Urban Grains

Hello Urban Grains!

After a wonderful and engaging farm visit, where we got a chance to mingle with our golden grains, as well as each other, I thought it was time I officially introduced myself. In the months to come, I am going to have a more upfront presence with Urban Grains both here on the blog and in the field.

My name is Chris Hergesheimer and I am one of the members of the Urban Grains organizing team. Last winter, I had the pleasure of meeting with Martin and Ayla while working on my MA thesis. When they first shared their vision for Urban Grains, I was immediately struck by their incredible energy and commitment to the project. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them during the formative months of the CSA and I am excited to be transitioning to a more visible role.

Who am I? Well, I am a sociologist and a micro farmer, a father of two children and the owner/operator of a small grain milling business known as “The Flour Peddler” (www.theflourpeddler.com). I live in the forested foothills of Roberts Creek, a small village on the sunshine coast, just a forty-minute ferry ride away from West Vancouver. I currently assist with the coordination of our local fruit tree project here on the sunshine coast, write music, work as a research assistant for a social economy research group based in BC and Alberta and help represent and organize Farm Folk/City Folk’s Grain Chain Project, a recent initiative of which this inspiring CSA is a key component.

As harvest time approaches, I am going to be stepping into a more central role, helping to keep you updated with the happenings of our local grain. My hope is to share some of the things I have learned over the years studying grain in south western BC, as well as learn from all of you valuable lessons about community, collaboration and engagement when it comes to re-creating food systems on our own terms. Grain activist and author Sharon Rempel told me that in western society, grain is a powerful symbol of regeneration and that if we are looking for a common thread in the movement, it is that we are a changing society. Urban grains is part of that change and the symbolic power of grain, flour and bread cannot be overlooked.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to the next couple months when we’ll be harvesting, milling and (hopefully) eating our local grain.

This weekend we had the opportunity to welcome many of the CSA members out at Cedar Isle Farm as we gathered to visit the grain and check on its progress. Everything’s looking great right now – the weather has been favorable for grain this year with all the heat, and plantings which had some rust appear to have stayed healthy despite it.

Super-big thanks to Jim, Diane, Hannah and Simon – who have been a joy to work with on this project – for allowing us to run around at their home for a day.

And thanks to everyone who joined us on Sunday – we had a delightful time and were so happy to meet everyone who came out. Watch out for more posts about the visit in the next few days; for now here’s a summary of the day in photos. (You can click on each one for a larger view.) Enjoy!