If you are reading this, you have probably visited the Little Red Hen Cafe in Springfield, Kentucky, or...
...you know that our family has started this cafe on a very small scale. Since both Eric and Cynthia have more-than-full time careers (at least until Spring 2013 when Cyn will leave the parish ministry), and since we also have our darling Seth who has recently been diagnosed with Autism.. so much for us to learn and absorb... the "Hen" is very part-time. We'd rather do it well and small than big and badly.
That's what this blog is here to talk about. The vision, the meaning, and the idea of community, partnership, cooperation, and sustainability behind what we do and who we are.
Why we chose Springfield and what we are all about.
I'll try to post once a week or so. You can read it if you choose, and I welcome your input!
First, the name. My adult kids think I chose this famous children's story to lay a guilt trip on them: "WHO will help me?" "Not you?" "Fine! I'll do it myself!"
Here's a great version of the story from Gutenberg press you can enjoy right now:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18735/18735-h/18735-h.htm
Really, if you take the story at face value, both meanings that arise are kind of... creepy.
One moral mentioned by interpreters is the biblical idea that those who don't work don't get to eat. (Thessalonians 3:10) That's not my interpretation of scripture. I think everyone should get to eat! And I think everyone everywhere should eat well, and, by the way, everyone could. It's the greed and short-sightedness of the factory-farming, industrialized-agriculture economy that is helping to create a world where those of us in the West are over-nourished while millions starve.
I also don't really like the idea of being a big martyr and doing everything myself. I think we all need to learn to ask for help for one another. The Hen did ask for help, but the lazy pig, rat and rooster wouldn't lift a paw or a claw. She had a choice at that point. Maybe that's where the Hen Cafe can be a meeting place here in our community. We can help one another learn, grow, and become more healthy, more honest, and more committed to a local, sustainable economy. It's your choice, too!
