Fresh Connections – The Parfitt Way Blog

In an era shadowed by threats of environmental catastrophe, economic crisis, and social collapse, we are witnessing a mental shift in the next generation to whom the torch will be passed. By and large, the Millennials, born between 1980 and the new millennium, have been raised in a heavily consumer-centric society that has disassociated with the notion of living simply and sustainably off the land. As society wades deeper into these treacherous seas, communities have taken precautionary steps to keep themselves afloat.

Millennials are rising to the challenge by transitioning into a way of living that reclaims traditions long ago abandoned at the risk of being lost forever, traditions like homesteading, permaculture, fiber and textile production, natural medicine, and sustainable agriculture. As the price of produce and meat increases, so does the shift toward community gardening, urban farming, and agricultural education. Call it nostalgia for a romantically rustic way of life or call it necessity; either way, the growing trend in our generation, and in general, is growing organic food.

On this island, there is no shortage of small-scale farms with a focus on organic food that is grown in healthy rotation with the seasons. These farms, which foster deep community roots and innovative approaches to energy efficiency, such as natural irrigation and solar power, are staffed by pockets of Millennials with a passion for connecting to the earth and growing organic food that nourishes their bodies and the environment.

Nearly all farms on Bainbridge Island are supported by a crew of Millennials driven either by devotion or curiosity, and from what I’ve experienced, they’re really wonderful people—they’re my friends. With lives that can be mapped across the globe, these young farmers make up a colorful portion of this community, contributing music, art, and, well, food, that keep Bainbridge Island moving forward. With long, exhausting days in the sun and an intense summer push, they’re hard to find out on the town, but rather at intimate potlucks and picking sessions around a bonfire surrounded by fields of slow growing produce.

You’ve seen them bouncing between mud-caked work trucks and local restaurants with bins of fresh produce; you’ve smiled at them at the farmer’s market as they explain how to perfectly massage your kale for dinner tonight. They’re rugged and tan, with soil stained fingertips and disheveled hair hidden beneath a wool cap. They travel across the country with all of their belongings packed into their hatchback making stops at farms along the way. They conduct educulture programs aimed at introducing young children to the art of farming organic food and give property tours that showcase their happy plant and livestock production. They’re WWOOFers, interns, grantees, dreamers, spearheads; they are the future of a newfound relationship with food that just might save us all.