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Farming and the Local Food Scene: Spending my weekend at “America’s Largest Farm Tour”

By: Laura Stephenson

A long-awaited event here in North Carolina took place a few weekends ago—the 8th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour. Touted as “America’s Largest Farm Tour,” the tour was put together by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA)—an incredible resource for many people interested in food and farming within the state. Although I only made it to five of the forty farms listed, I was able to meet many other people interested in making farming their career, and speak directly with farmers from the farms we visited.

Here’s a little bit about what farms I visited during the tour:

Saturday, April 28

For a small fee of $25 per carload (there’s a cheaper biking option), the tour enables you to visit any of the forty listed farms, meet the farmers, and learn a bit about how their farm works. On Saturday, after not getting much sleep the night before and working the Saturday morning Durham Farmers’ Market, our car got off to a late start to visiting farms. We were all very hungry but wanted to explore new farms, so we decided to visit the Chapel Hill Creamery where there were rumors of sausage and cheese tastings. Shortly after arriving in the parking lot of the farm, we were picked up in a wagon drawn by draft horses and taken to the cheese-making headquarters where we were greeted by chorizo and an assortment of cheese samplings. The Creamery produces around seven different kinds of cheeses ranging from farmer’s cheese to “Calvander” (an Asiago inspired cheese) with the help of around 40 head of beautiful Jersey cows and a small, dedicated staff. After learning a bit about the cheese-making process and visiting the fat and happy whey-fed pigs, I left with a hefty amount of farmer’s cheese and was able to put faces to the Creamery’s award-winning cheeses that regularly occupy my refrigerator.

Sunday, April 29

On Sunday, I participated in a “Young Farmer Livestock VIP Tour,” also sponsored by CFSA. Starting out on a bus in Carrboro, NC, along with a group of ten young farmers, I traveled to three different livestock farms around the area. I was surprised to find that around two-thirds of our group were “second-career farmers” (people who’ve had a career prior to going into farming) and it was fascinating to chat with the VIP crew on why they were taking up a career in farming while being transported in between farms.

We were allotted forty-five minutes at each farm, which was broken down into a brief introduction to the farm and its history, a short tour of the farm, and some time at the end for Q&A (as well as to buy some of the farm’s fine products). The first, Hogan’s Magnolia View Farm, featured a family-run grass-fed beef operation only ten minutes outside of town.  Interesting facts from Hogan’s: The farm’s products are sold in a refrigerated truck on the property a select number of days and hours a week, the new farm manager has designed a rotational grazing system where his head of cattle (around 14 I think) get to eat around an acre of grass per day, and the farm follows Animal Welfare Approved standards.

After Hogan’s, we headed out to Coon Rock Farm located outside of Hillsborough. Nestled into some of the Piedmont’s most beautiful rolling hills  (the farm’s namesake is a beautiful rock formation on the farm that is visible from the main barn), to me, Coon Rock is a young farmer’s dream. There are vegetables and animals, and Coon Rock does a great job of understanding how the two work best together to maximize sustainability and profit (some examples: feeding food scraps to the pigs, using the pigs to till the soil and fertilize for planting new crops, etc.). The food is grown for the farm’s two organic restaurants, its CSA (a weekly produce or meat box from the farm), and three market stands. The farm is also a relatively closed loop—food waste either goes to the pigs or is composted, food that is not deemed as market or CSA worthy (but still of high quality) is cooked at the farm’s two restaurants, the pigs till up and fertilize the soil for the planting of new crops—the list goes on. From the tour led by co-farmer Jamie DeMent, I gathered that a lot of what they’ve learned has been through research and good old-fashioned trial and error. She certainly gave me hope for my (possible) future career as a farmer—you learn as you go and with help from the farmers around you.

The last farm we visited was Walters Unlimited. Walters Unlimited has access to large tracts of land and practices mob grazing where cattle eat a different acre of land per day throughout the year. The farm is family run and owned and also raises catfish, goats, pigs, chickens, and produces eggs and some seasonal produce.

CFSA’s Piedmont Farm Tour is an incredible opportunity to get to know your farmers and local farms. As one farmer put it, “We’re in a time in society where people like to know where their food comes from.”

Laura Stephenson is an environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she focused in environmental and community health. She is currently working full-time at a small, organic farm outside of Hillsborough, North Carolina called Maple Spring Gardens. Laura writes the Farming and the Local Food Scene series about her experiences with local farms and farmers around the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

 

 

Posted on: May 15, 2012, 6:00 am Category: Farming and the Local Food Scene Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

By: Laura Stephenson

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Farming and the Local Food Scene: Urban Farming in Durham, North Carolina

By: Laura Stephenson

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Darko Urban Farm, located in downtown Durham, North Carolina. The farm is comprised of Rochelle and her partner Will, their incredibly diverse front and backyard, and their newly acquired “back forty.” It’s lovely for me to see what a backyard-turned-farm looks like and to see how productive such a small area can be. Their main vegetable garden is contained within a fence—mostly to safeguard precious garden tools—and is complete with four ducks and a beautiful kiwi trellis. The vegetable garden space is currently under a sea of cover crops—clover, rye, and catnip (the farm cat loves this one)—and there’s a healthy crop of asparagus too. Behind the vegetable garden and adjacent to a neighborhood lunch place, Big Daddy’s, is the farm’s brand-new fruit orchard.  Installed with the help of Bountiful Backyards, a local business that helps people create edible gardens, there are now Asian pears, a medlar tree (according to Rochelle, “is like an apple, but doesn’t require as many chill days as an apple tree,” a persimmon, cherries, figs and a variety of other fruits that do well here in North Carolina.

As I try to imagine a farming life that doesn’t require a forty minute commute each way, an urban farm like Darko, seems like a good possibility. The farm is also located in a “food desert” (by my definition, an area that lacks access to healthy, affordable food), where the nearest place to buy something to eat is either Big Daddy’s or McDonald’s. While there’s been talk of a food co-op opening up next door to the farm—which would greatly increase the quality and variety of food available (and ideally provide food that is affordable to the surrounding communities)—nothing has happened yet. A recent update on this: The co-op won’t be opening up across the street because they couldn’t find adequate financing for a brand-new building. Instead, the co-op is looking for an existing building in downtown.

Darko Urban Farm had a CSA (community supported agriculture) for its first two seasons, but for a few reasons won’t be offering one for its third season. Both Rochelle and Will are lawyers, and according to Rochelle, coordinating how and when CSA members should pick up food was challenging as well as disappointing when food they grew went to waste. However, they are continuing to expand their urban landholdings and provide food for themselves and the community on a small-scale.

In a couple of weeks, the farm is planning on planting tomato plants. Hopefully I’ll be able to join and update you on the progress of the farm (if not, the farm has a great blog where you can catch up). I left feeling extremely inspired and ready to plant an edible backyard of my own (well, someday—I don’t think my current landlord would be too excited about it now).

Laura Stephenson is an environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she focused in environmental and community health. She is currently working full-time at a small, organic farm outside of Hillsborough, North Carolina called Maple Spring Gardens. Laura writes the Farming and the Local Food Scene series about her experiences with local farms and farmers around the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

Posted on: May 8, 2012, 6:00 am Category: Farming and the Local Food Scene Tagged with: , , , ,

By: Laura Stephenson

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Farming and the Local Food Scene: My first couple months as a farm hand

By: Laura Stephenson

The ability to work part-time on a farm has granted me time for lots of reflection—mostly on how young farmers are simultaneously learning and changing the face of food production in our nation. I’d assume this time is usually not available to a full-time farmer until the end of the farming season, and I feel very lucky to be able to get my feet wet a bit before diving into a full-time position. During these past couple months, I’ve been able to meet many young, intelligent people who are seriously considering farming as a career. Quite a few of these people have worked in other careers before coming to farming. In just these brief two months I’ve met people from a variety of fields—non-profit development, graphic design, migrant workers’ rights activism, and more—all of whom have been drawn to farming as a second career for various reasons.

A relatively large percentage of my dearest friends that I met while living in UNC’s Sustainability Hall have skipped these first careers and headed straight into farming. Mostly, these friends work at farms around the Piedmont region of North Carolina, but I do have a friend that works on a goat farm in New York State. It’s also important to note that it’s not just friends from University of North Carolina that have entered into farming—my partner Emily-Kate (she went to New York University) and I collectively know many people our age who’ve been farming since they graduated from school in 2010. For me, there’s a tangible excitement in the air for young farmers across our nation.

The fact that there are many emerging young farmers is exciting for many reasons—perhaps the most obvious is the fact that the majority of people living in the United States don’t know where their food comes from and we, as direct participants in the food system, have the power to change that. It’s exciting because food is so intimately connected with health, our environment, and our economy, and that eating good food (subjective I know, but I think you can figure out what I think a good meal is) should be an option for everyone—no matter their education level, socioeconomic status, or geographic location. I’m just beginning to meet many of the young farmers of our generation, but all who’ve I met so far are extremely aware of the importance of producing food following sustainable practices and growing food that is accessible to all.

In the coming months, there are many events in the area where I’m sure to meet many more young farmers, and will also be learning from people that have been farming for most of their lives.

If you’re in the Piedmont area, here are a few events that I’m excited about and hoping to attend:

1) A showing of Greenhorns on April 17th at UNC—a documentary about young farmers across the U.S.

2) Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Farm Tour April 28th and 29th 2012—$25 per carload to tour many of the Piedmont’s sustainable farms

3) Farm to Fork Picnic benefiting the WC Breeze Family Farm—sometime this May

…and more events to come.

Thanks for reading!

Laura Stephenson is an environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she focused in environmental and community health. She is currently working full-time at a small, organic farm outside of Hillsborough, North Carolina called Maple Spring Gardens. Laura writes the Farming and the Local Food Scene series about her experiences with local farms and farmers around the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

Posted on: April 10, 2012, 6:00 am Category: Farming and the Local Food Scene Tagged with: , , , ,

By: Laura Stephenson

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Who are environmental studies students? Looking beyond the books

By: Darlene Seto

Although the vast majority of my posts have focused on the academic side of an environmental studies student’s life, I want to make sure that I am not painting a one dimensional portrait. While my studies are a large part of my life, there are a number of other factors which equally inform my values, actions, and decisions.

Some are more obvious than others. As an example, food is very important to me. It makes sense, given that my research focuses on urban food policy and community gardens. I love to cook, using fresh, quality ingredients, and knowing that my food was sourced in a manner that is consistent with my values. This can be tight on a student budget, but I do the best I can.

A less directly related interest might be that I also practice ashtanga yoga every morning, rising before the sunrise in order to get in my practice before school and work. I find that doing yoga is not only good for my physical health, but mental health, too, building strength and flexibility while relieving stress and tension. Doing yoga has also introduced me to a community of yoga practitioners around the world with whom I can share myself, and who have helped me learn about anatomy, nutrition, and even things like politics and business management.

The same is true for many of my other friends in environment studies. There is Brian, an engineer who spent five years backpacking around the world, without stopping, before beginning his degree; Sarah, a former Peace Corps volunteer and keen ukulele player; and Maryam, who I mentioned last week, is a book fiend, favoring Russian literature among others.

What is all this to say?

Simply, that we all have diverse interests and passions beyond what one may think of environment studies. It is through our other interests that we can cultivate innovative ideas, from other disciplines and fields, about how to transition to a more sustainable world, as well as encourage the common values that do exist between us—things like big picture thinking, a curiosity about the world, and compassion for others. Not only that, but by continuing to show a wider view of who environmentalists are and what they do, we can help to invite more people into thinking about how to reduce our impact on the earth.

So for other environmental studies students focused on the academic areas of their life, I would also invite them to explore their other interests and passions. They may be just as important!

Darlene Seto is pursuing her master’s degree at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. A keen student of environment policy and governance, her current graduate work revolves around diversity and engagement in alternative food systems.

Posted on: April 3, 2012, 6:00 am Category: The Life of an Environmental Studies Student Tagged with: , , ,

By: Darlene Seto

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Farming and the Local Food Scene: Where it all started for me

By: Laura Stephenson

On March 3rd, the day before one of my favorite days of the year (the only day of the year that’s an imperative—March Forth!), I drove to the coast of North Carolina to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of my dear friends, Suzanne Thompson. Suzanne is the lab manager for the Piehler Lab, where I worked for five consecutive summers—from my sophomore year in high school to my sophomore year in college.

I’ve written a bit about the Piehler Lab before—it’s where it all started for me in terms of thinking about what I’d like to be when I grow up. The Piehler Lab studies microbial ecology and biogeochemistry focusing on coastal land-water ecosystems—think estuaries and wetlands and how humans impact those environments.  This work helped me form my views about the world and what place I’d like to take within it. While I’m not continuing on in the sciences, small, sustainable—insert your favorite buzzwords: organic (although I hesitate to use this one), local, etc.—farming plays a crucial part in land-water interfaces on a general ecosystem level. Hypothetically,  ecosystems such as wetlands have less nutrient loads to process from farms that don’t use harmful chemicals. However, this is debatable and as there is such a large range of practices in small farming, it’s hard to say for sure if farming “organically” is necessarily better for the environment.

Author’s sidenote: An article by Hansen et. al. (in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2001) called “Approaches to assess the environmental impact of organic farming with particular regard to Denmark” is helpful for gaining an understanding of the environmental impacts of organic farming. Although the article is a bit outdated and based in Denmark, it’s a good base and agrees that “in general, the risk of harmful environmental effects is lower with organic than with conventional farming methods, though not necessarily so.”

As a future small farmer, I’ll be continually assessing how my own farming practices are affecting the health of the environment around me. As a current farm hand, being thoughtful about the environmental impact of the farms that I’m working on will help me to have a better farm in the future.

In attendance at Suzanne’s birthday party were neighbors, family members, and colleagues from the science world. Oftentimes, explaining to people that I’m considering becoming a farmer confuses them—why would I go to a liberal arts university to become a farmer? Instead, among the scientists that partially raised me, the responses were encouraging. For those who know me best farming seems like the obvious career path—they understand the connection that I see so clearly—between humans and their environment, and how food is at the intersection of the two.

Laura Stephenson is an environmental science graduate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she focused in environmental and community health. She is currently working as a farm hand at a small, sustainable farm in Person County, North Carolina called Forty North Farm. In April, she’ll be working full-time at another small, organic farm outside of Hillsborough, North Carolina called Maple Spring Gardens. Laura writes the Farming and the Local Food Scene series about her experiences with local farms and farmers around the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

Posted on: March 27, 2012, 6:00 am Category: Farming and the Local Food Scene Tagged with: , , , ,

By: Laura Stephenson

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