The World We Want: Growing Benevolent Agricultural Communities

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, other, workshop
• Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, community services, leadership development, other, quality of life, social capital, social networks

The Northeast SARE community is beginning to awaken to the inner
work needed to achieve our shared dream to ‘honor the holistic
connections among land, water, air and all living beings’. 
To honor our relationships in this interconnected web of life, we
must first look inward to remember who we are at our
‘core’.  Through our previous NESARE professional
development State Program “Reconnecting with Purpose”, we learned
that when participants join in community to uncover and reclaim
their birth gifts, stories of self, and inner identities, they
develop a sense of awareness, connection and trust with one
another that builds a collective strength. Collective strength
enables us to act with the kinds of courage and integrity we need
to create and sustain the bold, ambitious, urgent change our farm
and food system badly needs.   Since 2020, our
facilitator teams have fostered these transformations and impacts
in the 75 participants we have served, but we have had to turn
another 75 applications away. The need to develop a collaborator
network of diverse, experienced facilitators who are prepared to
design and curate programs for inner work is very high.

In the first year, our Facilitation/Mentoring team will design a
Practitioners Preparation course for 22 alumni who are eager to
dive more deeply into the practices and principles introduced in
“Reconnecting with Purpose”.  As new Practitioners feel
ready to live, embody and steward these principles, they will
work in teams around areas of interest to co-design a range of
programs, virtual and in-person, open to the entire agricultural
community.  Themes already identified include exploring
farmer wellness and balance, fostering interracial agricultural
allyship and rural community safety, cultivating gratitude and
reverence for the land, and climate change grief and action.

15 inspired alumni of the "Reconnecting with Purpose" program community (2020-2023 NY State NESARE PDP Program) will draw upon their gifts, strengths, and newly acquired practitioner skills to co-design and co-facilitate a variety of in-person and virtual programs focused on connection, trust, wellness and healing for 100 sustainable agriculture educators, change-makers, earth-workers, activists and farmers of diverse backgrounds.