Interview Roundup

Hey y'all--

Inteviews are done, and just in time! I'm leaving the farm tomorrow afternoon, for a short trip down to New Orleans...

The five interviews have been fascinating: even more insightful than I was expecting, since the questions were fairly simple. I wanted to reflect on my five interviews: their similarities and (more interestingly) differences. Since the most fascinating part of these interviews was the map that each interlocuter drew, reflecting their weekly routine, the special features of their community, and their local food economy (and these three layers' necessary overlap), I'll also share those maps:

My first interview was with a girl close to my age who loves to cook. That was reflected in her interview, as she talked a lot about the quality and freshness of local and homegrown food. She shops farmers markets frequently, as well as our own roadside stand. Another interesting perspective was that of outsider: C has lived in Fairview for one year, and comes from much larger cities. She spoke deeply of the community and sense of place and belonging that she felt in Fairview. Perhaps her newness to the area allowed her a greater recognition of how unique a truly close-knit and caring community is. This perspective led her to draw a map of her community that was a tight web of commerce and direct relationship.

My second interview was with a woman who has been a member of Flying Cloud's CSA since she moved to Fairview about four years ago. Another avid cooker, she also talked about the quality and freshness of local food. She also spoke about how her cooking had changed as she learned to deal with a volume of fresh--sometimes strange--fruits and vegetables that needed to be prepared or preserved. She took canning classes, and now puts up most of her own food for the winter. S also spoke of the strong community of Fairview, and again tied those connections to a thriving local economy that works to support neighbors' enterprises. She also talked of the beauty of the place, which has been preserved in part by working farms. Another newcomer, she moved from southern Florida, and drew sharp contrasts between her two homes. She spoke of Florida as a place of disconnect from the natural world, food sources, and neighbors, as opposed to Fairview's community and connection to the land. S drew a map that was a tight cluster of friends' homes and farms, and left most of the map to her view from the mountains.

My third interview was with a woman living in Asheville who has been a Flying Cloud CSA member for two years. She has lived in the area her whole life, and had some really interesting reflections on how Asheville has changed, with an influx of newcomers that are united in their love of beautiful landscape. A's map was markedly different from the first two, since she lived in town and had a wider variety of food sources. She also talked about the culture of a local food economy: working to support neighbors and friends as much as possible, recognizing the importance of each person's place.

My fourth interview was with a woman who has owned a bakery in West Asheville for about nine years now. She works hard to source her menus locally, and buys food from Flying Cloud Farm. Her interview blended personal and business perspectives, as her food choices shape her family's dinner and her bakery's products. Her map was wide-ranging, pulling from local farms all around.

My fifth and final interview was with another woman living in Fairview. As her two girls clambered in and out of her lap, she talked about her daily food choices, feeding a young family by calling on neighbors for blueberries and sweet corn. Her map was another tight one, with almost all her needs met inside the community.

Each of my interlocuters recognized the importance of a strong and thriving community for a strong and thriving food economy. They made a point of mentioning how empowering (and reassuring) it was to know the folks whose food they ate. They spoke of the wonder of that in a country that has not made that knowledge a priority.



August reflections:

Has your involvement in community-based research impacted your motivation to engage in community issues, research or service?

Absolutely. However, that motivation was alread there. I've been interested in the power of community food activism for a while.

What assistance will be most helpful to you in the fall semester in wrapping up your CBR project?

I will turn over transcripts of my interviews to my advisor, who is conducting a larger study in the Piedmont area. My satellite research will inform his decision to broaden the range of the study into other areas of North Carolina. Thus, his evaluation of my research will be most helpful.

Write a brief letter of advice to a 2010 CBR-SURF.

Dear whoever,

Good luck! Be fearless. Insert yourself into a community not just through questions and research, but through work within the community. So often research projects are a matter of academic extraction: answers removed to a university, where strangers reflect on them. Make sure that you are not a stranger, and give back to the community that has opened itself to you and made you welcome.



That's it for now. I am so grateful for my summer here: I have learned a lot, and experienced the power of deep roots and hard work. Thank you!