I Tractor Farm: art from urban agrarians

 

22 MAY 2008

  

about good farm movement (found on COMFOOD)

I’m glad to find other people who are into art focused on food and gardening in cities.  This blog isn’t very big yet, but it will grow, I mean doesn’t everyone want to look at cool art with good food their belly?

 

Good Farm Movement is the art of the urban agrarian. we are a visual art blog that showcases and celebrates the agrarian avant-garde—the forward thinking farmers, cooks, eaters, educators, activists, and artists reclaiming our land, our communities, and our health.

we believe thought provoking visual art is a powerful means for examining the relationship between people and food in society. therefore, we draw on the visually dynamic mediums of design, photography, film/video, painting, and drawing as wellsprings of education and inspiration.

our ambition is to grow an informal collective of contributors who shift and shape the visual commentary regarding the political, economic, cultural, and social issues of food and farming. every contribution is open for commenting, and hopefully will produce critical thought and meaningful dialogue on and away from the site.

we welcome all well composed contributions for consideration. please send your piece to goodfarmmovement@gmail.com.

 

other interesting art exhibits:

fallen fruit

 

edible estates

Hot Summer of Urban Farming

Victory Gardens 2007+

Future Farmers

 

 

Anna Lappé, Maverick Farms, and the next generation of farmers

Watch this video from MSN about Maverick farms hosted by Anna Lappé of the Small Planet Institute

 

Maverick Farms is an educational non-profit farm dedicated to family farming as a community resource and reconnecting local food networks.

Maverick Farms formed in spring 2004 to preserve a small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, an area under intense pressure from development. It operates as an open laboratory, experimenting with human-scale farming techniques and traditional food preparation.

Maverick Farms works to reclaim the pleasures of eating and sharing meals in a culture overrun by industrial agriculture and flavorless food. The project arose out of Springhouse Farm, which for 30 years sold hand-picked vegetables to local restaurants. Maverick Farms is continuing with that tradition while embarking on new education and outreach projects to connect local food producers and consumers.

They just started a new program that they call Farm Incubator and Grower Program (FIG) on mentoring aspiring young farmers and teaching them over the course of two years all that great stuff you need to know about planning crop rotations and balancing farm budgets, and running a CSA and restaurant supply business.  On successful completion of the training, Maverick works with the young farmers gain access to land, financing, equipment, and a ready-made markets to launch their own farm enterprises.  The program will hopefully help to reestablish local food sources in the area.  Because viable local food systems are often constrained by a lack of both land under cultivation and new farmers, FIG will collaborate with local landowners, land trusts, and town and county governments to identify land that could be rented at below-market rates or deeded as common agricultural property.

I found Maverick Farms from this Grist article.  Grist is great for all environmental news!

 

Urban Fruit Gleaning

Portland Fruit Tree Project provides a valuable service that helps communities benefit directly from local resources. Fresh fruit that grows on neighborhood trees is collected by volunteers, and dropped off at local Food Banks for distribution to those in need. The great thing about this program is beneficial to their health!

 

When Neighbors Become Farmers…

Even the Wall Street Journal is talking about urban agriculture.

Check out this video about Kipp Nash and his yard farms in Boulder, CO (but you gotta be patient and watch an ad first) and the article that goes along with it.  It gives a brief description of start-up costs and profit as well.

 

 

Evil=The World According to Monsanto

A French documentary called “The World According to Monsanto” caused quite a stir in the US alternative agriculture community this week. Dubbed “A documentary that Americans won’t ever see,” this hour-and-fifty-minute documentary is available free through google video. 

Pretty cool if you ask me, but I haven’t watched the whole thing.

   

Monsanto was founded in 1901 by equally scary looking John F. Queeny.

The film first aired on ARTE, a French-German cultural channel on March 11 and made its way to the states by early April where many Americans saw it.  This doumentary about scary mega agribusiness corporation, Monsanto, was made by French journalist and film-maker Marie-Monique Robin. The fact that there is not that much else out there about the film probably suggests that not many other people have watched the whole documentary either. I’ll have to watch it and get back to you…

Protesters fighting to remove Monsanto’s milk hormone rBGH from the market

Monsanto has been around for ages and is a leading force behind so-called “conventional agriculture.” There’s lots of people fighting against this blackhole of a company around the world. 

The company’s profits for fiscal year 2007 are a disgusting $1.06 billion.

Check out:

Millions Against Monsanto Campaign

MonsantoWatch.org

SourceWatch Monsanto