Pitchfork Farm and the Intervale

The Intervale is a very interesting place to look at in terms of local food systems because it is a non-profit company which has a main goal to jump-start Burlington local agriculture. The Intervale’s original set up was to rent spaces to community members who would like to start a farm. During the five years, the renter would also be able to rent equipment and green house space. After the five years were over, the renters were assumed to move off the Intervale, with regular customers (whether individuals or restaurants) that they now had connections to. Now the farmers whose land is on the Intervale are more permanent and are even looking in to buying the equipment from the Intervale.

In order to find out more about the Intervale and the individual farms on the property, I got in touch with Rob Rock, one of the farmers at Pitchfork Farm. Pitchfork farm is a relatively small patch of land in the Intervale, covering six acres. The farm produces mostly staple foods, including root vegetables, greens and tomatoes although they do have some ‘fancy’ veggies, like micro-greens, when a restaurant requests it. (To find out more about Pitchfork Farm: http://pitchforkfarmvt.com/)

Rob and Eric at Pitchfork Farm

Originally, Rob and his co-farmer Eric started getting into agriculture when they were in their early 20s. He initially wanted to start because of his involvement in the environmental movement. Rob felt a sense of guilt for the amount of impact that we as humans had on the environment, and wanted to help lower the carbon footprint. Since then his ideals have changed. Although he still cares for the environment, his main reason for working on the farm is to help people understand what kind of work agriculture is. From having and working on Pitchfork farms for 5 years, he has realized that we have an epidemic of a falsely low cost of food. When shopping for food, most people expect their produce to be extremely cheap and are outraged when it is more expensive. This is because we have under-valued food and the work involved in agriculture. By having people come work on the farm, with fresh vegetables as compensation, Rob can share the experience of farming with the normal consumers in the community.

The only way Pitchfork farms brings community members into a real relationship with their food is there food shares in which people work a day and get some food in return. Because farmer's markets have so many farms that grow the same food, it is hard to make money there. Another problem with the farmer's market is that the farmers are expected to be personable, when in reality farmers (or at least as Rob has experienced)  have worked so hard all week and then are forced to stand all day and talk to strangers. And because the Intervale has a CSA set up with a combination of farms on the property, Pitchfork farms does not have their own CSA, but just participates with the larger one.

But even though Pitchfork farm does not have too much direct contact with the individuals of Burlington, they have defiantly felt connected to the community. During the summer the Intervale has parties called Summervale, which have lots of the farm produce on sale. Along with being fun, these parties are hosted to get more community members in the Intervale and to have an understanding of what the farms are like. The farm also felt a strong relationship with the community after hurricane Irene. Like the rest of the Intervale, Pitchfork farm was hit pretty hard by the storm and lost a lot of their crops. With the help of fundraising through the Intervale, City Market, and individuals, Pitchfork could make up for about half of the money they lost from Irene.

From going down to the Intervale and talking to Rob Rock, I have realized the relationship between the Intervale and the individual farmer. For example, Pitchfork Farm has a very specific goal of changing the food system in America, and the Intervale as advocates for local farmers, have created a connection between the farmers and the consumers in order to really make a difference. The Intervale helps the farms better connect with the community members, which is why the farms in the intervale are so successful.

Photos:

pitchforkfarmvt.com/sites/default/files/farmers_in_sun.JPG