Katy Olson, her grandchild, and her daughter, SFP program grad Cedar Walters at the Fergus Falls Farmers Market. Photo by Emily McCune,
by Katy Olson, Fergus Falls
When I was a girl growing up on a farm in rural North Dakota, my mother and the neighboring women were my friends and mentors. I spent countless hours tagging along as they moved through the rhythms of their farm lives through the seasons. They took me under their wing and provided a practical guide for how to live on the land, teaching me how to provide for the basic needs of a family and much more.
As I grew up I took these skills for granted. I assumed that everyone knew how to gather eggs, feed the chickens and butcher one for supper. The produce from the garden filled the larder for tasty meals all winter long. The wool from the sheep, cream from the cows, all provided much needed income for our farms. I remember the pride with which Magdalena shared with Mom that her egg money paid for Ellie’s college and now she was a teacher! Ida’s wool from her sheep bought the family car.
These enterprises were an important part of the farm economy. As we moved away from diversified agriculture on the true family farm, women’s contributions were sidelined and as a culture we went so far as to question whether a woman could “inherit” the farm when her husband passed away.
I have made my own life close to the land, continuing to provide for the family table most of the food we eat. My husband Ron and I grew specialty crops for ten years and our daughter Cedar grew up in the field and market learning the value of working with your hands to provide for yourself.
Naturally, I was thrilled when M-State offered Sustainable Food Production, a farm program to teach these skills to young people who have had little or no connection to the farm life. Or, if a student had grown up on the land, it was a commodities farm where none of the food the farm family ate came directly from the work of their own hands. These young folks who would be farmers were eager to learn the skills that they would need to live on the land and grow food for themselves and their neighbors.
Much to my pleasure and surprise, the majority of enrollees in the farm program were young women. They wanted a connection to land and a sense of place. As a group there was a desire to repopulate the countryside and be an integral part of the community’s food culture. I opened my home to house students. Every day I was privileged to share in their new-found skills and enthusiasm.
To my even greater joy, our daughter, Cedar, decided to enroll in the program. She has longed to return to the land, but did not have a vision for how that might be possible. The Sustainable Food Production Program at M-State gave her the skills and courage to return to a rural life. “I want to farm!” she declared. In her city life she felt she had limited scope for influence but by returning to the land she could have the impact that she felt would contribute to a sustainable future for her and the larger community.
The learning community exemplified by the instructors and the farm partners they enlisted to mentor the students provided a rich base of experience to augment their classroom curriculum. Ron’s and my lifetime on the farm now had a context; our evening meals were spent discussing our life experience and the student’s new-found knowledge. Our larger community benefited as well with community potlucks, a new farmers market, and farm products for sale. I took special pleasure in their enthusiasm in learning new skills. “I drove the tractor and hooked up the three point hitch” was a cause for celebration.
I was saddened by the administration’s decision to suspend the program. Not only does it rob the larger community of its young folks but it also closes the door for these farmers and their desire for a life of connection to the land, of integrating animal and crop systems to producing, of sharing their passion with friends and neighbors. The lack of transparency in the way in which the administration made its decision is unacceptable. We as a part of M-States tax base cannot stand by and let this decision stand. We must continue to demand accountability of the administration of this campus and the MNSCU system as a whole.
Editor’s note: Here’s a brief version of Olson’s daughter’s story. Cedar Walters spoke at the Deep Roots potluck in Watson.
Filed under: Allies, Local food, MnSCU, Sustainable food production education Tagged: Ag education, Cedar Walters, Emily McCune, farmers, Farmers markets, Fergus Falls, integrated livestock systems, Local food, MSCTC-Fergus Falls, Post-secondary education, sustainable food production
