2023 ASLF Apprentice Storytelling Zine

ASLF

APPRENTICE

S T O R Y T E L L I N G

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Stories have a way of moving culture. Anne Saxelby was an incredible storyteller, and by amplifying the work of American cheesemakers and dairy farmers, she opened up space in the landscape of a culinary world where European cheeses had reigned as standard.

The Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund Apprenticeship aims to give aspiring farmers and changemakers the opportunity to live and learn on working farms, similar to the experiences that inspired Anne as a young person.

We invite each season of ASLF Apprentices to share about their work on the farms through photos, videos, art, and written word. ASLF’S 2023 Storytelling Zine traverses urban farms, educational community gardens, collectives, indigenous food sovereignty projects, and some of the most prominent dairy, livestock, and vegetable farms in the nation, celebrating the people, plants, and animals who nourish us.

TABLE ANNABEL NIED ALEXA PRITCHARD ALYSSA THIBODEAU ANNA HSU BOB SUTHERLAND CAMERON MO CARRIE STENERSON CATERRA CORNEJO DELANEY HACKETT HADASYA PRAMESTI ILIANA PATE JUBAL BERNSTEIN KATHERINE AYBAR JULIANA WILSON JORDY CAZALES JULIETTE KANG KATE KISTLER KATE SANDREUTER KAYDEN DELVO KEATON FRITZ KHADIJAH KHADIJAH KORINNE VALLER LILJA WALTER LYDIA MACY LAMONT JAMES TURCOTTE LIAN MOY MADISON WILSON MARS WILLIAMS MAX HAIMES MAYA NETZER MIKI NAKANO NICHOLAS PHELPS OLIVER BRIGER REED HARTZOG ROBERT BOUCHER ROGER GAWNE RUBY GARY RUBY RAHEJA SABRINA ROSE SIERRA KUHN SINDHURA KARATURI SOFIE KANAYAMA SOPHIA ROBERTS TESSA DEROSE XOCHITL FERNANDEZ THANK YOU

OF

CONTENTS

[rogue creamery] central point, oregon [florence fang community farm] san francisco, california [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [queens county farm museum] queens, new york [neal’s yard dairy] london, uk [queens county farm museum] queens, new york [firefly farms] accident, maryland [southside community farm] asheville, north carolina [urban growers collective] chicago, illinois [deep rooted organics] westby, wisconsin [uplands cheese] dodgeville, wisconsin [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [star route farm] charlotteville, new york [spring brook farm] reading, vermont [winona’s hemp and heritage farm] osage, minnesota [firefly farms] accident, maryland [stony pond farm] fairfield, vermont [love is love cooperative farm] mansfield, georgia [love is love cooperative farm] mansfield, georgia [rogue creamery] central point, oregon [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [snug harbor cultural center and botanical garden] ] staten island, new york [red hook farms] brooklyn, new york [sky high farm] ancramdale, new york [good shephard conservancy] lindsborg, kansas [firefly farms] accident, maryland [villa villekula farm] barnard, vermont [winona’s hemp and heritage farm] osage, minnesota [paradise locker meats] trimble, missouri [big picture farm] townshend, vermont [the von trapp farmstead & mad river taste place] mad river valley, vermont [brooklyn grange] brooklyn, new york [thanksgiving farm] sullivan county, new york [newman farm] myrtle, missouri [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [real food farm] baltimore, maryland [sky high farm] ancramdale, new york [consider bardwell & levy lamb] west pawlett, vermont [harlem grown] new york, new york [firefly farms] accident, maryland [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [ice house farm] goshen, vermont [kinderhook farm] valatie, new york [snug harbor cultural center and botanical garden] staten island, new york [queens county farm museum] queens, new york

4 6 9 10 12 15 16 17 18 25 26 28 29 30 33 34 36 42 44 45 46 49 50 52 54 55 56 58 64 66 68 78 83 90 92 94 116 126 130 136 138 140 142 144 168 170

MULTIMEDIA STORIES ABIGAIL GREENDYK ALLISON SIROTA ANAYA HARRY HAYDEE TORRES JESSICA ROMANO KAYLA NELSON KAYLA PENA KRISTEN THESING LIAN MOY MARIA HERRERA MARRIA PEDUTO REBECCA HUANG SOPHIA ROBERTS ZOE GRODER

[new leaf agriculture] elgin, texas [ohio city farm] cleveland, ohio [southside community farm] providence rhode island [queens county farm museum] queens, new york [lively run goat dairy] interlaken, new york [talbott & arding] hudson, new york [jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont [catskill wagyu at hilltop farm] accord, new york [firefly farms] accident, maryland [our core] newburgh, new york [villa villekula farm] barnard, vermont [star route farm] charlotteville, new york [kinderhook farm] valatie, new york [consider bardwell farm & levy lamb farm] west pawlett, vermont VIEW THE ASLF APPRENTICE MULTIMEDIA STORIES ONLINE AT www.annesaxelbylegacyfund.org/apprentice-storytelling-2023

ANNABEL NIED

[rogue creamery

y] central point, oregon

learn more about gardening and what goes on at the farm. They were fascin the chickens, the bees, and everything around them.

It isn't easy to find farm a sp ALEXA PRITCHARD [florence fang community farm in the city, so it is excellent Florence Fang is doing everything in its pow connect children with the opportunity to visit.

Florence Fang Community Farm Andrei and Joseph were the two people for the farm visito My time working at Florence Fang Community Farm in responsible San Francisco, California, was nothing short of amazing. with people, volunteers visiting pleasure of spending quiteIt isaalways bit ofbustling time getting tofrom know the two and their pas from nearby tech companies to tax brokers, to children from around the city, to frequent changing the community around them. volunteers; I got to meet many incredible people. I want to share how a few people from the farm have shaped me and my plans in just a month.

Upon arriving at the farm, I got to work with kids from around the city, eager to learn more about gardening and what goes on at the farm. They were fascinated with the chickens, the bees, and everything around them. It isn't easy to find a space like a farm in the city, so it is excellent Florence Fang is doing everything in its power to connect children with the opportunity to visit.

Andrei and Joseph were the two people responsible for the farm visitors. I got the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time getting to know the two and their passion for changing the community around them.

(Joseph on the left, Andrei on the right)

(Kids who attended the farm and I got close with)

Andrei also takes care of the chickens each day. His love for nature a (Joseph onHe the left,treated Andrei on the right) (Kids who attended the farm and I got close with) is unmatched. everything around him with care and respect and t do so too.

He also also has a of way of getting tolove listen that and I still need to figure Andrei takes care the chickens each kids day. His for nature animals is unmatched. He treated everything around him with care and respect and taught me to do so too. He also has a way of getting kids to listen that I still need to figure out.

*Special thanks to the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund for accepting me as an apprentice and to Ted Fang for allowing me to work at Florence Fang Community Farm.

m] san francisco, california Joseph previously worked with people experiencing homelessness throughout the Bay Area, connecting them with ways to communicate with family and friends via technology, helping them find shelter, and much more. He now does anything and everything to help the Bayview community and the farm to prosper at its fullest potential.

He also coordinates the food bank that comes each Saturday at Florence Fang. Joseph taught me the importance of positively impacting and supporting the community around you and that working on something that may appear small at the time has a more significant impact than it may seem.

Community Side

Bayview Side

The farm has two sides- the Asian community side, which many people from around the area plant in, and the Bayview side. Faheem manages the entire “Bayview” side of the farm, which is focused on providing to the black people around the area.

Faheem grew up nearby the farm and is a large part of why it runs successfully today. I worked alongside him each day; whether it was weeding, transplanting, or planting seedlings, I took something new out of it every time I had never expected. Faheem shared that working outside and amongst his community brought him a sense of joy that no other job could.

Faheem plants sunflowers all around the Bayview side. I started to wonder a week or two into the program why he loved them so much. Faheem told me that you never know what to expect from them. All the other plants turn out similar, whereas sunflowers grow in unique, unimaginable ways. He said that seeing how they turn out is always a pleasant surprise.

We also discussed how sometimes it isn't easy to choose a career path outside of the box of societal norms in the Bay Area, like working on a farm or a garden. He taught me that as long as you feel you are doing something that fulfills you each day and makes a positive impact, that is all that matters.

Each of these people is a crucial reason I want to go into sustainable agriculture and energy. Learning from and working alongside each of them taught me something new about myself and helped me see my fullest potential. I am still surprised about how much I was able to take away in such a short amount of time. I have a newfound love for chickens, teaching children how to garden, (surprisingly) love to weed, and the best part- watching plants grow over time.

The work I got to do is vital because San Francisco, especially the surrounding community, struggles to support themselves financially. The farm allows community members to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables. Getting fresh produce, not to mention affordably, is already a struggle many face. I am grateful to have been able to contribute to supporting Florence Fang to provide this. I plan to carry this out in the future- to make sure that communities have access to gardens and or some means of fresh produce that is affordable. I want to change how society views farming and that it is possible for anyone to do it.

*Special thanks to the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund for accepting me as an apprentice and to Ted Fang for allowing me to work at Florence Fang Community Farm.

I wouldn’t have been able to have this incredible experience without you.*

ALYSSA THIBODEAU

[jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont

JASPER HILL 0

A TASTE OF PLACE

A POEM TO THE ONE AND ONLY BAYLEY BAYLEY, MY FEELINGS FOR YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOUR AROMAS, I HAVE NEVER MET ANOTHER ONE LIKE YOU, YOUR CREAMY ELEGANCE, SALTY FINISH, INSIDES SHINING TRUE OF BLUE, YOU LEAVE MY MOUTH WATERING. I WANT YOU ON MY SALADS, MY BURGERS, STUFFED IN OLIVES, OR JUST BY THE SPOONFUL.

JASPER HILL BARN

PENICILLIUM, GEOTRICHUM, RHODOTORULA

ANNA HSU

[queens county farm museum] queens, new y

Here are some scenes from my first two days at Queens County Farm! I’ve been harvesting fennel, red onions, planting lettuces, and preparing them for sale at the farm stand. Queens County Farm is in a unique position in that it is open to the public under New York City Parks, and we get to interact with local residents and summer campers.

I’ve enjoyed getting to know the agricultural team here as we work in the fields together and the can-do willingness that each farmer contributes.

york

BOB SUTHERLAND

[nealʼs yard dairy]

Intro

During my 4 weeks at Neals Yard Dairy, I spent each week at a different part of the company This allowed me to gain as good and as wide an understanding as possible from what it is like to work in the world of British Cheese Before the Internship • When looking for internships earlier in the year I was looking for companies that would allow me to get as broad an understanding as possible of what its like to work in food • Additionally, having just graduated and spent the majority of my life in academia I wanted to explore different aspects of working in a food company • Finally, I’ve loved eating cheese for as long as I can remember, I really wanted to learn more about British cheese, the farmers that continue to make traditional British cheese and how Neal’s Yard Dairy fits into it Week 1: Maturation • A highlight of my first week was the walkthroughs, where I would be allowed to taste a wide variety of cheeses from different batches, to see how local production can result in great variation in the taste of different cheese • I also got to take part in a variety of tasks such as Cheese washing and cheese care, learning about the effort that goes into cheeses, from the farm to the store Week 2: Production • Helped package and wrap cheeses as they got ready to be sent across the country and abroad to USA and Australia • This involved cutting large wheels of cheese, such as cheddars and even a 42kg wheel of Parmesan • I learnt how to identify which cheeses are suitable to go to different locations, depending on how long they will be in transit and the type of cheese itself Week 3: Retail • Having learnt more about the cheeses themselves, I was sent to the shops to help sell to customers • This meant articulating all that I had learnt in the pervious weeks to help customers and ensure that they could not only learn more about cheese but so that they could get what they wanted Week 4: Offices • I spent my final week in the offices, moving in between different areas • Learning about the relationships that NYD builds with the farms that it buys from and the shops/restaurants it sells to • How important trust and ensuring the quality and variety of British cheese is to everything they do

london, uk

What have I learnt?

• Through this internship I have learnt so much more about cheese and thus allowed me to appreciate not only the taste but the work that goes into more than I could ever have before • From small surprises such as how big a wheel of parmesan is to seeing the extent of the maturing arches at Neals Yard Dairy and the vital role that they play in helping farmers not only sell their cheese but continue to develop it • This internship has helped me understand what it is like to work in the food industry and within a company, how each area works with each to ensure the well running of the business and pursue Neals Yard Dairy’s ultimate goal of improving British Cheese Going Forward: • The Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund and Neals Yard Dairy have turned a belief into the knowledge that I want to continue to work in the food industry as I look forward • While I do not know the exact area that I would like to work in, the depth and breadth of knowledge that this internship has provided me has helped me understand what areas I enjoy and what to look for when I apply to jobs in the future • Finally, the experience itself has been amazing, I have had such a great time, met so many great people and made memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life

CAMERON MO

[queens county

y farm museum] queens, new york

CARRIE STENERSON

[firefly farms] accident, maryland

CATERRA CORNEJO

[southside community farm] asheville, north carolina

This is an abstract cyanotype print, using photos of my fellow farmmates and dried and pressed vegetables from the farm. (okra, squash blossom, asparagus leaves + collard greens). The piece, like the farm, cannot be reduced to its component parts but must be seen as a whole living cooperative organism.

DELANEY HACKETT

[urban growers collective] chicago, ill

Urban Growers Collective Chicago, IL Summer 2023

South Chicago Farm

The majority of the time I spent at UGC was on the South Chicago Farm. This farm is 11 acres and UGC’s home base. The South Chicago farm is the largest source of food within the organization’s 8 campuses across the city.

linois

UGC’s Roosevelt Farm

Fresh Moves Mobile Market

Green Era Campus

UGC goats!

Englewood Village Farm: We assisted in building some of the first beds on the property. Here we planted kale, collards, okra, tomatoes and more!

Fresh Moves is a mobile food market that goes out into Chicago neighborhoods Monday through Friday. They offer fresh produce from UGC farms as well as staple items from wholesalers. The truck makes three stops a day where customers can come onto the bus to shop throughout an 1.5 hour period.

Trellised Tomatoes in a UGC hoop house.

Fresh Moves is a mobile food market that goes out into Chicago neighborhoods Monday through Friday. They offer fresh produce from UGC farms as well as staple items from wholesalers. The truck makes three stops a day where customers can come onto the bus to shop throughout an 1.5 hour period.

One of the best parts of my days on the farm were when I got to see the goats.

UGC feeds weeds and unsellable produce to our 14 female goats. I loved being able to interact with them every day. My favorite goat was a kid named Silver.

She was a super quirky little goat that got picked on my her siblings and the older goats. I loved to feed her all the best stuff each time I saw her.

One of my favorite parts of UGC is the c amaraderie and friendship between the staff.

It is such a positive work environment to be a part of.

Everyone who works for UGC is so passionate about what they do. I felt very supported and uplifted by every staff member I interacted and built a relationship with.

My month with UGC was more amazing than I could have ever hoped for. It was full of hard work and sweaty days, but I loved every minute of it. Everything I learned and experienced was truly so special. I am proud to be a part of the UGC team.

HADASYA PRAMESTI

[deep rooted organics] westby, wisconsin

TOMATOES

deep rooted westby, wisconsin 2023

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1. gold medal — 2. sun gold — 3. white tomesol — 4. german pink — 5. bronze torch — 6. green tiger — 7. carbon — 8. sun peach — 9. thornburn’s terra cotta — 10. paul robeson — 11. blue beauty — 12. japanese trifele black — 13. black cherry — 14. gin fizz — 15. cherokee purple — 16. favorita — 17. tasty evergreen — 18. marnouar — 19. geronimo — 20. principe borghese — 21. nyagous — 22. hot streak — 23. red zebra — 24. mortgage lifter — 25. green zebra — 26. sun green — 27. blush — 28. rosella — 29. sakura — 30. pink berkeley tie dye — 31. margold — 32. kellogg’s breakfast — 33. black krim

ILIANA PATE

[u dodge

Good food has a story that goes far beyond lists of ingredients and processes.

Good food has a story composed of places, plants, animals, people, community, art, and in short, life.

Good food has a story that is alive, breathing, changing with the world, and growing over time.

During my time at Uplands Cheese, I had the opportunity to participate in making Rush Creek Reserve, a deliciou

To me, the story of Rush Creek is told through the thoughtful kindness of the people who make it, people who support on with grazing cows, the smell of wet earth, like a sigh of relief, after a long awaited rain, and the fluctuations in milk produ My experience will stay with me in memories of rolling hills,

Of sunsets that fade from blue to pink to gold to blue again so seamlessly that I could never hope to do them justice

And of the (Here’s my

uplands cheese] eville, wisconsin

us little soft ripened cheese that is only made for a few months in the fall and sold during the holiday season.

ne another, take pride in their work, and laugh while they do it, and through the landscape, gentle hills spotted uction and content that are a direct result of what is happening in pastures right outside the creamery doors.

e perfect, varied repetition of thousands of carefully crafted cheeses. y rendition of aging Rush Creek…)

And here is my little sister Leonora’s, she came to visit Uplands Cheese and later painted this picture with me and I wanted to include it!)

These memories change the way I experience this cheese, they make it something more than a source of calories or a fleeting experience of flavor, and that, I believe, is the power of a good story.

Eat food with a good story!

Iliana

JUBAL BERNSTEIN

[jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont

Bayley Hazen Cheesecake Recipe Filling

Crust

18 oz of cream cheese 6 oz of Bayley Hazen Blue cheese 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract ⅛ tsp of salt 1 ½ cup of heavy whipping cream ¼ cup of granulated white sugar ¼ cup of pure maple syrup ¼ cup of sour cream

1.5-2 tubes of crushed Ritz crackers 8 tbsp melted butter

Using the paddle attachment fitted to a stand mixer combine the blue cheese and the cream cheese at a high speed until smooth. Add the vanilla, salt, white sugar, maple syrup and sour cream and mix until fully combined.

In a separate bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until just combined. Be careful not to over mix, as this will deflate the whipped cream and create a less voluminous final product.

Make the crust by mixing the crushed crackers with the melted butter and pressing into the bottom of a springform pan.

Place in refrigerator until set, between 8 and 24 hours. Serve with a fruit sauce made by heating fruit of choice in a saucepan on the stove with the desired sweetener until fruit is broken down and sauce is thickened slightly.

KATHERINE AYBAR

[star route farm] charlotteville, new york

Iʼll See You Again held by nature held by love watched by forces mother understands i’m sure i soon will too into each life some rain must fall we will have to lift you up you will barely open your eyes to see the fields some days we will remind you of who you are this work, this toil, this return to never forget who it is for that which holds you as opposed to those who claim they know you you know that love is free you know that food should be

you know that daily bread is a decree i know it cannot be for me and only me beauty can be held but not contained your smile can heal me as it does each day but it will change it will shift seasons make way to work beside you once more to cry when you do to smile and know we will do this again, our next day

JULIANA WILSON

[spring brook farm

m] reading, vermont

JORDY CAZALES

[winonaʼs hemp and heritage farm] osage, minnesota

JULIETTE KANG

[firefly farms] ac

ccident, maryland

KATE KISTLER

[stony pond farm] fairfield

d, vermont

KATE SANDREUTER

[love is love cooperativ

ve farm] mansfield, georgia

My month at Love is Love flew by so quickly – it has felt like such a sudden transition to be back home, spending time with my family and preparing to leave for college. Now back in Raleigh, I’ve had some more time to reflect on my experience and am writing to express my gratitude for all the people involved in facilitating my apprenticeship.

Joe and Judith, I am so appreciative of how you immediately welcomed me into your home, introduced me to your friends, took me to see Atlanta, etc. I felt warmly and enthusiastically welcomed from my first day, and so enjoyed your conversation and company over the weeks. I really appreciated the community feel of work on the farm and loved getting to know the other worker-owners and part time employees. Everyone was friendly, genuine, and motivated, and the stories of how and why each person at Love is Love became involved in agriculture were unique and inspiring.

In terms of my own work, it was meaningful and satisfying to fall into the routines of the CSA and the wash-pack process, and exciting to witness the changes that took place on the farm during the month, such as certain crops being staged in or out of harvest, new plants being seeded, and the development of the Sewell property. While I had prior experience harvesting produce, it was eye-opening to be introduced to the many post-harvest processes involved in packing, storing, and selling vegetables. Judith, you did such a great job at scheduling my weeks out so that I could experience several facets of production and distribution at Love is Love.

My favorite experiences include crafting flower bouquets with Claire and Monica, doing deliveries across Atlanta with Holly, and helping with the CSA each weekend! I learned so much during my apprenticeship – about planting methods, the model and structure of the co-op, local agriculture and community activism, Atlanta, plant taxonomy, and more.

KAYDEN DELVO

[love is love cooperative farm] mansfield, georgia

KEATON FRITZ

[rogue creamery] central point, oregon

KHADIJAH KHADIJAH

[jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont

KORINNE VALLER

[snug harbor cult

RADICCHIO

BEETS

Growing Propagation Radicchio can be sowed outdoors from April to June depending on

climate. Don’t be tempted to sow too early outdoors – cold spells can cause Radicchio to bolt, producing flowers rather than leaves. Sowing indoors allows you to get a head start when conditions outside are still too cold. Sow seeds thinly, 1cm ½in deep, in rows 12in apart. Thin out the seedlings as they grow.

Sow beet seeds in 5-21 days, and tran apart in rows 18 in

Maintenance Radicchio is fast growing and relatively low maintenance, but do keep it Thinning is often r well watered in summer. Apply a thick layer of mulch, such as well-rotted manure or garden compost, around chicory plants to help hold moisture in the soil and deter weeds. Keep lants weed-free, to reduce competition for light, water and nutrients. Blanching isn’t necessary, as the inner leaves are protected from light, reducing their bitterness.

inches between pla inch of water per w

Harvest Radicchio is typically ready to harvest by late Summer to mid-Autumn. Harvest leaves any

Cut off the entire head, leave the stump and it may re-sprout to provide tender, though exc a second, smaller head. Harvest before the first frosts or protect with and quality. For th cloches or fleece. inches in diameter

Culinary Handling Discard the outer leaves, as they are usually tough and bitter. The

Cut off the tops of blanched inner leaves have a sweeter tangy flavour, but if left exposed to and peel beets. light after harvesting, they will soon turn green and more bitter.

Storage Refrigerate and enjoy within about two weeks.

Food Prep Options Raw or cooked, it adds a splash of colour to many dishes and is widely used in Italian cuisine. While it has a bitter taste, when roasted or grilled, its flavour becomes milder.

Place in the crispe several months.

You can eat beets r ling, roasting, or b blended into a hum

tural center and botanical garden] ] staten island, new york

MACHE

mid-April to mid-July. Germination takes about nsplant in May-August. Space seedlings 2 inches nches apart.

Mâche can be directly sown either in early Spring in colder climates or in fall in warmer climates. To ensure germination, soil temperatures should be at least 50 degrees, but not higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Be patient; mâche can be slow to germinate.

Don’t worry about spacing—broadcast the seed and cover lightly with 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch of soil. Keep soil moist until germination, which takes seven to 12 days. As seedlings sprout, thin them out to 3- to 6-inch spacing.

required to get to the desired spacing of about 2 ants. Fertilize and make sure you apply at least 1 week.

Seedlings should be watered weekly. You can prolong the season by succession planting every two weeks throughout Spring. As summer weather turns warm, mâche will have an impulse to flower and set seed, at which point the plants can be pulled out, since the leaves will become unpalatable.

ytime they reach sufficient size. Smaller leaves are cessive early harvest of leaves will reduce root size he best quality roots, harvest when they are 1 to 2 r.

Mâche can be harvested as a “cut-and-come-again” lettuce. Use the outer leaves first, when they are about 3 inches long. Leave the rosette in place to allow more leaves to follow. You can also slice off an entire head, but it is unlikely to regrow.

f the beets, leaving about inches of the stem. Wash

Handle like other leafy greens by delicately washing and drying the harvested leaves.

er drawer of the refrigerator. Beets can last up to

Store in a refrigerator and enjoy within a few days.

raw or cooked. Common preparations are pickboiled. Beets can be enjoyed in salads, soups, or mmus.

Mâche is generally eaten fresh, with a very light dressing. However, you can warm and wilt the leaves, as a salad or side dish.

LILJA WALTER

By Lilja Walter

[red hook farms] brooklyn, new york

For the last decade, my career has revolved around food systems in New York City. Most of that time has been spent on the line in restaurants, with some early dabbling in urban farming. Through the years I’ve seen just how far apart these sister industries have become under modern American capitalism. 3rd party food distributors with next day delivery are the lifeblood of restaurants, while the unpredictability of weather and crops make it hard for local & urban farms to supply those businesses. But both farms & restaurants deal with an extremely perishable product, razor-thin margins, intensely physical work with low wages & long hours, and an inherent devaluation of their work.

These issues prevent the reunion of food industries by keeping workers and small business owners in a cycle of staying barely afloat.

For those who are able to enter these industries by choice, they do so because they understand that the work of providing nourishment is a necessary and healing practice.

That belief is powerful. The more people who come to understand it as truth, and put forth a willinging to support that, the closer we can get to healing our food systems.

Part of that is coming to understand that menus and prices can’t always stay the same, it’s frankly in opposition to nature. Allowing restaurants the leeway to actually use seasonal ingredients, building direct relationships with local farms, would be revolutionary.

LYDIA MACY

[sky high farm] ancramdale, new york

Sky High Farm: Passages on Pasture Lydia Macy

The sleepy blanket of fog lifts off the pasture in the morning, revealing the heard of mother cows grazing in the shadows of pine. This is a good way to start my morning, I think to myself.

Rolling the red hay ring across waterlogged pasture is a recipe for belly ache laughter and time wasted capturing photos perfectly framed by the concentric circles. When the pasture has yet to grow back enough to nourish the four bellies each of the hungry cows, we roll out the red ring, drive down a bushel of silage, and prepare a sweet fermented feast for our ruminant friends.

The breeze carries the sweet and sour smell of the fermented hay across the farm.

I relished in the twice daily ritual of collecting freshly laid brown eggs. n abundance of nutritious gifts each morning. Mother hens brooding over their could-be babies. Some, did not want me to take their eggs, others were pleased to relin uish the responsibility of warming a home. With each one so delicate, I learned to be more slow and soft.

Humphrey, vonne, and Percy pose for their album cover. They are serious moosicians.

The bluegrass has gone to seed and the cycle of pasture regeneration continues! The grasses nourish the soil and the animals and the soil nourishes them, a promise of sacred reciprocity. The seeded grass dances in the wind, a silent symphony.

Sleepy sheep with coats fifteen shades of white, rest their pink noses on their cud-chomping jaws in the afternoon light. They ask for scratches on their heads and rumps and like to cuddle with us humans, too. It was easy to fall in love with the sheep and their chorus of bleats.

Shan Shan, my livestock partner and mentor and friend. They taught me to nurture the baby chicks on their first day on the farm. They taught me to connect with each little life. I held their warm little bodies in awe, well aware of what lies ahead for them. The ne t week we slaughtered their predecessors.

Swallowtail perched on thistle, on the brink of bloom. The pasture is home to much more than the ruminants, chickens and pigs. It is habitat and home and ecosystem to a constant swirl of pollinators and birds, swimming from tree to thistle, humming to the rhythm

be more slow and soft.

Humphrey, vonne, and Percy pose for their album cover. They are serious moosicians.

Swallowtail perched on thistle, on the brink of bloom. The pasture is home to much more than the ruminants, chickens and pigs. It is habitat and home and ecosystem to a constant swirl of pollinators and birds, swimming from tree to thistle, humming to the rhythm of the farm.

LAMONT JAMES TURCOTTE [good shephard conservancy] lindsborg, kansas

LIAN MOY

[firefly farms] accident, maryland

MADISON WILSON

[villa villekula farm] barnard, vermont

MARS WILLIAMS

[winonaʼs hemp and heritage farm] osage, minnesota

Moments from Winona’s Hemp and Heritage ASLF Storytelling Project

Winona’s Hemp and Heritage Farm is a collection of farms within the White Earth Nation, near Ponsford Minnesota. This institution is owned and directed by environmental activist, writer, and farmer, Winona LaDuke. The farms are community-run and deeply connected to generational Anishinaabe agricultural knowledge.

While their primary focus is in producing hemp and heritage corn, the Anishinaabe Agricultural Institute focuses on widespread community nutrition, so they grow all kinds of vegetables for anyone who needs it. A central effort of the institute is advocating for food justice and this goal acts as the central pillar of all actions within the institute. Growing hemp as a value-added resource means growing a stronger economy of self-sufficiency within the reservation.

My first weekend in Minnesota was spent canoeing and camping with the Shell River Alliance on the anniversary of their 2021 campout protest. They held these grounds under treaty during the summer of 2021 to combat the Line 3 Pipeline. This was an amazing introduction to the beauty of Minnesotan biodiversity. As well, I got to learn from the many environmental activists present. They taught us all about the region’s ecology and the significance of the protest that had taken place a couple years before.

Back at homebase, there was no shortage of companionship! We were welcomed to stay at Winona’s personal cabin on the lake, home to many friendly animals and passerbys. Part of our home duties included feeding the pets and taking extra special care of the 5 puppies.

Additionally, we helped out around the house, tended to Winona’s home garden, and welcomed any other guests that may have been popping through. When we weren’t working, we were swimming or canoeing off her dock! That all being said, most of our time was spent working between the other farms.

Our farming tasks were divided between 3 farms within the area. We worked primarily as a team of the 3 ASLF interns.

We planted, weeded, watered, harvested, and cooked with the foods we helped grow! While vegetables were our primary focus, we helped out with the hemp too, which is the coolest part of Winona’s farm work! We were taught about the production of hemp and it’s many many uses. We watched the construction of a home addition made of HempCrete walls, and we screen-printed onto t-shirts made of hemp.

As briefly aforementioned, we screens to print designs created Sarah LittleRedfeather and Win We printed onto shirts made of taught other community memb could continue the practice afte shirts went to Winona’s online bags for her events. (Pictured A Jordan and Mars)

used silkd primarily by nona LaDuke. f hemp fabric and bers how, so they er we left! These store and gift ASLF interns:

In addition to our vegetable and hemp farming, we spent lots of time with the friendly farm animals! We tended to the horses, milked the goats, and fed the pigs. I learned so much about how to care for farm animals and all the effort and love that goes into keeping them alive and happy. Much thanks to the helpful farm hand, Noka, my favorite goat milk-loving farm dog (pictured above, waiting for her fresh milk).

And of course, a huge shoutout to all the hardworking cats that kept us company in the fields.

Interacting with these sweethearts was undeniably my favorite part of working.

Outside of work, we had plenty of time to explore the surrounding area. In Minneapolis we visited the Mall of America, Minnehaha Falls, and Owamni by the Sioux Chef (a native american restaurant).

We went to Bemidji for a concert on lake Bemidji and went for a hike to the Mississippi River headwaters.

On the reservation, we attended a demolition derby and a powwow. Needless to say, there was never a dull moment!

I’m very grateful for my time at Winona’s Hemp and Heritage Farm. I made so many wonderful memories and learned more than I could’ve imagined. Thank You ASLF!!

Storytelling by Mars Williams

MAX HAIMES

[paradise locker meats] trimble, missouri

[big picture farm] townshend, vermont MAYA NETZER

I was so excited when Lucas and Louisa came up with the idea of creating a map to share with guests and visitors. I worked with an aerial photo of the land, but most of the map was painted from life - after morning chores when I would scoop up the bottle babies, feed the dogs, barn cats, yearlings and goat mamas. It felt so special to have that time walking through the woods, picking out certain trees or bends of slope to draw, or finding a rock to sit on by one of the buildings to just look and listen to all the tiny worlds unfolding within such a big one.

MIKI NAKANO

[the von trapp farm

ASLF - MAD RIVER VALLEY Summer 2023 Miki Nakano

mstead & mad river taste place] mad river valley, vermont

During my two weeks at the Taste Place, I gained a strong foundational knowledge of the major cheese categories and the best cheeses Vermont has to offer! Mary guided me through tastings that compared cow's milk cheeses to goat and sheep's milk cheeses, different kinds of

blue

cheeses,

a

variety

of

cheddars, and several types of alpine style cheeses - plus some delicious meats from the in-house butcher shop - 5th Quarter. Mary showed me the

ins

and

out

of

managing

inventory, placing orders, curating a cheese case and wine section, Aside from my personal cheese education I was trained to talk about the cheeses in the case with customers, and cut and wrap cheese to order.

SHELBURNE FARMS SHELBURNE, VT

I was fortunate to have a wonderful tour of Shelbu

Farms' Cheese Sales Manager. I met their Brown Sw

only a few days old!), saw several stages of their

many of their beautiful buildings including the home

operation, and their educational programs (pictured

My two weeks at the von Trapp Farmstead allowed me to see all stages of the cheese making, eating, and distributing processes. I was grateful to be able to participate in a variety of farm operations from the creamery - where I assisted in the of making Oma, Mad River Blue, and yogurt- to the farm store, and at the farmer's market. All of these activities showcased the value of the farm's emphasis on organic regenerative agricultural practices. It was inspiring to witness how sustainable farming directly correlates to high quality final products and happy, healthy animals.

urne Farms with Tom Perry, Shelburne

wiss cows (including some who were

r cheese making process, and toured

e of Shelburne Farm's cheese making

d here).

JASPER HILL GREENSBORO, VT During my second week at von Trapp I joined the team's quarterly visit to Jasper Hill Farm.

The visit included a tour of their impressive creamery and cheese caves, which allowed me to see where and how von Trapp's Oma is aged once it leaves the farmstead. The caves aging Jasper HIll's other cheeses, like Alpha Tolman and Whitney were also featured on our tour- pictured here! I got to see where exclusive wheels of cheese for Saxelby's are aged - pictured on the previous page! After the tour, I joined the rest of the von Trapp team for a tasting of all the batches of Oma made in the last quarter. Tasting the same cheese at a variety of ages allowed me to understand the complex flavor profiles a cheese can develop over time, and how record keeping during the cheese making and aging processes can be helpful in understanding the flavors a cheese develops as it evolves.

One of the highlights of my time at the Farmstead was leading a kids' cheese tasting class with Molly! We explored each of von Trapp's cheeses Mt. Alice, Savage, Oma, and Mad RIver Blue - using our five senses, and rated the smell, look, sound, feel, and of

course

taste

of

each

cheese. I had lots of fun meeting

and

eating

with

these young cheese lovers!

On my last day in Vermont, I attended

the

Vermont

Cheese

Festival with Mary and Josh on behalf of the Taste Place! I assisted them

in

running

sessions

of

cheeses

and

four

different

pairing Vermont

beverages

-

accompanied by meats from 5th Quarter Butchery and Babbette's Table. It was such a special way to conclude my fellowship, as I got to meet many cheese makers whose cheese I had been learning about all summer!

This summer was truly a dream. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to learn about the labor of love that is cheese making and Anne’s lasting legacy in the world of Vermont cheese. Thank you to Mary, for expanding my cheese horizons and for your mentorship! Thank you to Tom, Jordan, and Kevin for letting me get in your way behind the cheese counter and to Josh for teaching me to like patte. Thank you Molly, Sebastian, Rachel, Dave, Kelly, Bill, Kate, Joe, and Kamil for letting me shadow you - I learned so much from each of you! And thank you to Marisa and Sterling for sharing your incredible Milkhouse, and being my home away from home.

NICHOLAS PHELPS

[brooklyn grange] brooklyn, new york

Soil piling up under my nails, thick August humidity looming around me, and the sun mercilessly beating down upon my neck. The first image that would come to mind is not one of a rooftop in sunset park Brooklyn. Many times, when I find myself sweeping through the brush of the eye-level cucumber leaves, that seem to delineate the space between the city skyline and the sky above, I almost forget that I am in fact in a city, and not in a rural farm anywhere else. The second I step off the gray pavement streets and ride up through the elevator to the roof, I am transported to another world, although the elevator itself was a kind of portal. Immediately upon arrival, the cityscape blurs and becomes a forgetful backdrop to the green Eden that lies before me. The wailing sirens of the city and speeding cars sputtering exhaust fade out, as birds and the heat of the sun come into focus, only ever so often reintroducing themselves as a reminder that you still find yourself in New York. What is left before you is better than any neighborhood supermarket. Instead, your eyes are bombarded by different shades of green and the delightful thought of being able to consume the vegetables you laboriously grew during your lunch break or at dinner. The purpose of these photos is to immerse the viewer in this world, both separating this beautiful space from the city to offer a glimpse of the farmwork that is undertaken here and also at other times to juxtapose the clashing images of farm and cityscape. Two words, and ideas that seem to oppose each other, but yet have managed to find a graceful harmony here, in this very special place.

”Chimneys amongst the flowers”

”bountiful bucket”

“Flowers and pavement”

”Visitor”

”Buildings down a cucumber wa

”Gloom over the farm”

”Kale and skyline clash”

”Farm in foreground”

alkway” “Row of sunshine”

“Harvest”

OLIVER BRIGER

[thanksgiving farm] sullivan county, new york

REED HARTZOG

[newman farm] myrtle, missouri

The fattest pig of dozens, weighing three hundred and seventy-eight pounds, most of it muscle, is making a break for it in the direction of you, as you stand between her and a gate that leads back to the large white hoop where she has spent most of her eight month life.

Life and death are on her mind, and she will not give a second thought to the comparably frail and leaf-like body that stands between her and her home.

Crushing your foot under her lumbering thighs will not give her a second thought, it may just be the advantage she's looking for to make it back home.

So, with a big, fat pig in front of you, and a bunch of her piggy friends, abundant food, cool air, and comfort behind, what do you do? Run, right? For your life? Well, no. As that three hundred and seventy-eight pounds of muscle shrieks loudly, preparing for a charge and a crush of foot, you stand your ground armed with a light ten pound plastic shield. The shield is meant to trick this pig into believing that you are not, in fact, a frail little boy that is almost one-third her weight and less than one-twentieth her muscle, but that you are somehow impassable, an unmoving barrier. A quick dance ensues; when she jerks one way looking for escape, you jerk back to block that path with your body, armed with a shield of illusion. This way and that, it is a quick dance that lasts only seconds until either she wins and the big fat pig outruns you and escapes past your plastic shield, hopefully leaving your foot intact, or you win and she crawls onto a scale and then a trailer which she will not leave until after she arrives at the slaughterhouse.

This moment gives you a glimpse into the lifelong dance that running Newman pork farm, or any animal farm, requires. This dance is a balancing act between human, animal, and environment. The farmer must manage all the moving parts in such a way that the animals are happy, the product is good, the customer is satisfied, the family is content, and the farm is afloat. This list is exhausting in itself, so imagine the work put in by the farmer to strike a balance that maintains all those parts. For if one of them gets thrown off then the whole operation could fail.

But the dance at Newman farms is smooth, a testament to the people running it. The pigs are happy and healthy; the females who raise young, called sows, roam pastures their whole lives free to participate in all their natural behaviors. They can root around for tubers and other plants and cool themselves down by getting as dirty as possible in one of the many ponds around the pastures. The babies of these sows will be weaned from their mothers and moved to the hoops to live out the rest of their lives in large groups. They will dig, play, eat, and poop until one day they will be brought to dance with the farmer, and driven off to the meat packing plant to become “Pork Tenderloin,” or “Pork Osso Bucco,” or “Pork Volcano Shanks.”

ROBERT BOUCHER

[jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont

ROGER GAWNE

[real food farm] baltimore, maryland

Real Food Farm & ASLF: Half a Memoir The overly-personal and overly-long storytelling project of Roger Gawne Table of Contents: Part One: Finding Out About ASLF & Why I Wanted To Do This Part Two: Day-to-Day With Real Food Farm 2.1: A City Slicker’s Guide to Terms & Tools 2.2 Highlights on the Job! 2.3 Proximity to Loved Ones Part Three: Larger Lessons & Themes Part Four: Concluding Thoughts & Reflections

Part One: Finding Out About ASLF & Why I Wanted To Do This It is difficult to know where to start, so with no promise of coherency or linearity, I will just pick a place and see where I can end up.

I have wanted to go into environmental justice since I first learned about it when I was 15. If I tried to get into all the reasons why I feel so passionate about it, this would double in length, so I’ll have to ask that you just trust me. That passion is what led me to my major at UCLA– environmental science, with a plan to concentrate in conservation biology– but it has not led me to a clear idea of exactly what kind of work I plan to pursue. While I am fascinated by countless avenues, some of the main aspects I am personally drawn to have been: 1) Urban design, urban planning, and transportation 2) Agriculture, food justice, and food systems, particularly in urban environments These two have plenty of overlap, particularly when it comes to things like green spaces– access to which is not only an EJ issue on its own, but the presence of which also stand to combat things like the urban heat island effect and potentially larger aspects of warming & climate change. My own preliminary research on these matters have been exciting, but I still didn’t know what I’d actually enjoy doing in my day to day, let alone how to find out. One avenue I’ve been especially interested in for quite some time has been urban farming.

Now, I’ve long wanted to get into gardening and low-level urban farming, but I’ve never been able to make the time for it, nor have I felt like I’ve known where to start. There’s so much to know, and a lot of the articles or forums I read assumed a level of base knowledge that I just didn’t have. What I was longing for was an immersive educational experience, so I could really throw myself into it and learn at least the foundations. This was especially true since it seemed like a prospective career path for me, and more than just because it’s technically a facet of EJ. Urban farming, for one, signals a level of community care and resiliency that is absolutely essential to several aspects of social justice movements, from racial justice to anti capitalism (both of which are not only inextricably interlinked, but baked into the core of environmental justice). It also seemed like a type of work that might be better for my own style of working & being than something more traditionally white collar. As both a martial arts teacher and full time student, it’s become very clear

to me that I really love working in my body, as opposed to just engaging my brain. While I need something for my brain to do (no one, I presume, is a fan of tedium) and don’t want to over-exert myself on a regular basis, I know that, whether I spend 8 hours in the library or on my feet teaching & training, I come home drained, but the exhaustion of the latter feels so much better. I also know that, from what (incredibly limited) experience I’d had working with plants, I loved the feeling of it, and can’t really describe that.

I’m also deeply passionate about education– were the world not seemingly on fire, my dream job & calling would most honestly be becoming a teacher. Community building & engagement, education, and youth empowerment are types of work I’ve been doing for a long time, and could not be more excited about. Urban farming holds a ton of opportunities for those sorts of work, which makes it very promising to me.

As I mentioned before, I know that I have a hard time with tedium. In no small part due to being neurodivergent, it is a real challenge for me to find the right balance between novelty and rhythm, between what is meditative and what is mind-numbingly monotonous. Furthermore, I struggle with structure, and especially timing. Some aspects of my disabilities lead to chronic fatigue, which can make it difficult to be on time, especially in the mornings, or fully mentally present, and when I am awake and aware, I can be pretty time blind. This can be good for productivity– if I get into a flow with something I’m doing, I can keep at it for hours and hours without noticing the time passing– but it can also be tough if I’m distracted on a break or running late to something. This has been difficult and frustrating for me as both a student and a professional– not to mention just, like, as a person– in the past, and has led to some real anxieties as to if I’ll even be able to hold down a steady job. I didn’t know how this would come into play on a farm– I was really worried that the work might be too much for my joint pain, or that it would be too monotonous, or that I wouldn’t be able to show up on time and would just be plain bad at it. But I hoped that I could hold it together for the few weeks of my apprenticeship.

I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I have to explain how I even found out about the program.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve long wanted to be more involved in gardening & urban farming, and as part of that, I tried to join a student gardening club at UCLA called Dig. I’ve never managed to make it to a meeting, but I’m in the Slack for it, and in mid January of this year, someone dropped a link to the ASLF webpage in one of the Slack channels. I was sitting at a desktop in an office I worked in as part of an internship at the time, falling into time blindness and procrastinating homework, when I saw this, and when I read it I could not have been more enthused.

To get this part out of the way, the compensation was a huge pull. Having travel & housing covered, with a living stipend, in addition to being paid $20/hour, 40 hours a week? That is fair compensation for something like this, and should be the standard, but it definitely is not, so I was especially ecstatic to see it. It was the first position I’d ever seen aimed at my age group, especially being specifically entry-level (if not pre-entry-level, since it’s an apprenticeship), that seemed to truly value and respect the time & labor of the person they were paying, and put their money where their mouth was when it came to those values.

But more importantly, I could not have been more thrilled by the actual premise of the apprenticeship. Fully immersive education on small, locally produced food (which is a key part of food justice & environmental justice), with hands-on experience & the physical work with plants & crops that I’d been craving? By traveling to one of the partner sites and stepping away from my own community for the duration of the position, it ensured that I wouldn’t be splitting my attention between my usual commitments and the task at hand. It was, with zero exaggeration, a dream come true.

I spent the next several months refining my application and cover letter, asking for letters of recommendation from my most trusted supervisors, and even reaching out to some of last year’s ASLF alumni to ask for advice about the process (shout out to Margot, who read over my cover letter for me and gave me great tips for the interview & the position itself). I also poured over the ASLF site, reading over all of their partners, and while there were several that seemed interesting, there was one in particular that I was holding out hope for: Real Food Farm. An urban farm that’s primarily focused on community resiliency & education? What could be better? Well, that was in Baltimore.

See, I’ve lived in LA for over a decade now, and it is my home. But I’m originally from Maryland– not Baltimore, mind, but smaller towns around the state. A lot of my family and loved ones are still there: all of my grandparents, my paternal uncle, my maternal aunt whom I’m very close to, and the parents of my late mentor. With the exception of my paternal uncle, they’re all older and/or in less than great health, with several of them being unable to travel, so it’s very important to me that I see them whenever I can. But I don’t go home to Maryland often, and when I do, it’s usually for such a short span of time that it’s hit or miss as to if I’ll even be able to see everyone. Even with Baltimore being 45 minutes away by car at a minimum from any of these folks, a month there would make it far more feasible to actually see them. So, as part of my application, I made a request that I doubt anyone has ever made before: to be in or near Maryland.

Now, I knew I wouldn’t be guaranteed this position. I did look into other alternatives for the summer, with particular focus on things like AmeriCorps (I even tried to connect with CivicWorks, the AmeriCorps off-shoot that Real Food Farm is part of, to try to apply to them directly as a backup, but was unable to figure out how to do so). I ended up applying to the AmeriCorps NCCC Summer of Service as my backup, and was even accepted. But before that, something else occurred.

Over my spring break, on March 31, I was hiking my favorite trail with my now partner when, after I’d gone off alone to scout ahead, the ground collapsed under me. I will spare you the details, but I truly do not know how I even survived. After quite an ordeal in the canyon, I was eventually helicoptered to a hospital, where they found that I’d broken both my arms (my left ulna and right distal radius) and part of my skull (my left temporal). I had to take a quarter off of school, and was in for a pretty intense recovery. My left arm even had to be bolted back together with surgery a few days after the accident. I have a stainless steel plate in there now, and a massive scar to show for it. It was just shy of a week after this surgery that I had my interview with ASLF. I had had to inform the team of my accident via email ahead of time, and was quite worried about how they’d respond– I didn’t want to be disqualified outright because of this. But the emails I got back seemed far more focused on legitimately asking if I was okay and making sure the schedule worked for me. When I did arrive to the Zoom interview, the interviewers were genuinely concerned for my well being first and foremost, before even asking about my qualifications. One did, very carefully and gently, address the elephant in the room by asking if I’d be able to do this apprenticeship– I assured him that, if we went with the dates I was shooting for (beginning in early/mid July), I’d be okay & would make it work. I really did need all that time– I had to turn down the summer of service before I even heard back about ASLF, because they wanted me to start by mid June, and I wouldn’t be ready then– and there’s probably an argument to be made that I should’ve waited. I’d been prescribed 12 weeks of physical therapy after one of my post ops, and was only able to finish about 8 of them. But I wanted this so badly, and was determined to make it work.

When they told me they were considering me for Real Food Farm, I was ecstatic. And when I got to interview with Kai & Kevin, I knew I wanted to work for them. I loved how they described the work, I loved how generally kind and easy to talk to they were, I loved their clear commitment to honoring the

time & labor of their employees (that is to say, not asking people to do extra unpaid shifts, and in fact having people take time off if they did work long on a given day), and when I told them about my injuries, they were super clear that there would be work for me no matter where I was at in my recovery, and they would work with me to make sure I was safe & well on the job.

I could not have been more over the moon when I was offered this apprenticeship. It felt truly perfect for me.

Part Two: Day-to-Day With Real Food Farm To see a map that accompanies this, please click here.

Before I can say too much about what I actually did, I think I need to explain some things about the structure of Real Food Farm (RFF, going forward) as I understand it.

Real Food Farm is a sub-set of CivicWorks, which is itself an offshoot of AmeriCorps. My boss, Kai, oversaw both of the RFF teams: Production & Distribution. Production was basically just the farm itself. The supervisor for production was Kevin, and we had a few seasonal AmeriCorps folks on that team, as well as one summer intern from John Hopkins University. On distribution, we had two full staff, Emma and Harper, and three AmeriCorps folks, two of whom were seasonal for the summer & one of whom was doing a full year term. Distribution was mostly in charge of APDP and market while I was there, and CSA was split between the two teams. I was the only employee who was regularly alternating between teams. But first, more terminology.

APDP stands for Affordable Produce Delivery Program, and was a program within CivicWorks Elder Services which serviced elderly residents of Baltimore City (and a few senior co-ops in Baltimore County). Every week, we delivered 225 boxes of produce (each valued at about 15-20 dollars) to the homes of these seniors for $5 each (essentially just the delivery fee). This was the main thing we did on distribution as far as I could tell. Mondays & Tuesdays were dedicated to intake: calling all the people on our list and finding out who was getting a box that week. We had to reach out to regulars, tell them what would be in that week’s box, and see if they wanted it. But, since we usually had way more demand than we could supply, folks had to call us as close to 9am as they could (but not before) and leave voicemails telling us if they were interested or not; the RFF staff (Emma or Harper) would then have to manually go through these voicemails and update the big spreadsheet we all had. Once someone was confirmed for the week– that is, if they called us before we sold out, which was tough– we called them to confirm that they’d be receiving a box, double-checked their delivery date and payment method, and if they were paying digitally (with credit, debit, or SNAP/EBT) we took payment over the phone. We also would get voicemails from new people who were interested in our program, so once we were at a good place with the regular intake for a given day, we would move on to calling new people, explaining the program, taking down their information, and putting them on the list to receive a box that week. On Wednesday morning, the boxes were packed with all the produce. Now, most of the produce was not from RFF– we worked with other local farms to make sure our boxes were full every week, and bought produce from them to distribute. It was then measured (as needed– for instance, green beans needed to be put in 1lb bags, but you can just put a few apples in there) and packed into boxes, with assembly-line precision amongst the regular volunteers. Sometimes we had too many or too few volunteers, but we wouldn’t be able to get it done without the kind people who showed up on Wednesday mornings to help us pack. From my own experience, working with a pretty good number of volunteers, the rhythm of packing is really

nice. Anyways, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday are spent running deliveries for APDP; we also get a few volunteers for this, as well as hiring DoorDash drivers where necessary.

Market refers to the one farmers market we were working regularly during my time there: Govans Market. It ran on Wednesdays from 3-6PM. Our normal hours were 8-4 (or 8-3 if you didn’t take lunch), but if you were working market, you didn’t need to arrive until noon. Once there, you would figure out what was being taken to market (usually a mix of RFF and other local produce), help work out the prices & quantities of the items, take inventory of the cash box, load up the vehicle (usually either the van or the pickup), and all that jazz. The goal was to arrive at market around 2:30-2:45 so there would be plenty of time to set up, since we brought our own tables and everything. We also needed to be able to make sure we had all of our transactional stuff set up; in addition to cash, we took credit, debit, SNAP/EBT, farmers market vouchers issued to SNAP/EBT beneficiaries, and special tokens that Govans themselves used that had different assigned values. SNAP/EBT users who got the tokens got “double dollars”, so if they paid $5 of SNAP/EBT money at the Govans front desk, they were given 5 dark green $1 tokens, and 5 neon green “bonus bucks”, which were also worth $1. Likewise, the vouchers earned double dollars at our stand, so for every $5 voucher we were given, the customer got $10 worth of produce. I liked it as a way to support the local community. Anyway, once 6:00PM hit, it was time to start closing down, which meant trying to donate or give away as much unsold product as possible– we could usually get other sellers and the occasional customer (who’d usually shown up late accidentally) to take most of it, and if there was any leftover after that, it’d be taken to the community fridge across the lot. While all that was happening, the tokens had to be returned to the Govans staff and the cashbox inventoried. Once all of that was done, it was time to pack back up, drive everything back to the firehouse, and put it all away. So, on market days, one generally worked from about 12-7.

CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture”, and is sort of like having investors. People in the community contribute a certain amount of money at the beginning of the fiscal year (or maybe the calendar year? I’m not sure) and receive deliveries at various intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) of various amounts (small, medium, or large). CSA doesn’t promise a certain amount of product to the people who subscribe to it– if we have a bad harvest, they get less stuff– but is still a mix of ours and other local produce, as well as other local food, like bread & cheese. Weeks when we have weekly and bi-weekly CSA are called big weeks, because there’s more to pack and deliver. The production team packs CSA on Thursday mornings, and then they go out on Thursday afternoon, generally delivered by the distribution team after APDP deliveries are done.

Now to talk about scheduling. Officially, our hours are 8-4, which includes a lunch break, so if you don’t take lunch (like me), you can leave at 3. However, production’s hours were 8-3, including lunch, because it’s hot out & you’re doing manual labor. Additionally, many members of the production crew would choose to show up at 7am instead and leave an hour earlier in order to beat the heat. Also, on Tuesdays, we had an all-staff meeting over Zoom at 2, so generally, production would show up at 8, go home for lunch at 1, then join the all-staff, which those of us who were not full RFF staff were told we could generally “treat like a podcast”, as it usually was about stuff outside our purview. People who came at 7 on Tuesdays got to leave at noon.

Got all that? Just in case, here are some of my notes about structure & scheduling from my second week on the job:

I was usually with distribution on Mondays and Wednesdays, and usually with production on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Fridays being a bit of a wild card depending on where I was needed (and, frankly, how I was feeling). Often, when I was with distribution on Wednesdays, it was because I was working market, which I did for three out of the five weeks of my apprenticeship. So I usually spent Monday doing intake, Wednesday working market, and Tuesday and Thursday on production– so I suppose I should explain more about what it meant for me to work production!

First, I must include a screenshot of a text that a friend from UCLA sent me after I’d told them I’d been working production that day. I won’t spend too much time on the matter, but if it hasn’t been made clear, I am strongly anti-capitalist, and while this did make me laugh, it does also resonate with a lot of my genuine beliefs about urban farming & local food in general, and why they’re so important:

Anyway, being on the production team meant doing all the work that the farm needed. That ranged from planting to pruning to harvesting to processing and all the rest that goes with it. Which brings me to: 2.1: A City Slicker’s Guide to Terms & Tools Some things I would assume you don’t need a guide for, largely because even I know how to recognize a shovel or a pitchfork. Some things I forgot to get pictures for, so I’ll need to use some from Google, with a URL under them. But here’s my basic guide to many of the tools, terms, and t-other stuff I learned during my time here.

(Photo Credit to Countryside Magazine: https://shop.iamcountryside.com/products/broadfork-garden-tool) BROADFORK A broadfork, as the name suggests, is similar to a pitch fork, but wider and with shorter teeth. It’s great for breaking up and turning soil.

(Featuring Brian, one of my AmeriCorps coworkers) TILTER This is used, as the name implies, to turn the soil. This is sort of a DIY-tilter, in which there’s a string that goes up one handle which activates the drill which turns the teeth on the bottom.

WIRE WEEDER Run this across soil to pull up small, “thread” weeds. The almost triangular shape at the end is useful for when you have narrower spaces to work in, as you can use the long or short legs just as well.

WEED WACKER Modeled here by one of my coworkers, Eden, the JHU intern, and being used by me, we see the weed wacker! The rotating blades are great for taking on tall grasses and weeds. The eye protection is definitely necessary– the spay is moving fast, and some of it did hit me directly in the face, just below my goggles. I was fine– it just stung for a second– but that could be really dangerous if it hit you in the eye! Besides, the eyewear is clearly stylin’.

SEEDER This bad boy is great for planting! The seeds sit in the basket, and are turned into the chute by the discs, which are sized based on the eyelets they have for grabbing and dispensing seeds. Ahead of the chute, the seeder digs up a bit of the soil, and the chain behind it pulls the soil back over the seed, covering it.

TRELLIS CLIPS Some plants need a little help growing up instead of along the ground, where they can be left more susceptible to disease or insects. Use the trellis clips to attach them to the strings or nets you’re using for your trellising, and you are good to go! Here you can see some watermelon I was trellising.

SUCKERS This picture specifically is from our cucumber plants, where we mostly dealt with these, but we found them on our melons as well (did you know cucumbers and melons are in the same family?) and I’m pretty sure I saw some on our tomatoes. These seem to exist solely to “suck” energy and resources away from the rest of the plant, hence why we were pruning them off so the crop could flourish.

LEADING STEM The leading stems on, say, a tomato plant (as shown) are the particularly thick stems which smaller ones (that then produce fruit) grow from. With indeterminate tomatoes, they need to be pruned such that they don’t have too many leading stems fighting for resources; we generally shot for 2-3 per plant.

DETERMINATE & INDETERMINATE TOMATOES Indeterminate tomatoes need to be pruned. Determinate tomatoes, however, are bred to grow a determined amount, so do not need to be pruned.

HOOPHOUSES VS GREENHOUSES Hoophouses do trap heat (I can certainly vouch for this), but are less permanent structures, being covered generally in plastic tarp. Greenhouses are permanent structures, often made of glass, and usually have some sort of climate control (I believe the reason we no longer use the one at RFF is due to having no power).

Past here we’re mostly just getting into other useful things to know! For instance, just about any time you’re harvesting or processing, you’ll want to wear single-use gloves for food safety reasons.

(Speaking of food safety, remember to clean before you sanitize.) We also used two crates (called “harvest totes”) every time we harvested, stacked on top of each other– the harvested crop went into the top crate, and the bottom crate acted as a buffer, so the crops never touched the ground while being harvested.

Some crops, though, are already in the ground, like potatoes. Harvesting these is a blast– it’s like digging for treasure! But if you dig too enthusiastically, you can punch through your gloves, as I learned on my second day:

Also, some plants produce a residue. Most notably, if you spend a while in the tomato plants, they turn you yellow. This can stain your clothes and skin, and can even get inside your gloves:

Lots of crops need different types of processing. One such crop is the cucumber, which, as a fun fact, has spikes! They’re very easy to remove, but I can’t describe the process easily, and you can’t embed videos in a document, so I’ll put a link below. https://photos.app.goo.gl/VVNhjU8MxZPgG34A8 Speaking of cucumbers, those bad boys really need to be harvested every other day at a minimum. They grow unbelievably fast, and we were not able to harvest them that quickly, so…

The one on the left was one I was sent home with because it was too big to sell. On the right, we have a harvest tote full of cucumbers. Some are reasonable. Many are not. (Cucumbers, unfortunately, become pilly if they get too big, so these huge ones were only okay.)

There is more to be said, of course, but rather than try to write out a detailed description of how to prep garlic or know which leaves to prune, I’ll leave it here. These are your foundations, and the rest is surprisingly intuitive if you trust yourself!

2.2 Highlights on the Job! If I’m being honest, there are too many highlights on the job to choose from. Plenty of the seniors I delivered to were so kind and wonderful, which made my day every time. My management was incredible– when I was late, even when I was extremely late, the most that ever happened was having a short & incredibly calm conversation with a supervisor where he let me know that I didn’t handle it well (which was true, and the fact that he basically just went “Hey. Don’t” was a level of patience I wouldn’t find anywhere else). When I came in late, I just stayed late; as long as the work got done, it wasn’t an issue. And if I was held overly late or worked extra hours, I could leave early on other days. I loved prepping garlic, and building camaraderie with my coworkers. On my last day, my boss and I cut up a (small) watermelon with a razor blade (we didn’t have any knives) and ate the entire thing, and it was incredible. I have no idea how to encapsulate it all, so I think it’s best to focus on some of the more obvious ones.

Rodale Institute Field Day As you may have noticed in my schedule notes, on my second Friday, we had a field trip up to Pennsylvania for the Rodale Institute Field Day. I wasn’t even familiar with the Rodale Institute before this, so could not have been more blown away by the nearly 400 acres of land and the various stations at the event. The Rodale Institute is not only a functional farm & orchard, but a leading institute for agricultural advancement and research, particularly for organic farming. We got to hear from a man who’d helped develop some of the most common modern no-till tools, we heard about adapting orchards for changing climates, we got to learn a bit about their sustainable pig farming, we saw demonstrations of different soil healths and experiments being done there, we saw their MASSIVE compost area, and so much more. I was also intrigued by their farmer training program, and was excited to learn they have a location in California! It’s a bit of a hike from LA, but it’s closer than Pennsylvania, and has summer research positions, which is something to keep on my radar, if nothing else.

No-till tools!

Piglets! With mama in the back covering her eyes with her ears while she naps (they were so cute!)

Organic versus conventional soil’s ability to hold up against water

Compost heap!

Some of the studies on display! (Which, I’ll be honest, I didn’t understand at all, but seemed neat!)

Food Access In Baltimore (Learning About The City) There was a week while I was working that the temperatures were breaking 100*F by midday, so we were all sent home to work remotely. Since I didn’t have much in the way of remote work to do, Harper sent me some articles to read up on about food access in Baltimore; here are some of my notes on the matter:

But the sources they sent me weren’t just about food access; they were also about larger topics, like the Black Butterfly project. Luckily, I was already familiar with the Black Butterfly and the White L, because in my first week, Kai had talked me through a lot of it using a census map in the mansion offices:

While I’d grown up near Baltimore, I’d never lived in the city, so actually connecting with and learning about the city was really meaningful to me. I also got to explore on my own a bit outside of work– for instance, I’d heard about an ice cream shop called the Charmery, which has an Old Bay Caramel ice cream. Being from Maryland, I’ll try just about anything with Old Bay in it, so in my last week, I took the bus over and tried it out! Not only was the ice cream delicious, but the area itself was really cool, and somewhere I’d never been before. I explored a bit and even found a really nice park that I wish I could’ve gone back to, and hope I’ll be able to someday.

Being in Baltimore City proper was new enough that it felt like I was making my own connections as an adult, while still being familiar enough to feel (likely more than was warranted) like home. I was so glad to be able to connect with and root in the city to the degree that I did.

Pickles Fully pivoting, but you might remember that I was sent home with *giant* cucumbers. Well, a friend had shared a recipe with me for refrigerator pickles, so that’s what I used them for!

I started with six of the giant cucumbers, and not only did I make six full quart jars of pickles, but I had enough cucumbers left over to make 2 more jars, easily. (Those cucumbers were simply too big.)

Because of the texture challenges of the oversized cucumbers, the refrigerator pickles needed much longer than they normally would, and never quite got to where I wanted them, but I really enjoyed the flavor!

More than that, though, this was my first time trying to make pickles on my own. I really enjoyed the process, and think it might be a new hobby I’d like to pursue– pickling, canning, all manner of preserving foods, but starting with just regular pickles, since I’ve been a lifelong fan of them.

But of course, I had neither the supplies nor equipment to make these on my own– no, I made these with my uncle at his & my aunt’s house one weekend. Which brings me to…

2.3 Proximity to Loved Ones As I said before, I’ve never lived in Baltimore, and my loved ones in Maryland were a minimum of 45 minutes away by car. This distance meant that I could still experience being in a new place and feeling like I was making my own connections to the area. But the proximity meant I got to see family & loved ones that I rarely do. I saw my late mentor’s parents for the first time in two years– we went to the National Aquarium, which I’d never seen before. I spent time with my maternal aunt & her husband, making pickles and petting their five cats. I got to visit & play cards with my paternal grandparents & uncle. I got to have dinner with my maternal grandfather, and got to have another visit with him that was even more special.

See, I was working for a full month, or five weeks: July 10-August 11. I already had an unrelated trip booked that had me flying out of Philadelphia on the 14th, so I didn’t bother flying home between the apprenticeship ending and the trip (and I hope the fact that I didn’t need a return flight offers some solace to the incredibly patient team at ASLF, who have had to let me turn this project in very late). This meant I got to be in Maryland on August 13, which is my late mother’s birthday. I haven’t gotten to spend it with her family since 2016, but because I was able to be back in Maryland– because of this apprenticeship– I got to have lunch with my aunt and spend the evening with my grandfather. I even got to see some

extended family that I haven’t seen since soon after she passed almost a decade ago. It was incredibly special, and though it wasn’t technically related to my apprenticeship at all, couldn’t have happened otherwise, and I’m so grateful that it did.

Enough heavy stuff. Here’s some photos:

My (paternal) uncle, doing his best impression of a fish.

Willow, one of my aunt’s cats.

A sign & sculpture outside the National Aquarium.

Part Three: Larger Lessons & Themes So, what have I learned in all of this?

Frankly, that this sort of position is a dream for me. I enjoyed the work of both teams, and found that the work I was doing frequently did a perfect job of balancing monotony with novelty. Individual tasks could fall into simple rhythms, engaging the mind enough that I could be present but allowing enough space to chat with my coworkers or let my own mind wander. There was enough variety between the tasks, which we were constantly shifting between, that it helped me to feel engaged, without being so polarizing as to throw me off balance. The work was fulfilling and rewarding; I loved being on the farm, and I loved interacting with customers.

I also got to reassure myself that there is work out there that can provide structure while still being flexible when my health challenges make my time management difficult. As someone struggling to understand my disabilities & my disabled identity, and what they mean for me, that comfort is invaluable.

There is work that I love that is accessible to my needs.

This section should be much longer, but it would probably be fluff. I wish I could provide some grand theme and lesson, but truth be told, the main thing I “learned” was that I loved this so much, and wished I could’ve stayed indefinitely. Of course not every task or every day was amazing, and I’m sure things that were simply bearable would get old with time, but as an exploration of a type of environmental justice work, I feel like I’ve come away with a basic skill set to understand similar jobs, and a confidence that I would really enjoy and be fulfilled by this.

Part Four: Concluding Thoughts & Reflections While I can’t say with any grandiosity what this has meant to me, nor can I say with any certainty what this means for my future, except that I am suddenly far more conscious of many appealing paths forward, I can still provide some meaningful reflections.

Look, I’ve been studying environmental injustice for a few years now. I read about the urban heat island effect and food apartheid and the need for local food as one of many facets of community resiliency day and night, both for school and on my own time. Living and working in what would politely be called an underserved community and would honestly be called a deeply oppressed and exploited one did not open my eyes to any new or revelatory phenomena. But coming from immense privilege and then being in a neighborhood where the closest grocery stores are more than a mile away– and really coming to understand how far a mile is with no car, no direct public transportation lines, and when it’s so hot out that walking is often miserable– certainly steeled my resolve.

I have known since I first came across it that the work of the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund is beyond necessary. If we are going to survive the sixth mass extinction & the climate crisis, our lifestyles will have to radically change, and our food systems will be at the center of that change. If we are going to build a world worth surviving into– a just world that actually combats the systemic injustices of today– we will need to focus on community empowerment & resiliency, and local food is an essential part of that. Bringing back more traditional modes of labor training, such as apprenticeships, is a key component of empowering and supporting workers in the post-industrial economy. Whether it’s urban farms or artisan cheese, slowing down to produce food sustainably and ensuring that those who produce it are, at a minimum, properly compensated, is going to be essential to a future that is economically & socially just, and which can exist at all by being environmentally conscious. Coming out the other side of my apprenticeship, I can say with utter confidence that ASLF is doing incredible work, not only for those of us who are lucky enough to be apprentices, but for the world at large.

It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of this program, and I will carry it with me always.

RUBY GARY

[sky high farm] ancramdale, new york

Ruby Gary // Sky High Farm, Pine Plains, NY

I’ve collected a series of photos that I took over the course of my month at Sky High Farm in Pine Plains, New York. Some are of work on the farm: chicken processing; aesthetic veggie harvests amidst the reality of weeding, pruning, tarping, mowing, and more weeding; a shot of our masked harvest beneath high levels of wildfire smoke. They’re placed among those taken after work hours: a jar of fresh, raw milk from Chaseholm Farm, which I giddily bought having never tried it; blackcaps from a bramble on the side of the road, later to be eaten in a pie; structures from Art Omi, a nearby outdoor sculpture garden; a particularly delicious lunch.

Unsurprisingly, they are mostly of food. But even those that aren’t still feel deeply a part of the thinking I was doing about how we feed and nurture others and ourselves. Responsible for feeding myself, I was engaged with this in a quite material way. It being the summer right after I graduated from college, you could say I was engaged with this concept more existentially, too.

The vegetable manager, Ellie, assigned an essay by botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer, called “The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance,” as required reading for her class on soil science during my second week at the farm. The reading spoke to the essential work of feeding ourselves and others, and argues for a fundamental reframing of how we do this.

Kimmerer begins with a thoughtful consideration of the serviceberry, a delicious summer treat growing from trees planted by her neighbor. As she eats them, she writes, This abundance of berries feels like a pure gift from the land. I have not earned, paid for, nor labored for them. There is no mathematics of worthiness that reckons I deserve them in any way. And yet here they are.

She challenges the reader, asking, Isn’t this an economy? A system of distribution of goods and services that meets the needs of the community? … It is a system for redistribution of wealth, an exchange of goods and services. Each member has an abundance of something, which they offer to others. The abundance of berries goes to the birds––for, what use are berries to the tree other than a way to make relationships with birds?

Over the course of the essay, Kimmerer presents this enduring economy of the natural world as an alternative to free market economics, in which resources are understood as scarce. In a free market economy, Kimmerer writes, food security is assured by private accumulation. By contrast, In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away….The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I,” as all flourishing is mutual.

For Kimmerer, abundance is, true when the individual unit of society is not an individual, but their relationships––and this, she points out, is true.

Coming from a world where so often what is good seems fleeting, where love is finite to give and its loss absolute, and self meant to dole out carefully, I was struck by the abundance in each corner of the little loft above the barn. Olivia, shan shan, Jia, and Rebecca, the Sky High fellows,

opened their home, their weekend plans, their kitchen, their pantry, their laughter up to me; care was not scarce, joy not zero-sum, there was trust that tomorrow our plates would be full again.

In the garden, too, food was growing; there were summer squash to harvest today, and (much to our chagrin) more to harvest tomorrow; the tomato plants wanted to grow today (so we pruned and pruned) and oh, would they want to grow tomorrow, too (and we would prune again). Food was not out of thin air; it was prolific because of the resources put in by its ecosystem, one which includes those who bend over to pull out with their hands the purslane pushing between each row. With more clarity I could discern that this ecosystem includes an ecology of labor, which mutual empowerment and trust between colleagues is an exchange in the network, too.

It felt striking and complicated to be experiencing such abundance in a context so marked with its opposite. Near the end of her essay, Kimmerer nods to the reality that scarcity exists in forms that aren’t just out of its more abstract construction, writing, Continued fealty to economies based on competition for manufactured scarcity, rather than cooperation around natural abundance, is now causing us to face the danger of producing real scarcity, evident in growing shortages of food and clean water, breathable air, and fertile soil. Climate change is a product of this extractive economy and is forcing us to confront the inevitable outcome of our consumptive lifestyle: genuine scarcity for which the market has no remedy.

At the end of June, wildfire smoke bathed the Hudson Valley. We donned masks and cut work down. The day was shrouded in a sense of the job’s urgency against such an apocalyptic background. The folks at Sky High Farm grow food for their food access partners in the Hudson Valley area, an e ort funded by philanthropic donors with the accumulated wealth to donate lofty sums. As Kimmerer writes by constructing a false sense of scarcity we have created real scarcity.

Chewing handfuls of the ripe serviceberry, Kimmerer writes, In the presence of such gifts, gratitude is the intuitive first response….Gratitude is so much more than a polite “thank you.” It is the thread that connects us in a deep relationship…Gratitude creates a sense of abundance, the knowing that you have what you need.

How to stoke and feed that impulse of gratitude? Perhaps by remembering the improbability of bushes spangled with morsels of sweetness in a world that can be bitter (Kimmerer, 2022).

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. “The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance.” Emergence Magazine, 26 October 2022.

Photo by Olivia, Sky High Farm 2022 Fellow

Photo by Jia, Sky High Farm 2022 Fellow

RUBY RAHEJA

[consider bar wes

RUBY RAHEJA

Sustainable Food Systems: A Look into Vermont Farming Levy Lamb Farm & Consider Bardwell Farm

About My Time: Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund 2023

Through ASLF I was paired with two farms in Vermont where I worked for a month this summer. I learned about sustainable food systems/sustainable farming and was comparing it to big commercial farming. I worked on Consider Bardwell Farm, learning about the process of cheese making, and Levy Lamb Farm, where I learned about sheep meat production. In this project, my aim was to focus on one way Vermont gets its name for the most sustainable state in the US. Their food system, specifically what I learned about meat production from Levy Lamb Farm, was of special interest to me. As a former vegetarian and environmental science major, Levy Lamb Farm was foundational in changing my mind about meat production, from raising animals to butchering them to consuming them.

rdwell & levy lamb] t pawlett, vermont

It Starts with Grazing

At Levy Lamb, the herds of sheep along with the guard donkeys/cows were moved every day and sometimes even twice a day.

Letting the sheep graze in a wellmanaged rotational system and in a climate like Vermont is beneficial to the environment and the land. The sheep add carbon and vital nutrients back into the soil which helps its profile and reduces overgrowth and weeds.

Environmentally Friendly Meat Processing

An advantage of this grazing is higher health benefits to the consumer and the animal vs grain-fed meat.

Levy Lamb Farm takes their sheep to a local family-owned USDA regulated meat processing facility. This is required by law because you can't sell meat if it was slaughtered on the farm and it ensures humane treatment of animals.

During the process they produce little to no waste and try to use all parts of the animal, including skin, bones, and generally "undesirable" parts of the animal.

Nothing Is Wasted One reason small/local farm based food systems are so sustainable is because a lot of them try to use all the parts of what they are producing. Levy Lamb Farm tries not to waste any parts of their sheep. For example:

Levy Lamb uses all the meat that wasn't part of a big cut to make ground lamb/mutton.

All the bones and little scraps get put into a compost and eventually Levy lamb used them as fertilizer for growing vegetables and other plants.

Levy Lamb Farm has the sheep skins tanned and turned into wearable articles or sells them as just tanned skins.

Back to the Community Levy Lamb Farm sells their products to local Vermont farm stands, caterers in the area, friends, etc.

A meal the Levy Lamb Farm owners made with Lamb chops from their sheep!

Some pictures of Levy Lamb's product in a local farm stand

A Vermont caterer handling one of Levy Lamb's sheep in anticipation for a wedding

The Future of Farming?

During my time in Vermont, I was challenged to think more deeply about where our food comes from and how much work goes into agricultural production. Compared to other states, Vermont really stands out as having a sustainable food system that benefits both humans and other animals. I am hopeful that in the future we will perhaps implement farming operations like the ones in Vermont versus only the mass scale commercial farming that dominates the industry. I think this can serve as a model for mitigating climate change and providing healthier, more sustainable food to larger communities.

Small, local farming is beneficial to the land and to the community, but also, as of now, I understand it is not equitable for everyone, especially low income communities who either live in “food deserts” or can’t afford to buy local meat and produce. I think it is interesting to consider how we can implement sustainable farming so that this is not the case. I don’t think the Vermont style food system is the only sustainable model. But I did find my time in Vermont working on farms that were an integral part of their local community illuminating because I was able to see the full cycle of meat production from helping raise the sheep to butchering to selling and seeing the end product come into fruition, all while being eco friendly.

Thank you so much to ASLF, Levy Lamb Farm (especially Mara Hearst), and Consider Bardwell Farm (especially Angela Miller)!! I had such an amazing experience and am grateful for the opportunity.

SABRINA ROSE

[harlem grown] new york, new york

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By Sabrina Roze

Harlem Grown Experience

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Introduction § My name is Sabrina Roze § Currently studying Hospitality

Management at New York City College of Technology § I was an apprentice at

Harlem Grown for a month

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What is Harlem Grown? §

Harlem Grown is an independent non profit organization farm in Harlem, nyc

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They provide fresh produce to the public and educational programs for kids

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They operate 11 gardens and 2 major farms in Harlem.

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Harlem Grown Main Farms 134th Street and Malcom X Blvd Farm

127TH Street and Malcolm X Blvd Farm

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Founder of Harlem Grown §

The founder of Harlem Grown is Tony Hillery

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He renovated an abandoned garden across a public school in Harlem with the aim to help address the food insecurity in the neighborhood with nutritional resources and programs

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From my experience he was a frequent visitor who would give tours of the gardens. From my time talking to him he was incredibly warm, friendly, and passionate about gardening. He represented the best of what Harlem Grown had to offer.

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Hydroponic Gardens

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Harlem Grown relied on growing its harvest through hydroponic methods alongside traditional soil

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All leafy greens like basil, lettuce, and mustard greens

Farm Stands §

One of my favorite activities was giving our produce in front of our gardens in market stands on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

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The produce was specifically given away to members of the public for free.

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Growing Vegetables

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I grew vegetables throughout my time in Harlem Grown

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Specifically a variety of squashes, broccoli rapa spring raab, and red cabbage

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I would water them every morning on my workdays and check their soil and containers

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Growing Vegetables (final day)

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Growing vegetables throughout the week felt very liberating, and connected me directly to the food production process

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Seeing the progress and the new life I had given and took care of gave me a lot of joy

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I gained a better appreciation for growing plants

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My time in Harlem Grown §

Working at Harlem Grown was an amazing experience

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I worked with a lot of wonderful and passionate

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Working from 9 am to 5 pm gave me a better sense of what it is working fulltime

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I would love to work for Harlem Grown in the future or other urban agriculture jobs

SIERRA KUHN

[firefly farms] accident, maryland

Firefly Farms and What Can't Be Learned in a Classroom By: Sierra Kuhn At Firefly Farms, located in the tiny town of Accident, Maryland, I took on an internship that changed my perspective on farming, community, and cheese-making. As a Food Science student at Oregon State University, I have learned quite a bit about dairy processing and food safety within the school setting, but this unique opportunity gave me my first experience of the food industry outside of the classroom.

Upon arriving at Firefly Farms, I learned about daily tasks and protocols. I realized that my previous knowledge from the classroom only scratched the surface of the intricate world of cheese-making. Hearing the employees talk about things I had learned in classes was a validating feeling. However, I soon realized that much more goes into cheese production than can be read in a textbook. It requires meticulous attention, patience, and passion. I observed and assisted the skilled cheese-makers as they carefully curated the milk into curds and whey, combining specific techniques and creativity.

In addition to discovering the attention to detail that cheese making requires, I learned another thing that could not be taught in the classroom: making cheese brought people together.

Food has always created community and allowed people to share their cultures and traditions, and the people of Firefly Farms are no different. The Firefly employees are incredibly kind and are friends as well as co-workers. Not only was everyone helping us learn their craft, they were excited to do it. I could ask all my questions and was given an informative and thorough answer every time. Outside of work, we were included in activities at employees' farms and invited to a myriad of after-work events. After work one day, we went to the retail shop that sells the cheeses made by Firefly as well as an assortment of charcuterie board additions, and even the mongers behind the cheese counter emulated this sense of community. We were given samples and

recommendations and asked our opinions of the cheeses and products sold at the store. The camaraderie and community felt at Firefly Farms was one of the best parts of my internship experience, and it was all centered around cheese.

Another thing I did not expect based on my classroom instruction was the sheer labor intensity of cheese-making. It is a labor of love, demanding both physical and mental strength.

Cheese making is physically demanding because you spend eight-plus hours a day on your feet lifting, squatting, scrubbing, soaked in whey and squeezing into tight spaces and then do it all again the next day. Regarding mental strength, the cheese-makers know every nuance of the process, understanding that minor details could significantly impact the final product's taste and quality. The care put into each batch of cheese is staggering, and before I saw it firsthand, I had no idea. Seeing and experiencing cheese-making firsthand gave me an appreciation for cheese I would not have otherwise.

I am forever grateful for the eye-opening experience at Firefly Farms. I learned and experienced things I would not have gleaned in the classroom: traditions, the shared love for cheese, and the warmth of a welcoming community.

SINDHURA KARATURI

[jasper hill farm] greensboro, vermont

Bombay Cheese Sandwich Sindhura Karuturi

Ingredients: ● Sandwich bread of any choice, butter. ● Vegetables: 2 tomatoes,2 potatoes,1 onion, 2 cucumbers ● Cilantro chutney (green chutney): 1 cilantro bunch, 2 green chilis, vegetable oil, garlic and ginger, lemon juice,1 tsp salt, sugar, cumin seeds and 1-2 tbsps onions. (you can also replace cilantro with mint leaves to make pudina chutney instead). ● Chaat masala - a blend of spices and tangy mango powder commonly used in South India for chaats or snacks, can be bought from Indian grocery stores easily. ● Spices: turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala. ● Cheese : Whitney by Cellars at Jasper Hill.

Prep: ● Boil 2-3 potatoes, add half a tablespoon of turmeric, salt, red chili powder, garam masala and smash them to make a soft paste. ● Thinly slice tomatoes, onions and cucumber. ● For the cilantro chutney, blend the cilantro leaves and stems with 1 tbsp oil, 1-2 tbsps of onions, 1 tsp of the following, salt, sugar, cumin seeds, garlic, ginger and lemon juice.

Add water or more of the above ingredients to adjust to your taste. ● Slice the alpine cheese into thin slices to layer on the sandwich.

Assemble: ● Place the bread and apply a generous amount of butter to each slice. ● Layer each slice with green chutney. ● Apply a layer of potatoes on one slice and add chaat masala. ● Add a layer/couple slices of Whitney cheese. ● Place 2-3 slices of tomatoes and cucumbers. ● Add a couple slices of onions and top with chaat masala. ● Place the other slice on top and close the sandwich.

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Apply butter on either side of the sandwich and grill on a cast iron for 3 minutes on each side or until desired level of toast.

Enjoy it with some extra green chutney or ketchup!

I choose to use this recipe as this resonates with what I hope to do in the future, bridge the gap and innovate with the cuisines of the west and east of the world. I hope to introduce more food from the east of the world to the west and innovate using the technology available here.

I have decided to pair this sandwich with whitney because one, I really like how whitney tastes and was often wondered how it would taste really good when paired with mint/cilantro chutney.

Two, whitney is a really good melty cheese and has a distinct taste, this would aid in holding the sandwich together and give a complementary taste to the fresh vegetables.

SOFIE KANAYAMA

[ice house farm] goshen, vermont

SOPHIA ROBERTS

[kinderhook valatie, new

farm] w york

TESSA DEROSE

[snug harbor cultural center and botanic staten island

cal garden] d, new york

XOCHITL FERNANDEZ

[queens county farm museu queens, new y

um] york

THANK YOU Anne once wrote, “I hope I can continue to do this job until I am old, wellaged, and hopefully more complex! Like a good wheel of cheese.” But she left us unexpectedly in the second act of the play. She was taking on obstacles of an ambitious plot with grace and dignity — growing a business, raising a family, making art, deepening a vast web of personal connections.

The resolution of her story will never be a proper one, but she lived her life in such a way that many actors are filling in to write it.

In 2022, 33 Apprentices traveled the country to 18 farms, following in her footsteps. In 2023, 60 apprentices traveled to 40 farms, and many more will embark in the years to come.

Thank you to everyone who has given to the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund, and supported the first two seasons of ASLF Apprenticeships in Anne’s name. To help make future seasons possible, please visit: www.annesaxelbylegacyfund.org/make-a-donation.