"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." – Helen Keller During our last seminar we had the opportunity to spend time in Washington D.C. and its neighboring Virginia counties. The Capital is always an impressive site. The monuments and memorials capture the rich history of our nation. Through triumphs and… Continue reading Stronger Together
You would not think of a city having food inequalities and access issues, but in DC, the nation's capital, surrounded by immense wealth, you have just that. Life expectancy has a twenty-year difference! We heard from a great panel of Lindsay Smith, Tariq Sherriff, and Kate Lee on our recent seminar to Northern VA &… Continue reading Food Security & Access
VALOR’s most recent session took us to Northern Virginia and Washington DC. Urban ag at its finest-Endless Summer Harvest, Loudoun County Ag Economic Development, and Cultivate the City. National Policy with an array of ag representatives from Capitol Hill. Local food issues from the DC Urban Ag Department and the Anacostia Community Museum’s presentation on… Continue reading A Tale of Two Communities
Have you ever gone to bed wondering when you would have your next meal? Gotten up the next morning and stood in your kitchen and stared at bare cupboards with nothing to relieve the hunger pain deep in your gut? What if you had a child standing beside you, looking up to you, tears in… Continue reading To Eat or Not to Eat….
In our recent trip to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., collaboration, creativity and innovation are the qualities that resonated with me. Most in agriculture don’t think about the Northern Virginia and D.C. area having much to do with agriculture outside of politics. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Several of the places and people… Continue reading Collaborating, Creativity and Innovation Combine
The VALOR V fellows visited the Shenandoah Valley in March due to COVID altering our schedule. To us, the altered timing was par for the course for agriculturists managing their operations during this challenging year. It signified the ability of the group to be resilient and know that the changes in schedules didn’t impact the… Continue reading
In that time of uncertainty, virtual happy hours, and limited physical social interaction at the start of pandemic last spring a message from one Sunday’s homily hit home… “If you don't know what hurts me, you cannot say you love me." Or in other words, to be truly loved, you must be truly known. There’s… Continue reading To Serve is to Know
Cold March rain was falling in Rockbridge County on the day we visited Ingleside Trout Farm. We made our way through the tour; we walked into the hatchery to see the new fry and then back over the bridge to see the larger fingerlings. The owner, Jennifer, tossed out cups of pellets to feed the… Continue reading “Starry Night” – Be a Seeker of Everyday Magic
What started as a way to implement new fertilizer application methods has grown and developed into four companies that focus on and value the employees. From our time at the Houff Corporation what resonated most with me was not the company’s ability to evolve and add new pieces that make sense but the way they… Continue reading Employee Focused
I notice at each stop how passionate everyone is about their work. The hosts cannot wait to tell us what they do and give us a glimpse inside their world. I would say that same passion Class V shares about their role in AG, and everyone in the previous classes shares as well. Our shared… Continue reading Passion
