It finally happened! Friday, September 26, after months of proposing, pitching, and planning, the University of Calgary finally hosted their first Farmers' Market on campus. 
It didn't happen without some bumps along the way, but the reception from the campus community was amazing. Despite the rainy afternoon. people came out in droves to pick up fresh produce and fruits from The Apple Lady, Leaf & Lyre, Country Thyme Farms, and Shirley's Greenhouses while talking about food with the U of C Aquaponics Club, the Communal Table program, Canadian Food Grains Bank and more! I kept hearing people asking "when's the next market?" amidst exclamations of "this is so, so cool!" or "this is great!" I was floored by the responses, but not surprised: campus wants healthy, local food! Yes!

I'm really excited to see where this pilot market takes the University of Calgary... it's evident by the turn-out and the response from vendors that this is something the campus is excited about and a precedent has been set. It's important that the Office starts to talk to other departments and stakeholders on campus and discusses the potential for more markets (or - fingers crossed - permanent markets). It's been especially hard to make all of this happen while not working at the office as I'm pathetically entangled in a world of shared network drives and Outlook calendars that I can't seem to to function without, but I think that if they did start thinking seriously about the future things can go much smoother using what we've learnt here. The patience of the vendors and campus groups working with me for this pilot did not go unappreciated.The logistics and support came from so many groups and I feel truly grateful to have had so many people on my side removing potential obstacles and barriers to help propel this movement. If this is to continue, we can't always count on getting lucky (or the generosity of other departments) and running with a budget of $0 - although sometimes all it takes is just someone getting permission for something to happen.

While I'm going to miss working on this project and working with the university, I'm excited to see what happens next for food on campus and will hopefully be in town to buy fruits and veggies when someone else takes on the next University of Calgary Farmers' Market (whenever that will be)!

I've been trying to find a balance between my new job and my previous commitments with little success. Long commutes coupled with windowless training rooms where everything is scheduled down to the minute (including a gratuitous 3 minute pee break) are starting to wear me thin, and although I'm spending a ludicrous amount of time just sitting at a desk I am exhausted at the end of the day.  My mood alternates somewhere between anxiety over finding another job and frustration about putting myself into this scenario. Mostly, I can feel myself quietly slipping into a space of hopelessness, which is ridiculous given that if someone were to tell me that THEY were experiencing this situation I would metaphorically slap them in the face and tell them to wake the fuck up and get back to reality. Because reality is that there are lots of opportunities and no end of options. I just need to remind myself of that sometimes. 

So I had my last day at the office. It was every bit as bittersweet as I had imagined: all the excitement of starting a new chapter in my life mixed with the heartache of leaving some of the greatest people I've ever met.

Naturally, we celebrated our departure with candy. Our boss, Dex, was not invited to partake and instead was given this tiny crime scene, complete with "crying crackers" which can only be flavoured using the salt from the tears you shed while eating them (or in this case, desk-sized peanut butter).

Gina chose to pick up soul food at Holy Smoke and have a delightful picnic at the cemetery; the joke, of course, being that the end of our work signified the death of our careers. While we weren't able to symbolically bury our resumes (as suggested), we were able to watch three juvenile hawks learn to fly and attack gophers. Much to Gina's delight, it also rained for most of the afternoon. 

Far less original than Gina, my Last Supper was pizza. Dex ordered from La Pulcinella and went above and beyond with hand-made marshmallows, salted caramel pieces and macarons from Yann Haute Patisserie (as if it wasn't hard enough for us to leave already). Everything was incredible, and if you thought it would be difficult to chow down on these goodies after the smorgasbord of candy, you'd be wrong. 

As it that wasn't enough, one of the new interns brought in a cake, and yet another brought us presents! Apparently we're not very difficult to shop for: Gina got a mini-Godzilla action figure and a graphic novel about a cat who doubles as a mad scientist, and I got a seed kit and leaf bookmarks! Not to mention the most wonderful Janice Beaton set of fine European cheeses with tiny Parisian crackers and dried cranberries, which I can enjoy while wearing my new "I <3 Cheese" shirt.

I really couldn't have asked for a more wonderful year with more wonderful people. While I'm still technically employed at the Office until the Farmers' Market, this still felt very... final.While my mouth was full of candy, my eyes were filled with tears. Here's to starting over!