Support the ‘lunatic farmer’

Gordon Meriwether
Published: July 23, 2008

I know very little about farming; however, I am learning. When I started my business in 2003, the food and agriculture communities were the first to embrace our crisis management techniques and training methodologies.

Over the last five years, as I have worked with the business and culture of the agricultural community, I discovered the most dedicated, hard-working people on the planet. Agro-economics is as fascinating and complex as any business in the world, and you don’t have to be in the business to understand the importance of what these committed professionals do for a living. We all have a stake in the quantity and quality of the food we eat.

When a friend recommended Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” as a good read on the workings of the food and agricultural community, I eagerly consumed it. To my surprise, a good one-third of the book is dedicated to the techniques and struggles of PolyFace Farms in Staunton. PolyFace is a throwback to times past. Their common sense techniques are organic; ultra-organic. Their distrust of the government and large multinational agro-business is understandable. Their focus is local. They proudly call themselves “lunatic farmers.”

Every three years they have a field day to introduce attendees to the life and times of the local farmer and the trial and tribulations of trying to make a successful living in an over-regulated, highly competitive industry where common sense takes a back seat to the wealth of the corporate stockholder and whims of the politician.

This year I was among the lucky 1,600 who chose to travel to Staunton for this all-day workshop. It was eye-opening.

I don’t have the space or the personal knowledge to do justice to the entire day in this brief column. The sincerity and commitment of the farmers and family at PolyFace gave me a whole new level of respect for this community. Here are a few key points that I felt are applicable to Culpeper and the surrounding communities:

-Rural revitalization — Getting the young people to stay on the farms or return to the rural environment is a key objective. The charm of the small- town life is why I am here. This is a no-brainer for a war-weary 60-year-old beltway refugee, but not a 25-year-old looking at future career expectations. How do we keep our young down on the farm, or at least in Culpeper? Jobs and money is a start.

-Making local farming profitable — This is a multiheaded problem. Government regulations don’t help. A farmer can’t birth, grow and slaughter cattle, poultry, etc., on his (or her) farm without substantial oversight and interference by the government. They tell the story of a local Virginia farmer who had a healthy herd and ran into hard times. He couldn’t afford to feed his herd nor to have the cattle butchered at the proper regulated facility, but was not allowed to legally butcher the herd himself. His family goes hungry. All of our local community governments have a stake in supporting, protecting and growing our agricultural base.

-Distribution is the weak link in the local farm — Most local small farms find it tough to get to the consumers with their products. When I am in town, I am a frequent visitor to our Saturday morning farmers market on Davis Street. This year’s market is sensational. But from a farmer’s perspective it can be a tough guessing game. They come to the market with products based on their best guess, sell out of what the consumer wants and spend the rest of the day trying to sell everything else.

There are other models such as Community Supported Agriculture buying groups that have sprung up in larger cities that show promise on a limited scale. Distribution is the toughest problem; buy local.

Agriculture has been the foundation of our community since our founding 250 years ago. We can experience growth and development as a community and prosper, but let’s not forget what got us here: agriculture. Have you hugged your local lunatic farmer today?

Gordon Meriwether is an independent columnist who lives in Culpeper. He appears every other Thursday in the Star-Exponent. E-mail