REAL FARMER CARE - Care is love in action. Support self-care for farmers.
ARC FARM
GROWING TOGETHER
ARC Farm Initiative – ARC Farm (Agrarian Resource Collaboration) is an untested farm model for a collaborative mid-sized four season farm with shared land and resources. Conceptualized by farmer Clara Coleman, it is an innovative solution for scaling up year-round local sustainable agriculture to access larger markets and underserved communities, while still preserving the integrity of the small-scale four season farm model pioneered by Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm.
ARC aims to offer a new and replicable for-profit farm model for the next generation of farmers who typically struggle to access land and capital when beginning their farming careers. The working concept consists of 5 farmers, each managing a 12-acre wedge with a 1/2 acre of year-round high tunnels, 3.5 acres in field crops, and 8 acres in pasture for crop rotation, and all supported by an onsite keystone farm hub with a centralized pack-house, storage facilities, marketing, and distribution services. This keystone farm hub would also provide a centralized drop point and storage site for distribution partners to help facilitate easier transport and distribution of product to larger wholesale markets.
​
An advantage of this model for the farmers is that they would not need personal capital investment upfront – initially they would be employees of the ARC Farm, growing and learning with the business, and after the business has stabilized, ownership would be transferred to the farmers and management staff.
The longterm vision is for ARC to become a replicable model, thereby creating a stable farm system that offers more support and financial security for the next generation of farmers. The sum of an ARC Farm is stronger than its individual parts. View Clara’s TEDx talk on the ARC Farm.
​
For more information, please contact Clara through her Contact page.