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Be Well Farming Winter Retreat (VIRTUAL)
December 1, 2021 - December 3, 2021
$50The Be Well Farming Retreat Experience for Farmers will be held both virtually and in person in December 2021. Click here for information about the in-person event.
Overview
How do we feed and care for ourselves while we feed others? What types of practices and connections support us to be our best selves in the challenging work of managing a farm business? The Be Well Farming Project invites you to join us this December for a farmer-centered retreat experience where we’ll consider how we cultivate wellbeing for ourselves and for those we work alongside on the farm.
Our goal is to create a welcoming space for participants to explore new ways to improve personal and farm health and overall wellbeing. Being in community with other producers can foster deeper social connections among farmer participants and invite our collective wisdom in the room to offer practical strategies to advance wellbeing. Participants will use the space together to enliven their personal and professional commitment to wellbeing, equity, and social connection.
Programming
Retreat Programming will consist of a series of full-group and small-group conversations, space for personal reflection, communal meals, and physical activities like nature walks, yoga and meditation. The retreat will be facilitated by the Be Well Farming team and is intended for commercial farmers and farm employees who have at least three years of experience managing or working on a crew on all types of operations in the Northeast. A limited number of spaces for agricultural service providers are available.
Our online session will invite you into a warm and welcoming virtual retreat home. We will connect meaningfully through a mix of modalities: individual reflection, small and large group sharing, dialogue walks, arts and yoga. Participants will receive a mailing with all handouts and materials needed. Plenty of opportunities to rest your eyes and body from the screen will be offered both in session and between.
Logistics
Please reserve Dec 1 and Dec 2 from 9 am – 4 pm and Dec 3 from 9am – Noon (final schedule still in development). Participants will be asked to commit to being fully present throughout the online experience preferably on a tablet or desktop/laptop computer with a camera and reliable internet connection. Online Sessions will not be recorded. Scholarships will be available to support full participation, based upon request by the applicant.
A participation fee of $50 is requested for both the online and in-person retreats. The remainder of registration (a value of $500/person for in-person) is supported by a grant from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Need-based scholarships (as funding allows) will be available to participants of both retreats to support full participation. Possible expenses for scholarship applications could include child care, work release, or supplementary staffing. Indicate this need on the application form.
Who is the retreat for?
We encourage applications from:
- Commercial producers and farm employees who have at least three years of management experience on all types of operations in the Northeast.
- Producers representing diverse backgrounds, identities, and farm enterprises.
- Producers who identify as community leaders and are committed to continuous learning, change-making, and self-reflection in order to improve health and well-being for themselves and their broader farm team.
- Those who want to learn more about specific strategies to improve health, well-being, and fairness and equity on the farm.
- Those who are committed to carrying the work forward and applying what they have learned to take future action (either personally, within the farm business, and/or in the broader agricultural community).
How to apply
Please complete the application form. It may take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Deadline to apply is October 25, 2021. Applications will be reviewed and decisions on acceptance to the retreat series will be communicated by November 1, 2021 at which time we will provide a payment link to reserve and confirm your space.
Questions?
If you have further questions about the retreat or the Be Well Farming Project, please send them to daniel.macphee@tufts.edu.