JENN & DAVE STARK » husband + wife documentary photographer storytellers » welcome to our blog

the single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world // michael pollan

Lately, we’ve been feeling a deep tug to get back to the earth — to the trees, the open skies, and to places more free of the things we’ve built up. Do you ever feel that? I feel it so much lately. I remember as a kid there was a raspberry bush that lined one side of our house, and when the time was right the berries would practically fall off into your outstretched palm and you’d eat them right then and there. I remember in more recent years watching a clip of Jamie Oliver in a kindergarten classroom asking the kids what the names of the vegetables were… and they couldn’t answer… I mean not even the more basic ones, like a potato or a tomato. We think about ingredient lists on packages that are a mile long containing unpronounceable things, and even the things that appear natural being altered in ways beyond what they’re meant to be and it’s enough to feel trapped and decide it’s easier to just not think about it anymore. Have you ever felt that way too?

A few months ago we signed up for a locally sourced and organic produce box to be delivered once every week to our front door, and it has been SUCH a game changer for us! For us to be able to know the farms just outside of the city where our food comes from, and for it to arrive, dirty and covered with soil like it should be and not oddly identical and uniform like you see in the supermarket is a pretty big deal for us. For our eggs to arrive from happy chickens not stacked ten wire cages high, bred to make more eggs for us than naturally possible. And as a small business ourselves, to be able to support other local small business owners who are passionate and commit themselves to the work they believe in is pretty big too, and it fills us up to be able to do that.

How it works is every week a bin full of local, in season fruits and vegetables arrives at our doorstep.. the email telling us what’s coming is sent to Dave’s inbox, and you can customize it to your liking, but I choose to be surprised and it’s like a little taste of Christmas day every week. :) Wild leeks (pictured above) arrived the other week and you know what, I had no idea what they were at first… to see spinach as a full plant, in a bundle with stems and roots, and not pre-washed and packaged into a plastic container… it all reminds me of where our food comes from… that it’s hard work to grow and harvest food. It makes me appreciate more.

After we’ve oohed and ahhed over our stash of goodies, we build up a ‘menu’ of what we’ll make for lunches or dinners that week… if we need any extra items to complete a meal, we go to the grocery store to pick it up. You know, we used to stress out so much before trying to figure out good, wholesome and healthy meals.. trekking to the grocery store only to not be able to find key ingredients or just find that they looked bad that week, not to mention having no idea what chemicals have been used on them.. struggling all the time to come up with something new and exciting. Now we’ve got these amazing and new ingredients and we go from there and it has become so much simpler, and more fun too. We always have enough. And the food that comes tastes amazing.. I don’t know how to describe it, but somehow the carrots just taste ‘carrot-ier’, everything is full of flavour that hits you and reminds you what food should taste like.

You know, Dave & I both grew up hearing ‘one person can make a difference’ a lot, and I think as we get older we get jaded a bit, or smile knowingly at the cute phrase of our childhood.. but I really think that if I choose to believe that I can make a difference, and if you choose to believe that too, and you, and you… and all of us ‘one person’s’ say that our actions do matter, that collectively it will add up to make a huge difference. :) If you’re in Toronto, check out the produce box we have delivered, Mama Earth Organics, and if you decide to try it out, we’d love if you’d let them know we sent you over! :)

Happy Wednesday, you difference makers. xo, jenn

(ps – mama earth organics had nothing to do with me posting about their company, getting back to the land and thinking more about what we eat has really been deep in my soul lately. and i just really love what they do and wanted to share!)