author really completes the circuit with his thoughts.  It just needs a bit more hashing out to really hit home for me.

CPAC Speaking times

CPAC Speaking times

Maybe this list means nothing, but I don’t think so.  It seems quite significant to me that Sarah Palin and Donald Trump are given the most time except the keynote speaker at CPAC.  Why does the base of the Republican party continue to be enthralled by morons and people unwilling to concede their point even when confronted with rock-solid evidence to the contrary?  Again I am not even a Republican but I find it fascinating that these goobers are the famous ones and people like Chris Christie and other reasonable moderates are reviled.  It’s as if even interacting with Obama is now a sin.  And unfortunately I have a hard time not seeing a racial quality about it.  It’s almost as if most of the base of the Republican party has a hard time stomaching someone shaking hands with Obama, mostly because his name is Barack Hussein Obama, but also partially because he’s black.  It’s pretty disturbing to me…  Here is a quote from last week’s political junkie column on NPR: “Many in the conservative movement support the exclusion. Morton Blackwell, a longtime GOP activist from Virginia and an ACU board member, said, ‘He is a Republican, but I don’t think he would accurately be described as a conservative. … And a lot of people have in their minds the image of him hugging Barack Obama in the late stages of the presidential campaign.'”  That sounds crazy to me.  As if hugging Barack Obama is in some way an indication of your politics.  I know there’s an ellipsis there but it is still a fairly strong implication.