Civil Eats

My no-nonsense New England mother instilled in me the belief that Mother’s Day was about manufactured rather than genuine sentiment. She also shunned formality when it came to flowers, preferring bouquets plucked from our garden to anything a florist could dish up. But now that she’s gone, the holiday has assumed for me an unbidden emotional significance. I always want to observe it, but I’m never sure how. This last weekend, quite by accident, I found my answer: I happened to spend Friday morning on an organic farm. Read More

In America we all grow up with images of what certain occupations look like, stereotypes of the folks we depend on for day-to-day functions in society.  The construction worker is a robust, manly kind of character.  The nurse is a nurturing, kind and vaguely attractive woman.  And the farmer, if you even thought about who grew your food as a child, is always a strong, hearty man enduring the elements and surveying his wide expanses of land.  Just like the illustrations in our very first books, we internalize what these roles “should” look like.  But as we all learn, hopefully, as we age is that stereotypes are never the reality. Read More