Podcasts about farm school nyc

Join us and 15 of Karen Washington's dear friends, family, mentees, and collaborators in wishing her a very happy 70th birthday with this episode featuring food and plant stories about our Farmy Godmother. Karen has been instrumental in the creation and guidance of neighborhood organizations such as Garden of Happiness, La Familia Verde Coalition and Farmers Market, and Bronx Green Up, as well as Farm School NYC, Black Urban Growers, and the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference. She serves on the board of Soul Fire Farm, the Black Farmer Fund, and the Mary Mitchell Center and has been a part of so many others such as Just Food (where we first met) and New York Botanic Garden, and was once the president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition, organizing to protect the gardens from development. She is one of the four co-founders and owners of Rise & Root Farm in Chester, NY. More importantly, Karen is a fierce fighter for gardens and justice and loves her friends and families with gusto and grits. We hope these stories reveal her love and knack for investing in community and her life-long commitment to rising and rooting for justice.  PEOPLE WITH KAREN STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Karen Washington Lorrie Clevenger - Rise and Root Farm, Black Urban Growers, and Farm School NYC; formerly of Just Food and WhyHunger. Leah Penniman - Soul Fire Farm Cheryl Holt - Karen's neighbor, Garden of Happiness Kendra Washington Bass - Karen's daughter Kitty Williams - Taqwa Community Farm, Iridescent Earth Collective; formerly of Bronx Green Up Ashanti Williams -Taqwa Community Farm, Black Yard Farm Julian Bass - Karen's grandson Nicole Ndiaye - NAHE, Bathgate Community Garden Gabriela Pereyra - Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust  Aleyna Rodriguez - Mary Mitchell Center Ursula Chanse - Bronx Green Up, New York Botanic Garden Michael Hurwitz - Landing Light Strategies; formerly of Added Value and Greenmarket Kathleen McTigue - AmeriCorps; formerly of Just Food and New Roots Community Farm Frances Perez Rodriguez - Farm School NYC Jane Hayes Hodge - Rise and Root Farm; formerly of Just Food and Farm School NYC THIS EPISODE SUPPORTED BY: YOU! Please become a Patron for $1 or more a month at Patreon.com/trueloveseeds A Bookkeeping Cooperative: https://bookkeeping.coop/home/ ABOUT: Seeds And Their People is a radio show where we feature seed stories told by the people who truly love them. Hosted by Owen Taylor of Truelove Seeds and Chris Bolden-Newsome of Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden. trueloveseeds.com/blogs/satpradio   FIND OWEN HERE: Truelove Seeds Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter   FIND CHRIS HERE: Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram's Garden   THANKS TO: Queen Karen Jane Hayes Hodge for helping make this happen Emilio Sweet-Coll for help with audio editing   Our Patreon members and A Bookkeeping Cooperative

In this episode "Find Your Place in the Ecosystem," we delve into urban agriculture and the way it can fill the gaps in our food systems. Meet @Farm School NYC, an organization with the mission to train NYC residents in urban agriculture, build self-reliant communities, and inspire positive local action around food sovereignty and social, economic, and racial justice.Join us as we sit down with Jazz Kerr to unpack food access, health, climate, racial, and social justice, and how we have the opportunity to support he folks addressing these issues at urban community gardens or farms near you. Discover the stories of individuals and communities who work to bridge the gap between urban residents and the sources of their sustenance and health. We'll uncover the ripple effects of urban agriculture on public health, community development, environmental sustainability, and social justice. In discussing all the benefits of urban agriculture, we can't forget to uplift the ancestors that guide us in this work, as well as the community that stewards it now: @rocksteadyfarm @riseandrootfarm @catalystcollaborativefarm @sweetfreedomfarm @comidapalpueblo @southbronxfoodhubcollective @ayniherbfarm @bxpemarketTune in to this episode to learn how urban agriculture is not only feeding, nurturing and seeding hope for a greener, more equitable future in our communities.You can find Farm School NYC here:https://www.farmschoolnyc.org/IG: @farmschool_nycFB: https://www.facebook.com/farmschoolnyc/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/farm-school-nyc/

New York urban farmer Maya Marie talks about building your relationship to land, her Deep Routes educational project, irrigation and more. Hear about how various family members, educational settings and even Sesame Street have contributed to Maya's life path. She talks about farming Afro-Indigenous crops at East New York Farms, including trying her hand at growing rice and keeping the pollinators in mind. Maya gets into what she sees as the current challenges of growing food for urban and rural farmers and how to be flexible, and then she gives her best advice for finding places to garden when you don't own your own space.  Learn about Maya's Deep Routes educational project to connect people with Afro-Indigenous agricultural and culinary traditions and uplift these stories and foodways. She also covers her work in teaching with Farm School NYC. Keep listening to hear about Maya talk about her favorite topic to teach and one that most of us could learn more about: irrigation.  Deep Routes website Deep Routes on Instagram Deep Routes on TikTok

Farm School NYC, Green Tech vs. Climate Tech, Green Generation Solutions

#015: Farm School NYC's Onika Abraham lays out the history, challenges, and hopes of community gardens in urban America, including the need to restore equity by reclaiming the commons and  to empower those closest to problems as the authors of solutions.Onika Abraham is the Executive Director of Farm School NYC, the co-founder of Black Urban Growers, and one of the organizers of the Black Farmer Fund. She completed an apprenticeship at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in Santa Cruz, CA and  is a certified Urban Gardener through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Onika serves on the Real Organic Project Advisory Board.To watch a video version of this podcast please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/onika-abraham-voting-with-your-fork-wont-end-food-apartheid-episode-fifteen/The Real Organic Podcast is hosted by Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon, engineered by Brandon StCyr, and edited and produced by Jenny Prince.The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).To find a Real Organic farm near you, please visit:https://www.realorganicproject.org/farmsWe believe that the organic standards, with their focus on soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare were written as they should be, but that the current lack of enforcement of those standards is jeopardizing the ability for small farms who adhere to the law to stay in business. The lack of enforcement is also jeopardizing the overall health of the customers who support the organic movement; customers who are not getting what they pay for at market but still paying a premium price. And the lack of enforcement is jeopardizing the very cycles (water, air, nutrients) that Earth relies upon to provide us all with a place to live, by pushing extractive, chemical agriculture to the forefront.If you like what you hear and are feeling inspired, we would love for you to join our movement by becoming one of our 1,000  Real Fans!https://www.realorganicproject.org/1000-real-fans/To read our weekly newsletter (which might just be the most forwarded newsletter on the internet!) and get firsthand news about what's happening with organic food, farming and policy, please subscribe here:https://www.realorganicproject.org/email/

Have you ever considered farming for a target audience that isn't “everyone who eats”? Today we're joined by Maggie Cheney, co-founder of Rock Steady Farm in Millerton, New York. Maggie and her partner, D, both hoped the Millerton farm could increase food equity in the food system and create safer spaces for LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual/ally queer) and BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) farmers to thrive. Almost six years later, the farm has indeed made an impact. Its wide array of vegetables feed a 450-member sliding scale CSA that includes free and subsidized shares made possible through the Food Access Fund. The farm works in close partnerships with other land-based projects, neighbors, and nonprofits that work to build equity in the region and beyond. Their farm practices “holistic regenerative” farming. Join us to hear all about how Rock Steady thrives with their specific target audience!   You'll hear: What got Maggie into farming 1:58 What made Maggie and her partner choose Millerton for the farm 4:33 Why Maggie and D dropped flowers from their farming plan 7:17 About Rock Steady's scale of production 11:19 How Rock Steady finds the right people for the farm 18:26 What programs Rock Steady run and what ages do they work with 20:36 Why Rock Steady doesn't have any H2A workers 23:27 About the differences involved with farming in California and New York 29:11 About the Pollinate Apprenticeship Program 32:10 What systems and processes Maggie would put into place sooner given the chance to start again 36:30 How Rock Steady approaches marketing 41:10 Maggie's favorite crop to grow 48:29 Maggie's advice for newer farmers getting into the business 50:33 Maggie's favorite farming tool 54:12About the Guest:MAGGIE CHENEY (THEY/THEM, SHE/HER), GENERAL MANAGER, OWNER & FOUNDER Maggie grew up growing & loving food. They have been involved with food and farming their whole life, both urban and rural. In 2006, they helped start an elementary school garden program in Oakland, California, and then went on to the University of California Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems for two years. After farming a bit in the Hudson Valley and Staten Island, they moved to NYC in 2011, where they met many of the Rock Steady Community partners in NYC while leading a diversity of food justice and youth leadership programs.  Maggie has been instrumental in the formation of the Food Sovereignty Fund, which funds food access projects across New York State by sourcing from specifically BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ farmers, as well as supporting on advisory boards for numerous food orgs in the region. In the off season they teach, now for the 9th year, at Farm School NYC, an urban agriculture training program, as well as continue to support the efforts and inspiring work of Rise & Root Farm, which they co-founded in 2014. Resources:Website - https://www.rocksteadyfarm.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RockSteadyFarmandFlowers/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rocksteadyfarm/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/RockSteadyFarm

Quick check in Black Zocalo Lawn to Garden Conversion Fresno Freedom School Board   Interview with Frances Details: Frances A. Pérez Rodriguez (she/her) is the Food and Land Education Coordinator of Woke Foods, a food service and food justice worker-owned cooperative focused on innovating Dominican and Afro-Caribbean plant-based foods. Frances is also a co-program coordinator of Farm School NYC, an urban agriculture training program which trains local residents in urban agriculture in order to build self-reliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and social, economic, and racial justice issues. Frances is also the co-lead farmer of La Finca del Sur/South Bronx Farmers, an urban farmer cooperative led by Latina and Black women and their allies. Please join me for this beautiful interview as we discuss serious topics like identity, decolonizing our diets and freeing the land to free ourselves, as well as Frances' family tradition of salsa.    Follow Frances and her fam on social media/the web:   Wokefoods: www.wokefoods.coop @wokefoods (Instagram) FarmSchoolNYC: www.farmschoolnyc.org @farmschoolnyc (Instagram) La Finca del Sur: https://www.facebook.com/lafincadelsur Frances: www.about.me/franso @freedomfransorants (Instagram)   

How Food, Farming, And Health Disparities Are Interconnected | This episode is brought to you by BetterHelpRacial and ethnic disparities are sadly alive and well when it comes to health outcomes, land ownership, and how food is grown in the US. White farmers are at an overwhelming advantage when it comes to owning land and they see the greatest benefit from the 97% of the income generated by it. Additionally, lack of access to land and fresh food is a form of oppression that sets communities up for generational illness and strife. These are serious racial and ethnic inequalities happening in our current day and age, but they stem from the long-standing structural discrimination that our agricultural system is rooted in. In this minisode, Dr. Hyman explores these topics with Karen Washington and Leah Penniman.Karen Washington is a farmer, activist, and food advocate. She is the Co-owner and Farmer at Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York. In 2010, Karen Co-Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of the 100 most influential African Americans in the country, and in 2014 Karen was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award. Karen serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Gardens, SoulFire Farm, the Mary Mitchell Center, Why Hunger, and Farm School NYC.Karen shares her inspiring story of how starting a garden in her backyard in The Bronx led her to understand the bigger issues of food insecurity in underserved communities. As a former physical therapist looking into her patients’ health, she noticed Black and Brown clients were suffering with poor diet and inaccessibility to healthy foods, while white communities were not. Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol educator, farmer, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-Executive Director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs—including farmer training for Black and Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system. Her book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land is a love song for the land and her people. From a young age, Leah had a deep reverence for nature and the land. This led her to learn about historical regenerative farming practices and share that knowledge with others. It also led her to a greater understanding of our food system and why it’s a major propellor in racial inequality. President Johnson’s 1865 overturn of General William Sherman’s “40 acres and a mule” Order had massive implications for the future of Black farmers that we are still feeling the consequences of today. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. BetterHelp lets you get affordable counseling anytime, from anywhere. As a Doctor’s Farmacy listener you can get 10% off right now by going to betterhelp.com/drhyman.Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Karen Washington, “A Way Out Of Food Racism And Poverty” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/KarenWashingtonFind Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Leah Penniman, “Why Food Is A Social Justice Issue” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/LeahPenniman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Originally published in June of 2019 this is a good episode about food justice https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/podcast-2/271-farm-school-nyc/ (https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/podcast-2/271-farm-school-nyc/) you can read the unedited computer generated transcript here. https://app.podscribe.ai/episode/54551597 (https://www.foragerproject.com/) sponsored by Forager Project (https://www.foragerproject.com/) Cultivate Democracy! VOTE! (https://www.foragerproject.com/) Support this podcast

A Way Out Of Food Racism And Poverty | This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and BioptimizersFood is a way to empower people and create change. It’s time for us to use it as a tool for changing racial injustice and helping Black, Brown, and low-income communities achieve better health, economic opportunities, and even generational legacies in the form of land ownership. Many of us have heard the term “food desert” as a way to describe places where fresh, healthy food is not accessible within a certain distance. On this episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, my guest, Karen Washington, takes this concept to a greater level with her coining of the phrase “food apartheid,” to really portray the overarching inequalities in our food system when it comes to the demographics of race, location, affluence, and economics.Karen Washington is a farmer, activist, and food advocate. She is the Co-owner and Farmer at Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York. In 2010, Karen Co-Founded Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization supporting growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted her one of the 100 most influential African Americans in the country, and in 2014 Karen was the recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award. Karen serves on the boards of the New York Botanical Gardens, SoulFire Farm, the Mary Mitchell Center, Why Hunger, and Farm School NYC.This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and Bioptimizers.ButcherBox makes it super easy to get humanely raised meat that you can trust delivered right to your doorstep. ButcherBox has everything you could want—like 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef and wild Alaskan salmon—and shipping is always free. Visit ButcherBox.com/farmacy.My new favorite magnesium is from a company called Bioptimizers—their Magnesium Breakthrough formula contains 7 different forms which all have different functions in the body. There is truly nothing like it on the market. Right now you can try Bioptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough for 10% off, just go to bioptimizers.com/hyman and use the code HYMAN10 at checkout.Here are more of the details from our interview: How Karen came to see the relationship between food and health growing up and working as a physical therapist in The Bronx (7:44)Lack of access to healthy foods in low-income communities and issues of structural racism that are driving health disparities in our society (12:57)The notion of food deserts vs. food apartheid (16:39)Encouraging Black youth to embrace farming (24:12)The broken promise of 40 acres and a mule, Black land loss, Black land ownership, and reparations (27:20)The power of grassroots efforts, voting, and holding elected officials accountable (34:40)Why there is no going back from this moment in history (43:55)Recognizing the impact of structural racism in our food system and beyond (48:00)Improving communities by implementing school kitchens, financial education, job training, and community wealth building (52:06)Understanding the history of how food has been used as a weapon among BIPOC communities (1:00:59)Learn more about Karen Washington at https://www.karenthefarmer.com. Follow her on Facebook @KarenWashingtonNY, Instagram @karwasher, and on Twitter @karwasher.Learn more about Rise & Root Farm at www.riseandrootfarm.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, personal connection is more important than ever, as we’re having to physically distance ourselves from one another. We’re all trying our best to stay connected, and this week we’re exploring how the very fundamentals of personal connection are shifting in our new reality.Kat Johnson dives into the virtual world of Zoom Happy Hours with help from HRN Hall-of-Famer Lou Bank. Danya AbdelHameid explores how people are turning to gardening in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. We bring you an excerpt from Cutting the Curd where Aaron Foster shares insights on how food retail has been impacted by COVID-19. Finally, we have a special segment on how to manage boredom from Time For Lunch, HRN’s brand new podcast for young eaters.Meat and Three is powered by Simplecast.

Onika Abraham from Farm School NYC shares her passion for sustainable agriculture and food justice education in New York’s 5 Boroughs. I’m so excited to introduce my guest from Farm School NYC (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) Onika Abraham! Tell us a little about yourself. I reside here in beautiful Brooklyn NYC. I’m originally a New Yorker from the lower side Manhattan, if anyone is familiar with NYC accents, it’s obvious. Grew up in NYC from parents who grew up on farms, always loved visiting my grandparents seeing them grow what they eat and always inspiring to me!  I have come full circle by being the director of Farm School NYC (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) Tell me about your first gardening experience? I have to say, I grew up on the lower east side on the 18th floor an apartment lucky to have a little terrace little concrete shelf does not sound like a bucolic farm but was definitely my first gardening experience My mother grew up on a mid size family farm in Alabama, when she moved here she brought her love and passion for growing things with her and she just recreated that in a little postage size terrace. I really grew up in pots and containers on my parent’s terrace had to be flowers house plants and all different flowers zinnias marigolds were some of her favorites I remember from when I was a kid!  Awwww that’s like the sweetest story. I didn’t really get to meet a lot of people from NYC proper, even tho my cousins lived on the Upper East Side, but we only saw them at Christmas and it’s fun to imagine, a little children’s book. Have you seen Sarah Stewart’s book The Gardener (https://amzn.to/2EY1K8b) ?  (https://amzn.to/2EY1K8b) What is FARM SCHOOL NYC (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) ? Is it for adults for kids? What kinds of classes do you have?   adults (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) folks who are interested in learning how to grow sustainably sustainable organic practices people who want to use that knowledge base to address some of the inequities in our society resources health wellness access to healthy food cultivate an awareness of how to grow food and collecting or make an impact on those health and wealth disparities bringing things together culturally See our work at  FARM SCHOOL NYC  (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) as a way of  building community building justice through food cohort moving through our certificate program certificate in Urban Agriculture 20 courses in succession 20-30 people moving through that program at any given year Take a variety of courses at FARM SCHOOL NYC (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) containers grounding in the methodology educate entire communities comes onto the farm one point of entry of a whole community of people who can learn with this person and share that knowledge come in start taking courses anyone over the age of 18 youngest student is about 20 maybe 21 oldest student is about 62 Cohort racially diverse culturally diverse age diverse gender diversity (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) Did you tell us already? Is there an actual farm FARM SCHOOL NYC (http://www.farmschoolnyc.org/) ?? And if so where is that and how big? feed each other that’s the beauty we were originally created as a collective of farms things we have here at our fingertips and resources that we have and one thing NYC does not lack at all believe it or not is space to grow rooftop farms over 600 community gardens in NYC farming spaces because we were developed as a collective of groups, we didn’t want to create something else that would compete with that for resources to fund these projects or an alternate income that is required to make it happen didn’t want to... Support this podcast

Maybe you don't consider how your meal is contributing to oppression. But at Bad With Money, we're here to tell you, it might be! To learn more, we turned to some incredible guests: Malik Yakini is the executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which aims to promote food sovereignty for communities of color in Detroit. Amani Olugbala is both an alumna and now facilitator of the Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion Program at Soul Fire Farm in Upstate New York. And in New York City, Onika Abraham runs Farm School NYC, which educates people interested in urban farming. And all three of them are using their positions to promote social and racial justice, to bring about change in the food system.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesOur Sponsors:* Check out Arena Club: arenaclub.com/badmoney* Check out Chime: chime.com/BADMONEY* Check out Claritin: www.claritin.com* Check out Indeed: indeed.com/BADWITHMONEY* Check out Monarch Money: monarchmoney.com/BADMONEY* Check out NetSuite: NetSuite.com/BADWITHMONEYAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Maybe you don't consider how your meal is contributing to oppression. But at Bad With Money, we're here to tell you, it might be! To learn more, we turned to some incredible guests: Malik Yakini is the executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which aims to promote food sovereignty for communities of color in Detroit. Amani Olugbala is both an alumna and now facilitator of the Black and Latinx Farmers Immersion Program at Soul Fire Farm in Upstate New York. And in New York City, Onika Abraham runs Farm School NYC, which educates people interested in urban farming. And all three of them are using their positions to promote social and racial justice, to bring about change in the food system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CLASSES & RESOURCES IN NYC GrowNYC’s Farm Beginnings — a comprehensive agricultural training program developed for new farmers by the people who run the Greenmarket. Designed for a people looking to start farm enterprises, including urban farmers looking to scale-up and second career farm entrepreneurs.   Brooklyn Grange hosts a whole range of workshops and classes for rooftop farmers. If a full roof installation process is more than you want to take on, their Design and Installation arm will build you your very own backyard or terrace garden, rooftop farm, or green wall.  Just Food’s Farm School NYC  — urban agriculture training through a certificate program and a wide range of individual courses from social justice to urban farming to grassroots community organizing. Mission: to build self-reliant communities and inspire positive local action around food access and social, economic, and racial justice issues.  Green Roofs for Healthy Cities  — training towards certification in green roof and wall installation. Eagle Street Farm — Greenpoint. This rooftop farm welcomes visitors from second graders to graduate students to learn about sky-high agriculture.  Cornell Cooperative Extension  — free gardening and farming support run by NYS with offices in every single county – including Manhattan. Offering everything from soil testing to 20c processing licenses.  HUDSON VALLEY INTERNSHIPS AND INCUBATORS Stone Barns’ Growing Farmers Initiative  — Westchester. Comprehensive program to help beginning farmers get the training, resources and guidance to create economically and ecologically resilient farm enterprises. Offers apprenticeships, a virtual grange, workshops on everything from beekeeping to seed saving, and an annual Young Farmers Conference which draws hundreds of beginning farmers from across the country and beyond.  Glynwood’s Farm Incubator  — Cold Spring. Provides the tools and resources aspiring agricultural entrepreneurs need to develop and manage viable farm enterprises in the Hudson Valley. Provides access to land, housing, shared equipment, infrastructure, low-interest capital, business mentoring and training in sustainable farming practices. RESOURCES & NON-PROFITS SUPPORTING NEW FARMERS Cornell’s Beginning Farmers Program  — a comprehensive clearing house of resources, internships, job postings and land opportunities. Northeast Organic Farming Association  — This seven-state non-profit teaches, certifies and supports organic farms. Their semi-annual conferences offer sessions on everything from raw milk to fermentation to homesteading, complete with contra dancing and camping.  The Greenhorns  — A unique resource helping young people make the transition into a career of farming. Provides information about everything from where to find an apprenticeship to how to repair a tractor. Complete with mentor matchmaker.   National Young Farmers Coalition  — represents, mobilizes, and engages young farmers. Supports practices and policies to sustain young, independent and prosperous farmers now and in the future. Co-founded by an ex-Manhattanite who now grows organic vegetables in the Hudson.  Richard Wiswall’s The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook  — widely-prized bible on the business end of running a farm. Expert advice on how to make your vegetable production more efficient and how to better manage your employees and finances. The USDA’s (great) new website for new farmers  — Yes, even the USDA is focusing on new farmers. This site offers in-depth information on how to increase access to land and capital, build new market opportunities, participate in conservation opportunities, select and use risk management tools, and access USDA education and technical-support  American Farmland Trust: Transitioning Farmland to a New Generation  — This longtime, stalwart non-profit is bringing its forces to bear for new farmers, offering everything from training to land links as well as targeted offerings for women landowners and conservation.

New Yorkers' interest in where their food comes from and how it is raised has led to a robust farmers' market system, a growing interest in communty gardens and backyard enterprises like raising chickens and keeping bees, and a surprising number of urbanites who are ditching their pots of basil on their fire escape to become farmers. While there’s not what you’d call a mass exodus from New York City, there is a perceptible upward trend in the number of people wanting to learn more about agriculture.  With the number of farmers nationwide in decline, support programs are cropping up to help in that transition: Just Food runs Farm School NYC, the Stone Barns Center in Westchester County runs farmer training programs and hosts an annual sold-out Young Farmers Conference, and a growing number of other non-profits help new farmers find everything they need to take root — from land to capital to customers.  Closer to home, Chris Wayne runs FARMroots, the new farmer development program at GrowNYC, the non-profit that manages New York City's Greenmarkets program. In their offices on Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan, they offer a USDA-funded, 10-week training class that Wayne said begins with a reality check: “Can you spend 16 hours in 95 degree heat, working your tail off, for very little money?  That's the first question.”   The question is intended to knock the stars out of people's eyes and get them to start thinking more realistically about farming.  But Wayne said dreaming is still necessary, and is encouraged. "One of the first things we have [students] do," said Wayne, "is look deep into their own values: Why are they interested in starting a farm business, and what's going to be that core, central piece that they can look back on at Hour 15 on their farm, and say  'This is why I'm doing this, this is why this is important to me.'" Once you figure the why, Wayne said it's time to consider the what, the produce or product sector that you want to get into. What are you interested in growing, or raising? Wayne said people often come to the class already inspired by a vegetable or fruit that they had success with in their community or backyard gardens.   What skills do you already have that you could utilize?  Wayne explained that farming requires "an incredibly wide range of skills," from welding to marketing plans to graphic design work for that perfect label that's going to sell your pickled green beans.  "You may not be coming to agriculture with a production skill, but there's probably a lot of other things that you don't realize, other skills and experiences that you already have, that are going to play into a successful farm business."  Is there a niche you can fill with your farm product?  Wayne said beginning farmers can do their own market research.  "What do you see when you walk through a farmer's market?  Are there some products there that are lacking? What's one of the things that you can't seem to find?" This Farm Beginnings course takes beginning farmers from mission statement to financial plan to marketing plan.  But it’s not all Excel spreadsheets. Wayne said it's also important for aspiring farmers to get out of the classroom and into the field.  He said farmers in the Northeast are increasingly accepting interns and apprentices who can earn a small stipend and learn on the job.  He said he believes that kind of experience, under the tutelage of an experience farmer, is essential in learning the "true art of agriculture." "I always say, if I decided tomorrow that i wanted to be an electrician, would I walk into a house the next day, after reading a couple books, and try to set up a house with electricity? Of course not.  The same is true with agriculture."  Wayne said that at the end of the course, if participants decide they want to keep their office day job after all, he considers that as much of a success as helping to launch a Future Farmer.  "We really want folks who are devoted to this to get out into farms," he said. Check out our Farm School Resources Page for more farming classes, literature about starting a farm and organizations that connect aspiring farmers with internship opportunities.