Learning Highlights
The emotions I have felt this week are not ones I was expecting to feel in my time at Moon Valley, but I think they are important to talk about. I wish to preface, however, by saying that my words are in no way trying to harm Kim and Aaron or Moon Valley as a whole; I am only speaking on my experience and the things I have learned from it.
This week was rough. Spending yet another week with my back bent over calendula plants in the blazing heat from 9-5 is really taking a toll on my body and my spirit. This is not the experience any of us signed up for; yes, we all voluntarily came out to work for Moon Valley but we also came with the expectation of fair treatment, education, and respect. When my body has been bent in half in over 90-degree weather for an entire day, I do not feel as if I am being treated fairly. There needs to be variety in the work we are doing. I am quite nervous for the long-term effects this may have on my back, with zero consideration or compensation from the company.
There also comes a point where it needs to be accepted that 6 WWOOFers working at a variety of speeds will not be able to harvest all of the calendula in one day. We just can’t do it. This harvest-focused mindset is also resulting in lots of molding calendula since we have had almost no time for processing in the drying room. All of that work harvesting went completely down the drain. I understand that this is the big harvest season for Moon Valley and they want to harvest as much as possible, but when you don’t have the space or the workers to make that happen efficiently and safely, something is ultimately going to go wrong, whether it’s spoiled product or unhappy workers.
Another observation that has caused some frustration for me started when my friends and I were reading through the WWOOF book, a notebook of thank you letters to Moon Valley from past WWOOFers. The experiences that all of them wrote about sounded vastly different from my own. They spoke of movie nights, dinners, deep connections with Kim and Aaron; they spoke of the education those two gave them. Have I learned anything from Kim and Aaron? Maybe 1 or 2 things maximum. They’ve barely even spoken to me and I’ve been here for almost two months. No deep connections whatsoever. It feels like there is favoritism within the WWOOF crowd; my past WWOOFer friends who left last week were the favorites and got special treatment while the rest of us have been cast aside. It feels very unfair, especially when the Moon Valley WWOOF profile promises education, connection, and respect.
I do not wish to heavily rant about this company or experience because up until now, it has been highly lovely and I have greatly enjoyed everything I have been doing. I just wanted to highlight these thoughts because I think they very clearly show the drawbacks of scaling up a business: very often, that business loses track of their core values. Moon Valley preaches kindness and education but falls short as capitalism takes hold.
On a much happier note, we did explain our feelings on the calendula harvest and the drying room to the farm managers, Dylan and Eva, who in turn, spoke to the owners. Dylan and Eva have been wonderful throughout my entire experience, treating us as equals and sharing in all of our emotions. I am greatly appreciative of them and their knowledge and kindness.
I also do wish to touch on the company party that Kim and Aaron threw for all of their employees this week, including the WWOOFers. I started with a sour mood about the entire thing because the WWOOFers were expected to help prepare and set up for the event on our day off, which was not what any of us signed up for (scrubbing chicken shit out of a kiddie pool so that actual children can swim in it? Not in my job description and also VERY unsanitary). But as the event commenced, it was quite sweet to see the entire company come together, to learn about how big Moon Valley is as a whole, and to have a moment to celebrate all of our accomplishments together. The highlight was definitely the Moon Valley tradition of “Dunk the Bosses,” where employees could literally dunk their bosses in a dunk tank.
As much as I ranted above, this party did help to show the love and appreciation that Kim and Aaron have for their employees. I just also believe that WWOOFers, who are still technically employees at Moon Valley, deserve that same love and appreciation as well.
