It’s in the small connections that Carolyn Morris sees the magic of life.
Wiping off a carrot freshly pulled from the earth. Watching ladybugs guard a vegetable patch from aphids. Morris is focused on strengthening the threads of nature that cross each other and bind us together.
“I’m obsessed about connections in the community and connections with our food,” she says with zest. “Living life mindfully.”
Nine years ago, Morris stepped into the Squamish Farmers’ Market’s manager role. She says at first, it was a way for the grade school teacher to stop thinking about the classroom during summer break. But it quickly became much more. It was a tool to bond people with the farmers who grew their potatoes and kale. It was the key to linking residents with the craftsmen who built their furniture and artisans who knitted their baby’s sweaters.
“The market is wonderful to balance that community,” Morris says.
Just down Cleveland Avenue from where the farmers’ market gathers every Saturday, blooms another one of Morris’s projects: the Squamish Climate Action Network (CAN) Community Gardens. The plots overflow with bright flowers and lush vegetables that will end up on Squamish residents’ tables.
“I’ve studied and visited all sorts of sustainable communities and all sorts of different farmers,” Morris says. “I want to share and empower people with that.”
Morris grew up in Stratford, Ont. in what she refers to as a conventional family. She was a bit of a black sheep taking on a “hippie” mentality in the land of pork, she jokes.
“I was an early vegetarian.”
But her free-spirited zeal for life runs deeper than teenager rebellion. Morris has put a lot of thought behind her actions. Her calm confidence comes from forced reflection that hit her when she was 17 years old.
“I was diagnosed with a tumour in my head,” Morris says. “It was pretty intense.”
Morris had an osteoclastoma tumour in her sphenoid sinus. The giant-cell bone tumour put her five senses in jeopardy and cost the use of one eye. Today, the tumour is inactive, and Morris says she’s grateful to have gone through the process, because it gave her sensory awareness and helped her truly evaluate what was important to her life. Those little things, those small connections are where her mind landed.
“I want to live sustainably and mindfully,” she says. “I am no master, but I am striving.”
Having raised the farmers’ market from a fledgling project into a community staple, Morris says it’s time for her to move on. She is stepping away from her position as the market manager and into the great unknown. Morris dreams of having land where she can share her love of food production and sustainable living with others.
“I’ve got this passion to lead something, and I want to take it and fly.”
The Squamish Farmers’ Market will always be her baby in her mind, she says. It’s seen tremendous growth with a current vendor waitlist of up to 30 names.
Morris hopes the District of Squamish and residents will one day find a covered, year-round home for the market. No matter what happens, the market is in the good hands of a dedicated board and devoted community, she notes. “I am going to miss it a lot. I really loved the experience.”
