This post is the second of our 4-part series uplifting our year-end fundraising campaign! Each week, we’ll tackle one of the interconnected issues that drive our work — and this week is all about Regenerative Agriculture. Regardless of whether you are able to contribute financially, we hope this series will bring you into deeper connection with these collective issues and inspire you for the path ahead.
It’s all connected. It’s important to understand that when you contribute to our Food Access initiative, you’re not only feeding food insecure community members, but also supporting the sustainable farming practices behind that food.
This is unfortunately rare — the more typical set up is that “food assistance” programs source inexpensive, low-quality, highly processed, chemically treated food. Not only does this have negative impacts on the health of those receiving the food, these products can be traced back to environmentally harmful growing practices like monocropping and the use of herbicides and pesticides.
On the flip side, food that is grown with care for the planet (which requires more labor, time, and investment) is typically available only to those who can afford to pay premium prices.
In other words, the current system is set up to try to solve one problem while exacerbating another.
Amidst an escalating climate crisis, we take our responsibility as farmers and land stewards seriously. Industrial agriculture is responsible for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, small scale, sustainable farms like ours have the power to reverse this harm through regenerative agriculture practices that sequester carbon, rebuild soil health and increase biodiversity.
Before we dive into our sustainable growing practices, we want to name that land stewardship and regeneration is a long road, and there is always more to do.
The tension between land care and the demands of production farming inside of capitalism are real.
Most farmers who are using pesticides and harmful growing practices are not doing it because they don’t care about the planet; they just don’t exist in a food system that supports them to do the right thing, and the economic pressures to produce more and faster are often insurmountable.
Where you direct your food and donation dollars truly matters when it comes to your household’s impact on climate change.
It’s also important to know that our practices are not perfect. Even though we use beyond organic growing practices, our wish list for our land is long. We’re not “there”. This is a process that take patience, investment and many years of dedication. It is the support of our donors, CSA members and wholesale customers that allow us to move the needle further each season.
Our sustainable growing practices include:
Cover Cropping: This year, about 80% of our fields are in cover crop, the most we’ve ever been able to do! Next season we plan to cover crop 90% of our fields. This is a practice where you plant an entire bed with a nutrient-filled crop (we use oats, rye, peas, vetch, clover, buckwheat), which then breaks down, returning organic material and nitrogen to the soil. This practice restores and “feeds” the soil, helping give back after a fruitful season. Additionally, it protects the soil from erosion and compaction caused by heavy rain and/or floods.
Perennials: Both for native pollinators and wildlife habitats, perennial flowers and hedges are a great way to promote biodiversity on the farm. Next season, we’re planting a new perennial plot, which will create a 10X increase in these crops, which we’re excited to share for culinary and medicinal purposes! Perennials take less resources - you only have to buy and sow them once and they have deeper roots so can access water and nutrients that are not as present for annuals. They are often no-till, so there is not disruption to the soil around them, and thus less carbon loss into the atmosphere. We mulch and compost them so that this builds soil while the plants grow. We hope that in 2022 we will have enough resources to buy our first perennial fruit stock!
Interplanting: This is the practice of planting a mixture of crops together, which helps to promote beneficial pollinators, yield healthier plants, leading less disease and pests, and thus less need for harmful spraying. There are so many examples of intercropping, we are still a tractor based farm, and yet we trial more and more intercropping within this row system every year. For example, last season we planted alternating rows of tomatoes and basil.
Compost: 20 cubic yards of organic compost will be added to our fields next year. We purchase this locally, and rely on the black goodness to feed fields that need some extra love — either because they did not receive cover crop, or because they had more “extractive” crops (like tomatoes) that season. Over the years we have spent $20,000 on compost! It is a huge investment, but the quality and taste of our food really depends on the richness, biodiversity and organic matter the compost brings to the soil. In the future, we hope to have the capacity to make our own compost.
No chemical pesticides, ever: Just because farms are certified organic does not mean that they are not spraying. We use plant based organic pesticides very few times in the year, instead we rely heavily on covering crops with white row cover (pictured above) — which takes a lot of people power and money. That said, we feel that it is important to not spray if we can avoid it. Spraying, even plant based organic-certified substances, in large amounts can harm the biodiversity of the farm and have unintended consequences like beneficial insect loss.
Low food miles: The farthest our food ever travels is 100 miles. This includes all of our add-ons and fruit shares. And we deliver directly to our customers from our farm. This is an important factor to consider, when calculating the environmental impact of your food choices. When you look at the organic produce at your local grocery store, check the labels — they’re often from California, Brazil, Holland, Israel, all over the world — and all the resources used to transport them are taking a toll on the planet.
Intentional sourcing for our CSA full diet shares: When we hear about climate change and the impact agriculture has on carbon emission levels, often we are learning about the meat and dairy industry. For many of us, eliminating these important sources of protein and calories from our diet is difficult, so in that case it is important to think about the farming practices behind the eggs, cheese and meat in our fridges. We source from Chaseholm and Herondale, two farms that practice incredible pasture grazing techniques. There is a stark contrast between these farms and the industrial farms that are justifiably under attack right now, from a climate perspective — and animal welfare, too. Pasture-based farming is a true art, which includes growing diverse perennial grass mix in their fields, providing excellent food for the animals, while also capturing more carbon from the atmosphere and not relying heavily on processed grain. This grazing technique is just one example from many, which support our decision to partner with these local farms in particular.
Each of these choices require planning, hard labor and significant financial investment. As a result, our vegetables do cost more than those grown conventionally on large scale farms without regard for the soil.
Here’s Maggie & D, striking a pose on a mountain of compost.
Connecting the dots between food relief and climate care is essential.
If you have the resources to contribute, we hope you’ll consider a year-end gift to our Food Access Fund. Your donation will allow us to grow and distribute high quality, sustainable produce to those who cannot afford food.
To everyone who has already donated — THANK YOU! Your support means so much.
Want another way to get involved? Forward this series along to someone in your life who might want to join you in this effort!
Lastly, even though we are focused on our fundraising initiative right now, our 2021 CSA is also open for registration! Anyone can join for the best of the season’s harvest, with 20 weekly shares, June through November. We offer sliding scale pricing, flexible payment plans and “full diet” optional add-on shares.
STAY TUNED — we’ll be back next week for a letter about Farmer training & advocacy. One of the least visible aspects of our unjust food system, we’re excited to unpack this with y’all!
