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Stewardship Stories
By Gabriel Goeddeke , rank and development intern , May 2023 – August 2023 .
There are two independent way to transmit in the corporate human language — prose and poetry . Prose tell it incisively how it is , no minced words , metaphors , similes , sarcasm , or hidden messages . Prose get the job done , but it does n’t convey emotion because round-eyed facts ca n’t urge empathy or make feelings . This is where verse , or storytelling , give its mark .
Sean Sherman, decorated chef and Seed Savers Exchange board member, shares his story at SSE’s Seed to Table Benefit Dinner. (August 2023)
And as I found out during my time as the membership and development intern at Heritage Farm , Seed Savers Exchange is all about stories .
About one week into my internship , I was invited to be part of a meeting with a longtime friend and donor to the organization . Michael Washburn , SSE preservation theater director , was also there , and when it was his turn to speak about why SSE was crucial , he did n’t apply any fact , figures , or little - live statistics . He began , instead , with a story .
He order us about one type of pea plant , a small-scale pea plant , with a history . The ‘ Washday ’ pea was cooked at the destruction of wash day in the southern United States , and because of its smaller size of it , it could be cooked in the same clock time it took to make a cornpone of cornbread . He explain how this pea was part of a particular history and finish , how it was so much more than “ just a pea . ” It is a collective memory , he said , link to the report of washday in the Dixieland .
Sean Sherman, decorated chef and Seed Savers Exchange board member, shares his story at SSE’s Seed to Table Benefit Dinner. (August 2023)
Then he tell apart us that SSE steward this pea plant in our collection , and no more postulate to be sound out . Without speak about it right away , he had describe SSE ’s missionary post — and not just the mission but the “ why ” behind the mission as well , why the work we do is about so much more than “ just seeded player . ”
In August 2023 , SSE host its first in - person event since 2019 : the Seed to Table Benefit Farm Dinner , planned and hosted by the membership and exploitation team . After hearing about the ‘ Washday ’ pea , I know that what the issue needed was account like this , ones that conveyed the mission of SSE beyond just the numbers and the science . The rest of our team agreed , so we decided to have speakers tell their chronicle throughout the night .
story are most brawny when they are personal , and the first person to speak share her very own story . Diane Ott Whealy , carbon monoxide gas - founder of SSE , recounted the story that began this organization , the story about the two seeds that emigrated with her antecedent abroad and cease up in her stewardship––the‘German Pink ’ tomatoand‘Grandpa Ott ’s ’ break of day halo .
Diane Ott Whealy, SSE co-founder, tells the story of Seed Savers Exchange at the recent farm dinner.
Read the fib of the ‘ German Pink ’ tomato .
Next , we had the pleasance of hearing from Sean Sherman , decorated chef and SSE control panel extremity , who apportion not only his story but also the story of people in the Dakota and Minnesota territories , and what seed think to them . The autochthonous American report meditate bother and calamity , but also rich history and culture . Sean enjoin his story of working as a chef and how he vivify the forgotten history of Indigenous food by assemble story and recipes from before his land and hoi polloi were colonized .
Our last two verbalizer were current SSE staff members . Michael Washburn told a story about a different semen , the ‘ Maupin ’ pea plant , which belong to a variety of peas originally from West Africa that have a account of stewardship in the southerly United States . Michael was on the team that save the ‘ Maupin ’ pea from extermination throughSSE ’s RENEW program , and after when he fare to work here at Heritage Farm , made a connection that led the pea plant through a germ donation back to the south , in Florida , where track record of its stewardship can first be find .
Attendees swap their stories at the recent farm dinner at SSE’s Heritage Farm.
Executive Director Mike Bollinger close up out the night with his own SSE narration , partake why he came to work here before also sharing word from another staff extremity , Brianna Burke , about the valuable natural endowment that seeds give us of “ having power and government agency over the alimentation and nourishing of ourselves , our sept , and our communities . ”
Telling a good narration is about more than just the facts ; it ’s about emotion and feelings that inspire us to do amazing thing . So the next time that I have a Book of Job consultation , the chance to give a words , or the chance to give someone advice , I ’m not going to gush fact or qualifications . rather , I ’m survive to tell a story from my own life , maybe even one from my time here at Seed Savers Exchange , and I would further you to do the same .
to begin with published by Gabriel Goeddeke on August 18 , 2023 . update January 29 , 2025 .
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