Farm Fresh August 2022: Success Stories, Going to Burning Man

Farm Fresh News - August 2022

In this issue:

Going to Burning Man
Raised Gluten Free, Rosa Dixon and Milia Lando
Michael O'Gorman, Activist Farmer
Soy Cookies for Guatemala Children after Covid
Market Day Aug 20

Dear Friends,

In 2001, MSNBC came to The Farm to produce a show about us, and much to our and their surprise, they found a lot of old video of The Farm in their archives. Recorded in the early 1970s, it adds a lot to the historical context of the show.

When the program A Different Drummer was broadcast, it featured two very different communities: Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert and The Farm, with about 30 minutes on each.

You can check out the program on our website. https://thefarmcommunity.com/the-farm-and-burning-man-msnbc-2001/

I bring this up because in a couple of weeks I will be at Burning Man as part of a Theme Camp hosted by my friend Hal that I wrote about in my January 2022 newsletter. We will be serving a delicious French pastry prepared by our team for the masses. My son will join me in what I have no doubt will be an experience to remember! Watch Burning Man and The Farm Community - MSNBC 2001

This month's newsletter focuses on what I call Farm Family Success Stories.

Rosa Dixon and Malia Lando grew up on The Farm and then came together as friends in Arcata, California, where they started a gluten-free bakery. Their gluten-free pies, cookies, and savory products like a vegan quiche and vegetable pot pie, are now sold all across the country.

Rosa Dixon and Milia Lando of Raised Gluten Free

Throughout the 1970s, Michael O'Gorman was the fearless leader of our farming crew, tasked with the enormous mission of feeding a vegan community with a population that grew to over 1,500 people.

After The Changeover in 1983, Michael found himself on the West Coast overseeing the farming operations for big names like Earthbound Farms and Del Cabo. Towards the end of his farming career, Michael was managing the organic harvest of around 4,000 acres, working with hundreds of farmers in Baja, Mexico.

But that's only the beginning of the story. More below. The point being...

Every one of us has the potential to make a difference.

Buddhism says to start with the square inch. Working on yourself.

Moving out to the square foot, taking care of your family and friends.

You move out to the square yard, building community.

And with that solid foundation in place, you are ready to go beyond the limits of your imagination.

Stay focused on your spiritual path, and you never know where it might lead you.

Namaste,
Douglas

Farm Family Success Story: Raised Gluten Free

From their website: Flavor First, Gluten Free Always

We are two moms, childhood best friends, and now business partners passionate about raising the standard of gluten free that promises to be naturally decadent!

We were raised health and food conscious by our hippie vegan parents and we are now doing the same with our kids. Our allergy-friendly treats promise to be the super-yummiest found anywhere.

Rosa's daughter Solea was diagnosed with Celiac disease.

From Mothers Make a Difference in The Humboldt Times Standard

"Dixon’s daughter, Solea, was diagnosed with Celiac disease as a toddler. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by eating foods that contain gluten... Dixon adds, "This was honestly the best news we could have heard because it meant that she could cure herself through food. We removed gluten from her diet, and within six months, she went from being in the 1st percentile of height and weight to the 85th. Now she’s in the 95th percentile and thriving.” Read the entire article

Look for Raised Gluten Free products in supermarkets all across the United States, including Kroger, Whole Foods, Safeway, and more! Find the store closest to you on their website https://www.raisedglutenfree.com/store-locator

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Farm Family Success Story: From The Farming Crew to The Farmer Veteran Coalition

Michael O'Gorman in a wheat field on The Farm, "back in the day." photo by David Frohman

From https://www.michaelogormanfarming.com/

"In 1971, my wife and I became founding members of the nation’s largest intentional community – or ‘commune’ – called ‘The Farm’, in middle-south Tennessee, not far north of the Alabama border. Despite my youth and relative inexperience, I ended up in charge of growing the community’s food. As the community grew to 1,500 people, including our four children, that responsibility became an enormous one, a journey filled with glorious successes, disappointing failures, and a never-ending education."

In 2001, one of Michael’s kids was at Ground Zero on 9/11. Fortunately, she was unharmed, but it stirred something inside him, as it did so many of us.

A meeting was held on The Farm in early 2002 that included former Farm members from all across our network. The result was the creation of a new nonprofit called PeaceRoots Alliance because we were an alliance of people working together and with others toward a common goal: peace in our lifetime.

The projects were many, and the work of PeaceRoots continues to this day. Michael served as our chairman and during this time he had the vision to create Farms Not Arms, bringing together farmers as a unified voice for nonviolence. We took this message to the Farm Aid concert and met with representatives of their organization. They liked our energy but felt Farm Aid had to stay politically neutral. It was suggested, “if you can get some veterans involved, then maybe…“

The next year we held a press conference in Manhattan, the site of the next Farm Aid concert. We brought gold star mothers whose sons had been killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. We brought a veteran of Iraq who had begun serving in the Peace Corps working with farmers in Africa. And by the following year, we had veterans on the stage at Farm Aid under a new banner, the Farmer Veteran Coalition.

The idea was simple: help veterans find a new sense of purpose that connected with life and the healing power of the earth.

Michael became the director of Farmer Veteran Coalition with the goal of helping veterans find employment on farms, start farms of their own, and providing funding for education in agriculture. It established the label "Homegrown by Heroes," which encourages people to support farms run by veterans. FVC is now staffed and managed by veterans and has distributed millions of dollars to veterans in need.

Michael now spends his time teaching, giving talks, as a consultant, and working with his brother on the original family farm started by his father out in California.

Michael puts it this way, "Farmer Veteran Coalition has touched many lives. According to the testimony of our members, it’s saved many. Working closely with men and women at the moment of their transformation from experiences at war to that of farming, and creating life, has profoundly enriched my own life."

Read Michael's life story on his website https://www.michaelogormanfarming.com/about

A lecture by Organic Pioneer Michael O’Gorman on Vegetable Production for Profitability

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Karen's Soy Nutrition Project in Guatemalan - Life after Covid

Shut down by Covid, Karen's Soy Nutrition Project in Guatemala is back in operation, serving soy milk and soy fortified cookies to as many 300 children twice a week, children whose families scavenge the dump of Guatemala City to survive. https://ksnp.org/

Photos by Plenty International's Chuck Haren, who visited the project in July 2022.

Hilsia Zetino Payes died on June 25, 2020 from the Corona Virus.

Hilsia was one of the kindest and most loving people I have known. She helped to initiate and manage the children’s nutrition supplementation and community education activities that Plenty has funded since 2010 at the Guatemala city landfill. Hilsia was a friend, mother, grandmother, and/or sister to all who lived in her community. She dedicated the last several years of her life to making sure children who were living in very difficult circumstances received the nutrition they needed to grow and be healthy. Hilsia was loved by all the children and adults who knew her. She was always there to listen to, console, and help her neighbors and the broader community in whatever way she could. Please remember Hilsia, and her family and community as they navigate a new future without her. — Chuck Haren

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Peace,

Douglas

Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com