February. It can be a little brutal around here, with so much cold/grey behind us and still a solid stretch before we see some green. That said, when your local grocery store veg is wilting away, there’s nothing like daydreams of summer bounty to get you through the Winter slog, am I right?!
Fresh, colorful, delicious produce grown by queer farmers doing work that truly inspires them… weekly updates from the farm including double rainbows, pond swims, tomato tasting… could this be true? YES! And even though it all seems so far away, you can get all the details and sign-up today. This supports our farm immensely!
Meanwhile, I have to keep reminding myself that Spring is closer than we think -- in just two months, our farm crew will be back and plants will start sprouting all over this place. For now, we’re plugging along on the hefty list of off-season to-dos and unique opportunities that are keeping us very busy.
Here are some WINTER highlights . . .
I (Maggie) participated in the Oxford Real Farming conference - the largest annual sustainable agriculture gathering in the UK. I was honored to speak about social justice and farming alongside Leah from Soul Fire Farm (upstate NY) and Dee Woods of Granville Community Kitchen (London).
While I was there, I witnessed incredible farmers and activists pushing race and justice to the forefront of many conversations and presentations. A lot of great movement, alliance-building and hope from people passionate about representation, social justice and food access. Bringing race, privilege and identity into sustainable agriculture is still a new concept for farmers in the UK. It was humbling to see the effort to really push these issues forwards in a space that has not always welcomed that.
For me, a highlight was attending the LGBTQI cohort of the Landworkers’ Alliance, a UK organizing member of the International peasants movement, La Via Campesina, for a session on international and UK based LGBTQI farmer organizing. I think this is incredibly important given how specifically transphobic UK is currently. It makes me feel incredibly lucky to be in an area of the world that is so welcoming and supportive to our mission.
Though I know our politics and policies have a long way to go in the States, we are still privileged to be as “out” as we are, and contributing to organizing across the country. Continuing to push the conversation about why it is important we are “out”, and why it is important to feed our LGBTQI community who suffer from food insecurity, is why I am in this work. Why? Because, unlike other LGBTQI farmers across the world, we can.
Speaking of… Coming up is the 2nd annual Northeast Queer Farmer Alliance Gathering! It will be on February 29th in Brattleboro, Vermont, hosted by a group called Out in the Open. Last year, we hosted at Rock Steady and it was a profound and inspiring experience. This kind of organizing is powerful, and it’s so important that it continues and grows. Hope to see some of you there! Details & RSVP here.
Did you get a chance to read last month’s guest post by Farmer Mika? We are hoping to share more farmer voices and perspectives in the future, and were happy to hear from so many folks that resonated with Mika’s post.
In case you missed it, click here to read it.
Other than that, we’ve been working on loads of less photogenic office tasks such as budgeting, fundraising, crop planning, and good old tax prep. The backend of a farm business is amazingly complex, but that’s a story for another time . . .
Finally, I want to sincerely thank and shout out the 36 CSA members who have already joined for the 2020 season. The early birds! Your enthusiastic support means more than you know, and we can’t wait to feed you and your loved ones in the months to come. And, to our core group of Fall/Winter donors who have already contributed to our Food Access Fund for this year: THANK YOU for your generosity and investment in creating a more just food system in our community.
If you haven’t already joined our 2020 community of CSA members and supporters, we’d love to welcome you on board. Hit us up with questions or feedback any time.
More soon,
Maggie Cheney, Co-Owner and Vegetable Farmer
Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) feeds our local upstate neighbors as well as New York City. We offer weekly vegetable shares, plus egg, fruit, meat, cheese and yogurt share options from neighboring farms. Sliding scale pricing, fundraising and strong community partnerships ensure our food reaches people across all income levels and lived experiences.
