GVOCSA - Meet the farmers - Elizabeth Henderson

Genesee Valley Organic Community Supported Agriculture

Meet the Farmers - Elizabeth Henderson

Though born in New York City and raised in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by parents who never even gardened, Elizabeth Henderson has been farming for a living for over 21 years. The seed was planted when she was thirteen and totally out of sync with high school life in the 50ís. To save her from existential despair, her parents sent her to a summer camp on a farm. Thirty years later, with several friends, she settled on an old farm in Gill, Massachusetts, planning to homestead and build an intentional community. Elizabeth, a widow, wanted a healthy place to raise her son, Andrew. Within two years, the farm in Gill was producing and selling enough vegetables to cover expenses. That was Elizabethís apprenticeship - learning organic farming the hard way. Participation in a study circle with more experienced organic farmers led to the founding of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) of Massachusetts, and its certification program through which she met Ammie.

In 1988, Elizabeth moved to Rose, New York, to farm at Rose Valley Farm with David Stern. She has been producing organically grown vegetables for the fresh market ever since. During the winter of 1988 - 89, Elizabeth and David joined forces with Alison Clarke of the Politics of Food to creat the Genesee Valley Organic CSA(GVOCSA). The first season, there were 29 members. Rose Valley sold most of its produce to food coops and other markets. Gradually, CSA membership grew to 45, then 88, then 130 shares. When Greg Palmer and Elizabeth moved to rented land at Crowfield Farm in 1998, GVOCSA members helped them build their new farm - Peacework Organic Farm. Today, 95% of Peaceworkís produce goes to the over 250 households who are CSA members.

For many of her years in farming, Elizabeth has been working actively to increase the dialogue between organic and conventional farmers. She chairs the Wayne County Agriculture Enhancement Board which works to protect farming and improve the economic viability of local farms. Since she moved back to New York 15 years ago, she has been on the Governing Council of NOFA-NY, and co-chairs the Organic Committee of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture. Her writings on organic agriculture appear in The Natural Farmer and the NOFA-NY Food, Farms and Folks, and she is one of the authors of The Real Dirt: Farmers Tell About Organic and Low-Input Practices in the Northeast. With her former farm partner, she wrote A FoodBook for a Sustainable Harvest for the members of the GVOCSA. Chelsea Green published her book Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture in 1999. During the winter of 2003, she wrote a Manual on Whole Farm Planning together with Karl North. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) named her one of their three Farmer Educators in 2001. She is a frequent speaker at agricultural conferences around the US and did a speaking tour in Japan in November, 2002 as a guest of the Japanese Organic Agriculture Association.

Fed up with the cities, I began thinking about farming in 1978 six years after my husband, Harry, died in a senseless car crash, and I have been working at it full time since 1981. Becoming a farmer is what you would call a radical career change: in my previous life, I taught Russian literature and language at the university level. But on a deeper plane, there is continuity. Inspired and encouraged by my parents, I seek to contribute to the movement for world peace. For me, organic farming and community supported agriculture are a fuller way of pursuing peace as a way of life, learning to live lightly on the planet while contributing to social justice.