“I love being on the farm, but I know the reason I can be there is because of my privileges as a white, cis-gender woman that are denied to other people, and I can’t be at peace with that.” - Andrea Q: What is your farm dream? A: Our dream is to be an incubator-type farm for queer, Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other farmers who have historically been excluded from commercial agriculture in Wisconsin. We want to share our farmland and infrastructure so they can build up their business and capital without having to invest a lot up front. We’ll be mentors if they want that and do whatever we can to help their dreams come true. We plan to keep the land in the incubator style and have a nonprofit model. We currently have a farmer-partner who is starting his business on our farm, and he brings energy to the farm that we didn’t even know was missing. ![]() Q: Describe one of your biggest learning moments during this course. A: During the Farm Dreams Intensive course, it was eye opening to me to realize the power in putting time and energy into talking about, visualizing, and creating our farm dream. We are figuring out how to connect our passions and the change we want to see in the world into our farm. The dream started off as just a flicker. Each time we are asked to share our story, it gets bigger and brighter. Q: Has Stateline Farm Beginnings® helped you overcome any challenges to reaching your farm dream? A: The challenge was making our farm dream a priority, and this course has forced us to do that. For years we knew we wanted the farm to be something bigger than just the two of us, but between our jobs and everything else in life, it was hard to find time and energy to develop our farm dream. Committing to the SFB program makes it a priority. This experience helped us get over the fear of failing. One of the biggest benefits of this program is supporting one another. Being a part of this community’s passions feeds our own passion.
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On October 23rd, we gathered at the Angelic Organics Lodge to celebrate Roots & Wings and recognize the 2021 Good Food Advocates, an award given annually to local leaders who are strengthening food accessibility in the Rockford area through their support of our Roots & Wings program. This year's awardees include Pastor Mike at Zion Lutheran Church and Laura Snyder & the leadership team at Rockford Housing Authority. Event photos taken by Summer Wagner Photography, follow on Instagram. |
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