Last week, my son Lee and I attended the annual Ecofarm Conference in Pacific Grove for a day. As a presenter–I spoke at a session on CSAs in the morning—I was given free admittance for the day along with lunch and dinner. The session I spoke at went well. It was great to see a large, enthusiastic group of people committed to the CSA movement. It was also great to hear the stories of the other two farmers that presented with me. Most of all it was good to spend the day in such a beautiful setting being inspired by some of the impressive things that others are doing.
Because most growers and others connected with organic farming are so busy during the season, Ecofarm is one of the few places to reconnect with people I haven’t seen in a while. It is also a great place to meet new people from all over the country doing interesting things. The woman I sat next to at lunch was from Alaska where she was working on food security by developing local sources of fruits, vegetables, and meat. She said that Alaska is so reliant on outside food sources that if all the plane and shipping traffic were cut off, the State would only have enough food on hand to survive for seven days. At dinner I sat next to a fellow who had a vegetable and meat CSA in the Surprise Valley, which is in the far North Eastern corner of the State—an area I’ve always been curious about.
For those of you with an active interest in organic and sustainable agriculture I would definitely recommend attending for at least one day. There are hundreds of knowledgeable speakers talking about a wide range of topics—from urban gardens and food security, to detailed planting and cultivating techniques. It is held at the beautiful Asilomar conference center—a short walk from the tide pools and lovely sandy beach at Spanish Bay. But most of all, it is the positive atmosphere and the inspiration that comes with being surrounded by people from all over working toward the same goal.
On a side note: Today is Jeanne’s 50th Birthday! She has been my Wife and partner in this adventure for over 20 years. With all of her unending hard work, her ability to calmly make reasoned decisions, and her insistence that we always maintain a strong ethical bottom line—she deserves the lion’s share of credit for whatever success we have had with our farm and our family.
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