We practice relational farming, inviting members and visitors to share and enjoy our farm and its products—connecting people to farms so they can both source high quality, healthy, well-raised food, and so they can learn how their food can be produced sustainably.

Many who raise livestock on pasture call themselves “grassfarmers” and we hold that as a proud and accurate label for our work. But our more primary identity is as “relationship farmers,” keenly attending to interrelationships and thinking in terms of systems. For example, we nurture connections between invisible fungal structures in our soils and produce that is both more nutrient dense and less labor intensive to produce than conventional organic agriculture.

Some folks say you shouldn’t name animals you are going to eat. We believe both farmers and customers can know animals by name, appreciate their essence and the fact that they live well, and still ultimately appreciate the taste and health qualities of grass-fed meat. We are enamored with our animals when they are alive. We prefer confronting the meaning of being an omnivore directly rather than outsourcing food production and processing to distant entities.

Our complex bottom line results from our respect for systems and interrelationships. Our farm’s success relates directly to the health of the natural systems and community within which it dwells. The micro-enterprises of the Green Mountain Girls Farm and the farm’s whole identity attempt to celebrate and, where necessary, restore or create connections. This awareness influences our practices across all domains of our business, from the complex bottom line to our Free Choice Farm Share.