1. Seeds of Freedom
Story by Jack Kelly Photos by Kevin Minderhaut

2. Text
It’s late afternoon in Eugene, Oregon. Time to call it a day. A river of downtown business people begins its exodus,
emptying the ofGice buildings and daytime service establishments and joining the Glow of trafGic going elsewhere. Some
linger at the after­work bars, like the Horsehead or the Steelhead Brewery. They’ll be going soon. As the day­timers leave,
the people of the street emerge, seemingly, “out of the woodwork.” Walking in the alleyways, up from their safe places by the
river, or on the butte between the tracks and the river, maybe walking down the tracks from the north where they just came
in with the freight on the Union PaciGic. The homeless in Eugene come from all over, and right now many of these paths lead
to the Food for Lane County Dining Room on 8th and Lincoln.

3. The folks that work or volunteer at the FFLC kitchen or dining room, or at one of the farms, are as core to the subculture of the
needy as the clients themselves. Many of these folks have been touched by need in their own lives, have seen friends or family members
suffer, and maybe have experienced personal loss related to poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, alcoholism; the list goes on. Some
of them hold a vision of a more sustainable, serviceable, all­inclusive society, one that does not stand passively by while the
dispossessed lie drunk in the gutter. These are people who have found abundance and peace in the magic of service to others, and are
focused on giving a hand to all their brothers and sisters. They are busy planting the seeds of freedom.

4. Made says, “I’m here
to make sure everybody
is OK and nobody gets
hurt.”
He has an incredible
energy about him;
keeping the peace,
helping folks lock up
their bikes to the racks
or watching their pack
for a minute. When
Made Girst came to
Eugene, he came to the
dining room as a client.

5. “I want this
to be a dining
room not a
soup kitchen,”
says Josie
McCarthy,
dining room
manager.
“A haven,
where people
can relax from
the rigors of
their
situation.”

6. Inside the dining room
customers, volunteers and
workers mesh into a
pleasant, happy
community of respect. A
trio of musician’s plays
bluegrass near the door,
Vita, the hostess,
welcomes the guests to
their tables. Eddie, a guy
who uses karate to keep
his focus away from his
addictions, is washing the
dishes. Each one has a
personal connection to
this work, a reason to be
here helping.

7. Food for Lane County, has a massive distribution center on the west end of town and in that building is a 10, 000 sq. ft
kitchen. Lots of stainless steel and everything is big. Big sinks, big cooking utensils, big prep tables. FFLC partnered with
over one hundred social service agencies and programs to distribute 6 million pounds of food to 80,000 Lane County
residents last year. The kitchen is feeding from 250 to 400 a day. It depends on the time of month. People run out of
money and food stamps at the end of the month and the numbers go up.

8. This afternoon’s prep goes on six days a week. At night folks come in and repackage dry foods and stuff that has been donated.
That food goes into food boxes that folks in need access at one of several food pantries around town. There are many families,
working families, in Lane County, who at the end of the month need to avail themselves of one of these boxes.

9. The SpringGield Youth Farm sits on
a sixteen­acre parcel surrounded by
subdivisions that have sprouted up on
these McKenzie River farmlands in
recent years. The Youth Farm grows
produce for Food for Lane County;
fresh fruit and vegetables that end up
in the prep kitchen, in meals at the
Dining Room, and in emergency food
boxes.

10. Ted Purdy is the farmer here but he’s more than that. He’s a social worker, a teacher, a mentor and provider. In his late twenties,
Ted has an advanced mathematics degree. “Helps me crunch numbers out here,” he laughs. When he got out of college he wanted to
do something environmental. Lean and tan even after four months of rain, Ted is focused on his mission.

11. Food for Lane County is unique in the nation for producing a good portion of its own food. And the
need is growing. In these hard times donations are dwindling. People naturally have less to give.

12. What Ted Purdy and the Food for
Lane County people are doing, when
dozens of young volunteers and line
workers place hundreds of seedlings in
the long rich rows of the Youth Farm, is
planting seeds of freedom.
Teaching young people how to feed
themselves, their families, their
neighbors, is key to reconnecting society
with its roots.

13. In many ways the Eugene area is in the vanguard of bringing the production of food closer to home. And
thanks to hundreds of caring community members, bringing fresh, real, food to the homeless, foodless, and
needy as well.

14. Let us sit down soon
to eat
with all those who
haven’t eaten
Let us spread great
table cloths,
put salt in the lakes
of the world,
set up planetary
bakeries,
tables with
strawberries in
snow
And a plate like the
moon itself
from which we all
will eat.
For now, I ask no
more
Than the Justice of
Eating
‐ Pablo Neruda