Stone Bend hosts food sovereignty fundraiser

On Sept. 20, The Garden’s Edge will hold a fundraiser for food sovereignty from 5 to 8 p.m., hosted at Newfield’s Stone Bend Farm.

The fundraiser is the first of its kind by Garden’s Edge, a 501(c)(3) that has worked with indigenous farmers in Guatemala along with supporters in the U.S. to protect the farmers’ seeds and culture and advance the cause of food sovereignty since 2007.

Rebecca Cutter, a nonprofit consultant who works with Garden’s Edge, said food sovereignty opposes the use of genetically modified seeds and agrochemicals and stands for the protection of bio-genetic material such as native beans and squash.

“Food security is making sure people have enough food to eat,” Cutter said. “Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food, that people have control over the seed themselves and the means of production.”

The event is tied to Seed Travels (gardensedge.org/portfolio-items/seed-travels/), a delegation of farmers and traditional healers from Central America. In May, they toured several farms, exchanged information with people and planted amaranth, a culturally and historically significant plant for Mesoamerica (tinyurl.com/y8ynm8hc), in the northeastern United States. This year is the first time in their 16-year history that they have visited that region of the country.

Their return this month is to harvest the amaranth, and they will visit eight farms owned by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) individuals over the course of 10 days. Out of all the events in that tour, the fundraiser at Stone Bend Farm is the only one that is open to the public. During their visit to the Northeast, the delegation will be visiting several farms and gardens throughout the Haudenosaunee Territory.

The event begins with welcoming words from 5 to 5:30 p.m. It will feature a seed cleaning and popping demonstration with live music from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., which will also feature instruction on how to cook with amaranth. Dinner will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., featuring Latin American-inspired meals, and guest speakers will make remarks from 7:30 to 8 p.m.

Attendees are not required to RSVP for the event, and the suggested donation is $20 for adults, $50 for families and $10 for children. Masks are not required.

“He’s volunteering the venue, which is perfect for us,” Cutter said of Terry Bloom, who runs Stone Bend. “It’s a beautiful geothermal timber frame greenhouse with picnic tables everywhere. It’s just perfect for an indoor-outdoor event. He has amazing ventilation in the building — he built it during the pandemic.”

Cutter expressed appreciation for Bloom hosting the event. Carrie Stearns, a local supporter of Garden’s Edge who reached out to Stone Bend Farm, found that Bloom was sympathetic to Garden’s Edge’s mission and introduced Bloom to Cutter. Cutter said the venue is a beautiful space that was perfect for the event.

“He’s just beginning up there,” Cutter said. “It’s a new venue, but he has a big, beautiful vision for what he’s trying to do in Newfield. It’s basically community center, so he’s really excited because I don’t think he’s had a chance to host a big community event like this yet. And so, it just worked out perfectly.”

Bloom said his venue was well-suited to the event since it’s meant to host community events and support sustainable agriculture. He also said it was inexpensive for him to host the event, noting that fees for venues can limit how much revenue fundraising events earn.

“Our building is kind of a blank slate, “ Bloom said. “It can be open air. It can host a bevy of people inside and outside. So for us, that’s what we want to be able to do.”

Cutter hopes that about 75 people will attend and anticipated that the event raises at least $3,000. The funds will go to support the work of Garden’s Edge in Guatemala.

Bloom said many of his customers are the type to support food sovereignty, so they are likely to support Garden’s Edge. He said he started his business to be socially responsible, and he will help out events like this one as often as he is able to do so.

“We didn’t start this farm to be a pizza business or to be a bar,” Bloom said. “We started this farm to be engaged in the community and maintain a sustainable business model. I know that part of the sustainable business model is giving back.”

To learn more about The Garden’s Edge, visit its website at gardensedge.org. More information on Stone Bend Farm can be found at stonebend.com.

Newfield Notes appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Sweet Reads

On Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m., join other community members at the Newfield Public Library, 198 Main St., to talk about the books they’re reading over some delicious dessert. For more information, visit newfieldpubliclibrary.org or call (607) 564-3594.

Adirondack guide boat event

On Sept. 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Douglas MacCaskill will give a presentation on the Adirondack guide boat’s history and a demonstration of techniques at the Newfield Public Library.

For more information, go to newfieldpubliclibrary.org/events/the-adirondack-guide-boat-630/.