Written By Byron Shelton
Slow Food Charlotte based in North Carolina, USA says on their website “The culture of food connects us with our communities and our traditions. Slow Food works to build those communities and preserve the traditions of the table.” Also they are “dedicated to joining farms to markets” and “to helping with the continuing education of our regional farmers”.
Steve and Geny Case, board members of Slow Food Charlotte chapter, coordinated a workshop on Holistic Management for farmers in the region as Steve and Geny had become familiar with Holistic Management and had attended the Annual Conference of Savory Institute held in October 2015 in San Francisco, California.Individual farmers and members of agricultural organizations from North and South
Carolina attended the Holistic Management training provided by Savory Institute. The workshop was a 3-day overview covering all aspects of Holistic Management. One day was spent on the underlying foundations and principles of Holistic Management and how to use this whole farm management process in non-brittle areas – meaning areas with higher rainfall (40-50 inches/1000-1250mm) that is very regular throughout the year and typically from year to year.
Two days were then spent on the Fundamentals of the Holistic Management Planning Procedures including Holistic Financial Planning, Holistic Land Planning, Holistic Planned Grazing, and Holistic Ecological Monitoring.
A field trip was taken to the Lomax Farm owned by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. The purpose of the field trip was to enhance the learning of reading the land through the ecosystem processes, learning the degree of brittleness in the area, learning the results of using various tools on the land, and learning the fundamentals of
ecological monitoring of the ecosystem processes. Aaron Newton, Lomax Farm Coordinator, shared the purpose of the farm located in Concord, NC. “Lomax Farm is the only certified farm in the southeast…the incubator farm is a training ground where farmers gain valuable skills and grow their farm
business.”
Great local food was coordinated by the organizers from local chefs and enjoyed by all. Thanks to all involved in the marketing, coordinating, and the learning.
