By Rose Hardesty

When we acquired the Agraria farm in 2017, we sometimes referred to ourselves as a “77-year-old start up.” It was a radical new chapter in our organization’s long history, and it felt monumentous. As someone who had been with the organization for three years at that point, I had felt that way every year so far. 

I started at Agraria as an Antioch College Miller Fellow in fall of 2014. What drew me to the position was the simple and revolutionary notion encapsulated in our name at the time: Community Solutions. The environmental messaging I had received growing up often focused on either individualistic solutions, or on national/global actors. By the time I reached adulthood, conversations about relocalization and “Think Global, Act Local” bumper stickers had become more popular, but to create a community-level response to climate change and environmental injustice, you first need to know how to build community. From my experience in non-profit and activist spaces in the past, I knew this was easier said than done. I was hopeful that Community Solutions’ long history with this work meant it would be up to the challenge. 

A few months before my arrival, Community Solutions had welcomed a new Executive Director, Susan Jennings. It felt like an organization that was ready for new energy and new ideas, while continuing to honor its legacy and core values. Under Susan’s leadership and in collaboration with the Board, partners, and community members, we experimented with a number of new projects — some with more success than others — and expanded our mission.

Regenerative agriculture became an explicit area of focus for the first time, though the roots of this interest can be traced as far back as our first newsletter from 1944, which contains a section on biodynamic farming, among other articles on agriculture. In 2015, thanks in large part to the tireless outreach efforts of our first AmeriCorps VISTA, Jonna Johnson, we began our partnerships with HBCU and land grant institution, Central State University; Springfield Ohio Urban Plantfolk; and Springfield Public Schools. 

By 2016 our staff had grown, and we moved out of our historic offices in the Morgan home on Whiteman Street and onto Antioch’s campus for the first time. This was an extension of our growing partnership with the college, exemplified by an event we hosted with them a few months later: a Refugee Conference examining the shifting geopolitical and environmental causes of displacement, Antioch and the Yellow Springs community’s history of serving displaced people, and current regional gaps in refugee resources. 

In early 2017, we partnered with Antioch, Central State University, the Soil Carbon Coalition, and OEFFA to host the Healthy Soils Symposium. During the symposium we were approached about the property that would become Agraria, and many of the pieces we had been building in the previous three years fell into place. The farm was of particular interest to villagers, and the Tecumseh Land Trust, due to the ecologically sensitive parcel containing Jacoby Creek. 

The next couple of months were a whirlwind of excited conversations, a bold auction bid, and a heroic swelling of local support to provide the financial backing. After purchasing the property, we held visioning sessions with farmers, ranchers, gardeners, researchers, educators, students, conservationists, non-profit leaders, activists, neighbors, and friends. These community conversations explored inspiring possibilities for the shared future of this land and its potential as a center for regenerative social, economic, and environmental practice. 

And then we got to work building it.

*Hardesty works in development as Agraria’s Grants Manager.