Da yoots take over Maverick Farms

A new generation pilots the farm’s operations as it transitions to training others 1

Some Grist readers may have noticed that I've been writing on the blog nearly every day, while keeping up the Victual Reality column. How can I do all of that and farm, too?

The truth is, I went full-time at Grist last November, when I took on the position of food editor. And to maintain my sanity, I've moved into a much less active role on Maverick Farms. We're in the process of turning Maverick into a farm incubator -- a program designed to train our area's next generation of farmers and link them to land -- while maintaining our CSA (community-supported agriculture) model.

Leading the charge is Maverick's new farm manager, Hillary Wilson. All of 24 years old, she's been a core member of the Maverick collective since we launched in 2004.

All of this is a roundabout way of introducing a video profiling Hillary and Maverick on MSN's Practical Guide to Healthier Living site. Hillary's running Maverick's farm operations with Jesse Downs, 24, the fiddle player in the video, and Scott Gower, 32. Hillary also penned an essay titled "Why I farm."



Grist food editor Tom Philpott farms and cooks at Maverick Farms, a sustainable-agriculture nonprofit and small farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Follow my Twitter feed; contact me at tphilpott[at]grist[dot]org.

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  1. HumdrumPG Posted 7:19 am
    21 May 2008

    a ha!I was honestly worried about our beloved Tom Philpott.  It's all well to be active in a variety of areas, but I was worried he was headed for burnout with all the writing and the farming.
    Anyway, the incubator program is great.  Just the kind of thing we need so direly nowadays.  It's very encouraging and inspiring to see others in my generation with a passion for farming.

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