Check out my recent conversation with Jo Kidd, whose veganic (vegan, organic), no-till farm and local business expresse her shalom-oriented values (veganism, feminism, community, spirituality).
1:00-8:20 Jo introduces herself and her mostly non-religious upbringing, one that nonetheless included a deep feeling of connection with nature and empathy with animals, before drifting into a period of atheism and anger at the world we have, and why a “greater being” would have a world like this.
From 8:20-14:40 our conversation takes a slight detour into comments about identity questions, including the impact of class and culture.
At 14:40 we return to Jo’s faith journey and her friend’s recommendation to pray, her sense that she should go to church (while walking with her dog), leading to church attendance in a village near her farm, where she was deeply welcomed. But the liturgy and language of the Church of England doesn’t “sing” with her; it requires changes in her own head away from the human- and male-centred language. Still she enjoys connection with people, while getting other things in other places.
Around 19:00 we talk about whether her church experience provides a language for making sense of her childhood spiritual sensibility. Not so much the spoken word, but rather the feeling and sensibility–“Just that feeling” that people “have that strong faith,” and “can’t all be mad.” And although the congregation is not where she is, she hasn’t been pushed out. And that, in itself, is christian–grace, forgiveness, welcome
We do talk about some of the labels she uses to describe herself, first by hearing about her farm (23:35), a vegan, organic (“veganic”) no-till, farm, in the form of “agro-forestry,” shaped in part by a Japanese thinker (Masanobu Fukuoka). Jo also shares her reasons for taking up this line of work and vocation (28:00), and what her local business looks like.
After the break (37:25) we turn to shalom-talk and how Jo’s account of farming reflects many of the elements of shalom. This includes Jo’s meeting Noel at a retreat with our friends in Kasama, and finding a language to express a number of her earlier spiritual intuitions. And we touch on the “Jesus” side of this shalom-oriented faith for her (43:00) and the challenges this brings.
The conversation moves toward its conclusion (50:45) with some further reflections on shalom in “everything I do, really,” but with challenging questions and hopeful dreams.
For more about Tree of Life Veganics, see their Facebook page here.
