Transitioning...: Transition Towns Outreach to the Unusual Suspects
Growers-to-Growers Shared Value Network
by Pamela Boyce Simms
 |
| Photo by Jim Peppler. |
Why preach to the choir? Climate change isn’t selective
about who is affected, so reaching out to everyone,
the “unusual suspects” included, is
key to Transition environmental work. Embracing those who rarely attend
Transition events is a challenge for Transitioners determined to be inclusive
as they move communities toward resilience.
Farming is central to Transition’s mission of developing thriving
local economies, yet farmers are classic…unusual
suspects. The Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH) is therefore reaching out to
support farmers.
Grower Support Systems
Once upon a time New York State growers could set their
watches by the regular visits of the USDA Soil Conservationists (USDA NRCS) and
Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) agents who often became like extended
family. As George Sisco, a 30-year plus veteran of USDA NRCS put it, “Agents
frequently checked in with growers around the kitchen table to plan and budget
based on soil capacity, crop and livestock inventory etc. Growers benefitted
from the experience of seasoned agents armed with hundreds of farming
techniques and practices.” Agents brought with them a big picture perspective on
New York farm businesses, trends and most especially, they were consistent,
friendly visitors; “company” who understood grower challenges.
CCE began to scale back agent visits in the late 1980’s, and
USDA farmhouse-calls were few and far between by the late 90’s. Steady,
frequent, easy access to expertise from comprehensive agricultural support
systems eroded. As large scale mechanization and mega-competition edged out
small farms, the root system, the social and professional infrastructure that
provided relief from the isolation and sun up to sundown work-demands of
farming life shriveled.
The current landscape of New York farming is a kaleidoscope
of shifting trends; witness the emerging patchwork of organic, conventional,
grassfed, permaculture, biodynamic, and urban farming movements. Pockets of
lively farmer-support activities are
on the upswing. However, one size does not fit all.
Transition
Growers-to-Growers Shared Value Network
Growers who thrive
are those supported by strong peer-networks, and/or an extended family social
infrastructure. Cultivation of such non-hierarchical, purposeful grassroots
networks drives the spread of the Transition movement. So this winter, the
Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH) will seed a Growers-to-Growers Network that:
• offers growers peer-resource counsel on
farm business practices,
• invites small growers groups to define
their needs, share resources, and collaborate on projects that are of
collective benefit.
• facilitates growers intentionally
holding the space for peers to form, or deepen support networks specific to
their own needs.
The Network pairs clusters of farmers with master-growers
and grower-champions in their agricultural sector who mentor fellow farmers in
kitchen table groups.
The strength of kitchen table groups lies in: collaborative
leadership cultivation, trust, compassion, communication, and unconditional
mutual support. The goals are purposeful relationship development,
community-building, local self-reliance, more farmer revenue and an excellent
quality of life.
A No-growth, Networked Farm
The Growers-to-Growers Network welcomes members with various
small and micro farm business models who value ecological sustainability and
non-competitive community integration. We take our lead from grower-champions
who have made it work.
Imagine a farm business that has deliberately decided not to
grow; having repeatedly walked away from moneymaking ventures, opportunities to
scale up operations and expand its land base. That would be Sap Bush Hollow, a
family farm where a fortunate set of farming conditions and thoughtful
decision-making has yielded a high grower quality of life.
Farmer and author of Radical
Homemakers Shannon Hayes of Sap Bush Hollow Farm relates that for starters,
“There are markets and relatively inexpensive land in our part of Schoharie
County. We raise grassfed livestock on hilly, rocky, marginal land that was
fortunately skipped over during the industrialization era.” So, with a
supportive farm community intact, cohesion and collaboration among neighboring
farms on projects over the years was successful. Farmers in her area “…know
they need each other. We wouldn’t dare touch each other’s markets. We exchange
and draw from each other.”
Three generations of Shannon’s family live off of a 160 acre
tract of land. She homeschools two daughters and markets the farms products.
Her dad manages the livestock with the assistance of her husband Bob, while her
mom handles farm bookkeeping and the wholesale accounts.
Shannon’s family will keep the farm small, “going deeper
into what they already have rather than expand.” They are stress free because
they’re debt free, having resisted the temptation to scale up to sell
wholesale. They produce and sell enough to maintain a good life for themselves.
In response to the Growers-to-Growers Network Shannon notes,
“Endemically there is little or no interaction between various types of
farmers. Farmers need extended family or networks of people in their lives who act as family support systems. A husband
and wife alone cannot make it happen without sacrificing relationship. The
urban farming movement is a model for how to bring people out of isolation into
community to live ecologically sustainable lives. We need to regain
relationship skills lost.”
Boiled down to its elements, the Growers-to-Growers Network
is about cultivating relationships which become an interconnected root system
that supports farmers; Transition’s unusual
suspects whose work has always supported
us.
"You can never awaken using the same system that put you to
sleep in the first place." –Gurdjief
Pamela Boyce Simms is a Certified Transition Trainer
Mid-Atlantic Transition Hub (MATH), of Transition US
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 5:15 PM.
Filed under
Farming,
Feature,
sustainability,
Transition Field Notes
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0
