Mapping Joy in the Food System
A project to bolster food system collective narratives.
Why Map Joy?
This project is designed to give proof and possibility:
Proof of the many people and projects that are making a positive difference, and how they are imperative to creating a just and equitable food system. Proof of impact and the importance of funding resilient food system projects.
Possibility of the nourishment we can create when we connect individual projects in a network. Possibility of what can come from supportive policy, funding, attention, and care.
“Because in trying to articulate what, perhaps, joy is, it has occurred to me that among other things—the trees and the mushrooms have shown me this—joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me, which is, among other things, the great fact of our life and the lives of everyone and thing we love going away. If we sink a spoon into that fact, into the duff between us, we will find it teeming. It will look like all the books ever written. It will look like all the nerves in a body. We might call it sorrow, but we might call it a union, one that, once we notice it, once we bring it into the light, might become flower and food. Might be joy.”
Add Your Joy to the Map
Please contribute to this public map by sharing your joy! It could be a quick moment, a life-changing meal, a celebration of soil and community, an individual or community project, etc. By sharing a story to populate this map, you amplify the experiences of connection and delight that support and motivate relationships with the land and each other.
Click the button below to add your joy:
Share the joy!
Like mycelium that runs through soil, joy is a connecting force. Please share this with your networks and encourage others to add to the map. Thank you for being part of a joyful and resilient food system!
This map is a project of the Food Solutions New England Network Leadership Institute, and was created by Ariel Aaronson-Eves, Shannon Hickey, Heather MacLean, Diego Osses, and Katie Spring. The first seeds of inspiration for this project came from Queering The Map , the Vermont Agroforestry StoryMap , and Ross Gay's writings on food, delight, and joy.
The Network Leadership Institute is a project of Food Solutions New England. FSNE is a regional, six-state network that unites the food system community around a shared set of values - democratic empowerment, racial equity and dignity for all, sustainability, and trust - and the goals of A New England Food Vision.
