As one of my crew workers this summer, Manny struggled with his consistency. Some days he would be happy and helpful, cheering on his fellow crew workers and working diligently in the fields. Other days he struggled with the heat, often channeling his energy more towards “discussing” how hot it was, than towards the field work.

Manny was also part of what I liked to call “team slow”, a group of youth who seemed to take pride in walking as slowly as possible wherever we were going. When they got where they were going, most of the time they were hard working and engaged, they were just never in a hurry, and during the busy farm season, this can be frustrating to the people trying to get the work done.

Manny is still with The Food Project as a member of the DIRT crew. I was out on the land on a recent Saturday for a volunteer work day that was being led by DIRT. It began normally, with the usual opening activities and such, and then folks dispersed to begin the field work, led by members of DIRT.

At that point I headed off to do some other work, but as I walked towards my car, something caught the corner of my eye. It was Manny, running down the path towards J. on some urgent farm mission. I had to stop myself from cheering on the enthusiasm and energy that he had found for the important work we were doing.