two days left on the east coast

Hello! If you've stumbled upon my new blog you must know that I am preparing for my next adventure out on the west coast of the US, where I will be interning on a sustainable farm for three months in Northern California. On a two-month cross country road trip this past fall I fell in love with the west coast and also northern CA. I knew that there was something about the landscape, the farms and vineyards, and the lifestyle that would draw me back to it. I felt a strong connection that I was unable to really explore due to time constraints while traveling through the gigantic state of California. So, needless to say I am ecstatic for the opportunity at this point in my life to go back to the west coast and do something I've wanted to do for a long time: learn what it takes to farm sustainably and grow organic produce in the United States. I will be living and working at the Green String Farm in Petaluma, which is located in Sonoma Valley (aka wine country). I found this farm and the Green String Institute (the educational institute on the farm) through the WWOOFing network, where I submitted a detailed application and was interviewed over the phone. I was accepted to the internship program on February 1st, along with 14 others, and will be in Petaluma from this Sunday until the end of May.

Many people have asked me what exactly will farming do for me in the context of my career and professional goals. No, I do not have plans to become a farmer and sell asparagus on the side of the road (as my grandfather seems to jokingly romanticize every time I see him). However, I simply want to learn and have a deeper understanding of agriculture in America, since I plan to study environmental and agricultural policy in graduate school this fall. Almost the entirety of an average American's diet comes from a factory farm, and I believe this has to change in order to create a more sustainable planet. I would like to be part of the movement for local and organic food systems and have the knowledge of how to grow nutritious and wholesome food.

No one can survive without food, and what we eat and how we get it brings up some of the most controversial and important topics of our society. There's the current obesity and diabetes epidemic, the moral question of eating animals, the harmful impacts of factory farming on the environment (almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions come from modern agriculture), the use of pesticides and how they relate to cancer, and much more. Aside from these dilemmas food brings joy and forms bonds between people, especially in families and traditional cultures. I am fascinated by so many of these aspects of food, and I hope that through this internship and my blog I will be able to shed some light on as well as reflect on the many different ways of producing and growing our basic sustenance.

Follow me here as I transplant myself to a new coast and learn to farm and produce food (and wine...) sustainably, with the least harm to the natural environment. I'm nervous but excited for the challenges to come, since I have done very little actual farm work in my life. It's not an easy job, and will definitely not be glamourous. I highly doubt I will be getting any mani/pedis while out there (my one aunt was very concerned with the future state of my fingernails) and will probably work harder than I ever have. I am looking forward to it and cannot wait to share with you what I learn. I'll try to post every week pictures from my experiences, write about what I've been doing, and discuss issues that relate to my work.

If you'd like some more information about the Green String Farm I copied a short description from their website, and also linked their page as well.

"Green String is a 140 acre farm, with 50-60 acres in cultivation, in Petaluma, CA. The farm produces vegetables and fruits for a number of restaurants in the Bay Area, and maintains a farm store year-round. While the farm is not certified organic, we hold ourselves to sustainability standards that we believe well exceed organic standards. Green String is the act of farming sustainably and naturally so that we provide a healthy future for generations to enjoy. Sustainability in the farming context is defined as healthy, local, socially responsible, simple living and control. We make every effort to reduce soil erosion, pesticide dependency, loss of biodiversity, resistance to natural predators, and other harmful ecological impact. We create a self-nourishing system where less human intervention yields better quality crops. Green String Farmers are extremely acute to the needs of the plants. Soil management techniques include crop rotation, cover crops and composting that aid in enriching concentration of vitamins and minerals in the soil. In addition to their nutritional benefits, sustainably grown food is produced without possibly endangering public health. Green String Farmers typically improve their surroundings by preserving green space, protecting the soils, conserving scarce resources, providing habitat for wildlife, and stimulating the local economy. They also strive to prevent the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria, the spread of food-borne pathogens, the release of toxic pesticides into the environment, and contamination of our air and water with harmful pollutants."