On Our Goals

It seemed strange to me that I hadn't reviewed the farm's goals in detail thus far, so here I am doing so.

Some of our Tomatoes

Though it may seem that way, the goal of the farm isn't to make Camp Mitchell self-sufficient, as good as that would be. It is to help people who interact with the farm understand and appreciate the process of how sustainable food is made, and what happens to it after it is eaten.

The Episcopal Church's 5th Mark of Mission is " To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth." If we just made the camp sustainable, it would not necessarily encourage others to adopt a similar lifestyle, and if we just warned people of the consequences of unsustainable food it might seem like a chore. In fact, Doug dislikes talking about these consequences, sine he believes it invites judgement of people who need to eat unsustainable food to survive (quite a lot of people in developed countries).

A Grocery Store (Source)

So, the focus of the farm is on how good sustainable, fresh food is, and how one can make it. Our "pie-in-the-sky" goal is to have a sort of separate camp program for people who want to learn about sustainable food and sustainable living. An alternate plan (suggested by my good friend Daniel Grayling) would have us going to interested customers' houses in order to do this, which would be less costly.

Now that I think about it, it would be much like a short term stint of being a monastic (or rather, learning how to do so), with an emphasis on simple life and environmental respect. I imagine our final goal might include teachings about gluttony, nature, and controlling the passions.

Georgian Schema Monks Holding Cats (Source)

Hopefully we will be able to reach our goal relatively soon, though it may not take the exact same form that we envision it being.

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