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11/14/2024 01:30 PMI have been on a bit of a hiatus from writing, but I promise that does not mean my time has been filled with idle pondering about the waning hours of the Harvest Season.
In fact, as you might imagine, fall is a funny time for those of us in the agricultural field. These are the glory days of the farm season, after everything was alight with green electricity vying for our constant attention, we spend countless hours weeding, harvesting, and planting cover crops before then planning for more weeding, harvesting, and succession planting.
So amidst all of this activity and after tending to the needs of children, goats, and chickens, I like to spend my mornings walking through the fields engaging with the plants as they too converse with their own neighbors–the sun, soil, air, and water.
Beside providing a few moments of quiet before the buzziness of the day begins, it also offers me the opportunity to evaluate what went well and observe the health of our little ecosystem, checking for any concerns like mildew, pest damage, or nutrient deficiencies.
The morning field walk is an old practice I picked up from one of those old wizened, grumpy farmers I admire and once knew many years ago. His hard-earned, potato fork-like fingers and soft, paternal eyes revealed the true, deep connection he felt toward the world of vegetables. Despite his rugged edges, we also spent many hours musing on a common sense of serenity in understanding that our time toiling in the fields that day would mean there were people and families that night who would be sitting together sharing a meal made possible by that labor.
There is little else which brings the farmer greater pride, more joy, or a deeper sense of connection to the planet and its people than knowing the work of our hands is feeding others. It’s likely the greatest payment we’ll ever receive. It’s why while so many others travel to beaches and exotic destinations throughout the summer months, farmers faithfully continue to till and toil, observe and respond to the natural world before them. Time for rest assuredly will come again. For now though, there are beans in need of picking and dining room tables waiting to be filled.
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One aim of this column is to feature area farmers and their unique and magnificent ways of sharing in and reverencing the abundance of the land. This week, however, I would like to let you in on a little more of the work we do at Benincasa Community Farm. While the majority of what we produce is delivered to area food pantries to ensure those in need have access to healthy, sustainably grown, local produce, this season we also began hosting a farm stand at the CitySeed Q-House/Dixwell Ave Farmers Market in New Haven every Wednesday. Working at this market has allowed us to grow our commitment to offering the farm’s produce to anyone with limited fresh food access.
Blaise Berglund is the Q House Farmers Market Manager for CitySeed and faithfully supports the work of area farmers and food producers throughout the Shoreline. Originally from Lyme, where she was raised in the business of restaurants and food service, Blaise offers a tremendous balance of community engagement and planning to the market experience. On a recent fall afternoon during the market, we were able to carve out a few minutes to chat about how she came to work for CitySeed and why markets like this one matter for neighborhoods and communities in our area.
SGM: Hey Blaise. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. Normally, for this column I am sitting down to speak with farmers who are doing amazing work and using innovative, sustainable practices on their farms. So today for something a little different, it’s great to be at the market talking with you!
BB: Yea, totally! I think we fall into the category of agricultural programs doing cool stuff.
SGM: That’s definitely true. CitySeed is doing so many cool things for the community. Can you tell me about why you chose this path to work in the big tent of the food service sector rather than, I don’t know, selling insurance?
BB: Well I started off at Southern Connecticut after graduating high school, before taking some time off to recenter during a period of some really personal stress. I quit my job and traveled with my pocket money and a one way ticket to Hawaii. There are so many great traditionally organic farmers out there, and I was really interested in learning more about how they were growing and sharing food with their communities. So of course I traveled 5,000 miles (laughing) and lived out there, meeting farmers and chefs really committed to fresh ingredients, hospitality, and community.
SGM: Wow! On paper that seems so out of the box and like a big leap for someone on track toward a post-graduate career, but it sounds like you needed to really shake things up and thankfully were able to take that journey of self-education.
BB: When I zoom out and reflect on how I got here, it really aligns with that trajectory. Both sides of my family are in the restaurant business. Having meals around a common table was central to the way I was raised, and so my curiosity about how food can be produced and where it comes from grew during those years. During the pandemic, I did finish my degree at Southern in geology, environmentalism, and sustainability and was working in the food service industry until I was laid-off due to dwindling hours and customers at the time. It was wintertime, I was living in New Haven, and I went for a walk Saturday morning thinking about what I could do next. It wasn’t long before I wandered into the Wooster Square CitySeed Market and began there first as a volunteer. I continued showing up and then a position for market manager opened up! So I found it, but it really feels like it found me.
SGM: It almost sounds like working in this wide community of food production and service is in your DNA.
BB: I really enjoy the community piece and meeting so many different people. The fact that it is centered around food, farms, and food businesses make it even better! In the food service industry, we talk about hospitality as creating an experience for the customer. So at this market, I like thinking about ways to create an experience for the customers, the neighborhood, and even people just visiting the Q-House to meet the needs of the people we are serving. (With music playing in the background) We invite in all kinds of musicians, DJs, host events and projects for kids and families, have cooking demonstrations, and a variety of local vendors all with Connecticut Grown produce and ingredients. We have to make authentic connections.
SGM: At this market, you often talk about being culturally responsive to the community. How do you think CitySeed is able to do this here and at all of its markets in New Haven?
BB: It wouldn’t make sense to drop into this neighborhood, set up a market, and then sit around asking ourselves, “Why isn’t anybody coming?” So, it’s essential to first acknowledge our privilege, mine as a white woman and as an organization, as we consider how to be a meaningful partner and service to the customers visiting the Q House. We have three primary programs to support the mission of CitySeed to promote and create a more equitable and just food system in our area. Speaking on behalf of the markets, we lean into the fact that we host producer only, Connecticut Grown farmers and vendors. We also celebrate the produce being brought to the market and the ways customers like to use them through events like “Tomato Fest” and those cooking demonstrations. The food entrepreneurship program which uplifts emerging food ventures can utilize the customer base and community’s support of the markets to celebrate various, cultural cuisines. Then, as a culinary training institute, Sanctuary Kitchen provides above-market wages for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from the Greater New Haven area, and much of the food produced through that program is brought and sold at the the markets.
SGM: It’s amazing to hear about all of the ways you and CitySeed are really attempting to expand food access and using it as a means for creating more justice.
BB: Yes, CitySeed started 20 years ago when a small community of people came together to bring more fresh produce to New Haven. There are so many stories to tell both about and around food, but there are still so many people we still need to talk to, especially in this neighborhood about how food choice impacts them and their families. These conversations tend to get folks excited, so I am grateful to learn the stories from people and in communities I really care about.