Episode 29 - Starting Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s)

Transcript

Announcer: This program is brought to you by personallifemedia.com.

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Meredith Medland: Welcome to Living Green - Effortless Ecology for everyday people. My name is Meredith Medland, and I’m your host. Today, I’m joined by Frinee Warren. Frinee is the owner of a Santa Barbara CSA called Sprout-About. You can learn more about Sprout About on the web at sprout-about.com. Stay tuned for some highlights from our show.

Frinee Warren: I realized that most people want to go to the farmers market, but it’s just one more thing on their list of to-dos. With children and work schedules and busy lives, it’s hard to include that in the mix. With my nine year old, there are so many children his age that don’t eat veggies, and haven’t had a lot of fruits. So, when he sits down and we have them come over and eat, he is like, “Yum! Chinese Broccoli with lemon, yum.”

It causes them to pause, like maybe I’ll taste this. You know, I get letters all the time, emails all the time about how much weight people have lost, because their need to have prepackaged snacks on hand just is diminished. So, that’s a really cool thing. If you just had an average lifestyle in every single way, you know you got kids, your job, your dogs, cats, and you just switched to a local diet once per week, that’s one time. You would save more in the planet’s resources by driving a hybrid car all year.

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Meredith Medland: You’re listening to episode number 29 of Living Green, and today by the end of the show, you’ll know what a CSA is, how you can find one in your area. I promise you’ll leave with some inspiration about moving forward on all of the things you’ve always wanted to do. You’re going to learn more about new healing modalities, and hear the story of one woman who is making a difference in the lives of many of her clients and the people of the local Santa Barbara community. Frinee Warren, welcome to the show.

Frinee Warren: Thank you.

Meredith Medland: Alright, so today let’s get started first. For those of our listeners, who don’t know what a CSA is, what is a CSA and what are you doing?

Frinee Warren: Well, a CSA is a community supported agricultural movement, and what we do is, normally a CSA, one farm will have their own CSA, like Fairview Gardens here in Santa Barbara, and people subscribe and they go and pick up the produce that, that farm grows. I do it a little bit differently, because in my business, I go to a lot of different farms in the area. So, whereas one farmer may not have that much variety of fruits, I can go into a lot of different farms and get a nice selection for the clients that I have.

Meredith Medland: So, you pick up the food from farmers on Tuesdays and you deliver it to your clients on Wednesdays. Will you tell us a little bit more about how much does it cost and what’s the level of commitment, and what do your clients receive?

Frinee Warren: OK, so what it is, is I have two sized baskets. One is a full, and one is a half size. The full size contains nine items, a half size contains four items, and a full size is $34, a half size is $19. You get a list of maybe 14 or 15 different items; you choose the nine that you want or the four that you want. So, in that case too, it’s a little bit different than the normal CSA, where you just get whatever it is that’s in season at that moment.

So, there is a little bit more flexibility. If you don’t like beets, you don’t need beets. You can also double up on things, if you really like the strawberries, because they are really good, you can get three baskets of strawberries. It’s just one price; I don’t break it down by market value. I figure out after the course of the year, it all balances out just fine.

Meredith Medland: So, how did you get involved with the creation of this whole business?

Frinee Warren: I was doing a different business, and one of the things that happened was, at the end of it, I had a baby, and I could no longer cook, I was cooking. So, one day, last moments that I was cooking for some clients, a friend of mine came and saw this produce on my table, and said, “My gosh, if you can get more of that, I would love for you to get some.” So, I started thinking and thinking, you know, I really like having all this fresh produce available, I mean I really missed it when I stopped cooking.

I started kind of putting it together, and that’s pretty much how it was born. I realized that most people want to go to the farmers market, but it’s just one more thing on their list of to-dos. With children and work schedules and busy lives, it’s hard to include that in the mix. It also takes some time, because going to the farmers market is pretty much a social event.

You see people you know and sort of – this is going to be a quick thing, no parking and everything. So, that’s kind of how it was born, it was like, “You know what, I bet other people would like this.” So, I started with that one subscriber, and she is still with me today, and it’s just kind of word of mouth really. For a long time, I didn’t advertise at all, and it was just word of mouth.

Meredith Medland: Wow, so you’ve got about 75 to 80 subscribers, and you are delivering on a weekly basis. Do you have agreements with the local farmers? Do they know you and you see them every week? How does it work?

Frinee Warren: Yeah, they do, and I have some local farmers that I pretty much go to regularly, and unless some things happen, like with these last fires, some of their crops were burned, and so had to kind of find other farmers until they kind of get those crops reestablished. So, yeah, I do – I have my picks that I work with a lot. They know me, I can call them up, and it’s really nice in that way, because what I’ve really come to enjoy about this is, having this produce available to my family all the time.

I took a couple of months off this year, and for those weeks that I didn’t do it, we were kind of hurting or like, Gosh, this isn’t cutting it, when are you going back to work? We want some good food. So, it was really surprising, the difference in quality and taste. I just have a growing family, so it’s been really wonderful to share with my children that hey, our favorite vegetable last year during the winter was rutabaga. I mean it was crazy, my children loved it, and so it’s one of those things where normally I probably would never have touched a Rutabaga, but it really has expanded their appetites in ways that are really healthy.

Meredith Medland: You have to children, you have two boys, a two year old and a nine year old, right?

Frinee Warren: Yes I do.

Meredith Medland: They are probably learning a lot about the food system from you, because they get to see mom come in with all this food, and they know what you do. How has you being involved in local produce changed their lives in the way that they interact with other children at school?

Frinee Warren: Well, I think one of the things that it does is, with my nine year old, there’s so many children his age that don’t eat veggies and haven’t had a lot of fruits. So, when he sits down and we have them come over and eat, he is like, “Yum, Chinese Broccoli with lemon, yum!” It causes them to pause, like, “Hmm, maybe I’ll taste this.” So, it’s kind of been really interesting, because whereas they would just reject it at first, at first glance, they really kind of go along with it, like OK, I’ll have a bite of that.

Then they’re really liking it, and then they are asking me, “If you get that, can I pick it up next week?” So, I have a lot of these little boys especially. One of them dropped off something at our house and saw a basket full of produce and just assumed that was for him on our bench and took it. It was great, because it was so much like, “Yeah, this is what I want.”

I want him and all his friends to be able to be more inclusive in their choices of – it’s not just the Top Ramen. Let’s branch out, because this stuff is really tasty. So, I really like that affect, because it’s so subtle and it’s not pressure filled, but it’s one of those things where, at our school we have to provide snack twice a year for the whole school, so that’s over 200 students.

When I do it, they get to taste yellow watermelon and fun things, where normally they would just never try it. It’s like every year, they are like, “Oh you are going to bring that again, cherries?” It’s really cool, because it’s like, you know what, there’s more options than just that granola bar that has been prepackaged and shelved and shipped and everything else. There’s more options that are really tasty. So, that has been enjoyable.

Meredith Medland: So, you’re bringing a lot of opportunity to children and to adults and to the Santa Barbara community. What are some of the changes you have seen in either the parents or other clients that are adults, in their shifts, in their food, once you have started delivering to them?

Frinee Warren: One of the things that I hear repeatedly is how much weight people have lost, because all of a sudden, there is this stuff that’s sitting on their table that’s looking pretty tempting and tasty, and that they have already paid for. It’s not like they had to actually go and get it, but it’s like, “Well, you know what, I could have chips, but there are some really tasty Sugar Snap Peas.

So, it’s just kind of made so that they realize that, you know what, this is going to go bad if I don’t do it. So, their choices even a little more directed to, you know, let me just do this. Then, I get letters all the time, emails all the time about how much weight people have lost, because their need to have prepackaged snacks on hand has just diminished. So, that’s a really cool thing.

I also get that, a lot of moms especially, they are able to introduce new things into their child’s diet and learn how to cook new veggies and experiment with different items that they normally would never pick. So, it has been pretty cool, because it’s like they are being able to taste something at its best, not after it has been shipped and packaged across the country and lost its flavor it’s – that’s peaked out, it’s not that.

It’s like at the optimal, they are getting it, and so they are getting a really good example of what that is, and they are really responding well, because their husbands are saying – when I was gone for a couple of months, I got a lot of emails saying, “My husband wants to know when you’re going to be back in service? He’s missing that stuff.” It’s not that they were all that in the loop before, but it’s like they are missing that taste, so it’s pretty cool. That is pretty cool, to see that it expands into just the most minute households. It’s like everyone gets affected by it, and that’s cool.

Meredith Medland: That’s a beautiful gift of service. So, you’re transforming people’s lives through connecting families, shifting their tastes, creating a time for meals, because now there’s more food to prepare via your CSA, and really just bringing local food that’s right in season, that doesn’t come from far away at all, and fundamentally offering a new opportunity and a new way of living.

Frinee Warren: Yeah, that’s the cool thing. It’s that we live in such a moderate climate, and very few people know the amount of stuff that we can grow here, we are so fortunate. We don’t live in Alaska, and because of that, it’s impressive for people to see that, wow. Normally, I would never think that you couldn’t get tomatoes, because they are always in season or there is no downtime for strawberries because they are always available.

The truth is that everything has a season, and even with the strawberries that we get, we are taking a few weeks off, so that they can replenish themselves, because they are not producing like they were. So, the farmer hasn’t narrowed down his field, it’s cold now, and there are three hours of sunlight less per day, and all of these things have an affect. What I find is that the subscribers really want details, like when the rains hit and then the strawberries come out dirty with dirt on them, that’s what it is. Or when there is lot of fires, there is ashes on the strawberries and that’s what the black stuff is.

It’s not mold or anything, it’s the ashes. So, they are wanting this kind of connection. They really ask for me to give them updates and let them know what is going on this week, because normally in day-to-day life they are so far removed from anything of this sort. They are just so far removed from where their fruit comes from, so it’s kind of a way to get them kind of reconnected, like, “Oh cool, now it’s Sugar Snap Pea and [xx] and Artichokes.

All the stuff, it’s like they remember, like, “Oh yeah, we really enjoyed this last year.” So, it’s kind of like it’s own little rhythm, connecting them to nature in that way. So, even though they are not going out to the farms, they do feel a lot more connected.

Meredith Medland: One of the things I love about your business is me being involved in it, in the sense of being one of your subscribers is fun, because I spend so much time on the internet or using technology. So, I just feel really connected to the land through you, and when I look in your eyes, I feel the aliveness of the farmers or where you must have been when you deliver. So, when I see your truck come up, it just feels like I’m making my contribution to the farmer as well as to my own body and spirit by nurturing it with something that I know feels right. Of course, it’s really fun to see you look alive.

Frinee Warren: Yeah, that’s the thing. I’m going out to the farmers, and a lot of times – sometimes I’m helping them pick or sometimes I’m waiting for them to finish picking something. So, it’s really, really fresh, it’s like you can’t get fresher. Last week, the cauliflower I delivered was picked an hour before I got there. So, it’s incredibly fresh, and in that sense – it’s like when I’m loading it up in the truck, and I have my children, they are in the truck eating whatever unloading.

It’s such a strong connection, it’s such a strong connection. We walked the fields with them a lot, and it’s just so cool to see that this is how it grows. You would never know it, because you always kept salad in a bag, but they have to pull out every little bunch, and this is how tiny one bunch is. So, it’s pretty cool to see that, that their awareness is getting bigger. Especially with my little one, this is kind of all he has known, so it’s just kind of part of his life now, that his mom has veggies in the truck.

As I’m filling baskets, he’s pulling them out, eating them. It’s just part of him now, and it’s really cool to see that it’s a connection I hope that continues for them, that connection to the earth and to the cycles.

Meredith Medland: One of our advertisers earlier this quarter is the Omega Institute, they are located in Ryan Beck, New York, and their URL is eomega.org, and they are creating an opportunity for people to come and learn about the food cycles and how it works, to actually have all their food brought into the kitchen. It’s a holistic learning centre, where there’s workshops, so one of the things I have seen as an interviewer is an increase of people who are willing and ready to educate children as well as adults about the value of local food and local farming, and how imperative it is that we start eating and contributing to the community around us.

Frinee Warren: Yeah, it’s really amazing, but if you just had an average lifestyle in every single way, you know, you got kids, you have job, you have dogs, cats, and you just switched to a local diet once per week. That’s one time. You would save more in the planet’s resources by driving a hybrid car all year. So, it’s a huge contribution just to – if you extrapolate it, just in oil, just in gas. It’s really amazing, and that’s the thing.

I think it is a lack of awareness, and that is a lack of education, that we live where we live and more people don’t do it this way, because there is really no need to go to [xx] or [xx] to get your produce, because it’s just right here. It’s really amazing, the difference in taste. I have a few families that I deliver to, just to help them out, they don’t pay. This one lady, who’s just been homeless, been having it rough, and she received the lettuce I sent it over last week, and she said, “It was the best tasting lettuce I have ever had.”

It was so interesting, because – and I said, “Well, where do you normally get your food?” She’s like, “Well, [xx],” and it’s like it makes the difference. It really makes that – lettuce was just picked that day, so it will have a different taste, and it will have a different flavor. Being a farmer is hard, it’s hard work, and it’s one of those things where it’s kind of a dying art, and so it’s one of those things where we really do need the encourage and support, because it really does affect our everyday lifestyle, it really does.

Meredith Medland: I definitely agree. We are going to take a break to thank our sponsors, and when we come back from the break, we are going to learn a little bit more about how you can get involved with your own CSA in your local city or local area. We are going to talk about that. We are also going to talk about some of Frinee’s spiritual practices, and some new healing modalities that she is involved in, and how those relate to the lifestyle she is living, and what it means to her to be Living Green. My name Meredith Medland, and I’m your host of Living Green – Effortless Ecology for Everyday People.

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Meredith Medland: Welcome back from the break, my name is Meredith Medland, and I’m here with Frinee Warren. Frinee is the owner of Sprout About, which you can find more information about at sprout-about.com. Before we went to the break Frinee, we were talking about all of the different ways that you’re of service and the value of CSAs, and I’d love for our listeners to know where they can learn more about their local CSAs and start a relationship with someone like you.

Frinee Warren: Well, you can probably just Google it up. Community supported agriculture. I would suggest that when you find your CSA locally or if you go through a business like I do, because there is lots of businesses now that do this, that you ask them where they get their produce, because a lot of models, the ones that I looked into before I started this to kind of give me a structure. They were getting their produce from all over the country and all over the world. They even go to Chile and have things shipped.

When I saw that, I thought, “You know what, that’s not what I want. I don’t want pineapples shipped from Timbuktu, I don’t want that.” I really want to deal locally from where I lived. So, I know that there probably are other places that do that, and I would suggest you, kind of look into it a little bit, and rather than just sign on. Because I know there are a lot of big companies now that are doing what I do, but they really do get them from all over the world. That’s kind of not where it needs to be, it really needs to be locally as much as possible.

I read somewhere where – like my parents own land in Colorado, that they get paid, not the farm, so it’s like a subsidy. So, I read that if all those subsidies, the money that they use for all those subsidies were put into instead of researching and developing produce in places like Michigan and Maine during the winter. You could have green houses, there are a lot of things that could grow, and there would be a separate infrastructure to show people there how they could expand their produce available during those winter months.

Alternate things like that would make it so that this would be more widespread and more available, because sure, when you are in Michigan, it’s a little thin during this time of the year, but it doesn’t have to be. [xx] loves the snow, there are lots of things that love the snow, and so have more education in those ways, I think would be really, really nice for our planet.

Meredith Medland: In episode number 24 of Living Green, which you can find at livinggreenshow.com and then just scroll down, and you’ll see Anna Lappe, she is the author of a book called ‘Grub – Food for an Urban Kitchen.’ She talks a lot about some of the resources for CSAs, and also, if you go to the episode page of this show, which is episode no. 29, and as I mentioned, this is Frinee Warren, and it’s sprout-about.com. If you go to livinggreenshow.com, you’ll find an episode page, and on that episode page, in the right hand rail, we have got a ton of great opportunities that we have negotiated with.

Some of our advertisers like audible.com and citrixonline, but in addition to that, we have the links area, and those are different URLs that will link you to, based on the conversation that’s coming out of this interview. So, one of the things that I will do is, I’ll put a resource for you there, that gives you the listing of the local CSAs, and if you’re really interested in CSAs after this conversation, you can also download the episode with Anna Lappe.

She talks about another different angle, that’s not quite as on a personal level, but more a greater planetary evolution of the way that getting our food is changing, the importance of getting your food locally and eating in season. So, Frinee, one of the things I wanted to speak to you about is your spiritual practice. Living Green is all about the attitudes and the beliefs and the values. Why you do what you do, why are you Living Green, what that means to you? Then of course, underscoring all of that is, what’s connecting you to, whether you call it God, your higher power, why are you doing what you’re doing and why are you alive and where are you getting all your inspiration from?

Frinee Warren: Well, I do this because I really like having this available, I really do. Now, we pretty much strictly eat from the business, and so I do go I think twice a month or something to go and shop for other food, but pretty much we are doing this. It has been great, even financially for us it has been great. Our bills went from I think a 1000 bucks a month to 600, just by switching to eating through the business, because it’s just so – we don’t really lack for anything.

So, in that sense, having a great family, that’s one of the reasons that I do it, because it’s really nice to be able to have access to this stuff and kind of easily. The other reason is because I want to create space in my life, so that – my husband works full time, and to give him a little bit more of a – like he doesn’t have to feel like he’s carrying all the weight. So, he can go and do his dreams, and while he’s carrying all the weight, he doesn’t really feel like he can go and do as he dreams.

It has been one of those things, where as I’m more and more out there, I feel more and more confident to carry on like, “OK, you know what, this is great. This Sprout About is great,” and it has taken me really to nice places. It’s not the end, it’s a stepping stone for me, and I don’t want to give it up, but I don want to continue to evolve. So, it’s giving me some more freedom in that way, where I can just go, “OK, now, where do I want to go next?” So, that’s why I do that, it creates some space.

Meredith Medland: Where do you want to go next?

Frinee Warren: Well, I am looking – I went to a workshop and I’m looking at becoming a guide for this modality called TAT, and it’s basically – I have gone through a lot of stuff in my life, and a lot of – you know $60,000 in therapy in seven years, and I see that I would really like to be able to help people in ways where they are stuck. I found this method that really does it effortlessly and quickly and just simply.

So, I really like to get it to more people, because with the people that I’ve done it so far, it has really been transformative. I have started doing it with children, in my son’s school and it has been amazing with them, because it’s so gentle and so effective. So, I feel like now that I have created some space, like I can see Sprout About kind of running without me in the mix trying to do everything.

I can go, “OK, now where is my heart pointing?” That’s where I want to go. I want my heart to be the one guiding. So, I see that this is the next step for me, it’s being able to supply, support in a really gentle effective way that allows people to heal in ways that they haven’t been able to heal before. For so long, I really tried to have my mind, my brain be the one that guided me, and it was really struggle filled, and it was a lot of effort, and it took a lot of energy. Now, that I have kind of shifted to just having my heart go, “OK, we are pointing in this direction,” it has been really amazing what has happened.

The only word I can think of is effortless, like things just fall into place. There is not a lot of cajoling or manipulating or anything, it’s just there. It’s like I want it, and then it just comes about in ways that I never expected. So, I want that experience for more people, because I don’t think I’m unique, and I don’t think there is something intrinsically different about me, where I’m experiencing this and other people can’t. I just don’t think that, I think that, “Gosh, if I can do this, if I can experience it, everyone can,” because it’s that universal.

Meredith Medland: Well, it sounds like it started with you putting your attention on what you wanted, whether it was food for your family or healing for your children or giving the opportunity for a new way of living for people. So, number one, you put your attention on what you wanted, you led with your heart. I want to go back to this modality that you talked about, which is TAT, which is Tapas Acupressure Technique. If you would just spend a few minutes telling people about it.

Frinee Warren: Well, what I tell people is that it’s very simple and easy, and it’s one of those things where I go into my son’s school and I teach the children how to resolve conflict. One of the things that I teach them is how to make amends, and how when you are making amends, there is a process. So, you find out how it affected them, you find out how it has been for them carrying this thing. So, there is a process, and so that’s how I like to explain it. It’s just a really gentle process about letting things go.

It’s not that you agree with whatever trauma that we are dealing with at the moment, it’s just that you agree not to carry it. So, it’s a way of really taking it off your back and putting it aside, and it’s not that you won’t remember it or not that you won’t have knowledge that it happened, but it just won’t have the affect that it’s had on you. That’s basically – and it’s like nine or 10 different steps. I do it on my two year old when he is asleep, I did it on him last night, and I do it on my nine year old. My nine year old asked for it, and he says it’s the only thing that has worked to make him be kinder and more loving to his brother.

It has been surprising, because the other day he said, “You know, I don’t scare him anymore.” I thought, you are right, he used to just go around scaring this little boy and he really hasn’t, and it’s like, “Wow, yeah, we did a healing on that.” It stopped, and so it’s really subtle and effective and gentle. It’s not scary, and it’s not something that you need to signup for excruciating pain. It’s kind of like, you’re just kind of are there, and you’re just an observer, and then you watch the process unfold and let it go. It’s surprising how easy it is.

So, I would like to do this, because the other thought I had before I got into this was to back to school and become a therapist, but you know with two kids in toe, to do that would be a lot of work. What I realized at the beginning is that I had a real strong belief that work had to be hard, that it was unnecessary evil. I am changing that, it doesn’t have to be hard, and it doesn’t have to be unnecessary evil and it will still be work.

It’s one of those beliefs that really drove my life, and it made whatever I was going to be in, going to be hard, and now I see that, you know what, I would like to sign up for something that flows smoothly with my life, and that I don’t need a zillion things in place for it to work, and that I don’t need to struggle every day to get there, and that I don’t need to have just tons of pain doing it. It’s like I’d like it to be a different modality, a different like, you know what, I show up to work with my heart, and I’m present with everything, and it just flows, that’s what my new vision is.

Meredith Medland: Thank you for that. We are going to take a moment to thank our sponsors, and when we come back from the break, we’ll take just a few minutes to end our show and we’ll talk about what it means to Frinee to be Living Green, and what her outlook is on the world ahead. You are listening to Living Green – Effortless Ecology for Everyday People, and I’m your host Meredith Medland.

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Meredith Medland: Welcome back from the break, you are listening to Living Green. My name is Meredith Medland, and we are here with Frinee Warren from Sprout-About. We are about to wrap up our show Frinee, but before we do, tell us, what does it mean to you to be Living Green?

Frinee Warren: Living Green to me means having a connection to the earth, and having a connection to the cycles. Not just the cycles of the season, but the cycles of my children, and the cycles of my family and my cycles. It’s just being aware and acknowledging what it is. There are times when I feel like, OK now I want to be more out there, and then at times that I feel like, “You know what, I would rather just stay in bed all day.”

I want to just acknowledge that and honor it, and that’s what Living Green to me means, it’s that whatever it is, I’m not trying to pull myself away from that, I’m just gently melting into it, and saying, “Yeah, this is what my best looks like today. We are just going to stay on our jammies all day.” Or “This is what my best looks like today, we are going to go and do this.” That flow and [xx] that to me is what Living Green is. It’s not to try to do something superimposed or superficial but just what’s in front, and honoring that and acknowledging that.

Meredith Medland: Sounds a lot like taking the next action while being relaxed.

Frinee Warren: Yeah, that’s it, that’s it. It’s like there is no – you know it’s so great to be able to remove myself from my preconceived notions of what it is to be a mom with a job, with a family, with a husband. Just go, this is what it looks like. Sometimes my house is really clean, and sometimes there’s toys everywhere, and it’s OK. It’s just a really nice – this is it, I have arrived. It doesn’t look any different, this is it.

So, I like that awareness of just kind of letting it go. Not that I don’t put attention or put effort into anything, but it’s just the realizing of what it is that I want to put effort and attention on and being choosy with that.

Meredith Medland: Last question of our show Frinee. As you look ahead for 2008, what is your outlook on the world ahead, and what kind of environment would you like to bring your children into in the next year ahead as well?

Frinee Warren: Well, I definitely would like to get my children into being more aware of what’s out there for them, because I think I have kind of sheltered my children a lot. I think that – my nine year old is at a point where he can be out in the world more, and for him to see that there’s lots of good choices out there, and that he can do amazing things, and those are within his reach.

So, I really enjoy that. My husband camps and climbs and does all that stuff and he takes my son or both of them and his friends, who have never been out, and kind of lets them experience that kind of stuff. It’s great, because it’s like I want my children to feel like this is a safe world, and that no matter what, given any situation, that they have the capacity to go and seek that comfort and that safety even if I’m not around.

That’s what I want. I want them to become like, “OK, mama might not be here, but I could still hold my own, and if I can’t, then I can ask for it.” That’s what I envision, it’s that he just becomes more stronger in that, and that even if it’s scary, he does it anyways. I’d like to see him do those things that are scary, because there are a lot of times when I’m telling him, “Oh, I got to make this phone call,” and I ever want to do, and I’ve been procrastinating, and I do it anyways. That kind of stuff, I want them to see that work is work, and you do it anyways. It’s not fun all the time and it’s still OK.

So, I want him to realize that this is the world; he can make it and have whatever he wants, and that there are opportunities and events that are going on all the time, that he can take part of, that will really benefit him. It’s just, I want him to feel more connected in that, not just like this little tiny boy who doesn’t have much to go on. No, it’s like, this is yours for the taking. So, he just – look to see what you want. So, that’s what I’d like.

Meredith Medland: Well, thank you for that. Before we go, we are at the end of the cycle, which is so called well, which is the end of the show, and before we go, I just want to acknowledge you for how amazing you have been in the Santa Barbara community for our listeners, just so that they know. Frinee sends out an email about every 10 days, sometimes once a week, and it’s got all sorts of recipes and what we can do with the food, and what all these subscribers in her CSA can do.

She has also taken an opportunity to look at families in the Santa Barbara and Ventura area and use her list of people to make call outs to really serve families in need, and so before we go, I just wanted to acknowledge you for that, and thank you for that. For giving your subscribers the opportunity to contribute to the families that you touch, who are in need. Just wanted to thank you for really demonstrating what it means to be spirited in the mainstream.

Frinee Warren: Thank you, it was amazing. There was a family in need that I was aware of, and the needs were too high for my family to fill. So, I thought I need a community to help fill these, and I though long and hard before I sent it out to all of my subscribers, and I thought, “You know what, this is a community just like any other.” So, I sent out a list of needs for this family that has gone through the works, and no family should have experienced what they did. The response was overwhelming, I was just blown away and I’m still getting responses about it, and it has been a transformation like no other for this family.

One of the boys told his mom a couple of weeks ago, that for the first time he feels loved. We went in and we totally revamped his whole living space, and put in some structure, so that he can continue to thrive in ways that he hadn’t had the opportunity before. So, that is one of the things that I have been so blessed with. It’s to realize that most people want to help, they just don’t know what to do to help.

So, it has been impressive, amazingly impressive. My subscribers have shown up in ways that have blown me away by answering this email, and I kind of held my breath when I did it, but within three minutes I got responses that blew me away. It’s kind of like I’m getting the trust back in the society, I’m feeling it. Like, they are not showing up for me and my family in that way, because we don’t need it, but they are showing up, just the fact that they are showing up has made such a huge impact on me and my children.

My son said – because we were talking about this, and he said, “Oh, so you mean that this is what it takes to help sometimes,” and I said, yeah. He said, “OK, so I didn’t realize that it was just – you don’t just go to your mom or your dad, but you can go even further out.” I said, “Yeah, you can go further out, until you reach a point where that’s the help that arrives. You keep going further out, it’s a circle.”

So, there was like a moment, where he felt like, “Oh, there’s nets, there’s connections that I don’t even see that exist to protect me and to keep me safe and to make sure that I’m OK.” That provides a level of safety that I think our children really should feel everyday.

Meredith Medland: Thank you. Well, thank you so much. You were listening to Living Green – Effortless Ecology for Everyday People. If you would like to be a part of the Living Green community, you can do that by making comments on my blog, which is at personallifemedia.com and you can look under Living Green. If you would like to contact me or if you would like to get in touch with Frinee, you can email me at [email protected].

We also have a listener hotline, and you can find that as well at livinggreenshow.com. Thank you so much for listening to episode number 29. I hope you’ll take a look at some of the other episodes, and you can always type Living Green into iTunes to find out more about the show. Frinee, thanks again for joining us, it was a pleasure to spend time with you today, thanks.

Frinee Warren: Thank you Meredith.

Meredith Medland: Have a great day. You are listening to Living Green – Effortless Ecology for Everyday People. Just like you and me.

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