Shanti Escalante: The Presence of Non-Profit Farms

banner encouraging food stamp card use

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising how many non-profit farms are flourishing in the Hampton’s. Here we have an insane concentration of wealth, and this in turn makes the price of land high, the cost of production high (an overwhelming concern is finding a way to house the people who work the farms on a farmer’s salary), and ultimately, the cost of food high. But in this otherwise unforgiving economic landscape comes philanthropy. At least three of the non-profit farms I’ve worked with survive and flourish because of significant private donations.

Seen at a farmer’s market

The question I then began to deal with was- is this bad? is this good? I had just read Pedagogy of the Oppressed and what came to my mind was this “In order to have the continued opportunity to express their ‘generosity,’ the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well” (Feires, p. 2). True enough, but as far as the community in the Hampton’s is concerned, no body is oppressed. There are, of course, huge wealth inequalities, because people like the Koch Brothers and Beyonce have houses in town, not because there is a direct oppression which leads a failure to procure food and housing.

A friend talks to me while cleaning foraged beets, she’ll store them for the winter (as she does with as much of the summer produce as possible, to cut down on spending)

This is not to say that these inequalities don’t hurt. I’ve heard people refer to living or visiting the Hampton’s as a haunting experience, and I believe part of that is due to the exhaustion and resentment of living and working amongst the uber rich.

So what is the net-positive or negative of these concentrations of wealth? Coming from a pretty left leaning perspective on the economy, it’s difficult to admit to the ways in which serving the extremely rich makes life easier in many ways, especially when considering their seasonal quality. What would be better? Is this sustainable? 

My mother spends an exorbitant amount of money trying to procure the best food for her children, like these local cherries.