TEMPLE-WILTON COMMUNITY FARM PHILOSOPHY
The community farm was born out of the desire of a group of farmers and gardeners to unite their efforts and their land into one organism, in order to serve the local community with biodynamically grown food. The first meetings took place in February and March 1986, and out of these came forth some basic concepts, aims and principles:
Farmers - By accepting responsibilty for the agricultural use of the land, all members of our community farm become "farmers". Either they enact their rights to farm directly, by actually planning and doing the farm work, or they let those members who have the time and skills to do so, farm in their name. Those members who do the planning and farm work on an ongoing basis and as a main occupation, are the Active Farmers.
Landholders - The landholders give the members of the Community Farm the right to use the farm land and buildings. All costs of the property: land taxes, insurance, depreciation, and repairs, will be carried by the community farm.
Aims of the Farmers:
1) Spiritual Aims - To make possible the renewal of life on earth every year, in such a way that both the individual and humanity at large can live towards their spiritual destination. To make land-use and working of the land a way of self-education: an education in the sense that a better understanding of nature can lead to a better understanding of ourselves. To create the farm organism in such a way that it is made available therapeutically to those who suffer from damages created by civilization and from other handicaps that need special care.
2) Legal Aims - To make access to farm land available for as many people as possible, through the use of covenants and easements, which protect the land from development, in perpetuity. We also aim to create forms of cooperation that allow us to separate the financial needs of the Active Farmers and the farm from the economic value of the food.
3) Economic Aims - To create a farm that is, as far as possible, a self contained natural organism, such that, with the help of it's own natural ecology it reproduces itself better and better, becomes more and more diversified, and needs less and less input of substance and energy from the outside. This will also allow human labor to be used as efficiently as possible. Individual profit through farming is not an economic aim of the farmers.
The farmers agree on certain principles to make cooperation in the
agricultural community possible:
1) All farmers (members) are individually responsible for their actions and the consequences thereof. To enable others to help them in their initiatives, each farmer (member) must let the others know what they intend to do.
2) Each farmer generates expenses to serve their initiative. The expenditure made by each farmer increases the cost for all the others. Therefore, the individual, in cooperation with other individuals, has to declare what costs they project to fulfill their initiative. The projections of those that intend to spend money, combined together, make up the annual budget. This budget has to be approved by the assembly of farmers (all members). Once the budget is approved, the individual farmer is free to spend the amount of money they have in the approved annual budget.
Every farmer who spends money agrees to keep books and records of such expenditures. The farmers agree on a scheme of categories in which the expenses are accounted for. The books have to verify annually how far the economic aims have been achieved.
3) All farm members agree to share the cost of the annual budget. Any farmer (member) can leave the Community Farm at the end of the year, when they have paid their part of the annual cost. If the need arises to leave the farm before the end of the year they can either pay out the rest of their pledge, or find another member to replace them.
4) Every farmer gives all the other farmers the right to substitute for them in their work if they fail to do, or complete, something they have taken on.
5) It is understood that when the cooperation between the farmers is working, fewer goods and services will be brought into the farm organism by individuals at the expense of all others. It is our goal to be as self-sufficient as possible with our labor.
6) The motivation to do things on the farm should always be directed by our spiritual and nutritional aims rather then by our financial needs.
The following statement offers a further definition of the organization of the Temple-Wilton Community Farm:
The Temple-Wilton Community Farm is a free association of
individuals wich aims to make possible a farm that provides life-giving food
for the local community and respects the natural environment. The members are
economically organized in households. Out of their household income they cover,
individually and together, the operational costs of the farm. They are not
legally connected and have, therefore, no legal claims on each other.
So:
- if a member does not do the farm work that they promised to do
- if a member does not pay the share of the farm cost they declared they would pay
- if a member harvests more produce for their household than is socially responsible
- if a member does not come to meetings to discuss their needs, and the needs of others in the community
- if a member works on the farm without first coming to an understanding with the other farmers;
in short, if any of us goes against their own expressed will and intentions: the others can have no claim against them. The only thing that the others can do in these cases is to jump in, in order to prevent an eventual loss.
Everything concerning the farm originates from the constantly renewed free will
of the participants.
The following formula has allowed the farm to operate smoothly since it’s inception:
All unprocessed farm produce (vegetable and milk) is available to members free of charge, if they meet the proposed budget through contributions over the course of one year. This enables us to sever the direct link between food and money. Pledges are made, based on the ability to pay, rather than on the amount of food to be taken. Having made a contribution, the member is free to take as much food as is needed, dependent on availability. Processed goods (yogurt, cheese, meat, bread, etc.) and eggs, are sold at a price that will enable the processing costs to be covered.