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Guest Blog - Planning Fellow Charlene Orszag
November  6, 2007
Charlene is a co-founder of Tierra Miguel Foundation - an organic farm, conservation, education and research center in San Diego County. Charlene is dedicated to energizing collaborative efforts to build ecologically sustainable food production and distribution systems throughout Southern and Central California.

Being part of the ROC Fellows has been a privilege for me.  I would have to be considered a  “hybrid.”- part organic/biodynamic farmer, part non-profit foundation advisor, and part community builder. ..lots of hats.  It’s exciting to see how ROC honors yet merges our statewide interests. 

We at Tierra Miguel Foundation and Farm are working to connect the farm to the city, bringing urgent understanding of the value of farming and farmlands to folks who may have lost touch.   We’re working with County, City and State decision makers, as well as grantors, NGOs, health institutions and schools to encourage the Farm to School programs.   We’ve won conservation, program design awards and saved 85 organic acres for agriculture in perpetuity,   We’re definitely working at the “growing edge,” (pardon the pun!)  We think it’s all about connecting the dots and promoting recognition of our interdependency.

An area of importance for TMF is developing outreach and education with places  where the immediate connection to agriculture is not so obvious.  In line with recent news about how non-profits make real world changes, we seek to connect the players from many fields and generate positive support for the issues relating to healthy, sustainable farms and food.   A most striking outcome has been the value of coordination among interested parties. As a non-profit, TMF has fulfilled this role often to great overall advantage.  

TMF now has a new collaboration with the Pauma Band of Mission Indians, our neighbor in Pauma Valley.  The Pauma Band has committed to support  agricultural education and health programs at the Farm.  This is an extraordinary opportunity to build new community ties and honor and sustain the land.

Encouraging the local and regional picture in California is where our energies are going now. Our Community Supported Agriculture program grows daily.  Building markets for local produce and the infrastructure to make them happen are the tasks we as a state and region need to encourage.

At this moment, I am caught in the throes of fires consuming groves and farms in San Diego, San Bernardino and other counties.  Nature will have her way. How do we bear the risks associated with local and small farm production today?   We must keep these operations viable.   Small farms are being asked to change the long- held  farm  business model to  include agritourism, and new value-added product development. Specialty supports are badly needed, along with new financial strategies to help carry the shifts that are occurring.  Farmers are struggling to carry these questions, including TMF.    Let’s look for ways to develop “patient capital” that is appropriate for local and regional producers and will help save farmlands that are needed for future food and wildlife protection.  We’re on the verge of recognizing our interrelatedness, I think.  

 How to resolve the questions?  Networks work!  Together, I believe, we can build a successful picture of integrated food, farm and people health in California that serves Californians well as we move forward towards 2030.

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