Growing season: summer camp on an organic farm - snapshots - Hawthorne Valley, New York - Brief Article

Better Nutrition, June, 2002 by Jerry Shaver

Located in the rolling hills of upstate New York, Hawthorne Valley is a 400-acre biodynamic farm that houses 60 head of dairy cattle and an organic market garden, as well as a dairy processing plant, farm store and commercial bakery. Hawthorne Valley Farm also plays host to a variety of educational programs, including an annual summer camp for kids. Nick Franceschelli, director of the camp program, has been involved with Hawthorne Valley, off and on, for almost 30 years.

"I came here on a field trip as a high school junior in 1974 and returned as an apprentice in `78," he says. "I worked full-time on the farm for a year in 1980. Fifteen years later, they offered me a job with the children's camp program, and I've been here ever since."

Hawthorne Valley's camp program, Franceschelli says, stresses community and respect for all living things. "We try to take care of the animals well, and we try to take care of the earth well and make plants as healthy as possible without using herbicides, synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. The camp for kids, age 9 to 11, isn't taught in an abstract way. It's a hands-on, living education."

camp basics. We want childhood to be honored, which isn't always the case in our hurried world. The idea is to let younger children develop the inner forces of imagination and creativity without constant outer stimulation--other than what Mother Nature provides.

food philosophy. Eating is a sacrament. We eat together as a community. It's a consciousness of the sacredness of food.

natural nutrition. Our meals are as close to organic as possible. We try to avoid refined products, preferring fresh food so the vital properties of the food are right there.

meatless menu. We serve primarily vegetarian meals. We only serve meat once, maybe twice, in an entire four-week camp.

food for thought. Children naturally gravitate toward refined foods. But many of them discover a taste for organics while they're here. At the end of camp, a lot of children say, "I really didn't think I would like the food, but I did."

favorite campfire song. "There Was a Great Big Moose," which is a goofy song that campers drive me nuts with. And "Simple Gifts"--an old Shaker hymn--is our camp song. It's maybe not the favorite, but if you want our philosophy in a nutshell, that's it.

favorite campfire story. The "Fourth of July" chapter from Farmer Boy, the Laura Ingalls Wilder book about life on a 19th-century farm. We read it around the campfire. When the cannons fire in the story--during the Independence Day celebration--we set off firecrackers. That goes over great.

best day at camp. The last day is usually very wonderful. The children are ready to go home, but they still feel this tremendous sort of euphoric, sentimental attachment to the summer, which they know is coming to an end. There's a very special halo over that time--a lot of joy and a sense of accomplishment.