March 2021 News




Direct Investment to Grow our Local
Food Economy
Note from the Director
 
Dear Friend, 
 
As farmers market season falls upon us this month, my love for locally produced food makes me want to burst with excitement. How fortunate are we? To live in a beautiful place surrounded by so many incredible food producers. I can nearly smell the sweetness of the season’s first strawberries lingering in the air.
 
Although I’m eager to fall back into the routine of early Saturday mornings that guarantee the freshest cheeses, tenderest tomatoes and a warm crusty baguette. There is one piece, an integral piece, that in all honesty, I find tends to fall into the backdrop of farmers markets. The farmer. 
 
Every season I’m reminded how easy it is to be grateful for the final product. What’s not easy is making, tending, growing, loving the “product”, every day, rain or shine, from seed to green or calf to cow. It requires unyielding dedication. 
 
I claim to be a local food enthusiast but really, I’m a lover of dedicated and inspiring individuals who are our region's local farmers and food producers. So, when I shop at a farmers market the reality is I’m shopping for the heart behind the product. 
 
I share this note with you today as a prelude to BAV’s Spring Appeal. Our goal is to raise $50,000 for our Resilience Fund program. Through this Fund, we award an array of grants from agroforestry initiatives to job training support to Market Match funding.
Why should you care about this?
Well if you, like myself, enjoy eating local food, farmers markets and love the Berkshire County community then our local farmers business vitality and well-being, affects you. As you continue to receive our monthly newsletters, follow us on social media and read about BAV in the paper; keep in mind we cannot continue supporting our region's farmers and food producers without your help. There is no food without farmers and our farmers need support.
Thank you,
Glenn Bergman
Interim Executive Director

Glenn loves making connections and would love to hear from you!
You can reach him at glenn@berkshireagventures.org 
This Month's
Farmer & Food Business Spotlight



Smoke & Honey Co.
Pine Plains, New York

Smoke & Honey Co. is a socially and environmentally conscientious beekeeping and farm management business rooted in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley. They focus their efforts at the intersection of honey production, education, art, and activism. They produce raw honey, maple syrup, and vegetables. Smoke & Honey Co. seeks to tell the story behind each spoonful and their values are straightforward: Healthy environments, healthy food, healthy people, food justice, and hive mind knowledge. 

BAV recently awarded Smoke & Honey Co. a grant that will go towards advancing their educational programming by providing free hives, free bees, and free beekeeping lessons to aspiring beekeepers of color in the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley. 

As Curtis Mraz, owner of Smoke & Honey Co., put it so well…

“As a fourth-generation beekeeper in a field largely dominated by older white men, I recognize my role as a gatekeeper to agricultural resources and knowledge. With our recent grant from BAV we have been able to leverage some of this privilege to help teach and empower a diverse next generation of beekeepers. Like us, BAV also understands that our food systems are dependent on these crucial pollinators and that we can’t have bees without another generation of well-trained beekeepers.”
Curtis has been beekeeping since he was old enough to walk. His great grandfather started an apiary in Vermont called Champlain Valley Apiaries in the 1930s. His grandfather ran it after him and now his uncle runs the business with over 1,000 bee colonies. 

“I didn’t grow up wanting to be a beekeeper per se but it wasn’t long before I realized my responsibility. Honey Bees are dying at an alarming rate due to climate change, pesticide exposure, and disease. As a farmer and fourth-generation beekeeper I knew I had a calling in this work.” 

Check out Smoke & Honey Co.’s website to learn more about their work. AND their very sweet merchandise!
Fun Facts About Bees
You Might Not Know

  • Bees are responsible for pollinating 1 in every 3 bites of our food. 

  • The average honey bee will actually make only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

  • Honey bees produce beeswax from eight paired glands on the underside of their abdomen.

  • The Honey bee’s wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
Food and Farm Jobs in the Berkshires
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures - Director of Development 
Roots Rising - Summer Farm Crew
MX Morningstar - Farm Store Retail Position
We love what we do. But we can’t do this alone. We need you.
Your help supports your community, your farmers, and your local food producers. Please consider a gift to BAV today.

Your investment in our Revolving Loan Fund is 100% used to distribute low-interest loans (0-2%) to local farmers and food producers. That capital continues to grow and is recycled back, creating a viable and reliable stream of support for agricultural entrepreneurs.

So join us and invest in your local food community.
Special Thanks to Our Supporters
Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Jane & Jack Fitzpatrick Trust, Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation, Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, The Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, The Thompson Family Foundation, The Whitehead Foundation, and the numerous individuals who have contributed to us over the past four years.
Berkshire Agricultural Ventures' priority areas for support include strategies that promote regenerative agriculture to help keep farm systems healthy and resilient in the face of climate change; improve land access and make farmland affordable for farmers; create season extension greenhouses and cold storage; fund on- and off-farm processing facilities; and support other means to strengthen the viability and sustainability of local farmers.