Columbia Crop Mob Mobbed Happy Hollow Farm

Reshared from Columbia Farmers Market's weekly e-newsletter

Last Sunday was the season's first Crop Mob for local farmers of the Mid-Missouri region. The Crop Mob, a gathering of folks to help small, sustainable farmers tackle difficult projects, was hosted by Liz Graznak of Happy Hollow Farm. With the help of local farmers, the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and Columbia community members, we were able to help build permanent raised beds for the farm's perennial herb garden!

More generally, the Crop Mob is the work of a community invested in the growing of their own food, people who choose to involve themselves with the process of producing food and working together to form the place they are a part of. When a small farmer needs help with a project, a group of community members and other farmers, called a "crop mob", come to lend a hand. During the mob people work, exchange knowledge and celebrate by sharing a meal. In the end the farmer has finished a large project and the people have put in a good day's work. Crop mob aims to reinforce the idea that community is not only made up of people buying and selling from each other, but also people working and celebrating together. There is no money exchanged for the work done, and the work isn't seen as free labor.

Like a modern day barn raising, the idea isn't entirely novel either. Before the modernization of agriculture, communities used to pitch in during planting and harvest times because it required a large collective effort. In turn this fostered stronger connections and a network of support. With the revival now of small, sustainable agriculture and farmers choosing to use less mechanization and artificial inputs, the need for collective help has resurfaced. In this sense, crop mob is the return of a communal tradition. We see the growing of food as the growing of community and this act cannot be done alone.

If you would like to be a part of the next crop mob, there is one being hosted June 8th by Sullivan Farms of Fayette, MO.  RSVP to cropmobcolumbia@gmail.com or 9105126882. If you have a shovel(s) be sure to bring it, but there will be extras!

Next Columbia Crop Mob