Do You Have a Burnout Recovery Plan?
Savory Global Network Reunion
Portugal, April 2023
Dear Friends,
I missed conversing with you while I was in Portugal but enjoyed the time being with the Savory Global Network members in person. I knew them all, but many of them did not know each other. During most of the socializing hours, I just sat back and stared at the wonder of these people from all over the world focused on regenerating the world's lands, meeting each other, and sharing ideas.
It was in those moments that I realized the power and purpose of a network.
Many people there asked me what I thought, how it was going, and how I felt. Honestly, I didn't know how to answer. I was so filled with the echo of these voices, that for me there was nothing to say that could be more powerful than simply witnessing this coming together.
What do networks do?
I've seen so many reciprocal relationships develop when people unite with a shared purpose and mission. Businesses start. Campaigns start. Movements start. Problems are solved. Supply chain issues are resolved. Solutions emerge.
And what happens when we are alone? Unconnected? This is what worries me.
I see too many really, really good people working on the most important issues of our time, and they are doing the work alone. They are producing food for their families and communities, they are building local food systems, they are caring for children, elders, and family.
In an interview last weekend for a community radio project with my good friend who is a Surprise Valley farmer and a founder of our local food hub, I asked what he did to recover his energy when he felt drained and burned out, as farmers and people working on community/public projects often do.
He looked at me wide-eyed. He said he didn't have a plan. He'd never thought about it. After the interview, I heard him talking with his wife, sharing the question I asked him.
If nothing else comes from that interview, I hope it results in a conversation between them about exhaustion, rest, and recovery.
Farmer well-being matters.
Their health matters as much as their to-do list. I hope they know it.
In conversations with the UVE crew, I realized that there is an inherent, unavoidable friction in working with seasons, producing seasonal products such as grass-fed beef, salad mixes, eggs, fruit, etc., in a food system that demands a fresh supply year-round. In order to stay in business and keep the system going, we resort to doing unnatural things (in all segments of the food supply chain). This push against nature is exhausting and extractive for all involved.
Could there be another way?
A food system that worked with natural cycles and seasons, didn't deplete farmers, created financial security and peace of mind for each person in the system, and a diverse ecosystem?
Some argue that the only way to create this type of system is for it to be local or regional - that there is no way to have a scaleable, global system, and not also be extractive. I've been wondering about this a lot, about this relationship between global and local. What it should be, how it should be designed, and what shape it takes. But that is for another conversation.
For now, in this busy season for farming in the Northern Hemisphere, let's do what we can to make sure the farmers we know and love get a little rest and recovery when they need it.
What could you do in your community to help make this happen?
I was thinking of going to my friend’s farm and doing their chores so they could have one or two evenings off. What do you think?
What is possible when we connect and care for each other?
Sending love,
Abbey
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE UVE?
Short Video on How to Pronounce UVE
UPCOMING COURSES
Holistic Planned Grazing &
Ecological Monitoring
June 26th - 30th
UVE Learning Site
Union, Oregon
Holistic Ecological Monitoring
for Land Stewards
July 7th - 8th
Clover Valley Ranch
Wells, Nevada