Letters to the editor, July 2

Farm stand should be allowed

To the editor,

We are writing in regard to the story about the Meeting House Farm in the June 18th edition. We have lived at 32 Hunnewell Road since 1976. The traffic has greatly increased due to the homes built in the Meeting House Road development when the land was sold. We have loved seeing the former Logan house land turn into gardens of vegetables, herbs and flowers. We have not witnessed any increase in traffic or parking on the street due to the farm. The cars that tend to park on the street are parents picking up and dropping off their children at the bus stop on the top of Meeting House Road, which is next to the farm. The Springer Family had an open house that was very informative. Green spaces are essential to pollinators, birds, small creatures and the mental health of humans. People should know where their food comes from and we look forward to visiting the farm. Don’t let a few misinformed neighbors take away a part of this neighborhood’s farming history. We fully support the Springer family and the Meeting House Farm.

Mary and Lonnie Floyd

To the editor,

I read Catherine Bart’s article “Meeting House Farm wants to allow farmstead on its property” (Leader, June 18) with shock, dismay, and sadness. The Springers clearly understand what it means to be stewards of the land (something to which we should all aspire), and they are willing to share their knowledge and harvest with their neighbors, yet those neighbors are worried about the farm’s impact on the value of their properties? Or traffic flow in an area of Scarborough where new, wall-to-wall housing developments have increased the traffic flow multifold in the past three years? This is preposterous.

Scarborough appears to hand out building permits as easily as kids collect candy in a Fourth of July parade (pre-Covid, at least), yet a resident has to retain legal counsel to put up a farm stand on their property to sell organic produce? I’ve had friends contact me from other areas of the state inquiring about Scarborough’s “backwards thinking” after seeing posts about Meeting House Farm on Facebook. Doesn’t anyone else in this town agree that fighting an organic farmstand is backwards thinking and not at all what Scarborough should be about? Urban gardening and homesteading should be celebrated, emulated, and supported…not banned by ignorant neighbors. If only the town were as concerned about driveway drug deals, prolific building permits which are eliminating Scarborough’s waning green space, and the ensuing traffic congestion and pollution on our roads, we would truly be acting as much-needed stewards of Owascoag, the Abenaki’s original name (“a place of much grass!”) for this town. There should be more stewards like the Springers, and they should be lauded.

Heather Robinson
Scarborough

Scarborough schools desperately need K-12 consent curriculum

I graduated from Scarborough High School in 2016. I had a pretty typical Scarborough high school experience spending my Friday nights at football and soccer games, summer breaks on Higgins Beach when I wasn’t working my part-time job, attending weekly student council meetings, going to Memorial Park for prom pictures, and being sexually assaulted.

Yep, you read that correctly. Sexual harassment and assault is a typical part of many Scarborough students’ middle and high school experience.

Before continuing, I would like to make clear that Scarborough employs talented and devoted teachers (in health specialties and beyond). This letter is not to fault any individuals, rather to step back and realize the absence of a curriculum that can increase confidence, respect, communication and health in our community. The point of this letter is to give a voice to Scarborough students who have experienced sexual harassment and/or violence and to encourage a K-12 consent curicculum.

You might be thinking, “Why would my six year old need to learn about sexual assault?” My (unsolicited) answer is: they do not need to, yet. There are many ways to introduce the concept of consent at a young age that can be built upon, appropriately, as students grow up.

A K-12 consent curriculum would introduce the idea of personal space, boundaries, saying “No” and respecting that response from your peers at a young age. In fifth or sixth grade it could start to introduce the ways in which our bodies and minds change during those years, and build upon the simple rules of respect taught in primary school. In high school, classes could be encouraged to have candid conversations about personal boundaries, respectful ways to ask to be intimate, how to listen and respect hearing no, and specifics on sexual consent.

Last summer, I started the Instagram account @notonemore.scarborough, to start the conversation around the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in Scarborough schools. I encourage you to visit the page if you would like to hear the courageous words of Scarborough students and alumni who anonymously shared their stories. If you are reading this as an alum, parent, or community member, please reach out to the school board to amplify the voices of the many young survivors in our community.