We visited Endless Summer Harvest and as I listened to Loudon County, VA Extension Agent, Mr. Hilleary, he made me create one definition of agriculture:
Agriculture is not necessarily a place or product. For example, “This is a field, therefore it is agriculture….or this is a machine and it is agriculture.” Agriculture is moreso a
system that happens at a place or through a product.
This definition applied to many of our current and past session visits:
- Smithfield–the extremely organized processing system
- Cherrystone–the methodical processing system of aquaculture
- Up Top Acres (current session)–the gardening system literally located at the top of several high-rise roofs
- Arcadia (current session)–the integrated systems of Sustainable Agriculture, Healthy Food, and Veterans
- DC Central Kitchen (current session)–its multi-integrated job training, food processing, and distribution system
Here is my most sincere warning: Ensure the controllable “system” does not become the priority over the unknowns of human development (See “The Fundraisers” post).
