Grace Oedel
IMAGES COURTESY NOFA-VT
“Whether we’re farmers or allies, or people who care about the ecosystem, we all eat, and feed our children. We’re all involved in this food system so we all have a role to play.” –Grace Oedel
Grace Oedel leads a multifaceted life as agricultural advocate, rabbinical student, homesteader, and mom. We talked about how she balances her myriad responsibilities yet still manages to find deep joy in the simple pleasures of life that flow from the earth. From compost to chocolate to creemees!
How, when, and why did farming come to play a pivotal role in your life?
Grace Oedel: I grew up in Atlanta. I didn’t have an agricultural background, but I was always interested in the idea of food as this place where we all connect. I went to Yale on a scholarship, and part of my requirement was getting a workstudy job. They had a working farm, and my job was making pizzas in the oven at the Yale Student Farm.
Then I became the farm manager for a couple of years and really loved it. I knew I wanted to do something in farming to dive in more deeply. I met Jacob, now my husband, there. He was a forestry student, and he would flip the compost pile for me and take the tires to the dump, the same stuff he still does for me.
At the same time, I was studying religion and focused on how spiritual communities come together and mobilize to care for the environment. I realized my intellectual and spiritual values and my physical body could meet in farming and food.
And after college?
GO: Jacob and I went to northern California and worked at a Quaker center called the Woolman School. The program focused on peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability. There were 15 kids each semester and 3 teachers. I ran the farm and taught the peace studies class. Jacob was the environmental science teacher and managed the forests.
Jacob and I stayed at Woolman for three years. We even got married in the cow field. But we wanted to come back east. I worked at Maine Organic Farm and Garden Association (MOFGA) for a year or two, then we wanted our own project so we started Dig In Farm, in western Massachusetts. We primarily taught young women and non-binary people, awesome teens who wanted to spend the summer, learn small-scale farming, study social justice movements, and get a permaculture design certificate.
Mentors along the way?
GO: I enjoy soaking in the good company of so many people who aren’t known in the farming community; they aren’t published authors, most aren’t that public. They’re just quiet, humble folks who are willing to share and give you whatever. That spirit of generosity and sharing has been a really profound thread in the farming and food community. People who just want us to get back into a better relationship with our planet, want us to keep each other fed and safe and share everything they know so open-heartedly.
“If we can get food and farming right, we get so many other things right: community, social needs, resilience, and biodiversity.” –Grace Oedel
NOFA-VT honors and supports the many hands who tend the crops that feed Vermonters.
I know you’re an avid reader, so what books are on your bedside table?
GO: Saving Time and How to do Nothing by Jenny O’Dell. Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. Active Hope by Joanna Macy. Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Sabbath and Tyson Yunkaporta’s Sand Talk. Wendell Berry poems and “The Unsettling of America,” and all Robin Wall Kimmerer’s books. A little handbook by Yigal Deutscher called Shmita: A Permanent Agriculture. And a lot of theologians who remind me of our sacred duty of tending the earth, as parts of this living system.
Let’s talk about what drew you to NOFA in 2019.
GO: The radiant life force of that organization was so clear. What drew me was the culture of joy and care that Enid Wonnacott and the longtime leaders around her had built together. Enid shepherded NOFA for 32 years, from 1987 until she passed in 2019. It’s a relational organization that’s about supporting each other and trusting that within community, we already have the answers that we need. I didn’t really think I’d get the job, but I threw my hat in the ring and I got really, really lucky.
I think NOFA got pretty lucky.
GO: Well, thanks, Maria, but I mean–
So NOFA’s mission is to nourish people, land, and justice through organic agriculture. How does that happen?
GO: One of the things I love about NOFA is that the organization was founded by a group of farmers and we’re still led by a group of farmers, farm workers, and food producers. I think that’s important to name because when you’re led by and started for the people you’re supposed to serve, you’re inherently aware that people and land, social and environmental justice are mutually intertwined. There isn’t land justice without people justice, and there isn’t people justice without land justice.
Getting right with the land means getting right with each other. We believe that organic agriculture is this key lever on agriculture in general, and food is the nexus where these issues meet. If we can get food and farming right, we get so many other things right: community, social needs, resilience, and biodiversity. It’s a really good place to focus if you want to make transformative change for people and for the planet.
Can you explain the value of organic certification?
GO: Organic production enhances soil, plant, animal, and human health to protect the environment for current and future generations. Organic certification verifies these practices, ensuring that organic products are produced with integrity and transparency, and the Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF) label is a symbol of trust for consumers.
How has the pandemic impacted any of NOFA’s outreach?
GO: There’s been a massive increase in demand for our work, two programs in particular. The Farm Share program provides fresh, local food to Vermonters in need of financial assistance via half-priced CSA [Community-Supported Agriculture] shares. Crop Cash allows people who receive SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits to spend a matched dollar amount on fruits, vegetables, herbs, culinary seeds, and plant starts. There’s so much need for food access, and these programs support farmers in producing food while also ensuring that people with limited income have access to this food at a subsidized rate. It’s meeting these social justice goals. They’re such good and elegant programs, bridging from the food system we have to the one we need.
One of the many beautiful farms that keep Vermont's agricultural heritage strong
How have you seen the ag scene evolve in the last 5 or 10 years?
GO: I’ve seen people begin to understand farmers as ecosystem caretakers in a new way and seen farmers holding this dual role of both being people who keep our communities fed, but also people who protect biodiversity, people who clean the water, and people who understand how to mitigate climate change and help us remain safe, resilient, and thriving. Public awareness is shifting around who farmers are and what roles they provide, and I think that’s really positive.
Perfect segue. How can folks get involved with NOFA and support its efforts?
GO: Well, you can come to a summer social and enjoy the wood-fired pizza. Or attend an on-farm workshop, whether you’re a farmer or a home gardener. All our events are listed on our website. You can become a member if you want to help build power. We want you to help organize your community because all of us are involved. Whether we’re farmers or allies, or people who care about the ecosystem, we all eat and feed our children. We’re all involved in this food system so we all have a role to play.
What keeps you inspired as you look to the next few years?
GO: The Earth. The Earth endlessly extends generosity and gratitude to us and endlessly offers renewal. Think about the compost pile. Whatever needs to go can be composted and turned into something new and nourishing that will feed us and feed the soil. Soil is the skin of the earth; soil is what keeps us alive and healthy. So many people want to do right by their soil, and that’s incredibly hopeful.
Let’s dial it back a bit. Tell me about life with Jacob and your three beautiful children.
GO: Wonderful chaos. We have a 1-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 7-year-old. They’re great. They are chaotic. We’re trying to get our neighbors to all take down their fences so we can have one big giant farm, and it’s slowly working. What we’re moving toward are more collaborative opportunities for food production in community with our neighbors.
Do you guys both cook?
GO: We both cook, and we both work full time. My husband currently runs an outdoor leadership program at a vocational technical high school in St. Albans. So there’s a lot of nights where it’s Vermont Bean Crafter burgers, Intervale Community Farm salad, our scrambled eggs, and our frozen berries from last year, but I feel like if that’s what my kids are eating, they're pretty darn lucky. Plus whatever candy their grandmother sent them in a care package. It’s about balance, right?
Ideal summer weekend?
GO: We’re doing some pick-your-own; we’re going to eat multiple creemees in one day; we’re getting in the river. We’re going to do these simple, joyful things, and our faith in the world is going to be restored.
“Soil is the skin of the earth; soil is what keeps us alive and healthy. So many people want to do right by their soil, and that’s incredibly hopeful.” –Grace Oedel
5 RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS FOR GRACE OEDEL
Breakfast today?
My kids and I eat waffles every morning. It’s probably the only time of day they’re actually eating anything protein-rich. The waffles have eggs from our home chickens, Butterworks Farm yogurt, Nitty Gritty Grain Co. flour, local butter, and maple syrup from Erin Buckwalter who works with me at NOFA. We top them with berries from our freezer. My kids’ bodies are literally of Vermont in this truly profound way.
Favorite childhood meal?
My mom made these schaum tortes, which are meringues and a center filled with whipped cream and berries. There’s really nothing more delicious than that. I still make that all the time.
Cake, pie, or cookies?
I’ve always loved cake. When we got married, we invited our friends to come and help us. We spent our entire wedding budget, $1,000 from my beloved late grandpa, on the food. We had 150 people come, and we fed them for three days. We had this entire banquet table with 35 amazing cakes of every flavor, made by our friends. I’m all about the frosting, especially cream cheese frosting. I probably make two cakes a week.
Guilty pleasure in food or drink?
I’m a girl from Atlanta, so Diet Coke. I can’t imagine giving my kids a soda, but nothing tastes like home to me quite like Diet Coke. Forgive me.
Late night or pre-bed snack?
A bag of chocolate chips. Yeah, there’s a lot of chocolate in my life.
