MINNSOTA FOOD ASSOCICATION
Looking Back Over the Year A Conversation with Joci Tilsen, Glenn Hill, Kathleen Roche, and Andrea Pearson-Tande.
Joci: We were looking for AmeriCorps folks, and we were advised to talk with the St. Joseph Worker Director. When I connected with Suzanne Herder, CSJ, she asked me to be in a mentor relationship with some SJWs (including Caroline Martin) who were interested in farming and food justice issues. I was trying to understand the SJW Program and see if it was a good fit for MFA, and Suzanne was doing the same. MFA is mission driven. The SJW pillars of leadership, spirituality, intentional community, and social justice lead to that mission. When we have a good SJW placement at MFA, she sees that the MFA mission, the SJW mission and her personal path fit together. And that’s when it works. The tasks here can be mundane. Washing vegetables, pulling weeds, data entry - the mission has to be what keeps you excited. In the winter, the longest part of the year, we don’t have a lot of contact with the farmers, an aspect most interesting for the SJWs. So, the mission has to be foremost in the person’s mind and a motivating factor in the context of her work.
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Glen: There is, however, a lot of farmer contact. Would you agree Kathleen? Kathleen: Yes. Although, I definitely hear what Joci is saying. The mission does motivate me, and there are opportunities for it. I can help with classes, go into the greenhouse, and see the farmers there.
Kathleen Roche
Andrea: I think what you are talking about is true for any position that a person might work in their lives. There is simply stuff you have to wade through sometimes. That is when the big picture and the mission can sustain you.
SERVICE WITH A TWIST
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