In years past, developers would build typical subdivisions around golf courses and tennis courts. But today, with the growing interest in environmental conservation and local food systems, savvy developers are building self-contained communities around organic farms. The focus is on creating a sustainable community and outreach programs geared to helping all generations embrace local, in-season food as well as the agrarian lifestyle. Buyers are lining up to stake their claim to experience a taste of life on the farm, from the comfort of their own home. In this episode, we travel to one such community that serves as a model for all the others.
This episode originally aired as Episode 509.
Read the full show notes for additional information from this episode at: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/episode509/
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I’m Joe lample when I created Growing a Greener World I had one goal to tell stories of Everyday People innovators entrepreneurs forward-thinking leaders who are all in ways both big and small dedicated to organic gardening and farming lightening our footprint conserving vital resources prot protecting natural habitats making a tangible difference for us all they’re real they’re passionate they’re all around us they’re the game changers who are literally Growing a Greener World and inspiring the rest of us to do the same Growing a Greener World it’s more than a movement it’s our [Music] mission you know we have traveled to a lot of major cities telling the stories of people connecting to their food even growing their food within big cities but one of the things we haven’t covered at least until now is all the agricultural changes taking place just outside of some of those major cities according to the American Farmland trust we’re losing one valuable acre of fertile Farmland every every minute of every day to Urban Development to put it in perspective all of this would be gone in 3 minutes this Farmland is Prime real estate to developers because it’s relatively flat and it drains well and it’s affordable but unfortunately once this open space is paved over it usually becomes crowded unsustainable cookie cutter communities that are more often than not referred to as the typical Suburban subdivision just outside of Chicago there’s one Suburban neighborhood that’s anything but typical Prairie crossing a conservation community in gry Lake illinois is a complete redesign of the American dream with 60% open space Prairie Crossing has only 359 homes within the 667 acre subdivision it’s surrounded by over 3,000 Acres of protected Prairie pasture and Wetland areas as an alternative to standard golf or tennis subdivisions this place has a 100 Acre working organic Farm as the center of the community meet George and Vicky Ranny the husband and wife team who spearheaded this development over 20 years ago both of the ranes have long histories in conservation and environmentalism and although they hadn’t seen this done before they believed that a community could coexist with both protected land and sustainable agriculture their Vision was to build that while supporting the stewardship of the land Prairie Crossing begin began as an effort to stop dense development on 675 acres of land and it was started by a group of neighbors who own Farms adjacent to it and wanted to protect the environment and their own property but they needed to do something to get uh to get it going in a way that would generate some return for them they also wanted to do something positive [Music] the difference between Prairie Crossing and a typical subdivision I think is that it is intended to be a community and it’s intended to be conservationist H that is to conserve the best there is of the land in various ways natural areas swimming areas Trails farm so forth most subdivisions aren’t set up that way they’re not set up that way by government regulation and they’re not set up that way by developers who typically want to sell houses and move on this place is different because it’s oriented towards nature most conventional developers don’t have the time or the inclination to do that because people like these kinds of features they like to live in nature they like to live in a community that has activ ities that are oriented to something like nature they love the idea of Education in line with the environment they love a healthy lifestyle and it’s turned out that this is very very different than a conventional subdivision and we’re just delighted to see other developers pick up on these ideas which is now happening the 10 guiding principles that we came up with at the very beginning have been very important because we go back to them as touchstones as different opportuni ities arise they are things like lifelong learning and education and an example of how that worked was that shortly after we started construction the state legislature passed a law allowing people to start charter schools so we thought aha uh we will see let’s see if we can do it and we started a charter school oriented around the environment with kids using the farm and growing things themselves and being outdoors a whole lot we’ve tried to plan for the future here by creating a foundation that would carry on activities including farming here on the property and we’ve paying for that in part by charging a fee for each house that’s sold and that has been very successful that little Foundation has grown so it generates a million dollars a year that we put into farming for places other than Prairie Crossing as well as protecting it and expanding it here in terms of the future what I hope is that this remains a thriving wonderful Community as as it is today in terms of what other people copy I hope that different developers consider this model for the places where they are developing and it should be different in different places all this is looking towards the future trying to take what we’ve done at Prairie Crossing and extend it so that it’s influential upon other people nestled inside the Prairie Crossing community for the past 10 years is San Hill Family Farms an organic independently owned business setup is a partnership between two farming families half of that team is comprised of Jeff and Jen Miller now they’re the resident Farmers responsible for overseeing the 45 Acres on the farm as well as running the community supported agricultural Co-op they’re also in the unique position of being both neighbors and one of the major Food suppliers to the community as well as the greater Chicago area you guys able to get all so Jeff explain to me the Dynamics of the farm to community relationship I mean here you are a pretty good siiz farm right here in the community that you happen to also live in so how’s that working for you oh know it works really well it’s great to have a much closer relationship with our customers and be on a first name basis a lot of our kids go to school together and so we get to see them at all sorts of outside of the farm events [Music] so what’s the best part would you say of having the farm right there in your community is it is it the interaction that you get with your customers or or what would it be um I think the interaction and the relationships we have is probably the the number one opportunity or the best piece of it um there’s a lot of sort of less tangible things I think that we have just with our our proximity to people and um how we can work closely with them and the the activities that they can partake in the farm that if we were that much more removed yes we might not be able to yeah and For You especially when you see the people that you are actually feeding I mean that’s got to be kind of a cool feeling mhm it’s really great and then when we go to a party with them or see them at you know the school play and then on off comment they’ll make about how great they’ve been how much they’ve been enjoying everything and the pressure’s the pressure’s on though cuz you got to you got to perform all the time in those cases what’s the downside maybe that’s it too talk to me about some of those things um being so close I’m on occasion it’s a little awkward I suppose but I think that I don’t know that we hold ourselves to much of a a higher standard because we’re part I think we would have the same standard whether we part of the community or not it’s just we get that added benefit of being able to see them and talk to them um and in occasion we get a lot better feedback because of that because we’re also sort of friends and we live in the same community so sometimes I think we get better feedback from them because we’re friends that we might not otherwise if it was just strictly a you know farm and consumer kind of relationship I think one of the drawbacks might be you could consider it a positive we feel really responsible to the people that are members we feel responsible to show them what we’re doing to be completely honest with them about what we’re doing to show them um what we’re working on and the things that aren’t going well for us we want to tell them and show them those things so they really are um more in the loop and um and really you know they know the honest truth I think what makes our farm unique is that we have two Farm locations we have one Farm location in Broadhead Wisconsin where Matt and Peg Schaefer and their family uh run the the Wisconsin farm and we have a Graz Lake Illinois location where Jeff and myself run the farm and the two Farms work together to um produce our CSA shares and it’s really quite unique because in most situations it’s just one Farm family but our farm is sustaining to farm [Music] families tell me about your CSA we started out originally as just vegetables and pretty quickly added uh fruit into the mix so we work with a one Farm exclusively in Michigan that grows the fruit and then over the past couple years we’ve added in meat and dairy and egg shares as well so people have the option to choose allak cart and they can get some or all as they like yeah so doing what you do best and letting others do what they do best and yet combining all your forces gives everybody the best of all worlds right yep we have a much better better quality of life you know we’re not constantly on the go trying to keep track of a bazillion things right we can focus on vegetables and somebody else can focus on making really wonderful cheese and then we can get that to our customers who wouldn’t otherwise have access sure sounds good when it comes to having a true understanding of all the environmental benefits of prairie Crossing Mike Sans knows them best he started 19 years ago as the founding executive director of the Liberty Prairie Foundation he was also the environmental team leader responsible for all of the design and installation of the natural areas including the lake Prairie and wetlands beyond the agricultural component to this which is fascinating in and of itself in this community you’ve done so much more as it relates to conservation and Environmental Protection talk to me about some of those other elements from the very beginning we considered this a conservation Community we were committed to working with the landscape to build the best possible community in terms of its environmental impact we focused really on three major elements first storm water management second biodiversity and third Community involvement and advocacy when you look around you you’ll see that the prair It All Slopes towards Lake it’s raining out here today we’ve got the water running off the trails running off the roofs running off the streets and what happens is that water then runs sequentially through the Prairie through the Wetland and into the lake that both improves the quality of the water and reduces the amount of flow of storm water so that lake is our storm water detention Basin but it’s also because of the high water quality and amenity we actually swim in our detention base wow we’ve been able to decrease the water leaving the site by 60% compared to uh prior to development we use the same landscape to en enhance the biodiversity so these prairies probably and wetlands probably have over 100 plants in them now that supports a wide variety of birds insects reptiles amphibians if you use for instance birds as a as a marker okay there were probably 10 to 15 bird species here prior to development regularly we now have over 130 that we’ve measured uh over the past couple of years that are using this site finally we’ve focused on through the site design engaging people in that open space so everyone fronts onto the natural areas that gives them the opportunity both out of their backyard but also using the trails that they really start to understand that these natural areas and that then leads to their becoming Advocates not only here in the community not only here in the state of Illinois but nationally and globally and we think that’s an important piece of what we need to do in the larger picture so true they although they may not have come on board with appreciation by living in it and experiencing what they have here surely they they get the point and that’s contagious that is contagious we’ve worked hard at it and I think we’ve done a pretty good job it’s been an interesting Journey since the beginning another important role for Mike was to generate a lot more attention and focus on the agricultural areas ESP especially the farm Business Development Center today in fact most of Mike’s time is now spent on the beginning farmer programs the farm Business Development Center and access to additional [Music] Farmland I didn’t realize how much 100 acres really was until you get out in the middle of it well when you get out it’s like you know it’s not terribly um tight but it’s serving multiple functions yeah so tell me more about the farm Business Development opportunity we established a farm Business Development Center um for young Farmers or aspiring Farmers often the way they get into farming is they’ve been working on farms for a number of years either as an apprentice or a labor they’ve worked their way up they’ve developed experience they’ve probably taken a farm a uh business development course or a business management course at the local community college but then they have this huge jump of how do I actually test myself on land without making a land purchase that is frankly going to break the the bank at the beginning right but they’re looking then to prove themselves they need to have a place where they they need land and we can provide that land uh we provide it fairly small um piece up to 5 acres for up to five years at market rate they rent that they rent irrigation water they rent um Greenhouse transplant space they wash pack cooler space all of the components equipment everything they need to start forming they can do it on a lease basis as opposed to having to purchase it to start with yeah we have um four incubator Farms on this side we have midnight sunfarm which is in their fifth year they’re a CSA Market Garden they also have um some laying hands and they do turkeys for Thanksgiving on this side we have uh maragold Hill Farm which is in their second year they’re doing 5 Acres they have um markets uh farmers markets and some short chain wholesale relationships they don’t do a CSA okay behind us we have radical root form which is in the process of graduating over to Casey farm for long term yeah uh and Matt vey’s pigs U the CSA kind of pork production tell me more about the mentoring program and the value that that has really for everyone involved I think it’s actually actually critical to the success of this the um a beginning farmer has a sense of what they want and where they’re going but to be able to see it on a daily basis for the farmers here to walk drive back and forth along these Lanes look at on the left and see sand Hill’s operations realize that that’s supporting two Farm families that keeps setting up a goal for them a bar for them to aim at at the same time it’s people who can answer questions both more spiritual questions what am I doing forming but also the more technical questions of uh my broccoli isn’t doing very well why what can you come look at it so it’s a combination of technical question and answer but also some um help with the bigger picture and and keeping the spirits up and helping them look to the Future so when times are good it’s an opportunity to celebrate with your co-workers and when times are tough to commiserate R and then when you need some help you’ve got that too and and the reality is we talk about sandill Family Farms being the primary Mentor but it’s actually a larger Community because it is the other beginning Farmers they share information they share experiences um as you say they commiserate when the market is lousy on a given day they know they can speak to someone who knows what they’re going through um and they can celebrate when things are good when you come back from a great Market day and it’s hot and you’re unloading um at the cooler and you walk into the cooler and you sit in the cooler with a cold beer just think there are these great pictures I’ve had of you know opening a cooler late on a Saturday afternoon and finding two farmers in there sharing a beer celebrating over something I don’t think it gets any [Laughter] better the people in this Community are in a unique position to pay it forward with what they’ve learned at Prairie Crossing and they do under the guidance of the Liberty Prairie Foundation this environmentally focused Foundation was established 20 years ago as the planning for Prairie Crossing was underway and they’re now a national leader in local and Regional Food Systems and in incorporating land Health within working Landscapes they not only own the 100 Acre Farm at Prairie Crossing but they also pilot several programs here these programs not only educate and prepare local emerging Farmers but also teach young people about sustainable agriculture and the importance of healthy resilient Landscapes Brad Lee Bob is the president and CEO of the Liberty Prairie Foundation the Liberty Prairie Foundation was established 20 years ago as an environmental organization we’re the owners of the Prairie Crossing farm and we use the farm to advance our mission around food system change we’re also an environmental organization and support programs in the region to advance land health and land protection we established a prairie farm Corp program to provide an opportunity for youth to learn more about sustainable agriculture we felt that having a 100 Acre Farm that is primarily used by Farm businesses we needed to have opportunities for young adults to learn about sustainable agriculture explore some of the challenges and opportunities that come with food production and to create opportunities for youth to develop skills necessary to be successful in this [Music] economy the Prairie farmcore kids program is pretty incredible several hundred people apply for only 14 positions and they work long hours all summer long but they love it some of them have been out here more than one year and they’re all learning for what whatever special reasons they have some of them want to do it just to learn how to grow their own food others want to do it to take it to a new level with possibly a business in the future and others are doing it for somebody special in their lives just to help make that connection between what happens from the garden and the connection with the gardener it’s pretty incredible stories uh just it’s like this is helping me for my future my future goals my future dream per se which is what what’s your future dream I want to open up an educational farm for special needs students W yes so you sounds like you really want to do something big time with this training yeah so like farm for a living maybe more like uh a business farm so the science behind the yeah how to make it grow better mhm that’s a good thing sounds good Beyond everything that you’re learning what’s the most important thing do you think uh to be out here and learning all of this well the things that I’ll learn I’ll use them for my community and maybe start a a community garden or help others to build their own organic things that’s good for you I guess that’s one of the reasons you got selected and why are you out here I mean you could have been doing a lot of different things why this job this directly relates to what I want to do in the future and what I’m studying right now which is uh sustainable agriculture and Local Food Systems yeah and as I’m in school um there’s no better way to spend my summer than actually practicing what I’m learning and gaining real life experience on a Learning Farm where it is meant to teach you you know what this is for how to do it and why it’s important and you’re doing it organically organically yep how important is all that uh Beyond important people need to really realize how good this food case when it’s grown with Care on a small farm organically not using any any chemicals nothing funky um and the results are there I mean you can taste them [Music] yeah the partnership between the community of prairie crossing the Liberty Prairie foundation and even the farmers of San Hill Family Farms has blossomed into a great example that others can emulate and by thinking outside the norm finding great ways for Modern urban living especially in the future if you’d like to learn more about conservation subdivisions we have a lot of great information on our website under the show notes for this episode and you’ll find it on our website the same as our show name growingagreenerworld.com I’m Joe lample thanks for joining us and we’ll see you next time for more Growing a Greener [Music] World [Music] [Music] heard [Music]