{"id":262,"date":"2023-04-27T14:04:15","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T18:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond2023\/?p=262"},"modified":"2023-04-27T16:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T20:10:28","slug":"shalom-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/walkingrichmond2023\/2023\/04\/27\/shalom-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Shalom Farms"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Amber Albee, farm manager at Shalom Farms Northside, stands among the cover crop on the East side of the property. For Albee, who grew up in a rural, food-insecure household eating unhealthy, processed food provided from food pantries, overseeing the cultivation of fresh produce at Shalom feels like coming \u201cfull circle.\u201d (Photo by Elena Durazo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Elena Durazo<\/p>\n

Shalom Farms: Humanizing the Food System<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are plants that we\u2019re growing for other people, so please make sure you don\u2019t eat them!\u201d Marc Charbonier shouts, distressed, to a group of twenty-odd middle schoolers as they run around the seven-acre Northside farm.<\/p>\n

Watching them herd the youths through rows of vegetables and away from fragile seedlings is impressive, to say the least.<\/p>\n

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Marc Chabonier (Photo courtesy of Shalom Farms)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shalom has been offering field trips to Richmond Public School students for the past two years, a program that complements educational modules about nutrition, photosynthesis, or even composting.\u00a0 It helps that the farm is conveniently located on the bus line.<\/p>\n

Giving an overview to the middle schoolers about the work happening on the farm, Charbonier (right), the organization\u2019s Volunteer and Education Coordinator, explains the larger context of historical injustice, involuntary land loss, and the global food system.<\/p>\n

Charbonier\u2019s goal is \u201cto humanize the food system,\u201d they explain with a tug on their overalls. \u201cIt\u2019s important for [the kids] to realize there are people<\/em> who grow their food, and that farmers can look many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a William & Mary grad, Charbonier has faced pushback from strangers and family members alike over their commitment to Shalom Farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone seems to want to tell me that I can do something \u2018better\u2019 than this,\u201d Charbonier huffs. \u201cWell, those other jobs don\u2019t matter as much as this one does. Working to create a better food system is deeply meaningful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What\u2019s growing on here? Seedlings in a polytunnel greenhouse at Shalom Farms.\u00a0 (Photo by Elena Durazo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe grow 200,000 pounds of food per year,\u201d Amber Albee tells me\u2014an astonishingly high figure. \u201cAll that with about 20 full-time staff. And thousands of volunteers, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albee, the farm manager at Shalom\u2019s Northside location, said that the community is key in deciding what gets planted. Current crops include blueberries, strawberries, melons, kale, cabbages, broccoli, cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes. The Northside location also keeps hives of bees (video, below).<\/p>\n