 Farm manager Rob Moore, wearing a cap, helps members of Girl Scout Troop 740 from Richmond place plants in a garden at Shalom Farms. UMNS photos by Neill Caldwell. |
By Neill Caldwell*
May 22, 2009 | GOOCHLAND, Va. (UMNS)
The first of ten different crops — including beans, okra, potatoes, cucumbers and watermelon — were already in the ground when a large and diverse crowd helped Shalom Farms celebrate its start.
During the May 2 groundbreaking ceremony, volunteers and guests got a hands-on experience of what the unique project is all about: providing food for hungry people in central Virginia.
The two-acre plot of land — on a back corner of Camp Westview, a tri-district United Methodist camp on the James in rural Goochland County west of Richmond — also serves as a classroom, teaching inner-city young people that food doesn’t have to come in plastic wrappers from the grocery store.
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“We are dedicated to growing nutritious food for the hungry and teaching the hungry to help grow food,” said the Rev. Dave Cooper, executive director of United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond. “We are dedicated to the shalom — the well-being — of metro Richmond.”
The goal of Shalom Farms is to make an impact on the region’s food security through a holistic approach to sustenance. Fresh produce grown at the Shalom Farms site will be contributed through Central Virginia Food Bank outlets and distributed throughout metro Richmond.
But Shalom Farms will reach further into the community than merely providing fresh fruit and vegetables. The farm will welcome groups of children through schools and churches who will come and learn about the food, as well as offering hands-on opportunities to develop a better perspective of healthy foods. The hope of Shalom Farms is that the children and families will bring this knowledge back home and make a shift to a healthier, more viable food choice.
Infrastructure and ground improvements at Shalom Farms site began in March. The camp is donating the land for the project.
Partners for healthy foods
The farm is the brainchild of United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond but includes a number of United Methodist partners, including the Richmond District, Virginia United Methodist Housing Development Corp., Wesley Housing Development, the Communities of Shalom and the camp.
Other partners include the Society of St. Andrew, the Blue Sky Fund, First Contractors Inc., The Central Virginia Food Bank, William Byrd Community House and the Virginia Cooperative Extension agency.
“It’s amazing how these partnerships have grown,” said Cooper. “The Shalom Farms network is already at work across metro Richmond, and we expect that network to grow.”
Jonah Fogle of Virginia Cooperative Extension said local agriculture extension agents are actively involved with the farm. “You’d probably underestimate the level of effort that’s already gone on to bring together a very large coalition of people,” he added.
“We’re excited about having the farm here,” said Blanton Youell, mission coordinator at the camp. “It’s another chapter in the good works that Westview wants to do as we move forward into the future.”
Farm manager Rob Moore said his learning curve was about an hour ahead of the volunteers he was teaching how to work with the soil. “It’s a new opportunity for us,” Moore said. “The food produced here is going to the people who need it, and that’s how we take care of God’s planet.”
Formed in 2006, United Methodist Urban Ministries of Richmond facilitates collaborative partnerships among individuals, congregations, and organizations to assure food security, educational supports, affordable housing, health care and faith development in the greater Richmond metro area.
More information about the Shalom Farms project can be found at www.umumr.org.
*Caldwell is editor of the United Methodist Virginia Advocate.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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