Processing Pecans at Koinonia

Here are some photos of the pecan sorting process. Growing, harvesting and selling pecans is Koinonia's most important cash crop.

The only time I have ever worked on an assembly line was when I was employed in a fish processing shop in New Jersey as a teenager. I toiled at the end of a smelly conveyor belt and skinned flat fish like flounder and fluke, frequently cutting my hands and fingers with the incredibly sharp knives.

Spending a few hours today sorting pecans brought me back to that experience, and also connected me with the many millions of people who spend their lives in noisy, dirty, smelly and unhealthy factories in order to produce the food and consumer goods that we take for granted.

Here at Koinonia, everyone helps with the cottage industries and chores that need to be done, and when pecan season is in high gear, I'm told that many hands make lighter work for all.