Glynwood Harvest Awards Honor Sustainable Farming Innovators

Take inspiration from these farmers who are making a difference.

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By Dan Shapley

Glynwood, a Hudson Valley, N.Y., organization devoted to sustainable family farming has announced the latest winners of its Harvest Awards, which recognize innovative community-level work to support regional food systems.

The winners are:

Sean Stanton, Blue Hill Farm, Great Barrington, Mass.
Winner of the 2011 Glynwood Farmer Award, Stanton was recognized for his efforts to raise sustainable meat and vegetables on North Plain Farm and Blue Hill Farm. He says, "You learn how to make the most of the soil terrain and the natural ecosystems found on the farm. If one tries to fight against nature, it becomes a constant battle as opposed to a cooperative relationship."

Farm 255, Athens, Ga.
Winner of the 2011 Good Food Entrepreneur Award, Farm 255 and co-owners Olivia Sargeant & Jason Mann were recognized for being "the public face of an ingenious model of vertical integration in the sustainable agriculture sector." Farm 255 restaurant is part of a cluster of businesses: Full Moon Farms, their own farm operation which supplies up to 50% of the produce served at Farm 255 and also supplies food to 45 families via its CSA; Farm Cart, a food cart that serves “street food” at the farmers market; Farm Burger, two neighborhood burger joints using 100% local, grass-fed beef; and Moonshine Meats, a collective of pasture-based-producers that raise all the meat for Farm 255 and Farm Burger, in addition to operating a CSA for families in Athens and Atlanta, GA. Sargeant says: "We believe that our tireless work within our extended community has been a key piece to introducing the South to a new perspective on farming and food that positively contributes to all points on the food supply chain."

Buffalo Hump Sanctuary, Pine Ridge, S.D.
Winner of the 2011 The Award for Connecting Communities, Farmers and Food, Henry John Red Cloud, founder and president of Buffalo Hemp Sanctuary was recognized for his family's efforts to develop a sustainable bison ranching operation on lands of their Lakota tribe that had been leased for generations to non-indigenous people.

AmpleHarvest.org, Newfoundland, N.J.
Winner of the 2011 Wave of the Future Award, AmpleHarvest.org's founder and executive director Gary Oppenheimer was recognized for developing an innovative Web-based method for delivering fresh produce from home and community gardens to local organizations that feed the needy. Now, 2,000 food pantries in the U.S. are registered, and approximately 3 million pounds of fresh food have been delivered.

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