The freedom of affluence opposes and contradicts the freedom
of community life. – Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian
Essays
And there came to me a spirit of wisdom. I reckoned riches
as nothing beside her; I counted no precious stone her equal, because all the
gold in the world compared with her is but a little sand, and silver worth no
more than clay. – Wisdom of Solomon 7: 7-8
This
past weekend I attended the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) annual conference
in Ames, IA. It’s theme was “Well Grounded” and it’s keynote address by Ricardo
Salvador was “True Wealth: How Iowa can once again revolutionize agriculture.”
Before I comment on my experience at the conference for those of you reading
this who may not know anything about PFI here is a part of their vision
statement: “Communities alive with diverse connections between farmers and
friends of farmers. Places where commerce, cooperation, creativity and
spirituality are thriving; Places where the working landscape, the fresh air
and the clean water remind us of all that is good about Iowa.”
I
am still “savoring” my conference experience and I am not just talking about
the great food we ate from many PFI farmers! Why is it in spite of the largest
crowd ever I still walked away feeling so alive, vibrant and full of life? Here
are a few insights to my weekend and what I would call a “mystical” experience
as well as my own take on what “True Wealth” means to me. What I mean by
mystical is experiencing God’s spirit at deep levels throughout the two days.
I
think Ricardo’s talk perhaps changed somewhat from his original title. He had
us look at a question posed to him by a venture capitalist who was donating a
significant sum of money to the Union of Concerned Scientists where Ricardo
works. We looked at “What is the Problem with Agriculture? And can we fix it?”
Ricardo looked at the life of Abraham Lincoln who asked how can we alleviate
the drudgery of agriculture and meet the needs of our nation? So the Morrell
Act and the founding of the National Academy of Sciences were formed during his
administration amidst the on going Civil War. These two acts led to on going
innovation and tremendous productivity in agriculture in the next 100 years.
The “Problem” of agriculture is not can we produce enough anymore. We have
shown that we can produce enough calories for everyone in the world, it is a
matter of just distribution of those calories. Now the question is can we farm
in a way that is sustainable and maintain our yields? His answer is yes and
many PFI farmers are farming in ways that are and will show the world how to
farm when the overarching agriculture system collapses. This is perhaps the
model of true wealth he referred to in his title and how Iowa PFI farmers can
revolutionize agriculture by showing the way.
There
were a number of “connections” I made with friends at the conference. Ricardo
was one of them. I first knew him in 1980 when I was just starting as a
research associate for the Agronomy Dept. at ISU and he was starting his
masters degree. Though we seldom have been in contact over the years I find him
to be a kindred/kind spirit/friend. I saw Cedar Johnson one of my former
Growing Harmony Farm members first thing on Sat. morning and she so wanted to
talk so I skipped the first PFI workshop. She had travelled from Eau Claire, WS. to participate. She was also a former PFI
staff member. I saw numerous former GHF members throughout the day but also saw
three people who we had known via Nancy’s and my days at Iowa Peace Network in
Des Moines that we hadn’t seen in years. Nancy also met a couple that she had
known via her Goshen College days when she traveled to Haiti on a study abroad
experience! All amazing encounters, yet I also conscientiously meet and greet
new/first time attendees as I had certainly experienced that sense of
hospitality at my first PFI conference in 1995.
There
have been a number of times that I will choose not to go to church after the
conference. Part of it is I want to savor the experience and don’t want to ruin
my sense of “communion”. But this weekend I was scheduled as a Eucharistic
minister at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames so Nancy and I went and in the
interludes of silence during the service I savored the day and was grateful.
The
above reading of Wisdom was part of the scripture along with a reading from 1
Corinthians 1:18-25 that basically says God’s ways are foolish to humans. The
Gospel reading was from Matthew 23:8-12 which is about “whoever exalts himself
will be humbled and whoever humbles himself with be exalted”.
It
was in the reading of these readings that I realized what it was that attracts
so many people to PFI and why I have so many heartfelt connections with so many
good people who are members and staff at PFI.
By
their very nature Christian communities are meant to be an alternative to the
broader “worldly” culture if they are living out of the Spirit of the Good
News. PFI by its own nature of fostering sustainable agriculture tries to be a
life giving alternative to the broader agri-business culture. Yet the beauty of
PFI is that it doesn’t live by any doctrines. There is an inherent freedom to
move towards the Greater Truth via many, many paths. So, for example I seldom
hear in any workshop/field day etc “This is the way you have to do it!” It is
so often, “This is my experience, it may not work for you but try to figure out
what works best for you! Learn from my failures not just my successes!” So
often in formalized religion we insist on people being perfect. In a breakfast
gathering Sat. morning I was part of a mentor round table discussion. One of
the mentees said, “ I want to know about your mistakes.” What if beginning
Christians were to ask the same question? Maybe there would be a better felt
sense of humility.
St.
Anselm once said, “The definition of humility is truth applied courageously to
self.” I think one of the founders of PFI, Dick Thompson lived this out and set
the tone for all of us involved at PFI.
I
saw all the staffers of PFI following Dick’s example as being servant leaders. As
facilitators at workshops it was never about them. They always brought it back
to the PFI members to get their feedback for insight and further discussion.
Wendell
Berry touches on True Wealth in his above quote. I know I left the PFI conference feeling like
I was one of the richest people in the world. Within PFI there is incredible
diversity of opinion and politics. It is one of the unique communities that has
been able to hold those tensions together and I believe it is in part due to
everyone’s felt sense of “freedom” within our community life that Berry talks
about. Where do you find True Wealth?
