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Dear friends,
My mother, Marsha Stone, passed away about 10 days ago after a long illness. Of course this is a sad and profound event in my life. I won’t try to cover all the amazing things about her here, but I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to some of the ways she contributed to Mountain Bounty Farm in particular.
My mom grew up poor in a small town in Illinois in the 1940’s, and she embodied an approach to food and family that has become rare. It’s an older way of life, where love was expressed through food, with great labor and care. Unlike many of her generation, who (understandably) saw cooking as another burden among many that women bore in a modernizing world, she embraced food and cooking with passion, and brought her formidable artistic talent to the task. During my childhood in the 1970’s, she gardened and cooked incredible meals from scratch continually. I missed out on all of the weird new processed foods and other food horror stories I’ve heard about from my peers. Not because she had a strong dogma against that stuff, but because she was old fashioned and wasn’t interested.
When I began cooking for myself as a young adult I realized my mom had spoiled me rotten and I had to quickly figure out how to keep eating well on my own, and also how to find good ingredients. That’s what led to my own gardening, which then took on a life of its own, and the rest is history. So at its roots, Mountain Bounty has always been about good food and cooking, inspired by my mom’s care, eye for quality, and willingness to put in the effort.
She also supported the farm in innumerable other ways. She gathered our first CSA members by telling her friends and hanging out in the Briarpatch and SPD parking lots flyering cars and talking to people, helped raise my children, and above all believed in me. She had a profound influence on the farm’s survival and success. So in her honor, and for your own sake, take some time and cook a great meal for your loved ones!
With thanks,
John
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