Students of environmental education who had visited the site had already made the farm staff wary by ignorantly criticizing the farm's operations and looking at the livestock with vegan-inspired distaste. Only after some very difficult conversations, hesitant actions, and plenty of time, have we reached a positive symbiosis in which our work is interwoven with the everyday workings of the farm. The farm manager has found that he is a fine presenter. And I have learned to drive our teams of draft horses. Along the way I have discovered that people who work with the land see it from a vantage point all of us need to consider.
Farms are, after all, the place where humans have their most essential interface with nature.
Our farm community now comprises three full-time farmers, two gardeners, additional summer helpers, and a staff of ten teachers and administrators. As education director, I help develop, teach, and administer programs on both agricultural and natural history topics. Yet our role in nature is defined not only by where we live but by how we derive our sustenance. Stewardship stems from a sense of connection to the land that sustains us. The problem is that our modern food system is so far flung and fragmented that it is hard to make the connection real.