Agriculture has caused the breach of 5 of 9 planetary boundaries. At the same time, poor diets are causing chronic disease in people of all ages, especially among the poor. And to top it off, most of our food in the Mid-Atlantic comes from the southwest and Central Valley of CA. In Md., 70 % of farmland is used to produce food for chickens. This exposes our current food access to numerous chokepoints, including droughts, floods, fires and public health emergencies.
So we ask: What would it look like if agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic focused on local food production, on healthy ecosystems and on improving farm workers’ welfare? Our goal at the Dodon Center for Agroecological Farming, and its companion Vineyards and Gardens projects, is to do our part in helping to answer this question.
This means producing and serving the highest quality food and wine possible; minimizing the use of organic and synthetic chemicals that interfere with nature; encouraging biodiversity; reducing waste and empowering employees.