Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Sand River Community Farm Newsletter. Adam Wilson and friends maintain Sand River Community Farm within a gift economy, where nothing grown on the farm is for sale on the market and all is given into community. Adam also writes The Peasantry School Newsletter.
Greetings Neighbors,
Can you imagine how you would feel driving four hours to meet one of your idols for the first time? This will be my day tomorrow, but in my case the idol is a Farm. In 1986, a group of neighbors began a conversation with three aspiring farmers in a place where rising land values had made farming nearly impossible. Together, they conceived a radical model of community supported agriculture that has inspired my work for twenty years.
Unlike the CSA movement that would grow from their pioneering efforts, a membership at Temple-Wilton Community Farm would have no price tag. It wasn’t a subscription plan. Rather, the community would work together to cover a detailed, transparent farm operating budget, by pledging different amounts until the costs were covered. All community members would then eat as they were hungry from the “farm store,” where nothing had a price tag on it. They have been doing this radical work of disentangling farming, food and feeding from the market for almost forty years, against great odds. One of the founding farmers, Traugher Groh, co-authored a book about the CSA movement back in 1990 called Farms of Tomorrow. He describes:
The “deal” can be described as follows: “We want to relieve you—farmer—from instant financial pressure if you promise to go only for the highest quality in the future and if you introduce us into the secrets of this farm and the reasons in your work.”
The book includes many of Temple-Wilton Community Farm’s founding documents, including a list of Aims and Principles. First on the list is the following: “Spiritual Aims—To make life on Earth possible ever again and every year anew in such a way that both the individual and humanity at large can live toward their spiritual destiny.” The final principle reads, “The motivation to do things on the farm should come more and more out of the spiritual realm and less and less be directed by solely financial constraints.”
From what I can tell, this is the only CSA farm in the country that still operates in this way—inviting consumers to learn, together, how to become custodians once again. Imagine, instead of “What do I want to eat for dinner tonight?”, asking a question such as “How could I eat in a way that make life on Earth possible again and every year anew?” I call that trading personal preference for willing participation.
One of those three original farmers is still alive, and he has agreed to meet me at the Farm tomorrow to share some of his stories. I will return, renewed, for our Sunday Farm Frolic and Food Distribution at 3pm. Here’s the list of this week’s invitations:
1. Would you consider stopping by the Farm between 3 and 6pm on Sunday to pick up a quart of lamb and vegetable stew or a box of beef for your household and/or one to take to a neighbor? The freezers are overflowing here, and your help with distribution would be greatly appreciated.
2. Would you join in the conversation about how a farm that offers everything as a gift might be sustained by helping at our Sunday Farm Frolic (work day)? Once a budget for next year has been prepared, there will be opportunities to support the Farm financially, as well.
3. Would you join us for our next Gratitude Feast on Sunday 10/1 at 4pm? A time of singing and giving thanks will be followed by a hearty meal of Farm food, served family style.
4. Would you consider driving your elderly neighbor to the Gratitude Feast? Or inviting a neighbor you haven’t found the courage to get to know and sitting next to them?
5. Would you collect yogurt containers for us to fill with stew and drop them by the Farm? We will need fifty more for our next Soup make on the 24th.
We look forward to seeing you at the Farm.
With great care,
Adam