Community Forum Recap
On March 31st, we once again asked the Saratoga community to gather “around the silo” to discuss and reflect on our plans for the future of the Farm. Over 120 participants joined us to share their experiences on the Farm, their thoughtful input, and the challenges they see for our Board to consider moving forward.
What We Heard
· Support for our active efforts to create miles of trails and fishing access on the farm.
· A desire for more opportunities for ‘articulture’ on the Farm.
· An interest in reaching more community members facing food insecurity through collaborations with other local and regional non-profits, government, and healthcare institutions.
· A desire for more educational and school curriculum development as a core feature of our offerings.
· Appreciation for the thoughtful and careful process behind the development of our Strategic Plan.
· Excitement about the increasing opportunities for farm to table experiences on the Farm and in the community facilitated by Pitney Meadows.
What We Plan to Do
· Stay true to our goal of being responsive to community needs by continuing to provide opportunities for input and feedback.
· Seek out a way to engage local artists, musicians, and art organizations to participate and help guide our articulture efforts.
· Continue to seek out and form strategic partnerships in and around our community.
· Create a culture of philanthropy around our Farm and every partnership we create; not just asking for investment in our piece of the pie, but making the pie bigger for all.
· Iterate our Strategic Plan according to this feedback and the realities on the ground.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our forum! We are appreciative of these special moments when we can lift our heads from the grindstone and refocus on the horizon, hand in hand with all of you.