Pledge

With the increased urgency and awareness of food & land access, environmental and climate challenges perpetuated by our current food system, the scope of responsibilities that the 21st century farmer bears expands beyond the farm’s production value to include ecological, climate and social equity. The Entrepreneurship Intensive program and its emphasis on strategic partnerships assume a broader set of values to the land, the community and each other. True agricultural resiliency lies in the reverence and commitment to generate social and ecological change through sustainable farming methods.

To Self: Sustainability begins with resilience, empowerment and well-being of regionally based agriculture. Enacting and sustaining equitable strategies for farm viability and land access is fundamental.

To Land: Acknowledgement and evaluation of the ecological service that your farm provides supports environmental stability and promotes social awareness. The goals of establishing self-generating, self-renewing systems that rely on the capacity of the agro-ecosystem.

To Partnership: Food Access for all is a critical measure of social success and equity. Partnerships and Collaborations that strengthen the fabric of infrastructure, access and effectiveness in our regional food sheds requires complex organizational relationships beyond the farm.

To Climate: 8 of the 20 named primary causes of global climate change can be directly affected by our agricultural practices at the local level. Our confidence to address soil health, carbon sequestration, water quality, biodiversity, waste cycles and demand for fossil fuel inputs provides immediate impact and long term hope of shifting towards an agricultural mutualism with our planet.

Are you committed to agricultural principles and methodology that supports ecological resilience, farmer viability and social equity?