“To be of use”

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The third stanza of Marge Piercy’s poem “To be of use” seems especially relevant in light of the recent flooding that took place in our area last week. The volunteers that even now are loading sandbags and cleaning up debris know exactly what it means to “pass the bags along” and to “move in a common rhythm.” But as many of you know, the spirit of service exists all the time here in the myriad of regular Marion-Polk Food Share volunteers who make the work of ending hunger happen. Being in contact with these folks can be a soul-stirring experience.

I was first exposed to Piercy’s poem while working at a farm in California which utilized horse and human power to grow food for more than 160 families. Growing up in an urban area where my parents hardly knew our neighbors and didn’t garden, the concept of working the land with others was totally foreign to me. In contrast to where I grew up, tasks on the farm had to be done by a particular time and according to the demands of the season, and every single person was needed. There was urgency and a rhythm to growing food which I had never experienced before, and I found this sense of being needed, mind and body, to be so incredibly life-giving that I was hooked.

Here in our community, growing food locally is an urgent endeavor for many reasons. There is no reason that everyone in this fertile Willamette Valley shouldn’t have access to wholesome food or to a small plot on which to grow a bit of one’s own. Families should never have to make the choice between feeding their children junk food or not at all -- but many, due to lack of dollars, lack of knowledge or a combination of these, do have to make this choice.

In addition to physical hunger, others in our community feel a deep spiritual hunger which growing food locally can address. Agri-culture in the traditional sense of the word grows culture, a vibrant local culture in which neighbors feed, work beside and help their neighbors. Community gardens, micro-farms and backyard homesteads and can be part of alleviating this hunger for connection to each other, to our bodies, and to the land.

I feel deeply privileged to work here at the Marion-Polk Food Share and to witness the countless hours that our key volunteers put in toward the common good. It is these dedicated folks that embody the heart of what neighbors helping neighbors means. Whether we’re hungry for food or hungry for a sense of meaning, creating a vibrant local food network here in our community is one way we can come together. We are all needed in this task of growing food; whether it’s in our backyard, our local school, a church, or an empty plot of land… every single one of us is needed in this great calling of feeding each other and in creating a better community.

Ingrid Evjen-Elias is Community Garden Resource Coordinator for Marion-Polk Food Share. She may be reached at 503-581-3855 or ievjenelias@marionpolkfoodshare.org.