Email: Sarah Parsons

Dear Friends of McDonough Presbyterian Church,

I hope you all had a very lovely Thanksgiving. I pray that it was filled with many family and friends and a lot of turkey or tofurkey (whatever may be your preference). It is hard to believe that a month has already passed since I last wrote all of you about the Tucson adventures. Much has happened since we last communicated.

Work has been going very well.  I am learning a great deal at the Tucson Community Food Bank. The longer I work there the more profoundly I am developing a greater food consciousness, which I see lasting me throughout my lifetime. Food has not been a focus in my life in the past. Up until this point in my life, it was simply a means to an end. It was the "thing" I grabbed before soccer practice or on my way to class to give me energy. Rarely did I ever sit down to savor the miracle that food truly is. It is important to learn about our food and our food systems. It is also important to both strive to develop and to invest in local sustainable food systems. The importance of developing these food systems has increasingly become more apparent as food prices rise. Many food prices are contingent on gas prices. As gas prices increase it becomes more expensive to transport food; consequently the market increases the food price to cover transport expenses. By buying local, a consumer lessens the likelihood of being subject to these fluctuating food costs. This year has transformed me in the way that I look at food, especially local food. I foresee myself buying locally at farmer's markets for the remainder of my life.

I was called to this placement at the food bank in Tucson, not only to develop a greater personal consciousness about food, but also to become better versed in sustainable food policy. My passion for the last few years has been sustainable energy policy. I thought that it may benefit me, therefore, to explore other policy concentrations under the sustainability umbrella for my year here in Tucson. What I have concluded thus far: I am still an avid, dorky sustainable energy policy wonk. Despite my explorations of sustainable food policy, I cannot get away from the reality that is me. God is continuing to call me to energy policy. I am grateful, however, to learn about food policy, and I will be more than happy to share with you my findings about food policy throughout the year in future emails. If I cannot get passionate about it, maybe I can at least make one of my readers passionate about it. There exists another, even greater reality, however: Understanding food policy has better helped me to understand energy policy. The knowledge I have gained here will help me to think on a more comprehensive level about policies on sustainability in the future. For this I am very grateful.

Working at the food bank has also given me toned arm muscles and an impressive farmer's tan. These are all the worker "benefits" they do not tell you about before starting the job. I have been working extensively at the farmers' markets, which the Tucson Community Food Bank hosts. Not only does the Community Food Bank have a mission to distribute food to people in need, but it has a mission to distribute good quality produce to people too. Coupons, provided by the federal government under a program by the name of the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), are given out at WIC offices throughout Arizona. This allows those people on WIC and Food Plus to shop at farmers' markets throughout the state and purchase local, organic produce, which otherwise may be too expensive for them. It is a phenomenal program. My job with the farmers' markets entails loading the trucks with produce, unloading the trucks of produce, harvesting some of the produce for the markets from the food bank's farms, and selling the produce at the markets. Hence the reason for the farmer's tan and the big arm muscles. I just hope all of you will be able to recognize me when I come home for Christmas! Overall, however, I have really enjoyed my job at the food bank, and I continue to learn more and more every day.

Outside of work, my other major priority here in Tucson has been my community. I live in a house with seven other Young Adult Volunteers of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Although we have our rough spots, (figuring out whose turn it is to wash dishes, etc.) they become more like a family every day. We have had many fun adventures together. Most recently we hosted a Halloween party that was a great success—I dressed up as a cup of coffee, but also featured at the party were Marisa Tomei from "My Cousin Vinny," an Olympic swimmer in a speedo (it is not cold yet in Tucson during Halloween), a hippie, a lifeguard, an old woman look-alike, the ozone layer, and the three blind mice—among other guest appearances. Also among our adventures together was a retreat to Mt. Lemon and a grand Thanksgiving feast last month. They are a wonderful group of people, and I look forward to our months together in the future.

I may not be able to write you again until January, since I will be returning home for ten days in December. I look forward to seeing all of you again! It will be nice to see all your warm, friendly faces. Until then, however, I pray for you all a peaceful holiday season. May God smile at you from all of life's spaces this month, and may He remind you of the joy that you are to other people on this earth, myself included. Thank you again for all of your love and support, and happy Holidays!

I am thankful for you!

Sarah Parsons