Day 4: Veg + Policy
Started the day bright and early to meet Spencer and drive over to the field where they were about to harvest butternut and acorn squash. I was excited to get my hands in the soil and get to work. Let me tell you, while immensely rewarding, this is not easy work, and I am eternally grateful to those humans who do this work so we can eat. I hope that I live to see a world that honors and respects the sacrifices people make to feed us. After clearing what felt like endless rows of squash and loading them for pick up by the tractor we headed back to Metabee for lunch.
Elena made the most delicious veggie soup for us, it was the warm hug we needed after spending the morning harvesting. I need to get that recipe to share with you all. After the soup I headed back to Hawthorne Valley Farm Store to sit and do some work with Jamila. It was such a beautiful day to work outside, I was so grateful to my job for giving me the flexibility to attend to my responsibilities around class schedule.
After the relaxing well deserved break we headed to the barn for a discussion. I learned an overwhelming amount of information! We started with soil health, the ability of soil to sustain productivity, diversity and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems.
There are five soil health principles which I will list below:
Keep soil covered
Minimize disturbance (physical + chemical)
Keep living plant roots in the ground (as much as possible)
Cultivate diversity
Integrate animals (wild animals, pollinators, beneficial predators)
We also learned about carbon sequestration, ways to bring carbon back into the soil. Some of the ways to achieve this are by adding perennials, cover crops and compost. We talked about the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, part of FDR’s New Deal. This act was a response to plummeting crop prices and overproduction, disastrous erosion (the Dust Bowl) and the widespread hunger of the Great Depression. These issues were a direct result of poor land stewardship, prolonged drought and a rise in poverty. The act sought to support farmer income, enhance land stewardship and address hunger. We talked a lot about the U.S. Farm Bill. I quickly came to learn that policy can be frustrating. FDR once said, “The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself” I wonder what he is looking down thinking about this soil now, ha! You can read more information about the Farm Bill on the USDA website.
The discussion was lengthy and informative. Here are some takeaway points from my notes:
We are not investing in true transformational regenerative agriculture research. Imagine the potential if we did.
The USDA is responsible for the structural racism that led to the unjust dispossession of land that belonged to black folks.
7% of the Farm Bill budget goes to commodity crop support, and the government pays farmers to grow corn, cotton, soybean and wheat. Most corn is used for livestock and ethanol.
Here’s my DIG-A of the day:
D- harvesting squash because it gave me time to connect with the land and get soiled
I- vegetable farming and policy
G- all of the positive messages I received from sharing my aspirations in this space
A- turn OOO message on
Find more photos from this day on my instagram @ysaventuresfood.
