CHARLEMONT — Sustainable farming and the availability of healthy food will be the discussion points in the Charlemont Forum’s online event on Wednesday, June 9.

The forum will feature Jessica O’Neill, executive director of Just Roots farm in Greenfield, and Jeff Tkach, a soil specialist and the chief impact officer of a Pennsylvania agriculture research organization called the Rodale Institute. Mary Purdy, a dietician, author and professor from Seattle, will serve as moderator.

The forum will be held on Zoom starting at 7 p.m. Participants must register through a link on the Charlemont Forum’s Facebook page at facebook.com/charlemontforum.

The discussion will center around the ways that environmentally sustainable farming practices complement and support people’s access to healthy food.

While part of the conversation will be about the science of farming, O’Neill also emphasized the social dimension of accessing healthy food that she has observed while working with Just Roots through its 11-year history.

“I’m really excited about this conversation because it’s going to weave together the narrative in a way that maybe people haven’t thought about,” O’Neill said. “What I can bring is — who are we growing food for? That’s a big question.”

Just Roots promotes access to locally grown food, especially for residents who have difficulty accessing healthy food. The major piece of this is its community supported agriculture (CSA) program, which has about 250 members this year.

While some may assume that the primary barrier to accessing healthy food is the cost of buying organic produce, that isn’t always the case, O’Neill explained. Many locals have difficulty accessing food for a variety of reasons, sometimes involving transportation, housing security, or ability and confidence in the kitchen.

There are also macroeconomic factors. Most locally grown food is brought out of New England and sold elsewhere, O’Neill said.

“Land access needs to come into that conversation,” she said. “Community farms, like Just Roots, that have community gardens — that is one way to meet people where they can have access to grow their own food. That is an important part of what we do.”

Reach Max Marcus at
mmarcus@recorder.com
or 413-930-4231.