'How is it sustainable if only 1% can afford your food?': the man on a quest to change farming

[Jilly_in_VA]

Chris Newman, 38, and his wife, Annie, 35, always planned to retire with a farm. But after a health scare in 2013, the couple left their jobs as a software engineer and art gallery director to found Sylvanaqua Farms, a 120-acre operation in northern Virginia that produces pasture-raised chicken, eggs and pork and grass-fed beef.

Newman has gained a sizable following online for his writing and advocacy, which focuses on producing food in ways that don’t exploit people or the environment.

Scaling up Sylvanaqua’s operations is more important than achieving perfection, said Newman. “Our goal on our farm is to responsibly produce as much food as we possibly can and just get it into as many mouths as possible, making sure that what we produce isn’t just accessible to the upper crust.”

To meet that goal, Sylvanaqua has pledged to donate half its harvest to food aid organizations throughout the Chesapeake region, as part of a mutual aid program focused on people who ordinarily can’t afford high-quality meat and produce.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/25/sylvanaqua-farms-sustainable-food-affordable

[efhmc]

1. What a wonderful thing he is doing.

[ck4829]

2. K&R

[Kali]

3. this

How is your farm really sustainable if only 1% of people can afford your food? We are actively trying to figure out how to connect the dots between what we do here and the people who’ve been left behind by the farm-to-table movement. Without that mass participation, then all we’re really doing is creating castles in the sky.

that is kind of my issue with this movement. it is elitist and not actually sustainable. most involved are doing very good things, but when you have to ask more than $10 lb for hamburger or organic salad, that leaves a lot of people out.

[wryter2000]

4. I just ordered from them

More than reasonable shipping charges. Actually, free but for $7 they ship quickly. I could not believe it. I don't mind paying a hefty price for really good meat, but one outfit wanted to charge me over $70 for shipping. Nope.

BTW, their website is [link:http://www.sylvanaqua.com| Sylvanaqua Farms dot com redirects you to a libertarian site. Yuck.

[Klaralven]

5. $12 for a pound of bratwurst?

120 acres isn't "scale". My dad farmed 120 acres, which was a lot to farm with a team of draft horses. However, by the '50s it was small, and today it's a hobby farm.