Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm

Forrest Pritchard

may 2013 · Rowman & Littlefield

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With humor and pathos, Forrest Pritchard recounts his ambitious and often hilarious endeavors to save his family’s seventh-generation farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Through many a trial and error, he not only saves Smith Meadows from insolvency but turns it into a leading light in the sustainable, grass-fed, organic farm-to-market community.  There is nothing young Farmer Pritchard won’t try. Whether he’s selling firewood and straw, raising free-range chickens and hogs, or acquiring a flock of Barbados Blackbelly sheep, his learning curve is steep and always entertaining. Pritchard’s world crackles with colorful local characters—farm hands, butchers, market managers, customers, fellow vendors, pet goats, policemen—bringing the story to warm, communal life. His most important ally, however, is his renegade father, who initially questions his son's career choice and eschews organic foods for the generic kinds that wreak havoc on his health. Soon after his father’s death, the farm becomes a recognized success and Pritchard must make a vital decision: to continue serving the local community or answer the exploding demand for his wares with lucrative Internet sales and shipping deals.  More than a charming story of honest food cultivation and farmers’ markets, Gaining Ground tugs on the heartstrings, reconnecting us to the land and the many lives that feed us.

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Forrest Pritchard is a professional farmer with degrees in English and Geology from William & Mary. His poems have been published in national literary magazines, and Smith Meadows has been featured on NPR and in the Washington Post. Pritchard is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities. He lives on Smith Meadows in Berryville, VA, with his family, and each weekend his farm serves dedicated customers at local farmers' markets.