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If Deanna Freeberg has her way, you'll have your choice of locally grown vegetables&emdash;and not only vegetables but fruits, nuts, grains, berries, honey, flowers, and herbs. Freeberg, a flower grower who grew up on a Nebraska farm, and other growers in Fairfield are developing plans for the Aurora Community Farm. Their grand vision is an organic, life-sustaining farm, serving member families and nourishing the earth and those who share it.
If you join for the organic produce, you may remain for the community that develops around the farm. In this case, the farm is a community-supported farm (CSF) and the cooperative spirit becomes one of its greatest assets. The quality of life, as well as the quality of the produce, improves as farmers grow for friends and not simply long-distance markets.
"You're committed to growing the best when you know the people&emdash;handing over carrots to a mother feeding a child versus growing for someone you never see," says Dawn Hunter. "You're growing for an extended family."
She and her husband Billy have been supplying vegetables, herbs, flowers, and eggs to Fairfield's Farmers Market for three years.
Just what is a community-supported farm? It's part of a growing movement, called community-supported agriculture, which seeks to connect farmers looking for a stable market to consumers hungry for organic produce. In this arrangement, consumers enjoy the ready supply of fresh vegetables and fruits and get satisfaction in supporting the preservation of agricultural land, while growers are freed from marketing concerns in order to put all of their attention on raising organic produce and maintaining the health of the soil.
The number of community-supported farms has risen almost 40 percent in the past two years, to more than 500 farms in the United States and Canada, according to Jean Yeager of the Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association in Kimberton, Pennsylvania. Community-supported agriculture thrives in the Northeast, where the concept arrived from Europe in the 1980s.
"I had the experience of seeing people develop a farm from scratch," says Tracey McCowen, a biology student at Maharishi University of Management, who recently worked with a sustainable agriculture group, the Black Bear Food Guild, in Orono, Maine. "It takes a lot of management, and that means hands-on. It's a great thing for bringing the community together, and obviously the food tastes better. It's picked when it's supposed to be picked rather than two weeks early and shipped across the country."
The aim of community-supported agriculture is to revitalize the way we grow food, to produce healthful, life-giving food in a way that conserves and improves the natural environment, and to give to those who want it the experience of working with nature.
"People need to understand that when they're buying food, they're supporting agriculture, and it could be destructive agriculture that they're perpetuating," says John Andrews, who operates Harmony Gardens in Fairfield. "The soil is a living organism. If people realize this, they will honor the living earth. As consumers we can do this by being aware of how we spend our food dollars&emdash;every dollar is a vote for or against socially responsible agriculture."
The current state of much of America's agriculture is partly due to economic pressure on farmers. "Economics creates a strain," Andrews says. "Financial institutions have promoted the present system of agriculture, which has led to increased pollution in the environment and in the food supply. Farmers are under pressure to conform to economic and government policies."
Currently, there are currently 35 community-supported farms in Iowa. Fairfield already has a start with Harmony Gardens, which Andrews and his wife Glendrafay began in 1983 as a "Food Club," similar to what is now called a community-supported farm. The Andrews raise organic produce for 10 to 12 local member families, and in 1986 they added the Cottage Bakery to provide bread made from freshly ground flour. They offer a wide variety of vegetables as well as culinary herbs and raspberries. The Andrews have also experimented with unusual alternative crops such as malabar greens, bitter melon, and zucchetta, a long Italian squash.
The Aurora Community Farm, which is in the planning stages, includes a core group of Fairfield growers: the Hunters, Scott Brand, and Freeberg. A membership of about 100 families is anticipated. For a family of four, memberships are estimated at $600-850 for one growing season. Small families or individuals could share a membership. "In a CSF, everyone contributes what they can and what they're inclined to do. Every member is a great contributor by just being a member," says Marie Zenack, an organizer for the Aurora Community Farm. "The main idea is to pledge and share in the risk as well as the bounty of the farm."
Enjoying the bounty of a good harvest is usually more likely than sharing the disappointment of a poor crop, McCowen notes. "If you plant one crop and it fails, that's it. But planting diversified vegetable crops, above ground and below ground, there's a varied pest situation so there's less likelihood of complete crop failure." When the Black Bear Food Guild started, it produced more food than was needed. "We took extra produce to the local food bank," she says.
How does a CSF work? The cost of the farm is divided among shareholders before the growing season. The families who choose to associate with one another as a community farm pledge their support each year and provide financial support for the farm's operation, Freeberg says. In return, the farmers provide fresh food for the member families as well as a direct connection to the land, the farmers, and the food they eat. Available produce would follow the growing seasons and include a variety of vegetables and fruits such as beans, celery, cucumbers, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, parsnips, peppers, spinach, squash, melons, sweet potatoes, peas, and tomatoes.
The core group of the Aurora Community Farm is considering many variables to determine annual costs for the farm. "We're still working with the budget," adds Zenack. "We want to achieve a balance between how much families can support and how much growers can afford to work for."
McCowen offers some ideas from her experience at the Black Bear Food Guild. "My advice is to employ students from the local high school to work at the community farms, especially during the summer. Relying on volunteer help is not so workable as people won't show up some of the time, and that poses a problem," she says. "Rotating your help is also important so no one becomes too exasperated at any one thing, such as picking beans."
Vegetables, flowers, and experimental grains have been grown at the Aurora Community Farm for the past five years on about two acres at its temporary location. "We would like 120 acres free from the economic market to serve member families of the community. We're looking for a permanent location now," Zenack says.
Core members anticipate the Aurora Community Farm venturing beyond vegetables to orchards, nut trees, grape arbors, berries, and bee hives, and adding greenhouses, hoop houses, root cellars, mills, and farm stores as well as classes in cooking, gardening, and canning. "Dawn is already making herbal extracts and teaching classes in seed-saving," Zenack says. "And kids pick up on the wonderful energy of a farm." The farm could be a center for family celebrations, potlucks, and educational programs for children.
The small family farm has been in a precarious situation for many years. Community-supported agriculture may be a way for the small farm to stay, a way to link farmers and their neighbors.
"We're pledging to support the farm so the farm can support us. We take care of the farm like you take care of a member of the family, taking responsibility for it," Zenack says. "Many people desire a deeper connection to their community. This is one of the focal points for forming the Aurora Community Farm."
