After moving to Bend in 2020, Jennifer Grayson stumbled upon Sisters’ Mahonia Gardens via a farming internship. Her experience on the 1-acre vegetable farm spawned an investigative journey of a new generation of farmers focusing on sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

Her findings are chronicled in “A Call to Farms,” published last month by Countryman Press. The book sounds the alarm of an approaching tipping point in American agriculture.

“We have this industrial agricultural system where there’s not a lot of support for small farmers or the food that they are growing,” Grayson said.

The story begins at Mahonia Gardens, a farm established by Carys Wilkins and Benji Nagel in 2013. The farm, now in its 12th market season, grows around 40 vegetable crops using organic, sustainable practices focusing on soil health, biodiversity and sustainability.

Grayson interned at the small-scale farm in 2021 through the Rogue Farm Corps, an organization training the next generation of farmers and ranchers in Oregon.

“It was really both a glimpse into how remarkable a small farmer’s life could be in this new generation of farmers,” Grayson said. “But it also was a real wake-up call to what small farmers face.”

Digging into agricultural challenges

Grayson, an author and journalist, said she came to the internship steeped in romanticism. When she arrived at Mahonia Gardens, she was incredulous at the variety and breadth of produce grown on the small tract of land.

“Then I realized, well, (Wilkins and Nagel) only grow on one acre because the issue of land access for new, young farmers is probably the biggest issue that most small farmers in this country face. Land is now unaffordable,” Grayson said.

Wilkins and Nagel said Grayson captured the essence of working on the farm, while connecting it to large-scale issues.

Nagel said, “It feels nearly impossible to buy farmland locally and pay for it with revenue from the farm.”

A movement toward more smaller farms is likely the most sustainable method for growing food, in addition to sourcing food that is grown locally, on American soil, Wilkins said.

Regenerative farming practices are restoring topsoil and restoring biodiversity. However, as Grayson dug into her research, she discovered farmers were hesitant to use the term because it has since become a buzzword co-opted by corporations.

The most important issue at hand is regenerating our food systems so that we’re actually growing real food, Grayson said.

“The real impetus for the book was the fact that we’re at this turning point in the next decade where nearly half of all American farmland is up for grabs. The older generation of farmers is retiring or dying out and we have this window of opportunity,” she said.

The stand

Grayson worked at Mahonia Gardens when it was launching its farm stand, an effort that has since become the farm’s main outlet for its produce, according to Nagel.

The stand offers pasture-raised eggs, seasonal organic berries, flour, honey and flowers from the farm and other growers using organic, sustainable practices. It’s open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily at Wilkins and Nagel’s house in Sisters (254 E. Adams Ave.).

“They make it so easy for local folks to support their farmers and make it part of their daily life,” Grayson said.

Community-supported agriculture (CSA), with which consumers pay an upfront membership fee in the spring also is an important avenue for supporting farmers.

Sign-ups for the CSA program are closed for 2024, so for Bend residents, Nagel recommends sourcing food from Central Oregon Locavore, the Bend Farmers Market or Northwest Crossing Farmers Market.

The best way to support sustainable agriculture is for consumers to be mindful of where their food comes from, Nagel said.

“A Call to Farms” is available for purchase online through a variety of booksellers listed at jennifergrayson.com. The book’s cover photo, shot by Tai Power Seeff, features Nagel at Mahonia Gardens.