Visioning: The Farm of Your Dreams

We will start the journey of creating a business plan by first imagining the farm of your dreams and how that fits into your own vision. As Leah Penniman (Soul Fire Farm) writes in Farming While Black:

“The first step in writing a business plan, which is really a plan for the tangible love you want to manifest in the world, is to imagine widely what is possible. We invite you to light a candle, call upon your ancestors, close your eyes, and dream into your biggest visions.”

The Visioning session will be led by Shelby Montgomery and Kyla Pascal.

Shelby was born and raised in Mohkinstsis, on Treaty 7 land in the settler-city of Calgary. By day, she works frontline for a health equity organization. In her remaining time, she is dedicated to building and supporting grassroots food justice efforts in her community. She offers her skills as an urban agriculture consultant, seed librarian, group facilitator, board director, and volunteer. When she is not working or growing food, she can usually be found in the mountains, where she tries to convince her nervous border collie that he can be an adventure dog.

Born in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), Kyla is a community builder and maker of Métis-Dominican descent. The granddaughter of farmers (grain and cattle in Alberta, and banana and vanilla in Dominica), Kyla has always valued the relationship between community, culture, food, and justice. It was through years of working in the Edmonton food and coffee scene that she noticed the potential of change making across tables and bar tops. Kyla recognizes the importance of healing our connections with the land and has been slowly developing her skills around growing food and harvesting. Kyla Pascal currently lives and studies on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil Waututh, and Squamish Peoples (Vancouver).

Please watch the videos and fill out the Visioning Worksheet for our next session. During the online session we will have a chance to discuss the visioning process and to share your farm visions and missions with your peers.

VIDEOS

The first video is from Kyla, as aspiring farmer, where she shares her farming journey and her farm vision. The remaining videos are from Shelby and they are divided up into segments that follow the worksheet segments. It may be helpful to watch each of Shelby’s mini videos then complete the corresponding segment of the worksheet.

Farmer Story – Kyla Pascal

Visioning Introduction – Shelby Montgomery

Visioning Part 1: Personal Vision

Visioning Part 2: Farm Vision

Visioning Part 3: Vision Statement

Visioning Part 4: Mission Statement

WORKSHEET

Fill out the following worksheet as you move through Parts 1–4 of the visioning videos above. Take your time with the questions in the worksheet, they’re big ones!

Visioning  Worksheet (doc)
Visioning Worksheet (pdf)

RESOURCES

Here are some more resources to help you shape your farm vision and mission.

Video – Vision, Mission, Purpose: What’s the Difference? (David Burkus)
Resource List – Food Justice Resources (Kyla Pascal)
Document – 100 Mission Statement Templates & Examples (Hubspot)
Website – Farm Business Planning: Mission & Vision (University of California)

RECORDING