An Open Letter to PFI Members, Friends and Supporters

Robert Karp

I am honored and humbled to step into the role of PFI’s Executive Director. PFI has such a rich legacy of leaders, almost all of who are still very active in the organization. Names like Thompson, Kallem, Frantzen, Rosmann, Madsen, Zacharakis-Jutz, Lubben, Exner, Huber and a hundred others all come quickly to mind and leave me feeling nothing short of awe at the responsibility I have taken on.

In truth, over the years, I have come to view PFI as a leadership organization as much as a farm organization. Each of you is a leader and our job has been to nurture that leadership on behalf of an agricultural ethic rooted in stewardship, community and common sense. I hope, in all humility, to continue and expand upon this fine tradition.

Not a farmer but…

Let me tell you a little about myself. I am not a farmer and I do not have a farm background. However farms were never far away from the small town in Wisconsin where I grew up. I took this agricultural backdrop for granted until our family moved to Arizona when I was ten years old and I suddenly felt like I was living on the moon!

My work experiences and interests have been quite varied. I have been a counselor, a publisher, a writer and a stage manager. I studied theater and creative writing in college. If you want to pigeon hole me you could perhaps think of me as a communicator, a communicator who would like nothing better than to tell the world about PFI!

I became passionate about agriculture early on. In college a friend took me to a Prairie Festival at the Rural Institute in Kansas where I had the pleasure of meeting Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry. There I felt the window dressing of pop America melt away and something of the real America begin to shine into my life, lighting a fire that is still burning to this day.

Many years later, while living in Massachusetts, I became a member of one of the first Community Supported Agriculture projects (CSA’s) in the United States. Through this experience that flame grew into a bonfire and I decided there must be a way to put my skills to work on behalf of a new agriculture.

Around this time, the opportunity arose for me to come to Iowa to work on a play I was writing about the crash of Flight 232 in Sioux City. From the moment I arrived in Iowa I knew I was home. I fell in love with the landscape and the people and the quiet integrity that permeated them both.

So I decided to stay and before long I moved to Ames and got involved in helping start Magic Beanstalk, one of the first CSA’s in Iowa. And the rest is history. Through Magic Beanstalk I got involved with PFI, and with Gary Huber and Shelly Gradwell, started what is now the Food Systems Program of PFI. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Thoughts on PFI’s Future

Let me share just a few thoughts about the future of PFI. Basically, I think Fred Kirschenmann is right when he tells us we have a unique and urgent window of opportunity over the next few years in which to make a significant impact on farming in the United States. Never has the pressure been so great to get big or get out, yet never have so many – farmers and non-farmers alike – been so open to exploring new ways of taking agriculture into the future. Even policy makers are beginning to think differently.

New opportunities are emerging and breaking through the ice of the old ways of doing business, even while we are told the death bell tolls over the family farm. It is a precarious moment at best – both crisis and opportunity.

I believe PFI must act on this unique moment. We have laid the groundwork for this opportunity. We have spent fifteen years learning the nuts and bolts of what it will take to help farmers be profitable and successful using ecologically sound farming practices. From production systems to food systems, we have created a deep well of knowledge and expertise. We have also nurtured an amazing network of courageous and innovative member leaders across the state and region. I believe the world is asking us to share more widely and generously than ever before the wealth of wisdom, knowledge, passion and vision that live in our members, our staff and in our history.

I would like to make every Iowan aware of the incredible accomplishments of PFI and, even more importantly, of the incredible vision we have for the future of agriculture. I believe our membership could double or even triple in the coming years. I believe we could add several new program areas and expand on our existing program areas. In short, I believe PFI, working in close collaboration with our many partners, is poised to help bring about a major shift in agriculture in Iowa and the Midwest over the next five years. We should not strive for anything less.

Not growth for growth’s sake

But the point is not to grow for growth’s sake or simply to perpetuate ourselves as an organization. The point is that the world needs and is asking for something we have been carefully, modestly cultivating. We have wisdom and we have integrity and we have community and we have vision. Now is the time to multiply these qualities across Iowa a hundredfold. The yeast is bubbling; the bread is waiting to be made!

Finally, let me just say that to bring about the changes we would like to see happen in agriculture, PFI must be prepared to change, grow and evolve as an organization. Over the coming months I will be working with our board and staff and partner organizations to begin to form a clearer picture of just what our future might look like. If you have thoughts on how PFI can more fully serve our member leaders, and the values and vision we stand for, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Now is the time to be thinking fresh and big and courageously. I welcome the opportunity to hear and learn from each of you in the months and years ahead.