IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING TO STAND ON ...
Last week we covered the need for truth and reconciliation at Thanksgiving, and all year round (some ideas for how to honor Indigenous history at any time were shared on our Instagram feed). Now on the cusp of December, we find ourselves in the midst of myriad analogous conundrums, with competing forces that feel so strong, it's hard to carve out a confident path forward. We hang in the balance, surrounded by questions and seeking solid ground, but mostly...hanging.
With the stark reality of Thanksgiving's past and present in mind, we continue to wonder: how do we find space for action and acknowledgement, yet make room for connection and care?
As the cultural juggernaut of consumer capitalism co-opts 'the holiday season', we tend to react with such resistance that at times we altogether extinguish the best part of the season: joy. How do we operate and support small businesses that rely on the abundant giving during this time of year, yet establish boundaries around the culture of deep discounts and consumption that tend to dominate?
With COVID and its seemingly endless variants, we ask ourselves how we can rekindle connection and maintain cautious care for our community?
And in consideration of the toxic diet culture that many people face around holiday tables, as well as the year-long pressures from society to conform to the narrowest of beauty ideals, we wonder, along with Monique Melton: How do you take pride in your appearance without letting your looks dictate your sense of worth?
As we approach the new year, we head directly toward a policy change that has been a long time coming: as of January 1, all Good Food Jobs post must pay at least $15/hr. And one particular swirling question becomes more imminent: how do we move forward in setting a bar for equitable pay - at a rate that does not even meet what a true living wage of $24/hr would be, as Michael Brown pointed out back in March - when that bar is still out of reach for many struggling small farms and restaurants?
We're tempted to conclude that the trouble with questions seems to be when they don't have answers.
Looked at another way, the trouble with questions is when we expect answers.
It's a vulnerable place to be when you stand up and say, 'We don't know the answer'. Existing systems are designed to push us through without room for much thought, in the hope that swift deadlines and overwhelming demands on our time will result in decisions that uphold the status quo, leaving the future to fend for itself. This sense of urgency is real, and it
"keeps us disconnected," as Desiree Adaway so aptly points out.
And yet we resist it. We slow down, and continue to work toward our values. Yes, we are slower, and we experience all kinds of discomfort in the process: fear of irrelevancy, Fear Of Missing Out, fear of making mistakes, fear of getting the answer wrong... But the thing that all these fears have in common is allegiance to the status quo. And what they remind us of, is that all of these possibilities are survivable, and they offer valuable lessons in the process.
So as we move forward, with gratitude, into 2022, we will continue to put one foot in front of the other to make change, including all the mis-steps along the way. We hope you'll stay with us, as we remain faithfully...
In service,
Tay + Dor
photo of two men walking through the fish market at dawn in Basra, Iraq, by photojournalist Emily Garthwaite
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