Leopold, Stone Barns Center form partnership

By LAURA MILLER, Newsletter editor

It was a meeting that Fred Kirschenmann would long remember. A team of people involved in sustainable agriculture nationwide was assembled to advise the Rockefeller family on how to turn 80 acres outside New York City into a sustainable agriculture center. The site had picturesque, European-style stone farm buildings once used for the family’s dairy operation, that were soon to be converted into a restaurant for serving food grown and raised on the refurbished farm.

“It was one of our first meetings and at dinner I sat next to one of the Rockefeller heirs, who asked me what I thought of their plans,” said Kirschenmann, who had recently left his North Dakota farm to direct the Leopold Center in Iowa. “I told her that I thought it was a great idea and valuable demonstration, but that the rest of agriculture might still be in trouble.”

Kirschenmann said he noticed a change the next day.

“Our group was told that the new center would include a restaurant that would grow much of its own food and buy from local farmers,” he recalled. “More importantly, the center would take a broader view with programs to educate people about the future challenges for agriculture.”

In May 2004, the nonprofit Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture opened in Pocantico Hills, New York. Situated in a lush valley only a 45-minute drive from downtown New York City, the center includes a four-season vegetable farm, pastured livestock operation, restaurant and café (operated privately), visitor’s center and gift shop. Programs for adults, children and families are designed to help people understand and participate in local, sustainable and healthful food systems.

Joint appointment
Kirschenmann has remained active with the Stone Barns Center, serving on its volunteer board of directors. Recently, the Leopold Center has formalized a relationship by signing an agreement to share Kirschenmann’s appointment between the two organizations. He will remain Distinguished Fellow, while serving as president of the Stone Barns Center, which will reimburse the Leopold Center for costs of the arrangement.

He will continue his busy schedule speaking to groups throughout the country on behalf of both centers. He also will oversee several national projects for the Leopold Center, including Agriculture of the Middle. At the Stone Barns Center, Kirschenmann will help with team building, work with its two farm managers, assist with program development, and chair the quarterly board of director meetings.

The link between the two centers is a logical one, he explains.

“I think we can learn from one another and explore sustainable agriculture in urban settings as well as rural settings,” he said. “Our next generation of farmers will be caught in an industrial model with high levels of inputs. But as energy costs go up and our natural resources become depleted, we need to rethink our production system to apply some of the same ecological principles we’re developing in rural communities to urban settings.”

Stone Barns has relied upon research from the Leopold Center and others to set up its working farm and to strengthen the local food system.

About Stone Barns Farm
More than 200 varieties of produce are grown in raised beds in greenhouses. Outdoor crops suitable for the local soil and climate are grown with no chemical additives. All soils are amended with compost produced in the livestock operation and from food waste and other waste materials from the grounds.

The livestock operation includes chickens, turkeys, rabbits, sheep and pigs. Animal breeds were chosen to suit to the local ecosystem and are rotationally grazed. Food not sold to the restaurant operation is sold at the Stone Barns Farm Market.

“Stone Barns is introducing people to the idea of a local food system and helping them enjoy the pleasure of good eating,” Kirschenmann explained. “But in the long term, as our global food system becomes stressed to provide food in certain areas, we believe Stone Barns can play an important role by showing how people can grow some of their food themselves.

“It’s no different than victory gardens during World War II, which provided 40 percent of the vegetables eaten in this country. As farmland is converted to housing developments, there are thousands of acres of lawns that could be converted to gardens once again.”

As one might expect, Kirschenmann said the farm programs have been popular, especially with young families who enjoy the animals. “At summer day camp and on school tours, children from New York City can meet the farmers, pull weeds and develop an appreciation for where their food comes from,” he said.

He’s also encouraged by the center’s farm apprentice program. Many are college graduates who want to enter agriculture but have limited farm experience. Their work at Stone Barns may help them do just that.

Working with the Leopold Center
Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt said he was happy to work out the agreement, which will be re-evaluated at the end of 2008. “We think both centers will benefit from this partnership and that it will create new networks, ideas and approaches for our work,” he said. Kirschenmann noted that he plans to collect data at Stone Barns that can be used for research and a variety of other projects.