economy must be put under good farming or the number of farmers will continue to shrink.
Entrepreneurial farming has been a good starting place for a local food movement but we can't leave it there. It is not changing the culture of farming. After some initial excitement about local production for local markets in Kentucky most farmers have given up on an unpredictable market that they don't understand and don't trust. They need an organization in the middle to move product, consider parity pricing, protect them from overproduction, and take good husbandry into account.
And that is the work we have undertaken at The Berry Center.
The Local Beef Initiative is working with young farmers and our local processor
Trackside Butcher Shoppe, to change the way cattle are raised and processed here. Katie Ellis, our managing director, has taken on the directorship of this program and is doing groundbreaking work on the economics of cattle production. We are most encouraged by the response to our work from the farming community that remains and from the markets in Louisville and Lexington who are working with us.
Dr. Leah Bayens is working on the curriculum for the
Berry Farming Program and we expect to announce the next home for our program in the next few months.
While Katie works on an economy to support young farmers, Leah is working on what they need to know to farm well.
Our work to strengthen the culture of our own place is headed up by Virginia Berry Aguilar with her work at
The Bookstore at The Berry Center. Wendell Berry says, "If you're going to be neighborly, you have to know your neighbors. You can't be neighborly in a convocation of strangers." She is bringing members of our community together to share a common interest that allows dialogue, advocates for sustainable farming practices, encourages agrarian leadership, and extolls the singular history of this place.
Michele Guthrie, our archivist, is acquiring, preserving and making available to the public unique materials of enduring historic and research value from the Berry family.
Her work is the
foundation of everything we do here.
I keep in mind everyday the difference between the problem of an industrial economy and the symptoms of the problem. Of course, the symptoms must be addressed by people of good intention everyday but the problem itself must be as fully understood as possible for any of our efforts to last. I am proud of our fine staff at The Berry Center for their indefatigable hope that we can improve agriculture starting in Kentucky.
Sincerely,
Mary Berry
Executive Director