Woven Roots Farm is a traditional, hand-scale vegetable farm, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and education center located on unceded Mohican land in the present-day Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts. Through a deep relationship with the land and one another, we commit to feeding, educating, and empowering our community members by creating pathways to become healthier individuals, informed consumers, and ethical growers.
When we, co-founders Jen and Pete Salinetti, began farming 20 years ago with an honor-box farm stand, we didn’t know how far this path would take us. In 2005, we transitioned into a full-time farming lifestyle implementing no-till, hand-scale production methods, which allowed us to work in relationship with the land, sequester carbon, and ultimately feed our community nutrient-dense, beautiful food. The transition came at a time when we were beginning a family. We were determined to find a way to care for ourselves, care for the land, and be fully present as parents for our children. Initially, we provided food to the various independent and community-owned businesses and local restaurants. As our personal journey expanded, there became a deepening awareness of the privilege and inequality of healthy local food in our community. It was apparent that not all of our neighbors had equitable access to affordable healthful food.
In response to this, and with the support of 10 regular farm stand customers, we pivoted away from providing food for restaurants—a place where only a few and privileged have the ability to benefit from—towards a CSA farming model based on Indigenous land practices that focused on the inextricable connection between land and people.
In 2010 we started our seasonal CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program as a way to provide direct access to fresh, vibrant food at an affordable price. The initial shift to a CSA model began our commitment to creating equitable access to food. With the support of Berkshire Grown, a community agricultural organization, we launched our Solidarity Share Fund—a program that supports the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community and other marginalized neighbors by providing direct access to fresh food and knowledge sharing at an affordable price.
In tandem with growing produce full-time, we have also focused on sharing our techniques and helping community members reconnect to Earth’s natural rhythms and teachings from toddler-age thru elder-age. As we strengthened our relationship with our community members both above and below the soil, our farm team grew. We now annually have a team of six farmers collaborating to generate vibrant, fresh produce for our neighbors.
