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The Crow’s Nest #4: The Farm and the Friends of That Farm

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Buckle up folks, it’s story time!

Today we’re talking about power.

Lukewarm take: universities have a power dynamic that’s upheld at the expense of their students. During my time in university, it seemed like the student body was constantly fighting for something. Fighting cuts to funding, fighting for divestment, fighting for mental health services, fighting for support for one on campus injustice or another. You couldn’t walk from the Mackinnon building to the University Centre without being asked to participate in rectifying one injustice or another. It always made me wonder, Why are there so many injustices happening on a university campus? Then I actually attended university for a few years and realized why: everybody here is directly profiting off the lunch money of a bunch of children who don’t know how to cook.

And by that I mean, universities are very much businesses and they very much act like it. Plus, not only are they businesses, they’re businesses that manufacture one of the most expensive and sought after luxury items in the world right now: A higher education. Unless you’re lucky, or you know somebody, or you were smart when you were 17 and you went into the trades, odds are that you probably need a degree of some kind for your career goals. University administrators know this. University boards know this. University investors know this! That’s why they come to your high schools and give seminars on why their school is the best. And you know what they say! The best is expensive. So please come to our school and give us your $50,000 tuition money so we can create an entire economy off of your desire for knowledge, success, wealth and community.

I know that most things are power dynamics and this isn’t exactly new or particularly insidious information. I’m not exactly trying to slander the education system here. I’m just trying to paint the picture of how universities have an incredible amount of power and a history of wielding it, at times, to the outcry of the students over which they hold power. Such is the nature of power.

This particular instance of injustice revolves around the Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming (or the Guelph Urban Organic Farm for short, or the GCUOF for shorter. We mostly just call it the farm). The farm sits unassuming on a hectare of land, once run by a lovely team of volunteers focused on providing food for the community, sound and respectful practices for the earth, and knowledge and education for anyone who followed the carrot arrows though campus to find them. That is, until that fertile, undeveloped land started looking less like a farm and more like an investment.

This is the part where we come to the injustices. U of G flexed its muscles and the farm is under new, very uncertain management. And unfortunately for all involved, this particular power struggle led to an incident that’s shocked the organic agriculture community of Guelph. And although we can’t talk about that incident in question, as there are ongoing investigations, we can tell you about what led up to the alleged assault of a volunteer at the farm. And we’re going to! Because it’s an important story to tell.

Support the Friends of the Farm here.

Want to help with direct action? Email Maeve: mcrowne@uoguelph.ca

Listen here: https://thecrowsnest.substack.com/p/iv-the-farm-and-the-friends-of-that

The opinions expressed in this podcast, and all episodes of The Crow’s Nest, are those of the author, Thirza Armstrong, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Guelph Tool Library, their Board of Directors, or the Coordinator Team.

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The Crow’s Nest #3: Pressed for Time Paninis and the Pandemic Produce Boxes

Ahoy hoy,

Glad to see you here for episode three! Today I’m talking to Jules and Dee from Pressed for Time Panini. Have you ever had a panini? Really, it’s just a thin, grilled sandwich. But somehow it’s nothing like a sandwich. Probably because it’s thin and grilled. If you haven’t had a panini, you’re missing out on something tasty. And if you haven’t had a Pressed for Time panini, not only are you NOT holding a thin and convenient chicken and avocado sandwich, you’re also not experiencing one of the greatest examples of a person-first business model that I’ve ever seen.

Jules and Dee are here for their patrons. Not only will they repost you every time you shout them out on social media, they’ll also make sure you’re staying comfortable and not at all worried about what you’ll be eating today. Breakfast? They have breakfast panini’s! Lunch? How about a panini, of course. Or some soup? Maybe chips or a snack. Dinner? Don’t worry, even though they’re only open until 3 pm, they’ve got supper served with mac and cheese, shepard’s pie, and lasagna. All homemade and ready to be warmed up and devoured. They even have beer deals with the local breweries. But if you’re not in the mood for take out, P4TP will support you with produce boxes, available every Friday for pickup.

Check them out here.

Listen here: https://thecrowsnest.substack.com/p/iii-pressed-for-time-panini-and-the

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The Crow’s Nest #2: Jenny Mitchell and the Magic Golden Bus

Welcome!

Thanks for checking out episode two. This round, listen to me chat with Jenny Mitchell, creative extraordinaire. She’s an incredibly interesting, intelligent and genuine podcast guest and was fantastic to interview. This episode, despite being the second, is the first that I recorded. Jenny turned my okay questions into insightful answers and took our conversations in directions I hadn’t even thought of yet. I learned what feels like a lifetime worth of hosting tips within 40 or so minutes of talking. But more than that, the biggest reason that interviewing Jenny was so rewarding was that she kind of embodies the lifestyle that I’m trying to live. While we were talking about our collecting habits and numerous hobbies, I was internally marveling that an adult, a real adult, with a career and children and years of experience at being an adult (most of my life I’ve been quite young and small), was still collecting.

I had grown up in a “you have too many things, starting getting rid of stuff or I’ll be coming around with a garbage bag” kind of household. My mom and my sister chat about their latest purges and books on minimalism, and fight about having the exact same taste in Ikea furniture (literally. My sister will go to Ikea for a new shelf and two weeks later, my mom has it too). I had thought, for a long time, that being an adult meant it was time to stop collecting. Of course, I had no actual intentions of ceasing my en massing of material items to a level just short of reality TV hoarding, but I was disappointed anyways that I seemed to be the only one who enjoyed having every possible artistic media, odd vintage furniture piece, or non-fiction book on obsolete subjects like Astrology’s unseen role in WWII. But talking to Jenny, I realized I’m not as unique as I thought I was. In a good way. It was comforting to know that even though I was walking the slightly cluttered path of maximalism, I wasn’t travelling alone. Folks like Jenny are paving the way.

Jenny’s music

Bridging the Social Distance

listen here: https://thecrowsnest.substack.com/p/ii-jenny-mitchell-and-the-magic-golden

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The Crow’s Nest #1: Steph Clarke and the Teenaged Fabric Stash

Hello!

Welcome to the first episode of The Crow’s Nest. It’s finally here! I’m not going to lie; it was not easy. I never really thought I’d be seriously making a podcast. I’ve joked about it with friends, and thought about how fun it would be to have someone at my auditory mercy for 40 minutes, but I never thought I’d actually do it.

Even after it became part of my contract for the Guelph Tool Library to design and start this podcast, I didn’t think I’d actually do it. When I was learning all the essentials of interviewing and recording and editing and publishing and advertising and invoicing and procedure writing that’s required when beginning a project like this for a non-profit, and crying the entire time because I had no idea what I was doing, I definitely didn’t think I’d actually do it. But I did, and here it is.

I thought it would be important to start at home. Not everyone knows what a tool library is. In fact, except those really involved in them, most people outside the membership circle tend not to know what a tool library is. And honestly? That’s an incredible shame for them. I can’t imagine going through my life without the support and resources that the GTL (Guelph Tool Library, for those not in the know) has provided me with. I take out thousands and thousands of dollars worth in tools and equipment every year for $40. I attend workshops on building spice racks, foraging, mending my clothes, making sourdough bread, and beeswax wraps. The GTL has been a source of knowledge, entertainment and inspiration for me. I hope I can pass that on to you through The Crow’s Nest.

Listen here: https://thecrowsnest.substack.com/p/i-steph-clarke-and-the-teenage-fabric

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The Crow’s Nest

Hello!

Welcome to the first episode of The Crow’s Nest. It’s finally here! I’m not going to lie; it was not easy. I never really thought I’d be seriously making a podcast. I’ve joked about it with friends, and thought about how fun it would be to have someone at my auditory mercy for 40 minutes, but I never thought I’d actually do it.

Even after it became part of my contract for the Guelph Tool Library to design and start this podcast, I didn’t think I’d actually do it. When I was learning all the essentials of interviewing and recording and editing and publishing and advertising and invoicing and procedure writing that’s required when beginning a project like this for a non-profit, and crying the entire time because I had no idea what I was doing, I definitely didn’t think I’d actually do it. But I did, and here it is.

I thought it would be important to start at home. Not everyone knows what a tool library is. In fact, except those really involved in them, most people outside the membership circle tend not to know what a tool library is. And honestly? That’s an incredible shame for them. I can’t imagine going through my life without the support and resources that the GTL (Guelph Tool Library, for those not in the know) has provided me with. I take out thousands and thousands of dollars worth in tools and equipment every year for $40. I attend workshops on building spice racks, foraging, mending my clothes, making sourdough bread, and beeswax wraps. The GTL has been a source of knowledge, entertainment and inspiration for me. I hope I can pass that on to you through The Crow’s Nest.

Listen here: https://thecrowsnest.substack.com/p/i-steph-clarke-and-the-teenage-fabric

The opinions expressed in this podcast, and all episodes of The Crow’s Nest, are those of the author, Thirza Armstrong, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Guelph Tool Library, their Board of Directors, or the Coordinator Team.