Successful
Actions of Conanicut - RI
The community of Jamestown on Conanicut Island sits between mainland Rhode Island and Newport. “We are connected to the mainland by a bridge and connected to other islands by another bridge,” says Charlotte Richardson, Master of the Conanicut Grange. “The population on the island is close to 6000. Of course it swells in the summer.”
“Our Grange was founded on October 29, 1889, and we’ve had our ups and downs ever since,” says Charlotte. “About ten years ago, our membership was so low that if one more person left, we’d have lost our charter. We got a couple people to join in name only, and then limped along like that until one day, right out of the blue, my phone rang. The caller was Bob Sutton, an old friend and a leader in our farm community. He asked if Conanicut Grange would be amenable to our island farmers and their families joining the Grange. Naturally I said yes! That doubled our membership and has led us off into some wonderful adventures!”
“We’ve been working in partnership with the Land Trust, Watson Farm, and others for a long time – and it has really made a big difference! We got small enough so that we weren’t able to really sustain our Hall. We worked out a 50-year lease agreement with the Friends of Jamestown Seniors so that our Hall is now the Jamestown Senior Center. And because we have this lease, we have free use of the Hall until 2044.”
Bob Sutton who manages our Jamestown Community Farm for the Conanicut Island Land Trust says, “The Land Trust uses the Grange Hall for our annual meetings and works hand-in-hand with the Grange to accomplish what most of the island residents want – to maintain a pastoral atmosphere where local working farms produce what we eat. As part of the Land Trust, I manage the Jamestown Community Farm. We have 17 acres, three of which are cultivated, and we raise 12-13,000 pounds of vegetables every year. These vegetables are then distributed to people in need at the Rhode Island Food Bank, senior centers and meal sites.”
Charlotte adds, “You know, everyone has a yen to work on a farm from time to time. The Community Farm gives people who don’t have the space or the time to farm on their own a chance to still come down and dig in the dirt. People really enjoy that!”
Bob Sutton continues, :“If farming is going to survive, it’s really important that the community understand farming and farmers. We have seven or eight farmers on the island, and we want the community to understand us and participate in what we do. Grange gives us an organization and a structure to help that happen. Grange also provides us a Rhode Island State Licensed Kitchen where we can do demonstrations using local products. Last fall we offered a demonstration where a local chef came out and taught ways to use our bumper crop of sweet pumpkins. We had a good turnout and so in March we offered another demonstration where two Jamestown chefs showed ways to prepare local beef, pork, and lamb. Don and Heather Minto provided the grass-fed beef and lamb from the historic Watson Farm, and we had about 50 people attend.”
“These demonstrations are really raising interest in Grange with the publicity campaigns and through the people who attend,” says Charlotte. “They give people a chance to see Conanicut Grangers at work and they also serve as fundraisers. One of the chefs became a member recently too!”
Don and Heather Minto and their family are now active Grange members. “We raise grass-fed beef and lambs. Don says, “We manage 265 acres and our mission is to manage the property and the grassland to the best of our ability. We sell beef, lambs, and wool products to Islanders and beyond for twenty years. We got a permit to sell at farmers’ markets, and with the Department of Health, we’ve developed a label for Conanicut Island Grass-Fed. That label has helped us develop a greater market for our products than we can supply. So we’ve encouraged other farmers on the island to also supply Conanicut Island Grass-Fed Meat. It’s become an umbrella label for meat grown on the island. When you can shorten the distance between the farm gate and the table, that’s where economics for farmers will improve.”
“Don has been part of several meetings at Granges across the state working to form a co-op of more than 70 Rhode Island farmers to receive Rhode Island Department of Health certification to sell meat through a program currently called Rhody Meats,” says Charlotte. “It’s modeled after Rhody Fresh Dairy a program in which Joe and Jessie
Dutra some of our new Grangers, are also very active.”
“Ours is the last remaining dairy farm on the island, purchased in 1789 says Jessie. “We’re one of only 18 dairy farms in the state of Rhode Island. Rhody Fresh Milk has become a value-added product with gross sales of over one million dollars. We sell whole milk, 2%, 1%, skim, and half and half. Our cartons really stand out on the shelf with a label of a cow with the map of Rhode Island on her belly. Our goal is to get all the Rhode Island dairy farms selling their milk under the Rhody Fresh Milk label.”
Arek Galle of the Conanicut Island Land Trust says, “In 2004, the Land Trust embarked on an adventure to develop an inventory of the farms on the Island. Our goal was to explore the nature of the farms and how they contribute to the community. We looked at economic contributions as well as the importance of open space. We hired a couple of interns to do research, and it really brought people together. Conanicut Island is nine miles long and one mile across so we have a very defined perimeter. We looked at farms that we thought we already knew, and we started to explore how we might pool resources if farmers worked together.”
“We took pictures of the farms and of the farm families. We really tried to celebrate the sense of community and make everyone part of the project. We published a really nice book that has become a coffee table piece in many homes.”
“It’s beautiful,” says Charlotte. “It really shows just how much we have to be proud of. And The Farm Viability Team has now become an active Grange Committee.”
“One of the goals that came out of the Farm Viability Study was to develop an education committee,” says Heather Minto. “Our immediate goal was to investigate the curriculum in science, social studies, and local history, and to see where agricultural education might fit in. We interviewed all the teachers grade by grade to see where we could introduce agriculture into the already existing curriculum. We didn’t want it to be an add-on because the teachers already have so much they have to cover. They were very receptive to our thoughts and ideas. Now we’ve put together a report for the Farm Viability Committee, and we’ll be discussing how to implement our ideas. We keep asking ourselves, ‘how can we contribute? Through farm visits and other programs we might present to the school community, we hope to get support for a permanent link between the island farms and the schools.”
Melissa Minto directs the Jamestown Teen Center that meets at the Conanicut Grange Hall two afternoons each week. “I’ve also been fortunate to make several trips to Nicaragua,” says Melissa. “Rhode Island State Grange has made some wonderful monetary contributions to help the villagers there develop sustainable agricultural practices. I’m working toward taking a group of teens to Nicaragua this summer. It’s all about getting good food into people’s stomach’s there and at home.”
Another product that the Farm Viability Committee has been working on is currently called Jamestown Blankets. “When we’ve had the cooking programs, we’ve also shown blankets that are 100% wool and made from Conanicut Island sheep. We’re working with sheep farmers over on the mainland too, and hope to develop a brand called Rhody Warm Blankets. The idea is to develop successful and appealing products that people can buy locally. With the cost of gasoline, the idea of buying locally becomes even more important.”
“Don Minto was recently at a meeting in the state capital, and the governor committed himself to do whatever it takes to support agriculture,” says Charlotte.
Bob says, “Ours is a small state and pretty urban. There is a certain indifference to agriculture. We believe that local communities need to find ways to honor and celebrate the contributions that agriculture makes to the economy, to natural habitats, to an aesthetic quality that is important to quality of life. People are one, two, three, or even more generations away from agriculture, and we need to find ways to reconnect people to the land. That’s one of the reasons why the school program is so important. Most kids don’t have the chance to go visit on grandma’s farm anymore. We need to offer opportunities so kids can learn about what happens on a farm.”
“Farm land comes at a high premium,” says Charlotte. “And we are completely surrounded by water so we really need to preserve what we’ve got. The Farm Viability Committee has been working to get the development rights of farms protected. Development rights have already been sold on most of the farms. The owners were able to get the value of the land, but then the land isn’t threatened by the need to develop. That public acquisition of development rights has been going on for 15-20 years.”
“In the center of the island, we have about 1000 acres that are protected for farming, watershed, and recreation. And there is a significant wetland area. These acres are permanently protected – which is really important,” says Bob Sutton, “because everyone who doesn’t already live here wants to!”
“We have a deep history of people who want to protect a beautiful island,” adds Don Minto.
“The nucleus members of Conanicut Grange are all 75 years old or older,” says Charlotte. “When the idea came up for the farmers to join our Grange, we knew we’d have to face some change, and that’s always scary. But when we looked into the future, we could clearly see these diverse, knowledgeable, youthful, dedicated, and ambitious people as the new face of our Grange. And the Farm Viability group looked into the past and recognized the value of 100 plus years of know-how and experience that was housed in Conanicut Grange. We’ve seen together that we don’t need to re-invent ways to address farm challenges. We can join together and work for solutions – kind of like going back to the future!”
“Conanicut Grange is stronger today because opportunity – in the guise of these farm families who have become new members – knocked. We opened our minds – the hard part, our doors – the easy part – and our arms – the best part – to welcome and embrace our future. We said ‘Welcome to our Grange! Come right on in!’ And they did!” |
