A lot has happened this winter. In short, the land we were sharing with Covenant House GA was sold, and we were invited to move FTP Farms to the Palestine Community in Madison, GA to expand our operations as well as to join and assist in their new venture in autonomy and sustainable living. It was a difficult decision, but we accepted the invitation in order to further our mission. In January and February we began constructing the new farm and finalized our agreement with the Palestine Community which includes an amount of shared farm infrastructure a micro start-up grant, and land-rents. When finished, our small farm will have a greenhouse, wash stations, storehouse, smokehouse and processing shed, and a 10,000-15,000 lb/year yield capacity, with objectives to triple that in 8 years operation.
In November, a Food Not Bombs lead organizer was cited for serving food to the homeless. The next week, Food Not Bombs and their supporters showed up for a mass protest and a special Thanksgiving Serving to resist oppression of the homeless and the restriction of food. In solidarity, we donated our heirloom North Georgia Candy Roaster Squash and prepared the traditional Appalachian Candy Roaster Pie for the Food Not Bombs Thanksgiving Serving. No citations given. No arrests made. More information at TheTeardown.org
In December, FTP Farms’ worker-owner, Slim Brown spoke and moderated a panel about cooperatives in the food supply chain at the Domestic Fair Trade Conference in Atlanta, GA with representatives from the West GA Farmers Co-op, GA Co-op Development Center, and Our Harvest Union-owned Co-op.
In February, FTP Farms attended the Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Oconee County, GA and began networking with the Athens Land Trust and the newly formed Georgia Cooperative Development Center.
Since, and because of, our move, our FTP Heritage CSA is now available, and we are now open for applications; deliveries begin in April.
Want to learn more about self-reliance, sustainable agriculture? Or just wanna getaway and help some fly comrades? Volunteer Open Hours applications are also open; volunteer days begin in March.
Keep an eye out for news about the food revolution, farm news and updates, and our featured varieties and where you can find them!
Feed the People Farms 