A Springtime Visit to Soul Food Farm with Alexis Koefoed
At it’s best, farming is an inexact science.
I made a springtime visit to the verdant pastures of Pleasants Valley (Vacaville, CA), cultivated since the mid 1800’s with tree crops such as peaches, plums, prunes, cherries, pecans and walnuts. Food and wine aficionados speak of Terroir, (land, soil, the earth beneath our feet). The terroir of this valley has a rich and diverse soul. As you walk this land, you can hear the voices of the Ululatos and Malacas Tribes, Mexicans, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese: the Americans who were its early stewards. This valley has sustained many generations with its family farms.
Fast-forward a century to 1997, Alexis and Eric Koefoed purchased a 55-acre plot of dormant farmland that extends from the valley floor to the hilltop on the east side of Pleasants Valley. Alexis and I walked the farm and chatted about their journey and the inspiration for Soul Food Farm. Eric and Alexis fell in love with this land at first site. After purchasing this piece of heaven, they moved their three children onto the land, beginning the process of settling into the valley and its vibrant community, embarking on their own vision for the future. Friends and family gathered to help them plant an olive orchard that would provide olive oil for years to come. Alexis dreamed of raising chickens that would sustain her family with eggs and meat. The young olive trees provided shade for the poules and the girls kindly returned the favor by feeding the trees. The Koefoeds began selling their golden eggs by the dozen to the community and the fruit of SFF’s labor soon became a magnet gaining the attention of restaurants the likes of Chez Panisse, Coi, Quince and Camino.
One day Alice Waters (the founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA) called Alexis to ask if she would consider growing poultry for the restaurant. Alexis initially said no, but after reconsidering the opportunity and cursory research at her local library, Alexis embraced this challenge to grow her farm. Ten thousand chickens later, astronomic grain costs, trucking the girls more than fifty miles for processing, and a finished product that would rival the likes of the famed Brest Poulet from France with head and feet still attached.
The SFF community (restaurants, meat and grocery markets) had solidified. These customers gained an appreciation for working closely with small family farms. It’s not Sysco! Small family producers don’t deal in receivables and credit. The concept of COD (cash on delivery) is not a new one, and frankly it’s a solid business practice for producers of perishables. Bonnie Powell (founder of Ethicurean and esteemed food politics writer) was instrumental in introducing SFF to the Bay Area. Bonnie also set up a thriving CSA (community supported agriculture) that included products from SFF.
At it’s best, farming is an inexact science. Farming isn’t glamorous work; spare the Lacroix and Gucci, chickens aren’t Anna Wintour. Farming is honest work that feeds your tummy and your heart. The hours are long and the environment harsh. A farmer’s life includes driving rains and floods as well as relentless heat and fires. If a coyote gets a whiff of your animals at 3AM, you’ll find yourself running across a moon lit pasture to rescue the flock. Living this close to the earth with animals is a story without paragraphs or chapters. Like a run on sentence, ripe with drama and tragedy its fodder for a new opera; complete with divas, a chorus of hens and a backdrop of seasons.
The Koefoed’s came to farming because of their desire to raise their children close to the earth, to live in a community where relationships are made over coffee and farm fresh eggs. Their intention was clear, to raise food responsibly for everyone’s enjoyment. SFF’s chicken and eggs are raised with dignity and respect. You can taste it. Regrettably, the cost required to raise food in this manner is out of reach for many Bay Area residents.
There is a passage in the Torah which details that animals must be treated with respect and fed before we sit down to eat. That animal’s life will be sacrificed for our own sustenance. The Koefoed’s like many farmers, embody sustainable agriculture.
In the fall of 2012, Myriam Kaplan-Pasternak at Devils Gulch Ranch turned Alexis onto the USAID’s Partners of the Americas, Farmer to Farmer program. Myriam encouraged Alexis to apply and share her knowledge about chickens with agriculture students and farmers in Haiti. Alexis was thrilled by this opportunity. In February 2013, she traveled to Haiti and spent two weeks with Benito Jasmin of the Makouti Agro Enterprise learning about the challenges faced by chicken farmers. Alexis gave a five-hour poultry management lecture to forty university students. Alexis authored a thirteen-page report (translated into Creole) on basic chicken care and management. This project in Haiti inspired Alexis’ next chapter at SFF.
In SFF’s new chapter, the Koefoeds have moved into a cozy, eclectic, repurposed shipping container home on the farm. They have leased out a few acres to Ocho Verde Farm (Autumn Martinelli, Michael and Jesse Hoolihan, a dynamic team of organic farmers) that are cultivating jewel like purple and butter cauliflower, architectural romanesco and levitating kohlrabi that will nourish many souls. Alexis has partnered with her neighbor Rose Loveall-Sale at Morningsun Herb Farm to raise lavender for distillation into essential oil. SFF will become an agri-turismo, welcoming guests to their well-appointed three-bedroom home for farm-stays where guests are romanced by the farming life. Alexis and Eric are raising an outcropping of picturesque safari tents on platforms that can be rented for a night, weekend or longer. Guests at SFF will get a glimpse of the rewards of living close to the earth with an herb and vegetable garden, fresh eggs from the coop and fruit from the neighbor’s orchard.
Check out this lovely documentary created by the Lexicon on Sustainability featuring Alexis.
For more information about Soul Food Farm and their farm stay, contact Alexis Koefoed at (707) 365-1798 and check out SFF on Facebook , if you’re interested in a cozy farm stay check out Airbnb.
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