And here we are sitting as I write in an auditorium at VT Tech College PACKED with organic farmers and educators and all manner of people in plaid from all over the state. We’re munching on Red Hen loaves and just sang a rousing “Simple Gifts.”. Fresh from a farm-to-school workshop, we squeezed into the bleachers to hear Andrew Meyer of VT Soy and Center for an Ag Economy. “It’s not an underestimate to say that Vermont, the people in this room, are inspiring the country and the world as we rebuild a healthy food system,” the introducer is saying.
At Center for Ag Economy’s workshop this afternoon, High Mowing seedsman Tom Stearns greets the room with “Hello, fellow food system revolutionaries!” what followed was an even mix of stirring rhetoric and nitty-gritty detail. How peak oil is going to turn the food system upside down… And how to get fiancing from your neighbors. How slow food businesses need “slow money” (investors who don’t demand quick returns)… and what processing facilities would fix bottlenecks in the local food web. Stearns made the point that if local agriculture wants to be both profitable and more self-sufficient, young farmers need to let go of the idea that only very small farms selling artisinal veggies to a CSA captive audience are the way of the future. We should embrace medium-sized commodity farms if we really want a complete local system, Stearns said.
February 18, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Nice notes on what you heard, Robbie. You might be interested to know that the spring issue of “Vermont Life” has an article about Hardwick ag. scene, with photo of Tom Sterns & Pete (of P’s Greens) sitting in Claire’s….Your scene, perhaps? Maybe you could find out Pete’s address & initiate contact with him.
March 10, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Hi Robert. It was fun reading your comments having been there – the VL article was neat AND there was a recent VPR interview, too – you probably know how to get that from the internet? I loved the CSA diner concept and the many layers of true solar capital, creativity, and connection in Hardwick. I want to plan a field trip there – in fact, I need to, because a woman there won some syrup I donated to the NOFA raffle!
The worse the economy gets the more closely our community holds us here in Brattleboro. People give us their money for the organic food and flowers they want AND we get to invest that money to get the world we want. I don’t know how much that matters to our customers, though, or if they just love what we love – knowing each other; being part of something together. This summer at Farmers’ Market I’m going to put up the jars I keep imagining – and anyone who spends their money can put their ten dollar bills straight into the project jar they value most, literally investing in a more just, joyful and sustainable world. Will they be more excited to invest in new solar hot water panels or the super-clean wood boiler – or a cabin for farm stays or a family camping trip for Stuart? It will be so fun to see. I’ll make an “other” jar, too, for fresh ideas and wisecracks.