Rural residents have always relied on their community of neighbors to help them strive and thrive year in and year out. Whether on farms or in small towns, I have seen and come to believe in the power of showing up for one another. Whether we pitch in for a barn raising or a school fundraiser, help a neighbor who has lost a loved one or organize a potluck, we each make a difference locally in our communities when we show up for each other.
The main reason I joined organizations like Wisconsin Farmers Union, Farm Bureau, Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association and others is to find community. A community is defined as a unified body of individuals from various backgrounds with varying skills that share common goals and interests. The key word is “common.” No matter what some of our differences are, we share many more common denominators.
The way to find the things we have in common is to know our neighbors, to understand and allow for our differences and to bond over our shared love of our land, our towns and our way of life. By joining local organizations and by volunteering, I get to hear a variety of viewpoints and I’ve learned that our common concern is about our community’s well-being.
My community of Brooklyn has 9 small family farms. Each of us market and sell what we grow at farmers markets and also wholesale or direct to consumers. The last thing we farmers have time for is the selling part. To help each other, we formed a farm marketing alliance, Bountiful Brooklyn. Under this collective, we were able to put forth what each of our farms offer not as competitors but as a community of farmers with plenty of food, flowers and fiber to reach more customers together. With the help of our local chamber and the Food Faith and Farming Network, we were able to mail a Bountiful Brooklyn postcard to all our area residents and the response was wonderful. Mostly, folks were happy to learn about and support their neighboring family farmers while getting local goods right in their own community. Our neighbors sent a clear message: we support you; you matter and what you do is valued. We have a lot of gratitude for that support.
Whether pouring coffee at my church’s coffee hour, seed swapping with a neighbor or cheering at my son’s kickball team games, I don’t ask people about their politics, I ask them about their kids. Will they get to see their folks over the holidays? How was their harvest this year? Do they need any help planting in the spring? These are what rural folks ask their neighbors. These kinds of questions, these expressions of concern are the ways we encourage one another and build each other up. Because of that, there is one thing that we care about the most when we are in community: each other.
— Penny Molina is the incoming board president of the South Central Chapter of Wisconsin Farmers Union. She and her husband Phil are joyful stewards of Still Point Flower Farm,( stillpoint.farm ), a 10-acre flower farm in Brooklyn, WI. They grow flowers that they sell through a flower CSA while also hosting weddings and events to share their beautiful farm. South Central Wisconsin Farmers Union is a member-driven chapter committed to enhancing the quality of life for family farmers, rural communities, and all people through educational opportunities, cooperative endeavors, and civic engagement in Rock, Green, and Lafayette Counties.
