eco
food for thought
Go to the Land, Young One Teaching Farming and Food Sourcing with Intention through Green Internships By valerie blomberg | photos by Kerry sherck
T
he Santa Fe Farmers Market attracts a multi-generational crowd. Kids slurp naturally-sweetened snow cones while adults sip coffee and balance heavy armfuls of produce. Behind the farm stands, you see old and young faces together. Are the young ones sons and daughters? Not always. Many come from far corners of the globe to spend a summer or a season learning how to farm. Bob Pederson at Tierra Lucero Farm in Taos attributes the growing interest in farm internships to the fact that university education is increasingly more expensive and jobs are scarce. Young, educated people are looking to gain practical skills to serve in a time of need. Pederson tends to host short-term interns who stay for several weeks and camp. Young people sometimes seek farm internships simply for a place to stay. Other interns look for knowledge and agricultural expertise to supplement a degree in environmental science or to further an interest in sustainable living. In other places, interns seek spiritual growth and guidance at farms connected to spiritual retreat centers. Interns are as diverse as the farms that host them, so it is essential that both interns and hosts put time and effort into finding the right fit. Most interns connect with host farms through one of several websites. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) seems to be the most well-known. For a small fee, interns have access to 14 ecotrendsource.com
Shane Eazor, intern at Talon de Gato, shows off the season’s produce at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.
hundreds of farm listings in North America. WWOOF is designed for volunteers who receive room and board in exchange for 20 hours of work per week. Volunteers contact host farms independently, and work out particular arrangements and expectations. Internships listed through the USDA’s Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) website often have a structured format with a serious educational focus and typically offer a monetary stipend. GrowFood is another listing site with a small but growing following. Help Exchange (HelpX) and Workaway list a variety of live/work opportunities in addition to farm internships, and appeal to an international community of travelers looking for a “worldwide vacation,” as Kristen Davenport Katz of Boxcar Farm in Llano says. Interns are between the ages of 24 and 28, on average, and share an interest in local food, agriculture, and sustainable living. “Politically, it draws a group of like-minded people,” says Jessica Farrell, an intern at Skarsgard Farms in Albuquerque. Farrell says she is impressed with the quality of the community she’s found at
RESOURCES Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms wwoofusa.org US Department of Agriculture (ATTRA) attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships/ GrowFood growfood.org Help Exchange helpx.net Workaway workaway.info
Skarsgard—one based on people seeking to help each other. Most farms request at least two interns for the May to October growing season. Skarsgard Farms has a larger operation, and hosts between nine and twelve interns for a season. Monte Skarsgard, who runs the farm, says that interns by and large arrive open-minded and ready to learn everything. Farmers Market and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) pickup days are probably the interns’ favorite work days because there is a lot of direct contact with the customers. A farm internship is hard work, but interns generally have time to explore the outdoor wonders of New Mexico. In fact, many farms highlight opportunities for outdoor recreation in their farm listings. Skarsgard Farms is proud of the number of interns who have gone on to start their own farms in the area. “The Farmers Market is like an alumni reunion,” says Skarsgard. Six farms have started locally from their program. The farms stay connected by helping each other out. For example, one farm might buy an organic fertilizer in bulk and exchange whatever they don’t need for a team of interns to work-share for a day. The freedom to collaborate and exchange goods holds true for farms everywhere. Roni Stephenson, who runs Stephenson Natural Farm in Española, sometimes features produce from another farm at her Santa Fe Farmers Market stand. Swapping and sharing produce, she says, helps diversify her stand while helping out her colleagues. The high desert climate of Northern New Mexico presents many challenges to farming, and unique educational opportunities for interns. “Interns learn everything we do,” says ecotrendsource.com 15