To say I’m excited
would be an understatement! Several years ago, Ms. Opal Lee had a vision
for an urban farm. The Tarrant Regional Water District offered Unity Unlimited,
Inc. (our non-profit!) land near downtown. All it was waiting for to make it a
reality for was the right time. That time has come!
Opal’s Farm is ready to start planting our first crop!
In honor of the big day, Opal’s Farm is having a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, February 15th, 2019 at 11:00AM.
Opal’s Farm is an agricultural intervention to bring fresh produce
to area food deserts and revitalize Fort Worth communities. Our mission is to improve
the overall health and welfare of local communities through food access, jobs,
job training, education, and self-sufficiency – in keeping with old saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a
day. Teach a man to fish (or farm, in this case), and you feed him for a
lifetime.”
Come be apart of the journey beginning with our ribbon
cutting on February 15th.
I’ve attached an invitation. Please park in the vacant lot
in front of the entrance to Opal’s Farm and join us for the big day!
My friend Jim used to remind me that “when you point the
finger at someone else, there’s always three pointing back at you”. I know
exactly what he meant. I tend to be judgmental when it comes to the use of
words. Take” irregardless” for instance. It gets used all the time and it
drives me nuts. It’s one of my pet peeves…
That being said, I have a confession to make. I’ve been misusing the word “sustainable” for the last few months. When I began telling everyone about Unity Unlimited, Inc. and Opal’s Farm last year I kept talking about being “sustainable”. I’m sorry, but that’s not completely accurate. Opal’s Farm is not simply sustainable, it’s regenerative. I beg your forgiveness because the difference is huge.
“Sustainable” has become a popular adjective, the new buzzword, especially in marketing. Everyone wants to be “sustainable”. I jumped on the bandwagon, too. Perhaps I heard it so much that I used it over and over when writing about Opal’s Farm. I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong.
3: renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part,
or biological system (such as a forest) after injury or as a normal process…”
Sustainability implies that we
maintain the status quo. That’s not good enough. The soil needs to be
regenerated: restored to the vitality nature intended. Commercial and residential
development as well as traditional agriculture has failed to address the issue
of soil health. Chemical fertilizers and land overuse destroy the soil. It
doesn’t need to be sustained. It needs to be regenerated. That’s what Opal’s
Farm does.
Regeneration goes far beyond maintenance.
It’s the process of revitalizing and rebuilding the soil, making it better and
healthier than before.
Healthy soil, built through
organic methods, produces healthier plants. In turn, healthy plants produce a
better harvest, both in quantity and quality. That goes on to affect the health
and vitality of the neighborhoods we serve.
If I make any resolutions this
year, I resolve not to use the word “sustainable”, at least when talking about
the farm. What we say – whether about ourselves, our society, or even an urban
farm – matters. Words matter. This year I prefer to be regenerative: to renew
and revive – both personally and for Opal’s Farm. You can learn more about the
farm at http://www.unityunlimited.org/opals-farm.html.
As always, we invite you to
become a “farmer” and join in the work at Opal’s Farm!
Thoughts from the Porch: There is a line from the movie “Field of Dreams” that has become a mantra of sorts in my life. “Build it and they will come”. I’m not planning on building a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield, but I am part of building a farm in the middle of a city. While it’s not the same thing, a farm in the middle of a sprawling urban area makes as much sense as a baseball field in a corn patch.
Kevin Costner’s character wondered why anyone would travel to a cornfield in the middle of Iowa to watch a baseball game. Investing in such a baseball field defied common sense. It meant using their acreage for cash crops and their life savings in a venture that seemed a failure from the start. But, they built anyway. The movie ends with traffic coming from all directions to the “Field of Dreams”.
Success seemed unlikely, the future unsure. It made absolutely no ‘common’ sense, but our
hero stepped out in faith and did “the next right thing”. God took care of the
results and the results were amazing. Still, it too an action and a step into
the unknown. It meant trading common sense for uncommon sense and doing it anyway
because it was the right thing to do.
I was thinking about all of this when I returned from a budget meeting for Opal’s Farm. The good news is that the lease has been signed and everything is moving forward. The bad news is that we’re still well short of our initial start up needs. There are materials to be purchased, employees to be trained and paid, and time and money to meet those needs has suddenly grown shorter. Still, I keep hearing this still, quiet voice repeating, “Build it and they will come.”
I look back at all the events that have brought us to this
point. Just like the baseball players in “Field
of Dreams”, each of the right people have appeared at the right time to create
Opal’s
Farm. One by one we’ve partnered with the right people and
organizations to take the right steps in building Opal’s Farm. Like the old
baseball heroes in the movie, they’ve appeared at just the right time and just
the right place. Organizations like Grow Southeast, Silver Creek Materials, the
Tarrant Regional Water District, Charlie Blaylock with Shines Farmstand, and
our County Extension office have stepped in one by one to lead and guide us
toward our common mission.
My own involvement came about as a bit of a fluke. I found out about the farm through my son, Jeremy. He had talked to some people about an art collective project in another part of Fort Worth. They also expressed an interest in what was to become Opal’s Farm. I contacted them and though they soon stepped out of the project, I began attending Grow Southeast, a collaboration between a number of local farmers and organizations dedicated to bringing healthy food to Tarrant County. Through Grow Southeast, I contacted Ms. Opal and the process began.
Although an urban farm has long been a dream for both Ms. Opal and I, dreams require action to become reality. The time was right to step out in faith, to build it without the assurance that funds would be in place. I can’t tell you how many days I’ve felt like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there. But everything has come together, and Opal’s Farm is moving forward.
Experience has taught me to step out of my comfort zone, to take chances knowing that I’m responsible for the action and leave the results up to a power far greater than me. “Build it and they will come”. Common sense becoming uncommon sense…
The people are in
place. The land is in place. Building starts now. With your help, we can build
it one step at a time, doing ‘the next right thing”.
leave the
#GivingTuesday has passed. I want to take a moment to say thank you to those who were so generous to Opal’s Farm and all the other organizations working so hard to make our world a better place as well. The local PBS affiliate, KERA, reported that the DFW area was Number One in donations across the country with over $30 million in donations on #GivingTuesday. Way to go Forth Worth and Dallas! One more reason I’m proud to be from Cowtown!
Just remember, you don’t have to have a special day to give to others. It’s never too late to become a partner, or urban farmer. Your contribution is welcome any time.
gregoryjoel.com 