Growing Together

Community building became yet another theme of this event. In addition to the presentations, the Conference offered participants a small trade show with six vendors, a fund-raising raffle for VABF, and an excellent youth program designed and presented by VABF member Miriam Maloney and two of her children, Paul (15) and Katie (12). Fourteen young people took part in workshops on healthful cooking, folk medicine, wilderness skills, exploring soils, and nature-inspired art. Friday evening offered a choice between country dancing, and videos of two successful organic farms in the southern region, produced by the Experienced Organic Farmers' Network of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture working Group. (For more on this project, contact Jean Mills, jeanmills@aol.com). The VABF also held its annual membership meeting early Friday evening, and informal meetings of regional chapters over Saturday breakfast.

Keynote speaker Elizabeth Henderson arrived at the conference site early on Friday, so that she could meet informally with CSA producers and other conference participants. She is now revising her book Sharing the Harvest, and wanted to talk with several Virginia CSA growers to find out the latest variations, innovations, successes and problems in CSA farming. On Saturday morning, Charlie Maloney, Marlin Burkholder and Ron Juftes gave a session on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs at Dayspring, Glen Eco and Seven Springs farms, respectively. After 14 years of CSA farming in Cologne, VA, the Maloneys now serve 115 families. They had just 21 families their first year, of which 13 are still members, and six quit only because they moved away. They use a "farmer driven subscription" system, and distribute a diversity of vegetables and berries from the farm and through a drop-off point in nearby Williamsburg. There is no work requirement, except for people who arrange to work for their share rather than paying.

Seven Springs CSA serves about 100 families, most of whom get their food at pickup points in Roanoke, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, or Floyd. Turnover is greater, and Ron noted that people who don't come out to the farm rarely rejoin the next year. "The beauty of CSA is that you can design it to fit the farmers' needs," he added.

At Glen Eco Farm, Marlin and his wife Christine started in 1998 with 33 shares, with some shares paid partly or entirely through work trade. They now do 54 CSA shares, supplemented with some farmers' market and restaurant sales, and about 30 Kurdish families who come to the farm to pick their own produce. In addition to mixed vegetables, the farm grows raspberries, Asian pears and other fruit, and pastured poultry for which sharers pay extra.

The panel discussed some challenges that arise, from awkward weather and insufficient produce early in the season, to tenuous connections with people who never come to the farm, or who forget to pick up their food. Managing labor, and setting a fair hourly rate that is yet workable for the budget, were also mentioned. A good resource for CSA farming is at http://www.csa.org.

At the closing circle of the conference, many said that, in addition to the valuable information shared, they really appreciated the sense of community and interconnection among such a diverse group. Many felt that the conference went beyond "organic" and "making a living" to true sustainability, of which the connections among us are an essential part. One participant contrasted it to the competitive nature of business relationships in the "real world," whereupon another simply affirmed that "this is the real world."

Looking Ahead

Plans are already in the works for the 2005 Virginia Biological Farming Conference, and we are delighted that Andy Hankins will once again serve as Conference Coordinator. We received, read and summarized about 50 evaluations forms back on the 2004 conference, which included many valuable suggestions for topics and speakers for next year. Some folks commented that it would be good to offer meals that include more local and organic ingredients, and cater to special dietary needs. We always work with the chef and kitchen staff to develop menus that meet as many of our needs and desires as practical. In the future we will want to help kitchens obtain the foods we would like served.

We have selected a Conference site for 2005 ­ Eagle Eyrie camp near Lynchburg, VA. Four years ago, the VABF Board decided to move the conference to different localities around the state of Virginia on a two-year basis. The Conference took place in Front Royal in northern Virginia in 2001 and 2002, then in Wakefield in the Tidewater region in 2003 and 2004. So we are moving it again, to the Lynchburg (south-central VA) area for 2005.

If you have questions or input regarding the conference planning process, contact Andy at ahankins@vsu.edu.

This report was reprinted and expanded from an article posted on the New Farm web site, http://www.newfarm.org, with permission from the publisher.