As it has for all of us, this year has presented novel challenges for Bellwether Farm, as well as it has provided unexpected opportunities. The cancellation of summer camp and the closing of dining and retreat accommodations brought operations to a disappointing halt. Personnel changes and restructuring of responsibilities demanded creativity and flexibility on everyone’s part. And primary concern for the safety of visitors has required that we develop new ways of providing the hospitality and experiential formation that mark the farm’s ministry. The net result has been to use this period of uncertainty to explore new procedures and develop new protocols, and to employ in new ways the remarkable human and natural resources with which we are blessed.

This summer at Bellwether, one of the difficult decisions we had to make was cancelling summer camp and postponing many retreat groups. Given the fact that much of the food we produce normally goes to the dining hall to feed guests on site, our question was, “How do we pivot this year?” More specifically, “What do we do with all the food coming off the farm?”