In This Issue: Smoked Beer, Alaskan Farming, Facilitated Conversation, Marxist Degrowth, and Patagonia.
Seeing through Smoke
by Taylor Reed || 1,258 words (5 minute read)
Here’s a disclaimer. This writing is largely about beer. If you don’t drink, more power to you. You may very well be much better off that way, both in terms of your health and pocketbook. If that is the case, I hope that this piece is still worth your time as a reflection on some larger questions through the lens of a particularly unique style of beer.*
“Sweet, but also savory… with unmistakable smoke. Not an acrid smoke — the type that bothers your eyes, or the smelly singe from a heated stove top begging to be cleaned — but an intentional, layered and complex smoke. Like the feeling (yes, feeling) of easing down around a warm campfire on a chilly evening, or the taste of a cold-smoked meat. Something that hearkens back to primal survival, to comforts and to the meeting of one’s needs.”
Those thoughts came to mind as I took in the aroma of my first rauchbier. Rauch is German for “smoke,” and bier, well, you probably already know. It was a Friday afternoon, and Friday afternoons at the Seattle roastery I worked in meant tasting exercises. Not the triangulation exercises we worked on every morning as a quality control team, but a show and tell of sorts with uniquely flavored things to broaden our palates. I remember returning from a trip to Michigan and bringing in paw paws: custard-like, very tropical — yet wholly Midwestern — and a thick, dark chaga tea.
This beer was something else. The experience made such an impression upon me that a couple years later, as I was competing in the finals of a national coffee tasting competition, the nickname emblazoned on my trusty spoon was “Taylor Rauch.”
I still cherish smoked beers. They draw me back to memories of dispersed campsites in the Pacific Northwest, as well as wooded West Michigan campfires with family members who aren’t living today. Financially, I can’t swing having them too often. And if I could, I wouldn’t. The potential for growing too accustomed to the powerful experience looms, as does the potential to grow too dependent upon them. There’s a bit of complexity to it…
The Warp — Ideas and Inspiration
|| 1 || Farming in Alaska presents fresh opportunities and challenges relative to those of the lower forty-eight. Imagine months of seemingly endless sun, even at night, and then picture permafrost-melt sinkholes the size of Volkswagens showing up in your fields. Couple that with food insecurity due to reliance on importation, and disputes over land managed for hunting and fishing by the Tlingit and Haida peoples for thousands of years, and you have all the components of a fight for the future of Alaskan food and farming. This New Yorker write-up details these tensions, as well as reasons for hope, in the massive state, “big enough to contain four Californias.”
The piece concludes by showcasing Calypso Farm & Ecology Center—an inspiring small farm and education center. That farm’s co-founder points to small-scale land intimacy and strong communities as crucial pieces for farming Alaska’s dispersed, unique regions well. As a member of Calypso’s 2015 farmer training program cohort, I’m happy to see their inclusion in the article, stemming from their long-term, rooted care and work. The Calypso folks could farm, teach and share just about anywhere, and they’ve painstakingly built an environment for empowering others to do exactly that.
|| 2 || A program designed to facilitate conversation amidst political divides took place recently in Traverse City, and was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. The spearheading organization, Braver Angels, is based upon the premise that sitting down with people we disagree with and having respectful, yet honest, conversations can be a helpful tool for better understanding ourselves and others. This speaking, and listening, paves the way to encountering areas of common ground, sparks friendships and nurtures community, even in the mist of steadfast disagreement.
I like that idea. Conversation fosters resilient communities. I’ve been enjoying Wendell Berry’s Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community as I’ve had time. One of the included essays, Conservation and Local Economy, elaborates on the influence of stable communities upon natural resource conservation:
”As people leave the community or, remaining in the place, drop out of the local economy, as the urban-industrial economy more and more usurps the local economy, as the scale and speed of work increase, care declines. As care declines, the natural supports of the human economy and community also decline, for whatever is used, is used destructively.”
and
”… The sustainable use of renewable resources depends on the existence of settled, small local economies and communities capable of preserving the local knowledge necessary for good farming and forestry…
We probably are not going to be able to conserve natural resources so long as our extraction and use of the goods of nature are wasteful and improperly scaled, or so long as these resources are owned or controlled by absentees, or so long as the standard of extraction and use is profitability rather than the health of natural and human communities.”
|| 3 || Kohei Saito, an associate professor in Japan, wrote a book on economy, the environment, degrowth and decarbonization—and it’s become a surprise best-seller. As I understand it, Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism, explores the current natural and monetary landscape of the world and then outlines an idea of a better vision. This model features what he refers to as a “stationary economy,” rather than one driven by growth.
I’d love to glance through or take a look at the chapter headings when the book is available (in 2023). I agree with the assessment: “… it is impossible to imagine a future in which we can grow the economy and at the same time live in a sustainable manner without fundamentally changing anything about our way of life.” What exactly should change and how, in Professor Saito’s estimation, is what I’m curious to know more about.
|| 4 || The previous Whole Field touched upon Patagonia’s example as an innovative business model. Did you see the news about their latest endeavor? Yvon Chouinard “gave” away the company (ownership, and 3 billion dollars of profits.) He describes the move not as “going public” but “going purpose’.’ The company is now owned by the Holdfast Collective, a non-profit created to enact the environmental mission of Patagonia, and the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a formation created to perpetually guide the company’s decision-making as originally intended.
“If we could do the right thing while making enough to pay the bills, we could influence customers and other businesses, and maybe change the system along the way.” That sounds like a worthy cause.
The Weft — News and Events
|| 1 || Register for the Carbon Farming Cohort: Enrollment is now open for the first Carbon Farming Cohort (CFC). CFCs are peer-to-peer learning experiences for small groups of land stewards in Northwest Lower Michigan that will focus on land-management practices that (1) reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and (2) sequester carbon. The program includes six workshops—mostly virtual, but some in-person—largely focused on planning and implementation of these practices. Six peer-advising farm tours will also be conducted. For additional questions and inquiries contact program coordinator Daniel Marbury daniel@crosshatch.org (231) 714-9730. Please register on our website by September 26th to participate.
Additional Details:
Participants must commit to 12 sessions between November 2022 and June 2023 (concentrated between November 2022 and March 2023).
Participants will receive a $500 stipend for their participation in case studies, as well as free education and technical assistance, including admission to the 2023 Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference.
To qualify, you must manage land for agricultural purposes (including forestry and conservation) in one of the following counties: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Kalkaska, Manistee, Misaukee, Otsego and Wexford.
You must register on our website by Monday September 26, 2022 - spots are limited to 12 participants and will be granted on a first come-first served basis to representatives from eligible farms.
|| 2 || The Alluvion Now Hiring a General Manager: Traverse City’s newest performance venue—The Alluvion, baked into the four-story mixed-use building at 414 E. 8th Street—is ready to bring on a GM. Is it you?
A well-matched candidate has experience in arts presenting, hospitality, and staff management, as well as an abiding love of the arts. Exceptional candidates will also understand how to develop a culture of appreciation for both art and artists, how to seek artistic excellence within a broad range of performing arts, and how to work with integrity and grace with scores of community partners.
No two days will be the same, but here’s a brief taste of one:
You enter 414 E. 8th Street in the late morning, grab a fresh mug of Highland Humanity from Higher Grounds, greet some friends and colleagues, then head upstairs to get to work. First order of business: the morning sweep of the Alluvion, noticing any tasks, large or small, that need to be completed before the show tonight.
As the morning renter—an improv class for seniors—arrives, you welcome them, give a brief refresher on how to operate the A/V system, then you head to the green room to get it ready. Fresh flowers, a sweet hand-written note, and a well-stocked fridge are all part of the process.
You then settle into your office with your laptop, first to smooth out last-minute wrinkles, then to catch up on email correspondence, filling a few slots in the Alluvion calendar as you go. You see that some of the partners—Amanda Kik and Jeff Haas—are wrapping up a meeting so you hold a 5-minute stand-up meeting in the hallway, talking about plans to fundraise for that Hammond B-3 you’ve had your eye on.
Lunch with these partners and a new donor follows, then a quick tour of the space. As you are saying goodbye to them , you are also saying hello to the artists as they pull up in their van. You get them squared away with a cup of tea and snack before handing them off to other staff to get them settled, loaded-in, and on to the soundcheck.
Next, a quick review of the coming week’s ads, a few bits of accounting, some contracts to sign and riders for upcoming shows to initial.
You take a break with a bike ride around town. You’ll be back that night to watch the show and soak up the magic.
If this example has your eyes shining and your brain turning on new ways to tackle these kinds of problems, you might be the one. Apply now.
|| 3 || Small Farm Tool Selection and Use at Buckwheat’s Market Garden: As a small farm with a big commitment to regenerative food production and healthy food access for the community, Buckwheat’s Market Garden faces the challenge of limited labor and time. To lessen this constraint, farmer Adrienne Wolff deploys systems, including specialized tools, that build efficiency season after season. Come learn about the ways that they produce an abundant and diverse array of organic vegetables, using tools such as an Earthway wheel seeder and BCS hand tractor. See a demonstration of these tools—and a paper pot transplanter as well—and ask your questions of a BCS tractor sales rep. Find more info on the Wednesday, September 28th, event here.
|| 4 || Conservation Plantings for Farm Resilience: Join us at Lakeview Hill Farm to see a windbreak planting and discuss the planning and planting process for conservation and energy efficiency systems currently in use or under development at the farm. Farmer/owners John Dindia and Bailey Samp will also showcase some of their extensive season extension hoop-house growing. More details on the October 5th, 5:30-7:30 pm, event available here.
|| 5 || MBPN’s Barn & Color Tour Weekend: The Michigan Barn Preservation Network will be hosting a screening of the 2017 Emmy-award winning documentary The Barn Raisers, along with refreshments and discussion, on Friday, October 14th. The following day features a bus tour of historic barns and fall colors, offering inspiration and guidance from visits and conversation with those who have gone through the process of revitalizing historic rural barns. Find more details, and register, here.
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