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Tikkun Olam
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Unlike most folks involved in farming these days, I did not grow up on (or, truth be told, even near to) a farm. As a child, when adults told us kids that we could be anything that we wanted when we grew up if we worked hard enough, the list of possible occupations in their heads did not include farming. While my parents didn't teach me the finer points of irrigation, crop production or animal husbandry they did give me something that has guided me in my farming in a most profound way; the concept of “Tikkun Olam or “the mending of the world”. While I could use up a whole bunch of space giving you a detailed history of the concept, I think I will simply give you the condensed version as it was passed on to me by my parents; LEAVE THIS PLACE BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT. A simple concept and, in my estimation, perhaps the most important lesson I have learned.
Over the millennia Tikkun Olam has been expressed by countless peoples and in countless ways. Folks have picked up their proverbial needle and thread to mend this world of ours and have worked tirelessly to further the causes of Liberty, Justice and Freedom. In my family this has led earlier generations to help better the working conditions of the poor or struggle for equality for all peoples. For me, it has manifested itself in my farming practice. At a certain point it occurred to me that the current agricultural system in this country is just not acceptable. It is a system that has caused wide-spread environmental, economic and social destruction. It is a system that has tried to disassociate itself from the web of creation and the results have been disastrous. As a great lover of food and the many ways it can bring us together I felt that I needed to do SOMETHING the change our food system for the better. So, on our little farm, in our little way, we have found the frayed edges and we have begun the mitzvah of mending. |
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