Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Farmer's Tan, Indeed


When we posted about the unpaid butchery internship at Marlow and Daughters, we suspiciously got 30 hits. Somebody's been checking their Google Alerts! In the name of getting lots of pageviews, we've got to pass along another great volunteering opportunity. The Brooklyn Grange, a for-profit profit making enterprise, is located on a rooftop in Queens and would like you to shovel some synthetic dirt around for exactly zero compensation:
Hello all,

We're excited to announce that we're headed into the second phase of construction this week!
Brooklyn Grange will once again commence work on the roof of 37-18 Northern Boulevard tomorrow, Thursday, May 20th, at 6:30am. We are looking for help completing the installation of the farm. Please join us for a session tomorrow, Friday or Monday the 20th, 21st or 24th of May. Install sessions will begin at 6:30am sharp and end somewhere between 2:30 and 4pm in the afternoon. It's hard work, but fun, and it's supposed to be warm and sunny (did someone say farmer's tan?!). It would mean the world to us if we could count on you for one or more of those days. Let us know if you can commit to a full day; please include the day you'd like to work, your full name and contact number in your reply.

Thanks so much for your ongoing support getting us off the ground!

All the best,

Anastasia & the Brooklyn Grange
The Brooklyn Grange, even though it is located in Queens, is just the latest profit-making venture to jump aboard the Brooklyn-branding bandwagon. Evidently someone involved with the Brooklyn Grange was in Brooklyn at some point or something, so that is good enough reason to call it the Brooklyn Grange even though it is in Queens. We recently were able to make up a version of Anastasia in our heads and fake-interview her:

DBB: Thanks for sitting down with us Anastasia. Since the Brooklyn Grange is a for-profit venture serving the condo-laden neighborhood of Long Island City and various bourgeois restaurants like Roberta's, why the need for volunteers?
I'm glad your blog is showing an interest. During the brainstorming period of the Brooklyn Grange, we actually did some market research and found that historically, the most profitable farms have benefited from free labor, or at the very least exploiting their workers. Slashing our labor costs will give us the best chance to compete in a crowded marketplace of local, Pollanesque foods. After all, farmers tan anyone?
DBB: But you are doing all of this without the traditional means of exploiting labor -- so its really impressive you've found a new way of doing this. Could you elaborate on this?
Definitely. We've found the best way to get people to work for you for free is to be completely shameless about it -- spam as many non-profit listservs as possible, host fundraisers, etc. We even finangled a series of fluff pieces in the New York Times through our media connections. Nobody is going to just show up on your doorstep, asking to work for you for free. You've got to go out there and make them feel guilty for not making money for me, Anastasia. After all, farmers tan anyone?
DBB: Well, thats just it. There must be thousands of community gardens in New York City that help feed people who can't afford a $30 plate of pork belly sliders with heirloom tomato salad. Why should able-bodied volunteers give their time to you instead of actual community farms?
We support community agriculture, but wouldn't you rather spend your weekend in the sun at 6:30 AM sharp with a bunch of like-minded, creative peers, say that you've made a difference, and call it a day? After all, farmers tan anyone?

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