Free Urban Farm

Muhammad Zain '12

Yesterday, the Faith in Action ASB headed down to volunteer at the Free Farm near Gough St. and Eddy St in downtown San Francisco. The idea behind the farm is simple, develop a vacant lot into farmland, produce different kinds of vegetables that are then distributed free of charge (twice a week) to neighbouring families or the Free Farm Stand.

The story of Free Farm, starts in nearly 1993 when the St. Paulus Lutheran Church burned down. The authorities of the church had various idea about the lot but none came to fruition and so, two years ago they decided to loan the land to a few enterprising individuals (five in total, and three of whom are connected to Dartmouth!) to develop the Free Farm. Over the past year, the hard work by volunteers has resulted in a thriving farm, that produced nearly 3000 pounds of produce in the past year!

The farm opened around 10 am with the arrival of Finn, one of the volunteers whowas followed by tree, another volunteer who has been associated with the farm since its inception and has worked in the region since the 1960’s. Although the weather was not cooperating (dark and cloudy with intermittent bursts of rain (editor's note - LOTS of rain. - kdn)) we immediately set to work to harvest the crop of fava beans, kale and collards. Following that, we met Mr. Paige, a Dartmouth alum and faculty member and one of the founders of the Free Farm, who gave a short and hilarious history of the farm. His take home advice was simple, “If you want do do something, just do it, there is no reason to ask for permission, so if you want to plow the Green, do not wait around for people to get back to you”.

Service with Zaytuna College and Berkeley Muslim Students' Association

Maryam Zafer '12

Our first day took us to the UC Berkeley campus where students of Zaytuna College greeted our 13 enthusiastic trip members soaked from the characteristic early-Spring Northern California downpour. The plan for the day was to attend Friday Muslim prayer services with our hosts, after which we would participate in their Project Downtown food distribution program and then to end our trip in classic Faith-In-Action reflection.

Zaytuna College is the first and only undergraduate Muslim academic institution in America. Their 14 students study all core subjects offered at the regular university but through an Islamic lens. Additionally, the students chose to major in either Arabic or Islamic Studies. Their reasons for enrolling in the college varied. However, the prevailing consensus for their investment in the program was an appreciation for its mission statement: "Zaytuna College aims to educate and prepare morally committed professional, intellectual, and spiritual leaders, who are grounded in the Islamic scholarly tradition and conversant with the cultural currents and critical ideas shaping modern society."

Five of these students joined us for a Halal lunch at Julie's cafe three blocks from Berkeley's main campus. We then trekked over (in the rain) to Hearst gym where we sat down to a khutba, sermon, about many themes drawn from Islam and its intersection with current events, including the message of hope and faith in God that we can take from the revolutions in Libya and Egypt.

Following the prayer, we headed to the MLK students' center and set up a station to prepare lunches that we would distribute to homeless individuals standing on the sidewalks of Berkeley or gathered in People's Park. Doing Henry Ford proud, our assembly line cranked out 50 brown paper bag lunches in under 30 minutes.

From the President...

President Obama just issued his challenge to campuses for interfaith cooperation and community service.  A salient message to receive on day 2 of our trip.

Arrival

Our group of 13 has arrived safe, happy, and tired.

We walked the long walk to the grocery store and returned with ample provisions for the next few days.  Our hostel resides on the edge of the Tenderloin.  We are surrounded by services for people without homes, and by countless corner markets stocked with sugary, starchy foods.  But for fresh, healthy foods, one must venture blocks away.  A food desert in the midst of densely packed California.

Tomorrow, we begin our alternative break trip in earnest by venturing North to eat and serve with students from Zaytuna College, and UC Berkeley Muslim Students Association.

A photo from our time in the Boston Airport:

Countdown to San Francisco. - Kurt Nelson

Finals are wrapping up.  The snow is melting.  Slowly, and messily.  But spring is bound to come to New England sometime in the next few weeks and months.  And I will soon (leaving campus in the middle of the night Wednesday) be traveling with a terrific group of 12 Dartmouth students (including two superb student leaders, Chris and Maryam) to work, serve, volunteer, and reflect on homelessness and poverty in the San Francisco Bay area.

We've met each week through the winter term.  We know each other reasonably well.  And I, for one, am excited.  This year we'll be serving meals, building housing,  urban farming, organizing clothing and painting walls, supporting kids together as a group of thirteen. 

Members of the group will post most evenings.  And we'll try to get a few videos and photos up as well. 

Best wishes to all for end of term, end of finals, and the beginning of what promises to be a rewarding break.

Kurt

P.S.  68 and Sunny today in SF.

The Good Book? - Kurt Nelson

Thus ends our term of reflection on the Problems and Promise of Scripture...

Kurt Nelson, Rollins Chapel, 3.6.11

Amos 5:21-24

One of the more honest prayers, I think,

in all of Christendom goes,

“Lord, save me from your followers.”

I have prayed it, fairly often.

It seems an unfortunate,

but pretty basic truth about humanity,

that the more important something is,

the more we can to mess it up.

It’s true of governance.

True of economies.

True of relationships.

And true of faith and religion.

How many times have we wondered,

“How did we get from Jesus, to the current state of affairs?”

My frustration with religious leaders and religious hypocrisy,

has occasionally dragged down my view of the whole faith,

and of the Bible.

I suspect I’m not the only one who,

in the face of hypocrisy, violence and vitriol,

quoting scripture for defense,

has wondered, “Is this really a good book?”

Filled, as it is, with complexity and difficulty.

With strange and seemingly backward laws.

With wars and unfit leaders?

Of course there’s lots of good stuff too.

But it is no doubt complicit,

in some measure of our violence, our oppression, our domination, our misogyny.

And given these challenges,

I’ve occasionally wondered,

if we might not just leave it behind.

It seems like a radical proposal, I know.

But people of course do it all the time.

Leaving behind scripture and community,

in favor of personal communion with God.

And self-directed spirituality.

And I for one,

can empathize.

The Good Book? - Richard R. Crocker

The Good Book
Rollins Chapel
Richard R. Crocker
March 6, 2011
Luke 28:44-48

Many people who have actually read the Bible through – I mean completely through, not in bits and snatches, wonder why it is often called “The Good Book.” Most of us read the Bible quite selectively. We learn “Bible stories” in Sunday school. If we hear scripture read during worship, it usually comes from a lectionary which emphasizes certain parts of scripture and leaves out others altogether. Fundamentalists (of all kinds) often tell us that we cannot “pick and choose” when we read the Bible – but we must take all of it as equally inspired, equally valuable, and equally authoritative. I find that many of those who argue from such a position either (1) have not in fact read the whole Bible, and (2) have their own favorite passages upon which they erected their whole theology, while ignoring contrasting points of view.

To read the whole Bible is to encounter a confusing, complex, and sometimes dreadful text. The passages that bring us comfort, that declare the sovereignty of a loving and merciful God, are interspersed with passages that should cause any contemporary reader, whether Jew, Christian, or simply human, to blanche, or to recoil in horror Thus, for example, many of the stories of the kings of Israel depict God as commanding the complete extermination of his enemies. Even the story of Noah and the ark, taught to us all in Sunday school, is presented as a story of comfort: God will not totally destroy the people of the earth, we are told, and a rainbow is the sign of that promise. But this comes only after God has already destroyed all human beings, except Noah and his family, and all creatures, except two of each kind. I could go on – but my point is not how many such stories are part of our sacred scripture, but that some are. How could we then overlook such passages to call the Bible the good book?