News & Stories

A Q&A with Renard Turner, co-owner and operator of Vanguard Ranch and founding board member of the Central Virginia Agrarian Commons.

Presenters: Drs. David Sloan Wilson and Paul Atkins Co-founders, ProSocial World In 2013, David Sloan Wilson, Elinor Ostrom, and Michael Cox published an article titled Generalizing the Core Design Principles for the Efficacy of Groups. Using generalized Darwinism as the theoretical framework, the article showed that the core design principles are needed for almost all cooperative […]

We recently had an opportunity to connect with Cam Terry, a farmer in Roanoke, Virginia who is currently raising funds with Agrarian Trust and Southwest Virginia Agrarian Commons to acquire a parcel of land in central Roanoke. We spoke about Okra Fest, a yearly arts festival that Cam hosts on his farm celebrating okra, community, […]

August 9th has been designated by the United Nations as the international day of the world’s indigenous people. On this day people across the world work to raise awareness and protect the rights of Indigenous peoples across the globe.   This year, Nathan Galaviz (Agrarian Commons) traveled to Omaha NE to attend the 2023 Indigenous Peoples […]

Fran Miller loves to grow garlic. She plants it every year, pressing the cloves into the earth at the end of fall, gathering the scapes in early summer, and curing the bulbs through the early fall.

According to the 2022 survey by National Young Farmers Coalition, 83 percent of new farmers report that “one of their farm’s primary purposes for existing is engaging in conservation or regeneration.”

It seems obvious that we live on a finite planet, with finite space, and finite resources. Then why isn’t it treated as such?

In 1977, two of the most influential figures in the history of American agriculture met at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana, to debate two widely differing visions of farming, culture, and the future of American farmland. Wendell Berry, the renowned poet, farmer, and writer defined the difference between himself and his rival, Earl Butz—the Secretary of Agriculture (1971 to 1976) widely credited with setting in motion the rapid consolidation of farmland in the United States—in simple terms. “We may never meet,” said Berry, “because he’s arguing from quantities while I’m arguing from values.” Where Berry saw the widespread loss of community, rural values, and care for the land, Butz saw an opportunity for increased profits. 

The Dead Sea Declaration comes at a critical moment in the movement for a more just and sustainable system of land governance. Time and time again, the stewardship of land by communities who live there has proven to be the most effective way to conserve the Earth’s ecosystems and climate. Eighty percent of the Earth’s biodiversity is on land controlled by Indigenous tribes: not as a matter of coincidence, but as a result of the centuries of knowledge and care practiced by Indigenous people. These bastions of biodiversity need to be defended at all costs. The knowledge and practice of these stewards can help inform efforts to expand people-centered land governance around the globe. 

For the past year and a half, every Wednesday has been West Virginia Wednesday. On these days, the ingredients for students’ meals, including the frozen chickens, are sourced directly from local farms, providing a major source of income for farmers and access to healthy, locally grown food to students. This dual benefit is a key feature of Farm to School programming in Fayette County.