How you bean?

What feels like home to you? What keeps you grounded? 

Hands on the land. Laughter between rows of corn. Talking in circle with one another. Sharing our stories, our backgrounds, our experiences. Asking questions, and being curious between sky and earth.

Kicking off the first day of September, AAFG hosted New Mexico Food Corps service members for their orientation this week! 17 brilliant minds came together to share space with each other, harvest beans, and witness the beauty the land has to offer. We talked of local agriculture, our relationship to land and place, shifts in global economics and how that impacts small farmers, oh and of course food! Each service member had something introspective to offer, and to share. Whether it was how we prepped corn for food, where we come from, or our relationship to land. The stories, the listening, and the feedback percolated deeply into my heart space. There was also the reality of grounding each other in place, and also holding space for what the land carries is heavy. Colonial violence, genocide and theft that still takes place to this day. Yet, this reality is also the background for transformative work within and around landscapes. Each and every person is capable of transformation and change.

What feels like home to you? What keeps you grounded? 

“The sound of cicadas”

“Candy paint and low riders”

“Any and everything about this valley”

“Knowing I can come back home to family. That family is home.”

“Chaparral and seeing it everywhere growing up.”

“Knowing that wherever I go, the moon and stars are always there.”

Thank you New Mexico Food Corps Service Members. I’m grateful for our space together and touched by y’alls vulnerability and willingness to jump in a corn plot to pick beans. May y’all be well!

Text by Mayam Garris

Photos by Zaba Luna Ángel