Community Supported Agriculture

Denison Farm is under water. The footbridge is gone. The road is gone, blocking access to the fields. And Jumping Jacks and Freedom Park are gone:

My heart is breaking for these folks and for those who lost their homes to flooding in the Stockade, whose homes were destroyed by the mudslide in Troy, to the farming families of my Rensselaer County, to the Webb Family from Gold Crest, to my home town that survives and falls by the will of the river.

And I have no humor left for 'jokes' that set out to interpret the will of God.

Usually Judaism finds its way into this blog through the food, but here is what I say: the Divine can be found both within the awesome strength of the hurricane and within the coming together of a community when the flood waters rise. If we look, we can stand in awe of the care we show for each other and take a message from that strength as readily as we find fear in sight of the trees pulled from the ground.

I'm going to echo FussyLittleBlog and Matt Baumgartener of Bomber's and Wolff's call. Schenectady Green Market and the Troy Riverside Market are are almost or nearly underwater. Our local farms, our local businesses, our local community need our help. 

Call SICM. Call Unity House. Call the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and the Red Cross of Northeastern New York. Be proactive, find out how to help and begin.

It is a beautiful day here in exile at my parent's in Schodack, and the Thruway back to our home in Schenectady is open again. But my heart is aching for Justine and Brian and the whole crew over at Denison Farm's.

I am a member of the Denison Farm CSA program. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I am glad that the money I paid at the beginning of the season, when I bought in with the Denisons for better or for worse, will go a small way to helping them weather this year's flooding and begin to rebuild.