Brian S. Fecteau
Letter in support of the Many Hands Sustainability Center
July 20th, 2010
As an employee at many hands it is a pleasure to write in support of the it's sustainability center. Now in my third season at the farm, the work I do has come to represent more than just a paycheck at the end of the week. It represents an adoption of ideals and virtues, that, for most of my life, have escaped me. Generosity, patience, tact, dedication, and gratitude to name only a few of these virtues. And ideals such as community, the love of my labor, the love of nature, and the love of food.
Three years ago I would never have been caught eating a carrot just pulled from the ground with out first washing off all the dirt. Now it's common practice for me to just pull them, brush them off a bit, and start munching away right there in the field. In my first few months on the farm I always wore sneakers or boots in the field while most others walked around bare foot. I couldn't understand why they chose to get their feet all dirty and risk an injury. Soon enough, though, I would try it and it turned out that I liked it. First of all my feet would get dirty regardless, but more importantly, it felt good to not have that buffer between myself and the earth beneath me. I like the feeling of newly tilled soil giving way under my weight. Or the coolness of morning dew in the grass. I've come to appreciate things that in the past I've taken for granted. Seeing rays of sun beginning to penetrate a fog that had been hanging over the garden and capturing a photo of it. Listening to the plethora of different birds that sing throughout the day. And the food. Many hands has a taste. Many tastes, actually. All of them delicious. And by far more nutritious and infinitely safer to eat than most of what one can buy at the local super market.
Ultimately, what I am getting is an education as a result of my employment at many hands. Not only in how to manage a farm or eat more wholesome, nutritious foods. As valuable as that education has been, of at least equal, or possibly even greater importance are the life lessons I've learned. The sustainability centers' aim is to make a difference in the lives of anyone who is eager to learn. And the people within it reach out to many who, along the way have lost themselves and might not yet know what it is they are eager for. That was once an accurate description of myself. Until, by chance, or perhaps by providence, I found myself at Many Hands. Now, having found new direction in my own life, I am eager to help facilitate such an occurrence in the life of someone who is still searching. And with the continued dedication and generosity of the centers' founders, Jack and Julie, and all the people who make the many hands experience what it is, and possibly even a few charitable readers (hint, hint), the center will continue to leave it's imprint on the lives of many.
Brian S. Fecteau