Letters to the Editor: Farming 06.23.16

To Appreciate Farming

Sag Harbor

June 20, 2016

Dear Editor,

I write with deep concern regarding East Hampton’s decision to deny Our Sons and Daughters School the opportunity to allow children to pick vegetables at the former Bistrian property, now Bhumi Farms, on Pantigo Road this summer.

O.S.D.S., a Waldorf-inspired school in Sag Harbor, has offered a summer farm program for the past seven years that inspires young children to appreciate farming and cultivates a sense of stewardship within them through the experience of picking vegetables and witnessing farm work. Does the town really feel that local children should not learn to support agriculture? Why is so much money spent to preserve farmland if we cannot bring our children to these farms to appreciate them?

ELIZABETH KARSCH

Its Agricultural Camp

Sagaponack

Jun 20, 2016 

Dear Mr. Rattray, 

I am very concerned about the town board’s decision to prevent Sag Harbor’s Our Sons and Daughters School from using the former Bistrian farm (now Bhumi Farm) for its agricultural camp. 

The camp is a lovely pick-your-own C.S.A. for local and visiting schoolchildren. They pick vegetables and bring them home, garden, do arts and crafts, and learn about food production and local farming. The town has told us that they do not think this is an agricultural use. The camp gives young children a place to get their hands dirty in the soil,  learn about growing food, and have active, unplugged fun all the while. 

If this isn’t an agricultural use, then what is?

SAMANTHA HONIG

Connection to Farming

Sag Harbor

June 20, 2016

Dear Editor, 

I am a local Sag Harbor resident, as is my family for three generations before me. I have two young sons who attended Our Sons and Daughters for their nursery school education. We have since entered into the Sag Harbor School District but have a strong belief that Our Sons and Daughters’ program is a fantastic and invaluable resource for our local families. 

Their summer camp, now slated to be run on the old Bistrian farm, is a place where the children connect with the local agricultural landscape of our community. This agricultural landscape is one that we are proud of, and should do our best as citizens of the East End to promote an appreciation of in our future generations, i.e., through our children. 

At this camp, children learn about growing organic fruits and vegetables, tending those wares, and then best harvesting practices to promote the greatest yield with the least detriment to the plants they have grown and cared for. I cannot imagine any reason that this camp would be seen as anything other than a wonderful and educational agricultural use of the space that has otherwise sat underutilized.

  Sincerely,

JAIME MOTT

Learning About Farming

Sagaponack

June 20, 2016 

To the Editor,

Kids learning about their food is important! What a beautiful use of children’s time and resources learning about farming as they live on the East End.

I am very concerned about the town board’s decision to prevent Sag Harbor’s Our Sons and Daughters School from using the former Bistrian farm for its agricultural camp. The camp is basically a pick-your-own C.S.A. for local schoolchildren. They pick vegetables and bring the fresh vegetables home. While on the farm they also learn about food production and agricultural traditons. The town told us that they do not think this is an agricultural use. If local children learning about growing vegetables and picking them is not an agricultural use, then what is? 

DIANA STONE

Truly Preservation

East Hampton

June 20, 2016

To the Editor:

We welcome our children to be involved in the growing and caring for the food we eat. This simple act changes our world. The beauty of knowing where your food comes from is part of the chain reaction for creating healthy humans.

How can it be that this program is not in alignment with the Town of East Hampton’s community preservation fund’s mission? Our summer farm program nourishes young children and families by helping them become stewards of the land in our community. This is truly preservation.

In trust,

ANDI PISICANO

Kids on the Farm

Sag Harbor

June 20, 2016

To the Editor:

As a teacher who’s spent the past nine summers bringing kids to real working farms with the mission of instilling stewardship of the land for the future generation, I am very concerned with the town’s decision to deny Our Sons and Daughters School’s request to run their kids-on-the-farm program at Bhumi Farms this summer. 

We’ve been told that weeding and tending to the land, harvesting, and enjoying vegetables is an inappropriate use of the land. This is agriculture at its best. I am dismayed that the town is not supporting our work but, rather, actively working to shut it down. 

MAGGIE TOUCHETTE

An Agricultural Use?

Bridgehampton

June 20, 2016

Dear Editor, 

I was astonished to hear that the East Hampton Town Board has decided to prevent Sag Harbor’s Our Sons and Daughters School from using the former Bistrian farm, near Town Hall, for a children’s agricultural program. 

The program is basically a pick-your-own C.S.A., community-supported agriculture, for local schoolchildren. They pick vegetables and bring the fresh vegetables home. While on the farm, they also learn about food production and agriculture. 

The town board told the school that they do not think this is an agricultural use. If local children learning about growing vegetables and picking them is not an agricultural use, then what is? 

The program has operated for many years, and it was forced to change its location this year. Now, just a week before the program is scheduled to start, the town decides that it doesn’t think the program is agricultural. I was floored when I heard about this decision. If we don’t teach local children about farming, how will the next generation of farmers evolve?

JENICE DELANO