Note from the Founder: Abundance Despite Drought

Well, most kids have only been back to school for a few weeks now, and here we are, about to wrap up another season of “farm school.”

It hasn’t been a short school year though; our farm apprentices started their season of learning and growing back in mid-February 2012 with orientation. And for our sophomores, it’s been even longer: their farming education with EarthDance began way back in February 2011. It’s amazing to hear how transformative the experience can be for folks. Two of our 2011 farmies (one of whom is also a sophomore this year), greatly expanded their garden at home this year: they grew pac choi, kale, broc rabb, radish, turnip, jalapenos, purple tomatillos, amaranth, lemon cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, carrots, onion, garlic, leeks, rutabaga, cherry tomato, san marzano tomato, brandywine tomato, sweet potato, winter squash, pumpkins and hops. They also planted a bunch of raspberries, blackberries, hazelnuts, and peach, apricot, and pear trees. Faith LaBeaume says, “One thing is for sure, we would not have been able to achieve what we did without the knowledge and experience we gained from EarthDance.” It is our mission to sustainably grow food, farmers, and community.

In this growing season, one of the toughest in modern memory due to the terrible drought our region has suffered, EarthDance has still grown an abundance of food. Yes, we experienced some lulls in our harvest in the summer months, but we still were blessed with a bumper crop of tomatoes -most notably sun golds and juliets- so much so that we have more on the plants than we even have time to pick!

This makes me think about the way most of our food in this country is raised, and especially makes me think how incredibly incorrect the claim is that chemical-based farming systems (often called conventional) are more productive than organic farming systems.

In a year when corn, soy, and wheat farmers are estimating a 60-70% reduction in their yields, when the secretary of agriculture designates 1892 counties across 38 states as disaster areas, and when cattle ranchers are feeding their cows ice cream sprinkles and gummy worms as alternatives to costly corn-based feed, I repeat: EarthDance has grown an abundance of food. Over 3600 lbs, on just over 2 acres. When you consider that a good portion of that is leafy greens, and a pound of salad greens can easily feed a family of four side salads every night for a week, that’s a LOT of veggies, feeding a LOT of folks! Plus, all 3600 lbs are for human consumption (as opposed to going to ethanol plants or feedlots for confined animal feeding operations, where most of our nation’s corn production goes). And while the average American meal travels 1500 miles to get to your plate, our produce travels a maximum of 16 miles to go to the farmers market, where local residents can pick it up and prepare it for dinner that night, making it hard to imagine our produce traveling over 50 miles from field to plate.

To me, this farming season says loudly and clearly: small-scale, organic, diversified agriculture is what will feed us. It is what we should be investing both our time and our money in, if we care about having healthy food for ourselves and our communities. And these types of healthy farming systems don’t just yield healthy veggies, we also reap healthier soil, water, and air, more green spaces that offer habitat for wildlife, more jobs, and localized economies.

In this time of climate chaos, there is no doubt that all farmers and therefore all people are adversely affected. But I have no doubts that this is the kind of farming that will not only help to bring our nation’s health back on track, but also move our society to a more ecologically balanced way of living.

For local FARMS,
Molly Rockamann