Savor loves Crop Mob: Community Farming to Promote Health

Crop Mobs like this one in North Carolina, are groups of people who love to farm and want to support the local farming community. Many members are young, without their own land to farm. They commune whenever a member calls the Crop Mob together (they hear of a farmer who could use a little help), and plant, harvest, process...whatever the farmer needs.

This Crop Mob is based in the Triangle of North Carolina, where many sustainable farms are “growing diversified crops on small acreage, using only low levels of mechanization, and without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers.”

All Crop Mob participants volunteer their time to farm, eat, share music, talk and enjoy great, fresh food.
An innovative idea: natural, healthful farming that brings likeminded people together to laugh, share trade secrets, and help bring natural produce to their larger community.

Check out this USA Today video of Crop Mobers in Missouri.

The crop mob participants interviewed say the hard work feels good and they’re glad to have a chance to connect directly with the food they eat at local restaurants.

They’re happy to help complete a job (or many jobs) in a day. Often these jobs would take months for a farmer to do alone.

Chris Wimmer, a farmer in Missouri, says he’s overwhelmed by the Crop Mobbers support.

Has anyone heard of a group like this in their community? We’d love to hear about it!

In SAVOR, we talk about extending the health benefits of food consumption to the health and well being of our communities and planet.  Buying produce from local farms not only supports local commerce but also reduces carbon footprints.  Visit our links section of savorthebook.com for information about how to find community-supported farms.

Photo by Evgeni Dinev from FreeDigitalPhotos.net