Anna and the Sense of Sustainability

In last week's post, I wrote about my family's weekend escape from New York City to our woodland home in Sandisfield. This family trait seems to be inherited since I have found my own escape from Smith. My friends, Anna Hanchett and Michael Kalagher, own a small organic farm, Manda Farm, nestled in Plainfield, Massachusetts. Manda Farm has the stereotypical image of a farm. There are hills and forests to explore, vegetables growing in the fields, cows grazing on grass, and chickens, turkeys, and guineas running across the quiet, country road.

Since I grew up in an urban area, I have limited knowledge about farming, but my occasional visits to Manda Farm have sparked an interest in me that I would have never known about. Anna has fostered my interest to learn more about organic farming, the natural world, and sustainability. Anna is the most environmentally conscious and dedicated person to create a sustainable world that I have ever met. Her life is difficult because she wakes up at 6AM to complete monotonous farm chores. She goes to bed at around 11PM after working a whole day in the fields and cooking in the kitchen.

Anna has taught me that farming is not easy and demands a lot of physical and mental strength. Even though, there is a lot of hard work and barriers to combat, she still regards farming as rewarding. Her main goal is to teach others about how to live a sustainable lifestyle. She has influenced many people to become environmentally conscious including interns who come to help with farm chores, her customers who buy her wonderful produce and delicious meat, and the students that visit to learn about organic farming.

Anna has told me that she has not done much throughout her life and has not influenced many people, but of course I do not believe her at all. I look up to Anna because she works hard to always do the right thing and is respectable of others and the environment. She inspires me to go after what I want to do. She has influenced me to think about how my everyday actions affect everyone in the world and the environment. We need more people like Anna who think consciously about how their actions affect everyone and everything.

Anna Feeding Gloucester Old Spot Pigs

Picture From: http://www.gazettenet.com/files/images/20110127-222315-pic-103647461.display.jpg