18th Jun 2024 Gemini 1.5 Pro
Severine von Tscharner, a farmer, author, and organizer, speaks passionately about the importance of community, land stewardship, and reconnecting with our food systems. Having founded numerous organizations like Greenhorns, the National Young Farmers Coalition, Farmhack, and Agrarian Trust, she's dedicated her life to revitalizing agriculture and fostering a vibrant young farmer culture. She views access to land and community engagement as critical, not just for food production but for personal and societal well-being.
Von Tscharner emphasizes the importance of making farming appealing and accessible to younger generations. She sees a deep need for fostering a sense of community and shared purpose among new farmers, who often face isolation and financial challenges. Her work focuses on building a supportive and inclusive agricultural network, particularly crucial in a world where market forces discourage young people from pursuing farming careers.
"So building a fun youth culture is the goal... And then, of course, fun is, or romance, or valor, or purpose, or reform-mindedness is one aspect. And then having the stamina to stick with it when inevitably, you know, your pencil gets sharpened by adversity, an unending, you know, heartbreak that is agriculture."
Von Tscharner highlights the looming challenge of land transition as a core issue facing agriculture today. With millions of acres slated to change hands in the coming decades, she stresses the urgent need to ensure this transition supports a more sustainable and equitable food system. She critiques the financialization of farmland, where land is valued for its development potential rather than its agricultural capacity, making it increasingly difficult for young farmers to access land.
As a solution, Von Tscharner champions the concept of "commoning" land through initiatives like Agrarian Trust. This approach removes land from the speculative market and places it in community land trusts, ensuring permanent agroecological stewardship. She envisions these commons as vibrant hubs where communities can connect with the land, learn about sustainable farming practices, and access healthy food.
"So in the kind of age of dominion and commodification of land, you have the right to destroy, the right to extract, the right to mine, the right to intensify and have monoculture. But in the Agrarian Trust kind of framing, you have a right for regeneration, you have a right for restoration, for hedges and improvements for polyculture, for local food access, for education."
Von Tscharner acknowledges the significant financial hurdles faced by young farmers and advocates for innovative solutions to bridge the gap. While she appreciates the importance of small-scale, grassroots funding, she also sees the need to engage larger institutions and philanthropic capital.
She calls for greater transparency and collaboration between large-scale funders and smaller, community-based organizations already working on the ground. She encourages a shift in mindset from a top-down approach to one that empowers and learns from local communities. Von Tscharner believes that by supporting existing networks and investing in regional food systems, we can create a more resilient and equitable agricultural landscape.
"Capitalizing farms is challenging. Accessing land is challenging, but, you know, small chunks of low interest money for things like greenhouses, loading docks, packing sheds, you know, washing and packing with sinks and being able to get it into a bag and bubbling the water up through and getting into, be able, you know, if you want to cashflow, then lettuce is the way to go, you know, or eggs."
Reflecting on the influx of philanthropic capital directed towards addressing the climate crisis, von Tscharner recognizes the challenges and opportunities it presents. She observes a disconnect between massive pools of capital seeking impactful outlets and the capacity of smaller organizations to absorb and utilize such funding effectively.
She critiques the tendency for large-scale philanthropy to gravitate toward complex, top-down solutions, often overlooking the simple, practical needs of farmers and community-based initiatives. Von Tscharner urges a more grounded approach, encouraging donors to engage directly with farmers, understand their challenges, and invest in initiatives that strengthen regional food systems and empower local communities.
"And so, apprenticing oneself, if one is in the position to distribute financial capital, apprenticing oneself to the practitioners who have already played this field... and, you know, yielding and being more humble and not trying to set up yet another, you know, effing whole nother, you know, competition and fancy websites and, you know, massive amounts of master's degree, white people clickety clacking on computers. I mean, it's really frustrating how, you know, pompous it can get in the world of all this mega cash."
Beyond terrestrial ecosystems, von Tscharner extends her passion for ecological restoration to marine environments, particularly focusing on the vital role of algae. She describes algae as the unsung heroes of our planet, responsible for producing a significant portion of the Earth's oxygen and forming the basis of crucial marine ecosystems. She expresses concern over the potential for large-scale algae farming to repeat the mistakes of industrial agriculture, urging a cautious and community-centered approach.
Von Tscharner highlights the opportunity presented by algae, which exists in a legal commons, to create a more equitable and participatory model for resource management. She calls for greater citizen engagement in shaping the regulations and practices governing algae harvesting and cultivation, ensuring that coastal communities and the health of our oceans are prioritized.
"And what's great about algae is also it doesn't happen on private property. So from a, you know, just intellectually, it's a very gratifying wobbly world to work in because here's an actual commons, an actual legal commons."
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