Former Food Bank Farm Members Blazing Their Own Trails

At the Next Barn Over, an organic food farm in Hadley, local farmer Michael Docter, looks on as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members survey the produce department – tucked into the left side of the spacious barn – and take their pick of a number of fresh, Next Barn Over grown vegetables including cabbage, arugula, radishes, turnips, broccoli and a roomful of other produce.

Docter, the owner of the organic food farm Winter Moon Roots in Hadley, made the short walk to the Next Barn Over to run the farm for managers Ray Young and Tory Field, who are enjoying a day at the beach. The three met during their time at the Food Bank Farm, a place once revered by the Hadley community.

“The Next Barn Over, and other farms around here, have very much tried to carry on the tradition of the Food Bank Farm,” said Young.

Young, the head farmer, spent three seasons as an apprentice and manager at the Food Bank Farm, while Field, the projects manager, also apprenticed for two seasons.

In 2010, the Next Barn Over had its first growing season. Young and Field opted to make it a CSA operation, just like the Food Bank Farm. About half of the Food Bank Farm’s 750 CSA shares came over to the Next Barn Over, said Young.

A CSA membership is purchased at the onset of a growing season. The customer gets a share – one to two grocery bags of produce – per week at a retail price. Customers can purchase a CSA at the Next Barn Over on a sliding scale from $510 to $610.

The Next Barn Over began its CSA operation in 2010.

With its 500 CSA members, the 30-acre organic vegetable farm is thriving in the tail end of its third season of operation, according to Young.

In addition to the fresh vegetables, Next Barn Over sells honey, salad dressing, challah, popcorn and cheese in the fall.

In Easthampton, approximately nine miles from the Next Barn Over, Liz and Ben Perrault run the Mountain View Farm, which also functions as a CSA operation.

They also started their farming careers at the Food Bank Farm. Ben worked on the farm, while Liz distributed produce.

In 2005, they purchased a small CSA with 200 members. Once the Food Bank Farm closed in 2009, they focused solely on their own farm. In addition to the Easthampton land, they now also farm in Northampton and Hadley, and have CSA shares out of Springfield and New York City.

The Perrault’s used what they’d learned from their time with Docter to turn their project into a successful business.

“I think we learned a lot of our system from Michael and the Food Bank Farm,” said Perrault.

The Mountain View Farm holds a partnership with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. It donates 100,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Food Bank, in exchange for a parcel of the Food Bank’s land.    

Caroline Pam, co-owner of the Kitchen Garden in Sunderland, apprenticed with the Food Bank Farm for a year. Rob Lynch and Meghan Arquin also spent time at the Food Bank Farm before starting the Riverland Farm in Sunderland, as did Jasper Gardner, who’s bounced around from the Food Bank Farm to the Next Barn Over and now to the Brookfield Farm, in Amherst.

Michael Docter rummages through a box of squashes.

Docter moved on as owner of the Food Bank Farm in 2009, and now owns Winter Moon Roots, which specializes in produce from December to March.

Not surprisingly, he’s doing everything possible to ensure that there’s no abundance of healthy, organic food in the Pioneer Valley.

Docter was one of three 2012 CISA Local Hero awardees, as he spent last winter delivering vegetables with a friend by bicycle to Whole Foods, Smith College and other customers near his farm. By March they had delivered a whopping 23,000 pounds of vegetables.

“The best thing about receiving the Local Hero award is being able to share it with the co-ops who have been steadfast in their commitment to support local farmers,” said Docter in an e-mail interview.

Docter, and the many former Food Bank Farm employees have moved on. But that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten what the Food Bank Farm once meant to the community.

 “To so many people in the valley, it was a home, a place where their kids grew up, a place where everyone felt welcome,” said Docter.

These farmers are now creating an environment in the Pioneer Valley similar to the Food Bank Farm, in their own separate ways.