How a Wish List Changed Biscuitwood Farm
Farmer Meg Despres of Biscuitwood Farm in Esperance, New York had a For Farmers Wish List that nobody had ever shopped. Not one item. So she left a comment on our Instagram asking a simple question: what can I do to make this list work for me?
Here's what happened next. A few DMs, one small fix, a Tuesday morning letter, and a farm transformed almost overnight.
Meg farms 50 acres in Schoharie County with a culinary focus: chef-quality vegetables, pastured eggs, black currant jam, and pierogi made from her own potatoes, a nod to her Polish roots. Her farm stand runs on the honor system with a free food pantry at its heart. She and her husband put everything they had into owning their land, and she tells us what it means to bootstrap a farm debt free, and why small farms can try things big farms never could.
We recorded this conversation during a meeting of our For Farmers interns, so you'll also hear questions from Andrea and Raeesah on how to be a better farmers market customer and how a farm's challenges change over time.
In this episode:
- Why a wish list is a story about a farm and what it needs
- The nomination that made Meg weep (we have more than 1,900 of them)
- Imposter syndrome, 15 years in
- Farming debt free as a deliberate choice
- Small farms as the experimenters of agriculture
Here's Meg's Wish List for Biscuitwood Farm if you'd like to contribute.
One Bite is Everything
From your plate to the rest of the world, One Bite is Everything explores the connections between food, health, community, the environment, and the economy. Through conversations with farmers, chefs, researchers, advocates, and food system leaders, host Dana DiPrima examines how food touches every aspect of our lives and why understanding our food system has never mattered more.
OBIE Facts
Top 3% of all podcasts globally
Top 100 agriculture podcasts (87)
More engagement than more than 88% of all podcasts on Spotify
Five-star rating average
Part of Heritage Radio Network, home of the top voices in food
Connect
Follow Dana at @xoxofarmgirl and learn more about the For Farmers Movement at forfarmersmovement.com.
Co-production by Sonia Dhillon. Sound design and original music by Russell Chapa.