 "Clare Hintz of Elsewhere Farm is a systems-thinker. She sees the world as a set of interlocking pieces that create the system as a whole. And this is clearly how she views and treats the land she lives and works on. We sat down with Clare during our first week of running to talk about paying attention to the land and what happens when you do so. As we broke from the heat of the day, our conversation opened up into more than just farming-talk. What follows is our edited conversation from that day.
"How does this farm fit into the broader western Lake Superior watershed? Because the only resilience that this farm is gonna have is if the whole region is resilient. So where is my energy coming from? Where are my foods going? And what’s coming back to the farm... So the work that I’m doing is not just about growing food. But also what are the economic structures? What are the financial structures? What are the community celebrations? How do those things become more vibrant? Because that’s just gonna help us weather the shocks better that are in process already." Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Love of the Lake. Read the full article here.
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 "Washburn School District’s Green and Healthy School Program has gained national attention for providing students with the tools necessary to live in harmony with the natural world and may even result in a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama.
"This year, the Washburn School District has gained national attention as a district that fosters academic excellence and environmentally focused programming at all levels for students. "In September, Washburn High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Academic Excellence. Then this spring, five Washburn Elementary students visited the White House — twice — to plant and harvest with First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her 'Let’s Move!' initiative supporting school gardens and healthy lifestyle choices as a way to combat child obesity. "So what exactly does this recognition mean for the district, and what makes it such a unique place to learn?" Written by Amber Mullen for the Ashland Daily Press. Read the full article here.  "Landis and Steven Spickerman own and operate Hermit Creek Farm in Highbridge, Wisconsin and have been providing local vegetables to the northwoods for almost a quarter of a century. Their farm, a collage of hoop houses and open field surrounded by national forest, has become a rich and fertile plot after decades of careful stewardship. A few weeks ago, Landis baked us rhubarb pie and answered our questions about washing carrots and putting down roots. What follows is our edited conversation from that day.
"I kind of married into northern Wisconsin. I grew up near the Gulf Coast and wanted a big piece of water to live nearby, and for a lot of reasons you can’t live by an ocean and farm. But Lake Superior, you could. I was fascinated by it. We set out to homestead, and live a simple life and grow all our own food, but one thing led to another and really, we joke it always comes down to a garden gone wild – we just couldn’t help ourselves. We didn’t set out to farm; we set out to live simply. We homeschooled, we chopped firewood, we built our house, we wanted to grow our food and that’s what we set out to do and it just seemed really natural. Our passion turned into an occupation." Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Lake. Read the full article here.  "Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed students from across the country to harvest the White House Kitchen Garden and prepare a fresh, healthy meal with ingredients straight from the garden. The First Lady invited back the students who participated in this year’s planting so they could see the fruits – and vegetables – of their labor.
"The students from Wisconsin, Colorado, Louisiana, and Washington, DC, whose schools have inspiring garden programs, couldn’t believe how much the garden had grown since they planted everything almost exactly two months ago." Written by Kelly Miterko for The White House's Let's Move! Initiative blog. Read the full article here.  "There are distinct advantages to living in a state with a high percentage of third- and fourth-generation cheesemakers boasting Swiss and German descent who make some of the best Cheddar, Swiss, Brick, Colby, Havarti, Muenster (and of course, Limburger) in the nation.
"But a pair of cheesemakers in northern Wisconsin are on a mission to change Wisconsin's dearth in soft and stinky cheese. Michael Stanitis, owner of Sassy Nanny Farmstead Cheese, and Fred and Kelly Faye, owners of Happy Hollow Creamery, each make a variety of artisan sheep and goat milk cheeses at Fred's farmstead cheese plant near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Each has their own farm and their own animals, but share creamery space to make their cheeses." Written by Jeanne Carpenter for her blog Cheese Underground. Read the full article here.  "I feel really humbled to be able to grow food for people. That’s kind of a sacred thing.
"I feel all the people that live here, we’re all stewards of this land and by default, the water. I feel that farmers especially we’re directly, we’re like managing some land with our hands, intentionally. As farmers, there’s even more weight to do a good job. "I feel like as an organic farmer, it’s one more level of stewardship, of fitting into the bigger puzzle. I’m pretty pumped. We’re at the top of two watersheds, it feels good to be taking care of a piece of land that’s, you know, kind of got impacts to some other places. It’s just one piece of land, it’s one piece in the quilt." Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Love of the Lake. Read the full article here.  "When kids from the Washburn school district were picked to travel to the White House in April to help first lady Michelle Obama plant a South Lawn vegetable garden, it was a very big deal to the town of about 2,000 residents.
"Then the group was asked to return. "Five students and two school employees leave today to join other students in helping Obama and celebrity chef Rachael Ray harvest and prepare food from the garden.... “'There is this little dot of a school district in Wisconsin that is having an impact that resonated with the first lady,' said Superintendent Tom Wiatr. 'That’s just cool.'” Written by Jana Hollingsworth for the Duluth News Tribune. Read the full article here.  "Five Washburn fourth and fifth graders will fly out to Washington D.C. Sunday to harvest food they planted in the White House Garden in April as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" initiative.
"Krause believes that the Green and Healthy initiative is "just as important as reading and math," and is the primary reason students from Washburn were selected for this opportunity. "'The Green and Healthy initiatives and standards in every classroom mean that things like gardening are not just special, but instead are a core part of the education of every child in the district,' Krause explained." Written by Amber Mullen for the Ashland Daily Press. Read the full article here.  "We can see in this space, there’s magic in this space, there’s a deep and sort of language-less understanding of what it means to grow something and what it means to be part of a system that is natural and what it means to eat from there. We have to reclaim the spirit of what we’re talking about. This is not just nutrition, it’s not just, you know, the sustenance of drinking clean water. It’s life in its most spiritual form. That’s powerful.
"It’s social justice, it’s spirit work. It’s fun, it’s food. I draw on many people’s wisdom, I consider myself a sort of conduit and less of a thinker myself. Vandana Shiva, who you know, she always said food is sacred but it’s as common as mud. We have to be in that space too. It’s not like food is so very special and we need to revere it and it’s sort of untouchable but it’s a real personal and daily relationship." Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Love of the Lake. Read the full article here. |
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The F.E.A.S.T. by the Bay website is currently maintained through the community outreach of the Farm to School Programs in the Ashland, Bayfield, and Washburn School Districts.
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