Community Classes
At Forest of Life Farm we offer free and sliding scale classes for community members. We strive to make accessible information and knowledge critical for healing our relationship with land.
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Events and classes are offered in partnership and are designed to address issues of inequity and access. If you need a place to teach and share your knowledge we will seek to provide a safe and welcoming space that is free of barriers.
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We offer classes in seed saving, soil health, permaculture principles, climate science, adaptation and land use planning, alternative building, self-reliance, solar systems, water capture, and mycelium appreciation.
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We are always open to new partnerships, collaborations and pathways to unlearning and relearning. Please be in touch if you have ideas or classes you would like to offer.
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REGENERATION FOR REVELATION
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to remedying long-standing social injustices, including systemic discrimination that has denied farmers of color access to land tenure and support services. Back in 1920, there were nearly one million Black farmers in the United States. But after more than a century of land theft, racist polices, and discrimination, that number is closer to 45,000 today—out of an estimated 3.4 million farmers, according to census data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). White farmers, by contrast, now own 98 percent of the land in America. And yet, even as we acknowledge that historic racial and gender inequities have contributed to unequal access to wealth and land ownership, doors continue to be shut to people of color seeking to create food resilience.
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In Vermont and at the federal level, steps have been taken to address equitable access to land, training, and credit and to support underserved producers—including funding and directives to shift the decades-long legacy of racial discrimination. But significant work remains. Regenerative agriculture goes beyond on-farm practices and techniques to encompass broader social and cultural constraints. Policies and programs that advance regenerative agriculture should avoid exacerbating deep-seated inequities and create opportunities that can be sustained.
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The Vermont BIPOC Land Access and Opportunity Act is an act that directly and explicitly addresses systemic racism in the State of Vermont. It is a vision initiated by community members with a growing coalition of support built through networks across the state. To get involved and support this Act please click here.
"There is no social-change fairy. There is only change made by the hands of individuals."
- Winona LaDuke
Food Soveriegnty and Resilience
Over 7 million Northeast citizens are food insecure. Low-income and communities of color are disproportionately affected by lack of access to healthy, affordable foods. Families and communities face many barriers to achieving food security. Challenges to food security come from land access and ownership issues for BIPOC populations, climate change, farmland loss, and sourcing most of our food from outside the region. Food sovereignty is no longer a respected right.
What is food sovereignty?
Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.
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What is food system resilience?
Resilience is the ability to prepare for, withstand, and recover from a crisis or disruption. A resilient food system is able to withstand and recover from disruptions in a way that ensures a sufficient supply of acceptable and accessible food for all.
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Why is food system resilience important?
Crises – whether natural or human-made – can cause considerable damage to food systems, and in turn, to the ability of people to access safe, affordable food. Building more resilient food systems ensures a more continual supply of safe, accessible food for all members of a community.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND VERMONT.
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