"Two years ago, Nana-Sinkam bought 55 acres of land in rural Pennsylvania, two and a half hours from New York City, and called it Bloom Farm. In May, he’ll plant 2,500 chestnuts in the ground using regenerative practices that preserve soil health. "
"But Nana-Sinkam has a plan. He doesn’t see Bloom Farm as a place merely for crops to grow. He wants it to be a place where people can come to connect with nature and create community. So as he waits for the chestnut trees to yield fruit, he’s inviting people to visit the farm for farm-to-table dinners, wellness retreats, and educational events.
Bloom Farm is a radical experiment. It’s testing a new business model for supporting regenerative agriculture and also creates a space for people to rejuvenate. And if it works, he’d like to open farms like this all over the country through his new company called Third Place. “The focus for the first 10 years is to consider how a farm can be regenerative, not just for the land itself, but also for people’s emotions,” he says."
I have some strong feelings about this but will leave the field open for others to comment if they are interested.
Mixed feelings here. Wealthy people buying up land for their personal social experiments while people who have worked the land for generations are being priced out of keeping their land. It’s not the Google guys fault he was successful but something seems wrong. I think his money would be better used lobbying for land use practices and government subsidies that promote regenerative agriculture instead of degenerative agriculture. Instead of changing things at a system-wide level he’s directly competing with small producers that don’t have his deep pockets.
Traditional producers don’t ignore regenerative ag because they’re blind, but because they would be financially devastated if the stray from the established market. This guy doesn’t have that concern. He can afford to experiment.
the farmer i work for is in the process of opening a store at their facility to sell some of their product and product from other local farms. they will be selling food and coffee as well as giving a place for people to come and mingle to share ideas. they are buying 2 more younger horses to give trail rides around the 400 acre farm. sun. we are starting planting 2 acres of silvopasture for her cows and pigs. planting apple, pear, chestnut, persimmons, mulberry, black walnut , butternut, pea shrub and autumn berry. hopefully the addition of these trees will help build their very thin soil there over time and also provide shade for her cows during hot times. once the trees start to produce fruit/ nuts they will pasture their pigs there to fatten up on it. her husband says if it works well there we will move on to other acreage to do more of it. wish us luck!
The things I experienced as a youth are gone. The social norms, local businesses and land has changed. That’s how society is. If someone has a plan to provide something that can be enjoyed in today’s society good for them.
Most actions in life are compromises. In my area small farms where replaced by condos.
I’ll add that ‘traditional’ agricultural practices of annual crop production, in my opinion, should be far less common than an agroforestry systems approach wherever feasible on landscapes which might otherwise not be suitable for ‘traditional’ systems. I could discuss this in far more detail but there would be a lot of circular arguments and unresolved theoreticals.
The experiment in this case is to see if food consumers will abandon traditional producers for a farm/spa experience. Because a farm spa with value added businesses can be regenerative and profitable.
Two problems I have with that. (Aside from the land price issue I already mentioned) First, I think regenerative agriculture that has to be gimmicky is not sustainable.
Second, it’s encouraging a farm model that doesn’t change the core problems of the current food system. Treating farmers like serfs. If they want to make any kind of living they have to stay within the current market paradigm which promotes degenerative ag, or you have to come up with creative value added businesses in addition. A lot of farmers I know want to grow food, not run a spa. But nobody wants a system where people actually pay the true cost of food. So the producer will come out short in the end.
But to address your statement. There is nothing dangerous about running experiments (mostly), and he has every right to buy land and run a farm as he chooses. But it’s a worthy topic of debate. Definitely something people should talk more about.
if there are two hotels, all else being equal, we’d stay at the hotel with more fruit trees. but how would the owner know this? nobody’s at the pool, nobody’s playing golf, nobody shows up for the free breakfast, nobody’s getting massages, because everybody’s in the orchard? evidently the guests want a larger orchard.
bundles are convenient but the challenge is to figure out the value of the individual components. it’s even more challenging because fruit trees typically aren’t a component of a typical motel bundle of amenities.
basically, after the guests pay they should have the option to divide their payment among all the existing amenities and all the possible ones. the owner would still have full discretion over how the funds are used, but they’d know the value of all the components, both existing and potential, of the bundle.