Volume 2 • No. 12 • New Moon • June 18th, 2023

“The Coming Storm”

Acrylic on Canvas • 24" x 30" • Nancy Adams Nash

In This Issue: The Farm Bill, A Virtual Workshop Teaser, “To Be Of Use,” and Incrementalism.

Burnt Out on Politicking?

How Integrity and Prototyping Can Foster a Better Farm Bill and Future for the World

An excerpt:

“…Unfortunately, even when driven by the best intentions, committing full-stop to attempts to shape legislature by sharing your own story runs the risk of burnout. It can also encourage the reductive habit of evaluating people regarding their influence. I don’t mean to characterize these efforts as fruitless or unnecessary. I‘m just not convinced that they’re the best actions for most people to invest the bulk of their energy in. A lot of money is involved in this arena—think $165 million from agribusiness lobbyists in 2022. Numbers like that tend to drown out everyday voices and concerns. If you toss your hat in, there’s a genuine risk of painful confrontation with your own limits — with seeming insignificance in the face of systems that shape you as you attempt to shape them.

If it’s humility that you’re after, save yourself a lot of anguish and step outside in the middle of the inky night and look up. If it’s better food systems and a healthier world, consider a different stance than throwing all your eggs into one political basket. It looks very different for all sorts of people, but the following pattern will ideally complement the best work at listening sessions and representatives’ offices.

Find the spark that grows from considering one’s place in the world, whatever is needed wherever you are, and tend to it. Show that another world is possible. This prescription isn’t apolitical apathy. It’s a path forward for those strung out by traditional political maneuvering, and it isn’t soul-crushing, or locked into five-year Farm Bill renewal cycles. The folks doing campaign-style work can’t get anywhere if they can’t point to real-world models, examples, and data—their visions don’t have teeth. We can work on those structures. Their tangible presence in the world—improving soil life, bolstering ecological cycles, and getting good food to those who need it—communicates volumes when our words don’t make it far…”

Read the Whole Essay (1,699 Words, 7 Minute Read)

Listen to this Edition’s Essay in Audio Form

The Warp — Ideas and Inspiration

|| 1 || The Best Tool for Soil Health Teaser.

”Setting up and picking up fences day in and day out could seem repetitive after a while, but like many tasks in farming, the repetition becomes rhythm, and with that rhythm comes the space to observe, to learn, to better know this land, and little by little, step by step, become better caretakers for it.” Malaika Whitney, Whitney Farmstead (Dexter, MI)

In September of 2021, we held a workshop on rotational grazing with Paul May and friends in Benzie County. If you weren’t able to attend (or even if you did,) you’re in luck. We’ve been working on a forty-three minute video version of the live event. The whole thing will be in the next Whole Field. For now, here’s a teaser well-aligned with Malaika’s words.

|| 2 || To Be Of Use. Marge Piercy.

“…The work of the world is common as mud.

Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.

But the thing worth doing well done

has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.

Greek amphoras for wine or oil,

Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums

but you know they were made to be used.

The pitcher cries for water to carry

and a person for work that is real.”

The task is two-fold. Stepping away from broken things, and building things that are whole. This is the work of hope, or as a recent Crosshatch email put it—possibility.

So what’s needed? I recently listened to a podcast exploring what faith grounded in place and encounter with “others” could look like. The idea of capitalism filling in the space that once necessitated neighborliness came up. If we have the money to meet all of our needs, we don’t have to go through the sometimes messy process of working with each other. But it’s good to need each other. It’s good to be needed. And we all have crucial and connected roles to play, however humble or small they might seem. Satiation, with alienation, is empty.

|| 3 || Political Incrementalism has its pluses. If you find yourself represented by representatives reprehensible to you, you’ll be thankful the system can’t be changed whole-hog overnight. There’s more intention involved in slow and deliberate steps than moving fast and breaking things. There’s a reason why small and slow solutions are valued in permaculture design.

On the other hand, big changes are sometimes needed. I haven’t yet read Andreas Malm’s book “How To Blow Up A Pipeline,” or seen the related film. As I understand it, both explore the case that an environmental commitment to non-violence compels, at the very least, an understanding of the consideration of sabotage when it comes to systems rooted in violence towards the earth and all who call it home. That’s a lot. It’s easy for me to type that in an “arm-chair” manner. Here’s an article that does more of the heavy defensive lifting of the viewpoint.

|| 4 || You likely received a previous email and/or a letter. Here’s another reminder. Right now, donations to Crosshatch are being matched by a generous donor, and our goal is to raise $25,000. Click here if you’d like to give, and have your contribution doubled. And if you’re wondering where that money goes and what recent work Brad and Amanda have been up to, or what others involved in food systems change in this region have doing, Groundwork just released a new book exploring just that: Shared Abundance.

The Weft — News and Events

|| 1 || New Summer Twilight Tours are Live! Click the links for more information and registration.

July 13th: Resilient bounty: Conservation and diversification for ecological and economic abundance. 6-8pm, in Frankfort, MI.

July 25th: Buckwheat, Bees, Bacon, and Barley: Small-scale row crops, on-farm livestock, and cover cropping. 6-8pm, in Charlevoix, MI.

|| 2 ||Heritage Breed Microgrant. The Livestock Conservancy has an array of microgrants now open for applications until August. If you work with heritage livestock or poultry, it’s likely worth a perusal to see if any of the categories might fit the needs of your operation. Information available here.

|| 3 || June Happenings at The Alluvion. Despite being in preview mode, there’s a lot going on this month! I tried to briefly summarize upcoming highlights, and I can't. If you’d like, you can check things out yourself by going here. There you’ll find an array of happenings, in addition to regular staples like weekly jazz and Funky Fun Mondays with Big Fun and Funky Uncle.

|| 4 || Great Lakes Woodworking Festival, June 17th-18th in Adrian, MI. You might have missed the first day, but you still have the chance to catch the second for a $5 entrance fee! “A weekend filled with all things woodworking, inspired by the beauty and sustainability of our natural resources.” Find workshops and gatherings ranging from spoon carving and bowl turning, to demonstrations of hand raising an 8,100 lb. white oak truss and an attempt to trigger a table saw safety brake with a hot dog. There’ll be food and a kid’s corner too. More information is available here.

|| 5 || You might be wondering what’s happening with the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference. There’s too much to detail here as we work things out, but we’re excited to be back with all of you in person on a Northern Michigan farm on Monday, August 14th! We’re looking at featuring:

More hands-on learning
On-the-ground demonstrations
Fresh local foods meals
Networking opportunities
Click here to follow along, and watch for more news in upcoming months.

|| 6 || Veterans Inspiring Veterans Art Show ‘23. The Veterans Inspiring Veterans Art Show will be held on June 24th, at the Flintfields Horse Park in Williamsburg. Applications from veterans to show artwork are being accepted through May 11th. All proceeds from artwork sold go directly to the artists. Find more information on applying, or attending the show, here.

|| 7 || Inland Seas Pier Party. Welcome the ISEA’s newly acquired schooner Alliance to Suttons Bay on Saturday, June 24th, from 11am-3pm, as it sails in with Inland Seas. Enjoy an afternoon of deck tours, music, and food while celebrating the schooners that inspire people of all ages to be curious and passionate about protecting the Great Lakes. Find more information here.

The Whole Field • Volume 2 • No. 12 • New Moon • June 18th, 2023