People

One of the aspects of farming that I find most captivating is how it connects people. Largely, the interactions I've engaged in via farming have been constructive, if not almost always positive. I've formed wonderful friendships with fellow farmers, gotten to know seasoned farmers who I look up to, and engaged with my community as someone who helps to grow food. This week, however, posed a particular challenge as I learned to navigate some of the more difficult interpersonal relationships that come along with working on a farm.

My job as a crew leader at Red Fire farm requires that I be a confident leader for my harvest crew, and that I take my crew through the day's work smoothly and safely. For the most part, the people that I am farming with are hardworking, careful and kind. While my crew this week was certainly incredibly hardworking, especially in the August heat, I found it difficult to gain their respect and trust as a leader.

One of the other aspects of farming that I find to be wonderful is that it is a global profession that exists is many cultures. The crew that I was harvesting this week consisted of migrant workers from Cambodia, mostly middle-aged men who presumably have different cultural norms when it comes to gender and age in the workplace.

I feel like much of the work that I carried out this week is work that I've already mastered earlier in the season: harvesting cucurbits and chard, organizing a bulk harvest of this year's shallots, or tending to a weedy patch of next year's strawberries. I think that what I learned this week has less to do with the technicalities tending to crops, and more to do with the social and political aspects of what it means to be a woman in agriculture.

By the week's end, I certainly feel like I gained the respect of my crew by keeping my head up even when I felt like I wasn't being taken seriously, or by continuing to work hard even when my physical and mental strength was questioned. I also felt a sense of solidarity and pride when I saw the other women on the farm getting the work done and keeping the farm moving. Farming is hard work, and this week was a reminder that I can feel empowered by the hard work I'm faced with, not intimidated by it. It was also a reminder to approach all of my fellow farmers with respect and kindness. In particular, I'm reminded to work in solidarity with the women all over the world who are tending to the land and their communities by growing and cooking food.

Below are two images of harvest crews out in the field. Farming is all about team work -