2019 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT
EARTH IS THE SCHOOL OF LOVE. EARTH IS WHERE WE FORM R E L AT I O N S H I P S A N D L E A R N T O CONNECT THROUGH SERVICE FOR THE SAKE OF THE WHOLE. NOWHERE ELSE IS THIS POSSIBLE — BUT ON EARTH. I N T H I S S E N S E , E A R T H I S T H E G R E AT E V O L U T I O N A R Y E X P E R I M E N T, U P O N WHICH THE WHOLE UNIVERSE DEPENDS. EARTH AND HUMANITY ARE ONE. ~ ORLAND BISHOP, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SHADETREE MULTICULTURAL FOUNDATION
HAWTHORNE VALLEY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Thomas James, Board President, Teachers College at Columbia University Danielle Do, Synchrony Financial Herbert Dreiseitl, Dreiseitl Consulting Robert Fox, Board Secretary, CookFox Architects Stephanie Lazar, Global Health Specialist Matt Stinchomb, Board Treasurer, The Good Work Institute Karyn Zieve, Pratt Institute
d ear friends & s u ppo r ter s , Earth is the school of love. Hawthorne Valley’s vision to reconnect people, place, and purpose creates a vibrant learning community within this school. We have much to discover through experiencing these integrated relationships, and our learning begins when we take time to connect to our place and to be present with each other. Through our deepening awareness and loving attention, we can embrace our interdependence and work together in service for the sake of the whole. Service is a hallmark of Hawthorne Valley. The farmers live in service as they rise before the sun to bring in the cows for milking, enhance soil fertility, and grow our food. The teachers who bring Waldorf pedagogy to life in order to nourish the souls of our children, and the parents who make sacrifices to make Waldorf education available, are in service to the future. And the dedication of a community of volunteers, Trustees, and donors helps co-create a generative social field of relationships and form an economy rooted in caring and love, illuminating Rudolf Steiner’s fundamental social law that when our work is done in service to others, our own needs will be met. In 2019, Hawthorne Valley launched Place Corps, an experiential gap year program. The mission of Place Corps is to cultivate a calling to know, love, and serve our places. This builds on Hawthorne Valley’s nearly 50-year legacy of connecting people to place, to each other, and to their own sense of purpose through hands-on, will-centered learning. Place Corps adds to Hawthorne Valley’s already diverse set of interconnected initiatives that collectively create a holistic ecosystem approach to addressing the needs of our time. Though perhaps unconventional, our model aims to create long-term organizational sustainability by honoring, and
mirroring, the complex natural relationships that sustain life on our planet. This reconnecting, or re-membering, remains the heart of Hawthorne Valley’s mission and has never felt more imperative. Our current political, economic, and environmental crises accentuate an underlying anxiety of so many people feeling dis-placed, uprooted from culture with no grounding in meaning or context. More than ever, we need to exercise the social skills of empathy and compassion. We need to access the healing power of the natural world. We need to experience Earth as the school of love. Each morning as my granddaughter and I walk to the valley— her to her classroom at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School, and I to my office across the street—we are reawakened to the miracle of life on this earth. I feel so very privileged to show up to this place that puts stewardship of the land and care for our children at the heart of its mission, and I am forever grateful to the community of supporters who make our work to renew soil, society, and self by integrating agriculture, education, and art possible. I’m excited to share the work this year with you, and thank you for your support. May we continue to work and learn together in service to the earth, to each other, and to our own sense of becoming. With love and gratitude,
Martin Ping Executive Director
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
HAWTHORNE VALLEY’S MISSION IS TO RENEW SOIL, SOCIETY, AND SELF BY INTEGRATING AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION, AND ART. O U R V I S I O N I S TO R E C O N N E C T P E O P L E , P L A C E , A N D P U R P O S E .
Our mission and vision come to life through our work which includes: INTEGRATIVE LEARNING
Fostering joy of learning through Waldorf-based, hands-on education geared toward developing the whole person – head, heart, and hands.
BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE
Cultivating and distributing high-quality Biodynamic food from field to fork.
COMPASSIONATE COMMERCE
Conducting business in a way that prioritizes the welfare of the people, animals, and Earth at the heart of our work.
EXPRESSIVE BEAUTY Nurturing artistic expression in our lives and work.
COLLABORATION
Providing a laboratory of collaborative learning and research where we partner to address some of today’s most pressing concerns such as climate change, educating creative and resilient children, and rebuilding healthy and fair food systems.
soil
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
farm Operating on 900 acres of Demeter certified Biodynamic® farmland, Hawthorne Valley Farm (HVF) is the heart of Hawthorne Valley Association – providing the landscape, resources, and canvas through which all other initiatives conduct their work. As a Biodynamic farm, HVF is committed to managing the cropland, pastures, meadows, hedgerows, and livestock in a way that promotes the overall health of the land while also acknowledging the interdependence of all that lives on and within it.
ALIGNED UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP
This year, the Hawthorne Valley Farm Branch – which includes the Farm, the Farm Store, the Greenmarkets, the Bakery, and the Creamery – was united under a team-based management structure. The new co-directors – Spencer Fenniman, Zachary Tattersall-Hill, and Jeremy Laurange – each have experience managing one or more components of the Farm Branch, and bring decades of agricultural and retail knowledge, as well as a deep commitment to Hawthorne Valley’s mission to their work.
CORNER GARDEN AS PUBLIC SPACE
The Corner Garden is a roughly two-and-a-half acre plot of land across from the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Formerly reserved for hand-tilled crops, this year
As a teaching farm, HVF helps train the next generation of farmers
Hawthorne Valley hired a new lead vegetable farmer, Todd Newlin, who was tasked with developing a plan for this highly public space. The result was to convert the specialized garden into a vegetable growing and educational field by planting more than 30 different crop species, streamlining processing for the Greenmarkets, Farm Store, and Hawthorne Valley’s 300-member CSA. In future years, the Corner Garden will become a space for even more hands-on, public programming.
FARM APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM
As a teaching farm, HVF helps train the next generation of farmers in holistic and regenerative agricultural practices. This year six farm apprentices learned how to take a wholesystems approach to farming that simultaneously produces healthy plants and animals, while also helping to reduce waste and mitigate soil degradation.
VALUE ADDED PRODUCTION
Hawthorne Valley uses much of what is grown on the farm to create value added products including bread, yogurt, quark, raw milk, and seven different kinds of hard and soft cheeses. In 2019, value-added production required nearly 500 pounds of Hawthorne Valley Biodynamic rye, and more than 400,000 pounds of Hawthorne Valley milk – about 85% of
the total milk required to meet dairy production demands. To fill in the gap, Hawthorne Valley partnered with local Breese Hollow Dairy and Side Hill Farm. Partnerships like this are just one of the ways that Hawthorne Valley helps to support area farmers, and acts as a hub for regional agriculture.
CERTIFIED ANIMAL WELFARE APPROVED BY AGW (A GREENER WORLD) MEAT
Hawthorne Valley’s livestock animals are essential for maintaining the health of the farm. For cows, pigs, and chickens in particular, their natural behaviors – scratching, rooting, grazing – as well as their manure, are vital for healthy soil, and the meat they provide helps to sustain the farm’s economic fabric. In 2019, total meat sales on the farm were valued at nearly $100,000, and included many value-added products such as bacon, beef kielbasa, and hot dogs. Along with Hawthorne Valley Farm Store and Greenmarket locations, our meat is sold wholesale to customers throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City, and to private chefs who want to showcase high-quality, humanely-raised local products. On another equally important level, the animals on the farm contribute to its social fabric in ways that are immeasurable. Staff, visitors, and students work with, learn from, and connect with our animals on a daily basis.
in holistic and regenerative agricultural practices.
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
farmscape ecology program Through original, multidisciplinary research, Hawthorne Valley’s Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) explores both the wilder and more agricultural landscapes we inhabit, and the relationships amongst the variety of organisms— from microbes to plants to insects to humans— that rely on the land to survive. Their work seeks ultimately to stimulate in all of us an informed compassion for and stewardship of our shared places.
WILD NATURE AND AGRICULTURE
Integrating conservation and agriculture is critical if we hope to have a landscape which feeds us while also supporting nature. Through ongoing, long-term research, FEP documents how different on-farm habitats (e.g. hedgerow and forest) support organisms beneficial to
food production, and the role of these habitats in supporting the conservation of native plants and animals. To this end, FEP partners with the Hudson Valley Farm Hub and Hawthorne Valley Farm to research and demonstrate practices that support both resilient food production and the conservation of wild biodiversity on farms. This has included creation and monitoring of such on-farm habitats as wildflower meadows and beetle banks. These habitats are designed to increase the diversity of plants and animals, including “beneficials” like pollinators and pest-predators. By encouraging more on-farm life, such habitats have the potential to reduce the need for pesticides and, when employed as a cover crop on tilled land, may help improve soil health.
Their work seeks ultimately to stimulate in all of us an informed
PROGRESS OF THE SEASONS
FEP discovered, compiled, and digitized a historical state-wide dataset of the seasonal timing of plant and animal life cycles (phenology) from the 1800s. It is available in a searchable format on their website. This historical dataset has formed the basis for a rich collaboration with the New York Phenology Project, in documenting and comparing the timing of current and historical seasonal events such as wildflower blooms and bird migrations from as far back as 1802. This research allows us to better understand the changes that have taken place in our ecosystem, and the impact of a changing climate on native plants and animals. Their findings are the subject of a forthcoming scientific paper, and have also been used to develop an academic curriculum about phenology and climate change that has been utilized at Darrow School in New Lebanon, New York and Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School.
FIELD GUIDE
to care for and interact with them. It is designed to be a resource for anyone living in this landscape, as well as a tool for municipal groups and others managing and guiding land use decisions.
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
FEP uses their research as background for engaging with diverse audiences from across the region. In 2019, they hosted free monthly public ecology walks as well as monthly open houses that served as opportunities to share aspects of their work and to field natural history questions from the public. They also presented on regional ecology and healthy agricultural systems at multiple venues such as the Northeast Natural History Conference, the Conway School of Design, SUNY Cobleskill, and the national Biodynamic Conference. This fall they also co-coordinated a Perspectives on Farming with Nature event at the Ashokan Center featuring their research and that of their collaborators.
FEP is working on their second book, an Ecological and Cultural Field Guide to the Habitats of Columbia County. The Guide, which is expected to be completed in 2021, brings together years of FEP’s ecological and cultural research to document the habitats in our landscape, the organisms living there, the cultural and historical context of these habitats, and ways
compassion for and stewardship of our shared places.
2019
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
place based learning center Since Hawthorne Valley was founded nearly 50 years ago, the Place Based Learning Center (PBLC) has taken a leading role in children’s education on the Farm. In addition to teaching all farming and gardening classes for grades 1-8 at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School, PBLC offers programming that invites children from across the region to build a closer relationship with their food, the environment, and each other.
VISITING STUDENTS PROGRAM
The Visiting Students Program (VSP) offers week-long, farm-based residency camps for children in grades 3–10 from schools throughout the region. Over the course of the school year, more than 500 students visited the farm from 23 different schools. For many schools, annual trips to
Hawthorne Valley through the VSP are an essential part of their curriculum. This year, 96% of those schools who participated in the program were returning, and of those 87% have come for five years or more.
FIELD AND HOUSE SUMMER CAMPS
PBLC residential summer camp programs provide children with the opportunity to spend one or two weeks fully immersed in all aspects of farm life. Many children are introduced to summer camps through the VSP, and return every year before ultimately becoming camp counselors themselves. This year, 142 children attended summer camp, half of which had attended camp in a previous year.
KIDS CAN COOK FARM-TO-TABLE DAY CAMP
During this year’s Kids Can Cook Farm-to-Table Day Camp (KCC), 42 children ages 8-13 learned about where their food comes from and gained the skills to turn farm-fresh produce into nutritious meals, all while spending time together in the natural landscape of Hawthorne Valley’s farm campus. Experiences like these can be transformative for children. For this reason, KCC staff conduct educational outreach activities in economically-diverse communities, and offer camp tuition on a sliding scale. In keeping with our original commitment, half of all KCC campers this year attended completely free-of-charge.
EDUCATION FOR ALL
During the school year, KCC staff worked in collaboration with the Hudson City School District (HSCD) to offer afterschool programming to HSCD students both in Hudson, and on Hawthorne Valley Farm. Forty-eight
children participated in the program this year, learning firsthand about food and nutrition while cooking, gardening, and playing together. Through this work, KCC staff also participate in the Hudson Out-of-School-Time (HOST) Collaborative, a group of local organizations committed to providing quality, out-of-school-time experiences that foster a culture of learning in safe and supportive environments.
INTERNS AND COUNSELORS
The Place Based Learning Center relies on a strong group of interns and counselors to support their work throughout the year. In 2019, the PBLC was assisted by 7 interns and 11 camp counselors who not only aided students in their daily activities, but helped them to build connections between themselves and the land around them. Like campers, PBLC interns and counselors often return year after year before ultimately using the skills they learned at Hawthorne Valley to positively impact their local communities.
In an age of increasing “virtual” experiences...people of all ages need to engage in real, purposeful work alongside others...It is through such experiences that real growth and transformation of the individual, and ultimately our communities, can take place. ~ I N D I G O O C E A N , P R O G R A M & D AY C A M P M A N A G E R
Amarina Eidson HVS ‘20
soul
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
hawthorne valley waldorf school Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School, founded in 1973, is an early childhood (pre-kindergarten) through grade 12 independent school that operates in association with Hawthorne Valley Farm and other branches. The school is part of a world-wide movement of progressive education, based in experiential learning that nurtures and cultivates the unique potential in every child while bringing forth each individual’s capacity to serve and respond to the challenges of our times. In our unique location, nestled within a bucolic setting approximately two-hour’s drive from both New York City and Boston, Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School sees the changing landscape that is a reflection of our times. In recognizing the importance of finding balance in our lives, there is a resolve and priority to evolve and offer a dynamic education that cultivates social responsibility, and personal excellence, as well as the academic and practical capacities necessary to meet the needs of the future.
LOOKING TOWARDS THE NEXT 100 YEARS
This year, Waldorf education celebrates its 100th anniversary – a major milestone for an educational philosophy, particularly one that has schools across the globe. Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School joins 1,100
Waldorf/Steiner schools and 1,800 Waldorf kindergartens in over 80 countries to recognize the history and impact of this education while looking towards the next 100 years. Students from our school exchanged handmade postcards with drawings and notes with students from Waldorf schools around the world which are displayed in the school’s main lobby.
INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
The benefits of the school being embedded in a working Biodynamic® farm offer the children direct experience of curriculum subjects that are in-depth, hands-on, and multidimensional to deepen the learning experience. The Integrated Farm Curriculum for grades 1-8 is a growing collaboration between the Director of the Placed Based Learning Center at Hawthorne Valley, and the faculty of the school to enrich and expand upon the Main Lesson blocks with experiential learning outdoors.
FARM-TO-SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM
The rich partnership between the school and Hawthorne Valley Association has also contributed to the school’s new Farm-to-School Lunch Program launched this past year to bring delicious, nutritious, and locally-sourced food to students in kindergarten through grade 12. Fresh snacks and
Waldorf education is a human centered education, based on love: love for learning,
Kestrel Duke HVS ‘26
hot lunches made daily at the School Kitchen introduce the students to seasonal vegetables, explore dishes from around the world, and provide an expanded sensory experience of food that is connected to the local land.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
The school is dedicated to raising awareness and putting into practice policies, programs, and curriculum content that embrace greater diversity and inclusion. In order to enact effective change we have consulted with Multicultural BRIDGE, a local grassroots organization dedicated to working with institutions to catalyze necessary systemic changes to promote mutual respect and understanding. A number of workshops and trainings have been brought to our faculty, high school students, PTA, and wider community at large. Most significantly, a multicultural advisory group has been formed to more effectively incorporate these principles throughout school life and culture.
CHANGES IMPACTING INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
This year, Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School received a $1,050,000 grant award from the NoVo Foundation to support teachers’ salaries, strengthen the school’s ability to make Waldorf education available to children of diverse
backgrounds through the tuition adjustment process, and offer general operating support for the EARTH Program (Hawthorne Valley’s outdoor elementary school program that is integrated with nature, farming and the community). The grant will be spread out over a period of three years, with $300,000 per year going to support teachers’ salaries and tuition aid, and $50,000 per year going to support EARTH. Hawthorne Valley’s ongoing commitment to making Waldorf education available to all children will be made more possible with the support of NoVo. Towards the end of the school year, in June, the New York State legislature passed a law to end religious exemptions to vaccines for children attending school. The repeal will have a significant impact on independent schools, including Hawthorne Valley, as it mandates that all students under the age of 18 be “caught up” on their immunization schedule. Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School focuses its energy on generating a sustainable and vibrant future. We continue to be passionately committed to creating opportunities that deepen and expand children’s experiences and learning, create connections to our local place and environment, build lasting relationships with parents, and strengthen our network of alumni and the wider community.
love for life, love for the world, and love for one’s fellow human being. ~ERIC MÜLLER, HVS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER
alkion center Launched in 2003, Alkion is an Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) recognized two-year teacher education program that introduces students to the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner and the methodology of Waldorf education. Throughout this program, the arts play an important role, and the students are taught painting, sculpture, drawing, blackboard drawing, form drawing, storytelling, eurythmy, and music. The first year serves as an artistic and philosophical foundation, where students are presented with the core principles of anthroposophy, such as Biodynamic agriculture, curative eurythmy, threefold social order, anthroposophic medicine, and the Camphill movement. The second year focuses on the Waldorf curriculum, and the students choose a path between specializing in early childhood or the grades. In recent years, Alkion changed their course structure from a three-year study to a two-year intensive program. This modification, in response to students’ feedback, has allowed for a streamlined program that is more accessible to a wider number of students. Enrollment was very robust this year with one of the largest numbers of first year students and others joining in for the second year.
Alkion also completed a lengthy process of becoming state certified as a specialized (proprietary) school. This certification now allows students from abroad to apply with greater ease and simplicity. Alkion attracts students from across the US and Canada, and has received inquiries from South America, Europe, and Asia. Publications to be released by Alkion Press this year include a book of poetry by Elryn Westerfield, a children’s book entitled The Magic Us by Leif Garbisch, and a new historical novel, The Black Madonna and the Young Sculptor: Mythic Dimensions of Celtic Chartres, by Eric Müller. Grounded in the path of inner development outlined by Rudolf Steiner, Alkion’s programs strive to awaken the individual to the working of the spirit in the human being, nature, and society. The two-year program and summer courses provide guidance and practice in the philosophical, contemplative, moral, artistic, and practical capacities needed to become self-directed, fully developed human beings and educators.
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
free columbia Free Columbia began ten years ago as a communitysupported, community-oriented, cultural, and educational initiative. It offers full-time, residential programs for adults in the fields of social theory, studio and performing arts, and nature studies. The heart of the initiative is the cultivation of art, aesthetic education, contemplative inquiry, and action research in a spirit of independence and accessibility. This past year, Free Columbia has been very active both locally, nationally and internationally. One of its most visible programs is the Art Dispersal initiative. Over 99 works of art have been freely distributed at events in the Hudson Valley, New York City, and New Orleans. Free Columbia also organized 159 paintings to be exhibited through the Enliven the Walls program. A range of paintings in size and style are now hanging at the Holder House in Spring Valley, Marlboro College in Vermont, and in the halls and offices of central services at Hawthorne Valley, as a freely rotating program of art on the walls. In addition to other exhibitions, art courses, Low Residency courses, and summer camps for children, Free Columbia
is beginning to collaborate with Lightforms: Art + Spirit, a multipurpose art center initiative in Hudson, NY, to expand the art residency program. As part of the vision for cultural renewal, Seth Jordan and Nathaniel Williams led the first Social Theory and Action program, working with seven interns from across the US and Canada on the topic of holistic monetary design. A comprehensive report is available on their website. The year wrapped up with a 5-day conference, How We Will, organized by The Elderberries Threefold Community from Los Angeles. Community activists came together with a wide-range of attendees exploring new forms of economy and community engagement. HVA as an incubator for new initiatives, ideas, and social renewal, is supportive and encouraging the expansion of Free Columbia into new growth. Free Columbia is branching out to become its own, independent nonprofit in the coming year, and is looking forward to developing new facilities, programs, and faculty.
adonis press Founded in 1941, Adonis Press largely publishes and distributes books on phenomenological science. The Press also publishes poetry, essays and literature, and offers a wide selection of publications through its online store. In December 2018, a much-anticipated publication by Wolfgang Schad was made available as a two-volume book, Understanding Mammals: Threefoldness and Diversity.
wtd theater Walking the dog Theater creates events that inspire, entertain, and build community while engaging children, youth, and adults in their own creative potential. It offers programs to stimulate artistic life in under-served areas, while supporting the work and growth of professional artists, and staging plays with a special passion for the works of William Shakespeare. This past year, Walking the dog Theater presented performances in the US, China, Japan, and Taiwan to nearly 6,000 audience members. Theatrical productions included The Tempest, Othello, King Lear, Hamlet, and As You Like It. During the holiday season, a popular performance of A Christmas Carol toured the US and Asia for 15 performances. And in the Spring of 2019, Walking the dog Theater returned to Harlemville to collaborate with Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School students in Grade 10 to produce The Miracle Worker, and Grade 12 to present The Brothers Karamazov. In addition to plays, Walking the dog Theater worked with 900 participants in workshops and courses on Drama and Inner Development.
society
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ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
institute for mindful agriculture Industrial agriculture today is a major cause of climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation of ecosystems, declining public health, and systemic food injustice. Hawthorne Valley’s Institute for Mindful Agriculture (IMA) believes that a more mindful agriculture can contribute to the healing of these ills. IMA’s work aims to transform our current agricultural paradigm at every level — from our relationship to the soil that grows our food, to ensuring that fresh and healthy food is accessible and affordable to all, to living wages for farmers, and finally to fundamental change within ourselves.
GROWING A REGIONAL FOOD SHED
IMA’s efforts support the transformation of our current food system, from one based largely on transactional relationships, into consciously collaborating food sheds. As part of this work, IMA is a member of the ongoing Hudson Valley Food Systems Coalition, and consults with the Chester Agricultural Center (CAC), supporting
the development of their strategic plan and the implementation of their mission enabling immigrant and other marginalized farmers to gain access to land. This winter IMA keynoted the 2019 conference of the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Association in Fargo, ND, and continues to support farmers and growers in the Northern Plains. Closer to home, Rolling Grocer 19 (RG19) — a mobile grocery store co-founded by IMA and Long Table Harvest with support from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation — moved into a brick and mortar space in the City of Hudson. RG19’s new, larger space has allowed the store to expand its selection of healthy, local, and organic foods sold through it’s unique, three-tiered pricing system, and created a space for community gatherings and educational classes.
“On any farm, not only is the soil the keeper of the past, it is essentially a pathway on which the future can arrive.” ~ S T E F F E N S C H N E I D E R , C O - F O U N D E R & D I R E C TO R I N S T I T U T E F O R M I N D F U L A G R I C U LT U R E AT H AW T H O R N E VA L L E Y
possibilities for greater connection within our communities. The workshop also created safe spaces to discuss both food and social justice challenges. In 2019, IMA also began working on a set of audio guided meditations designed to help listeners connect more deeply to the natural world around them. The first meditation, Summer Cow, was released in July, and the second, Bobolink, is in development as part of the Library of Farm Life series. IMA also collaborated with Hawthorne Valley’s Farmscape Ecology Program to design an immersive soil experience called Soil Tastings – modeled after wine tastings – and offered a series of Soil Saturdays, which integrated biodynamics, art, science and spiritual ecology modalities into a farm walk experience.
WORKSHOPS AND IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES
IMA’s 2019 winter workshop, Agriculture as the Heart of Environmentalism, was based on the premise that many environmental issues we experience today are the result of human estrangement from nature. During the twoday workshop, IMA staff and guest speakers engaged 35 participants to explore a greater sense of belonging in nature, and asked how this sense of belonging can create
IMA continues to offer workshops and represent Hawthorne Valley at national and international agriculture conferences.
FUTURE FARMERS
Meanwhile, IMA continues integrative agricultural training for farm apprentices and Place Corps students, and participates with Glynwood and others in the Hudson Valley Farmer Training Collaborative. In all this, Hawthorne Valley continues to reflect on the “culture” in agriculture and its importance for the future.
retail At Hawthorne Valley, we want to create locally-based food systems rooted in healthy, regenerative agriculture. Through our retail operations, we are actively working to rebuild local economies wherein consumers are directly connected to the growers and producers of their food, and where there is space for community development that bridges the cultural and economic gaps so common in our contemporary food system.
HAWTHORNE VALLEY FARM STORE
The Hawthorne Valley Farm Store provides retail space to more than 200 local farmers and producers who share our commitment to creating a just and sustainable food system. On average, 20,000 customers visited the Farm Store every month in 2019. In 2019, the store rolled out a new initiative, Everyday Essentials, which offers 180 organic pantry staples at discounted prices; and a store-branded line of more than 30 different dietary supplements. Each supplement is produced using certified organic, non-GMO ingredients and is sold at an Everyday Essentials price. What’s more, a portion of the supplements’ sales are used to support Vitamin Angels, a
nonprofit organization providing vital nutrition to women and children in need around the world.
GREENMARKETS
Hawthorne Valley participates in 9 year-round Greenmarkets – one in nearby Hudson, and eight in New York City. New York City Greenmarkets are open four days a week with our flagship farm stand located in Union Square, which is visited by an average of 100,000 people every Saturday. Greenmarkets connect farmers to eaters, helping to maintain the integrity of the local food system.
FARM FERMENTS
Since it was founded in 2017, Farm Ferments has continued to illustrate the ways that values-driven, for-profit entities can positively impact local economies. In 2019, the Farm Ferments team expanded packing production at their facilities in Hudson, and was selected by Wegman’s to not only carry Farm Ferments products in their stores, but also to produce private-labeled fermented products for the supermarket chain. Today Farm Ferments products are sold in as many as eight states throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
The Hawthorne Valley Farm Store provides retail space to more than 200 local farmers and producers who share our commitment to creating a just and sustainable food system.
2019
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
center for social research Modern technology’s materialistic view of life has led to a host of social problems including addiction to screen devices, a breakdown in social relations, and an increased concentration of wealth. In an attempt to study and combat these issues, Hawthorne Valley’s Center for Social Research (CSR) has turned its attention to the nature of technology and the technology industry as it works to implement practical solutions that seek to balance economic, political, and cultural life.
LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS
In June of 2019, CSR hosted a two-day lecture and workshop with Nicanor Perlas, a renowned global activist, advisor, writer, and speaker on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The weekend event was attended by 120 guests who considered the implications of AI and how the future of technology could be designed to align with human values. Throughout the year, CSR Director, Gary Lamb, also lectured on Rudolf Steiner’s indications on the future of
technology, discussing Steiner’s comments in relationship to current predictions about technology’s impact on humans and human consciousness. His lecture was presented in locations throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin.
RUDOLF STEINER COMPENDIUM ON TECHNOLOGY
With the goal of establishing an ethical principle to guide the creation and regulation of technology, CSR spent this year researching and compiling Steiner’s thoughts on technology from 130 of his more than 360 collected works. CSR will be the first group to collect his comments into a resource of this kind. The two-volume Rudolf Steiner Compendium on Technology will provide a viable alternative view of technology that highlights what it means to be truly human in the digital age.
place corps 2019 was the pilot year for Place Corps, an experiential gap year program for 18-25 year olds who want to develop the skills and wisdom needed to live and work in ways that allow their lives, their communities, and the earth to truly thrive. Founded in collaboration with the Good Work Institute, the eight-member Place Corps cohort began their studies by participating in the Ecological Literacy Immersion program at Omega Institute before moving into their house on Hawthorne Valley’s Farm Campus in August. Although only just beginning, Place Corps is already helping students to cultivate a calling to know, love, and serve their places. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for this exciting program and the inspiring students helping to build it.
RG19 Rolling Grocer 19 (RG19) is a community-driven grocery store located in Hudson, New York founded through a collaboration between Hawthorne Valley’s Institute for Mindful Agriculture and Long Table Harvest, with support from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. With the goal of removing barriers to food access and affordability, RG19 sells local, organic, and minimally-processed food items through their Three-tiered Fair Pricing System, wherein patrons self-select a pricing level when they register as a customer. Although it began as a mobile grocery store on wheels, this year RG19 opened a brick-and-mortar store on 2nd Street in Hudson. The move allowed the store to expand their stock of grocery items, increase their operating hours to 25 hours per week, and reach more local residents. Since opening, RG19 has registered over 1,100 customers and grossed nearly $150,000 in sales. To make the store possible, RG19 fundraises to underwrite the cost of its pricing system, and staff also order shelf-stable items through the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, which is able to offer significantly cheaper wholesale prices than would otherwise be available to a shop of RG19’s size. Going forward, the mobile grocery trailer will expand its territory to serve more communities throughout the broader Columbia County region, continuing its mission of providing convenient, quality food for all.
A festival has the quality to take us out of the ordinary and take us to the mysteries of the rhythms of the seasons. ~ RUDOLF STEINER
calendar of events 9.18.18: Farmscape Ecology Program “Finding and Encouraging the Wild in Your Garden” workshop with Margaret Roach
2.21-23.19: IMA Winter Workshop: “Agriculture as the Heart of Environmentalism”
5.3.19: “What does it mean to be Colorbrave?” workshop with Multicultural BRIDGE
9.22.18: Let’s Moove 5K Fun Run & Ride
2.25.19: “Bioregions of the World Unite! How a Bioregional Approach Can Work in the Hudson Valley” talk with Ecotrust founder and author Spencer Beebe, and entrepreneur Christopher Brookfield
5.5.19: May Day Celebration & Spring Fair
3.1.19: “Love in Action: Navigating Social Issues with our Children” workshop with Multicultural BRIDGE
6.8.19: Commencement for the Class of 2019; Speaker, Matt Stinchcomb, Good Work Institute
3.9.19: HVS Spring Open House
6.9.19: Community School Yard Sale
3.23.19: Summer Camp Open House
6.21-22.19: “The Emerging Spirit-Oriented Scientific Revolution” talk and workshop with Nicanor Perlas, advisor, global activist, writer and speaker
10.7.18: Annual Fall Festival 11.16.18: “Navigating Cultural & Social Issues in our Community” talk and workshop with Multicultural BRIDGE 12.1.18: Yuletide Fair 12.14.18: HVS Winter Concert @ St. Mary’s Church in Hudson 12.21-24.18: Walking the dog Theater presents “A Christmas Carol” 1.19.19: Inaugural World Quark Day celebration at Union Square Greenmarket 2.21.19: “Eco-Alchemy” talk with Dan McKanan hosted by Institute for Mindful Agriculture (IMA)
3.29.19: “Important Conversations about Gender, Sex and Sexuality” workshop with Multicultural BRIDGE 4.5.19: Community Cabaret & Coffeehouse
5.19.19: “A Pilgrimage into the Heart of Place” talk with leading Scottish writer and environmental activist Alastair McIntosh
7.27.19: Documentary Film Screening: GIFT with filmmaker Robin McKenna 8.31.19: First in series of three IMA Soil Saturdays workshops
Quianna Brown HVS ‘21
2019
financial overview FY2019: SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 - AUGUST 31, 2019 *REVENUE AND SUPPORT OVER EXPENSES
(before medical reserves and interest in subsidiary)
YEAR END 8.31.19
total revenue
8,300,505 2,936,855 2,482,604 709,037 613,583 249,989 253,383
53% 19% 16% 5% 4% 2% 2%
REVENUE
REVENUE product sales tuition and fees fundraising employee contract Whitethorne visiting schools + camps consulting income other revenue
$15,545,956
supplies depreciation insurance other expense total expenses revenue over expenses
8,111,046 4,170,420 742,927 562,718
52% 27% 5% 4%
543,143 452,060 252,959 620,375
4% 3% 2% 4%
$15,455,648 $90,308
*Subject to audit. Complete financials available at guidestar.org.
EXPENSES
EXPENSES employee compensation product expense administrative expense facility costs
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
2019
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT | HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG
thank you to our generous supporters Stephen Acciani David and Janet Adams The Alexander & Marjorie Hover Foundation Karin Almquist and Glen Berger Madeleine Anderson Robin Andrews Andrew Appel and David Rodgers Jonathan Applefield Kaitlin Armocida The Arthur & Eileen Newman Family Foundation Linda Atkins Jennifer Baer Brigida J. Baldszun Bank of Greene County Bradford and Amy Barr Arthur and Susan Bassin Teshna Beaulieu Judy Beck Ralph and Mary Louise Bedard Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Bernheim Foundation Biodynamic Association Bioforce USA Cristiano Bonino Melanie Brandston Branko Furst Christina Porkert Jens and Spee Braun Audrie Brown Bruce and Karen Frishkoff
Bulova Gale Foundation Paul and Diane Burfeind Burfeind & Sons Contracting Helen Burton and Tod Houghtlin William and Meghan Calhoun Zachary and Alison Calhoun Nancy and William Cara CARMA LLC Wendy Carroll and Tom Curran Richard Carter Sean Casey and Emelie Kihlstrom James and Margaret Cashen Sara J. Cashen David and Marissa Chin Neil and Kathleen Chrisman Scott Cichowlaz and Xenia Duranovic Althea Cimino Anne Cipkowski Citizens’ Climate Education (Columbia County) Claverack Builders Inc Elizabeth Coe Diana Cohen John and Linda Colquhoun Columbia Memorial Hospital Columbia County Tourism Community Foundation of Tomkins County Steve and Laura Corsun Crawford & Associates Engineering, PC Richard Cross
Lisa Damian Bob Dandrew Ben Davis and Valeska Davis Gregg and Dorothea Davis Liza Dawson Bruna De Araujo and Andrew Personette Cate Decker and Charlie Doheny Peri and Marcus DeGrazia Frances Demmerle and Samuel Bryan Thomas DePietro and Dorothy Heyl Gayl DePriest Al Desetta Aaron Dessner and Stine Wengler Dennis and Marianne Dietzel Danielle Do and Sam Sutton-Do Donald C. Brace Foundation Patricia Doudna Virginia Dow and Reid Bielenberg Christine Dreyfus Jason and Jill Duffy Kathrene Duhon Ed Herrington, Inc. Gordon Edwards Edwards Mother Earth Foundation Rosemary Edwards Robert and Ceclia Elinson Etsy Steve Fahmie and Catherine Shin Lisa Farjam and Brian Ackley Anders F. Ferguson Kevin and Liesl Fisher
Raimond Flynn Patrick and Angela Foster William Foster Foundation for Rudolf Steiner Books Bob and Gloria Fox Alison Fox and Zach Feuer Nick and Gisela Franceschelli Sandra K. Franconi Suzan Frecon Mitch and Meggan Friedman Ema Froning Michael and Linda Frosch John and Sidney Fulop Nicole Furnee and Thomas Chulak Andrea Gambardella Leif Garbisch and Kerry Fletcher-Garbisch Charles Gerard The Gerda and Ole Skaarup Foundation Carrie Gibbons Elizabeth Gilmore Franca Gioia and Robert Horton Susan Goodale Peter Gordon and Audrey Oster Great Perfomances Heidi Green and Adam Mugavero Greenbush Tape & Label Inc. Gregg and Jean Frankel Foundation, Inc. Blanca Gross and Keve Bonilla Adam Gwaltney and Jenessi St. Vincent Kristine Haglund and Stephen Harris Karin and Daniel Haldeman
...this feeling of gratitude is a bridge from one human soul and heart to another, without gratitude, this bridge could never be built. ~RUDOLF STEINER
Joe and Diane Haley Kevin Hall David and Molly Hamann Hancock Shaker Village Karin Hanssen Ashley Hartka and Dereck Grout Paul and Jonitha Hasse Jason Healy Guian E. Heintzen Korbin and Yvonne Heiss Henry L. Kimelman Family Foundation Travis Henry Jane and Roger Herzhauser Louisa Heyward Kurt Hildebrandt Charles and Marylyn Hilston Dorothy Hinkle-Uhlig Craig and Henrike Holdrege Linda Horn Jennifer Houston Howell and Madeline Adams Hudson River Bank & Trust Co Foundation Melinda Hung and Abe Hsuan Mary M. Huot The Hygeia Foundation Robert Ihlenburg and Rachel Samuels I-Link Mechanical The Iris-Kaplan Foundation, Inc. Lea Iselin Laurel Iselin
Marvin Israelow and Dorian Goldman Thomas James and Regina Cortina Jewish Communal Fund Tony Jones and Pooky Amsterdam Nina Jones-Szarkovski and Adrian Jones Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation Judd W. Maltin and Kathryn Lince Lidija Juka Anna and Larry Kadish Michael and Gloria Kadish Eve Kaplan and Doug Senchak Harold A. Kelly Elaine and Mitchell Khosrova Kevin Kilb Joanne Klein and Michael C. Brenner Claudia Knab-Vispo and Conrad Vispo Kneller Insurance Agency James Knight William and Mary Koch Michele and Michael Kowalski Eric and Casey Krawczyk Katharine Kremer Sharon Kuhn James and Cynthia Kuster Ellen and Kord Lagemann Gary Lamb Cordelia Lane Deborah E. Lans and Sharon Grubin Jim and Joyce Lapenn Kim Larson and Gary Knell
Law Offices of Mitchell Khosrova Stephanie Lazar and David Newman Bruce Leder and Sylvia Kaminsky Sarah H. and Seth Lederman Laura Lesniewski Nona Lewis and John C. Lange Liberty Farms Patricia and Marty Liddle Kevin and Jennifer Lippert Louis E. Loeb and Tully Lyons Rachel Loshak and Morgan Taylor Robert Ludgin Lawrence and Vicky Lunt Lydia B. Stokes Foundation Patricia Lynch Daniel and Clare Lynch Benjamin Madey Gertrude and Julius Madey Steven Maeglin and Catherine Ryan Irene Mantel and Timothy Hoffmann Paul and Crystal Marks Edgar Masters and Deborah Cohen Jane Jessup Mayer Patrice and David Maynard Laurie McCloskey Darren McDermott and Julia Ball John McManus Benjamin Meier and Katherine Knuth Rebecca Meier and Bob Connor Alicia and Charlie Merinoff Margrit Metraux
Frederic and Masako Metreaud MetzWood Harder Insurance Victor Meyers Allie Middleton and Newell Eaton Sheila M. MacNab Millar and Jeffrey Millar Kevin Montone Adelia Moore Thomas and Olga Moreland Jenny Morgenthau John Moschetto Robert J. Moss Cheri Munske Deborah Munson Kate Needham and Jason Middlebrook Douglas Nelson Judith Ann Neu Erlend Neumann and Jamie Bytheway The New World Foundation, Local Economies Project Betsy and Robert Niederman Patricia Nohara Bonnie Nordoff NoVo Foundation Helen E. Olive James Onnembo and Nina Aledort Eileen Ordu Peter and Charlene Paden Tim Paholak Linda Park and Cotter Luppi Carol Parrish and Paul Clark
Melissa Parsons and Nicolas Dalton Rachel Passaretti-Wu Kristen Pell Penguin Random House Matching Gifts Program Cabot and Margrit Peterson Isabelle Philippe Thomas and Margaret Phillips Jason and Jacqueline Pickard Martin and Janene Ping Plantin’ Seeds Inc. Michael and Barbara Polemis Pro Printers Ted Pugh Michael and Ananda Pyfrom Sherri Quimby-Cronin Ralph E Ogden Foundation, Inc. Sheldon and Shelia Rappaport Raven & Boar Brian and Anna Ree Marianna Reges Renate Reiss Retrograss Farm Revive World Michael and Jane Ried Roger Rindge Rivertown Lodge Margaret Roach Richie Robinson and D’yani Redclay David and Susan Rockefeller Ronsani Brothers Paving Elizabeth Roosevelt Sheila Rorke
Margaret Rosenthaler Jeffrey and Karen Ross Robert and Stephanie Ross Norman and Joanna Jean Roy RSF Social Finance Lawrence Rudolph and Kathy Faltin The San Francisco Foundation The Sandy River Charitable Foundation Andrew Sansone and Kelly Bancroft Tom Sargent Seymour and Miriam Scharf Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer Anthony and Cory Schifano Tessa Schmidt Diane Schmitt-Poland Steffen and Rachel Schneider Trista Schroeder Robert and Shannon Schroeppel Richard Seltzer and Ann Lewis Alex Sierck and Elizabeth Adams Susan and Sandy Sierck Silda Wall Spitzer Jeff and Anne Marie Sills Heather Skilling Mark and Jennifer Slauson Tom Snow and Karen Meriwether Troy Soka Camphill Soltane Monica Stabin Patricia Stachow Kenneth Stahl and Shirley Ripullone Kate Staples Stephen Steim and Sarah Coffey
Dan Stern Daniel and Debbie Sternberg Stewart’s Shops Stiftung Evidenz Matt Stinchcomb and Benedikta Karaisl von Karais Peter Stix Davin and Denise Stowell Chandra and Alex Strompf Paula Sullivan Laura and Stuart Summer Sumner Gerard Foundation Swantz Family Foundation Christian Sweningsen Scott Sylvester and Christina Lowery T Backer Fund Stephen and Phyllis Talbott Tamir Victoria and Larry Temple Jo Valens and Michael Thomas Mary T. Thomas Edward Todd and Charles B. Matlock Charles Towe and Karine Bouis-Towe Cathy and Phillip Tribble Triodos Foundation Ullman Family Charitable Foundation UniFirst Corporation Veronica Van Clinora and Jeff Venho Brian and Grace von Moritz Cassandra and Mattijs Vormer Brigitte Vosse Daniel Wacker
Dana and Paul Wagner The Waldorf Educational Association of North Carolina, Inc. Christiana and Frank Wall Douglas and Elizabeth Wallace Whitbeck Benedict & Smith LLP The Whitehead Foundation Maria Whitmire Sherry Wildfeuer Christina and Basil Williams Ellen Winner and David Lewis Matthew P. Wood Andrea Woodner Priscilla A. Woolworth Marietta Yeager Karyn Zieve and Joel Cohen Robin L. Zitter and Michael Nadeau
Reflects donations and contributions of $100 or above. Hawthorne Valley Association, Inc., is an exempt organization as described in Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. All donations made to Hawthorne Valley are tax deductible.
Massismo Hamilton HVS ‘20
327 COUNTY ROUTE 21C GHENT, NY 12075 HAWTHORNEVALLEY.ORG