The First Rule Of Sustainability

The first rule of sustainable agriculture, the one that is never stated but is fundamentally critical to the farm, is that we have to make enough money this year to do it again next year. We have to think very carefully about what we grow, how we grow it, how much time we spend on a task, as well as how much time employees spend on their tasks. We think carefully about everything we buy (and we still don’t get it right every time.) We think REALLY carefully about the capital investments we make, because they always seem to require spending LOTS of money. We think about things like, will it save time, will it cut costs, will it make the products better, and lately, will it make it easier to deal with unusual amounts of rain. We use the most responsible methods that we can, with regards to how we treat the land, the greater environment, and the employees. We try to provide our clients with as much service and as positive an experience as we know how to do. We try to make the best product that we can. But the bottom line is still the bottom line, we have to make enough money to do it again next year or, well, we can’t do it again next year. And isn’t being able to do something year after year the basic definition of sustainability?