By Scott Cronick
When Cookie Till and some other like-minded community members decided to resurrect Reed’s Farm in Egg Harbor Township four years ago, it came with a mission.
That mission – A Meaningful Purpose – was to grow and sell veggies, offer a stunning farm market, shelter animals at a sanctuary and attempt to transform the longtime farm naturally, and possibly organically. But the most important aspect of it was always to feed the community with the crops they farm.
As Till and her dedicated team learned more, the mission expanded to “put the most nourishing foods into our growing lives … using organic seeds, no synthetic sprays and natural fertilizers sourced from the farm or surrounding areas to foster soil regeneration and optimal health for the produce we grow on historical land.”
The old adage that life sometimes imitates art will be on full display 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at Ventnor Square Theatre when A Meaningful Purpose at Reed’s Farm hosts a screening of the highly acclaimed documentary “Common Ground,” along with an after-movie panel and Q&A session.
“Common Ground” is the sequel to the juggernaut success documentary “Kiss the Ground,” which touched over 1 billion people globally and inspired the United States Department of Agriculture to put $20 billion toward soil health. It fuses journalistic expose with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, unveiling a dark web of money, power and politics behind the broken food system.
The film “profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black and indigenous farmers who are using alternative ‘regenerative’ models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late.”
If that sounds similar, it should … because that’s exactly what A Meaningul Purpose is all about.
“Common Ground,” like Reed’s Farm, shows the importance of breathing life back into the land and thinking beyond conventional farming practices.
“It’s been four years since we landed at Reed’s Farm and every year it gets a little more regenerative, so we are going to be growing a lot of food,” said Till, who grew up in Atlantic City and owns Steve & Cookie’s in Margate. “For me, it has always been about feeding people. I think it was a progression, and I am not surprised that I ended up here, but it is interesting. I have been coming to Reed’s Farm – it was a family farm for over 85 years and the closest farm to Absecon Island. It’s just a magical piece of property. And with everything I have been doing working in Atlantic City doing school and community gardens … so when it became available, I thought this could be a hub that could spoke out into so many aspects of the community that can be revitalized. And as it relates to the movie, regenerating the land and what it means and how it’s important and really be tangible for people to see, but also serving underserved community members like the special needs community, working with young adults like when we have all the high schools come out and work out of the gardens. And now we are getting back into Atlantic City and getting back into garden spaces and creating new ones and working with a great coalition of people. We need good food everywhere in our community. And that is our message.”
A visit to Reed’s Farm shows how much can be accomplished in a relative short amount of time when it comes to regenerative farming.
“It was a family farm that was conventionally farmed for all those years, and then it sat for a while, and the soil was really not healthy at all,” Till said. “We had to really work on it, and the wisdom four years ago was that it could take 10 years to regenerate. But now we are seeing a difference … we started a compost program on a large scale and started doing some interesting things like organic things on the farm, and we didn’t have conventional input and didn’t use pesticides. And we started doing testing and seeing what’s needed and then giving back to the land. That’s the regenerative message. You definitely can’t keep taking. You have to give back. And it makes sense when you learn about it. We got off to a bad tangent with conventional farming. And now we can give back and keep the land healthy and grow a lot of vegetables. And we are finally seeing that this is paying off. The nurturing of the land is starting to give back. And the soil is so vibrant and there are earthworms and there’s mycelium. It’s so cool.”
A Meaningful Purpose
Till recently saw “Common Ground” at a screening in Reading, Pa., and was immediately affected to the point that she knew she had to host a screening for the community her farm serves.
The documentary features activists, environmentalists and Hollywood stars including Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, Jason Momoa, Donald Glover and Woody Harrelson, but Till was particularly touched by the personal stories of the farmers featured in the film and how the film mirrors what’s happening at Reed’s in so many ways.
“I was inspired,” Till said. “It’s really a call to action, but it explains things and is very moving. It’s a continuation of the first film, which explained more of the health of the soil. And this one is about showing different farmers in the farming community and telling their stories and why they switched to regenerative farming, including farmers in the Midwest, where conventional farming isn’t even questioned. It tells individual stories but ties it to the whole. It was well done. Some things can be sensationalist. It can get you mad, but to only inspire good action, not to just be mad. Some films look to rile you up, but this film helps you understand the flow of why it’s so hard to change, but why it’s important, too. And we are really at the precipice with everything in the world. I think the world is a little on fire with climate change and war and tempers flaring, and this is something I feel speaks to so many levels of being human and remembering where we fit into this landscape. Mother nature probably does know better, and we need to listen to her a little better.”
While the $25 to attend the screening will go to Reed’s Farm thanks to Square Theatres Co-Owner Brett DeNafo generously donating the theater for the afternoon, Till said the main purpose of showing the documentary is to help area residents understand what’s going on in their back yard.
“We want people there,” Till said. “This is definitely educational. It is such a good, reciprocal thing to see because they break it down, so it makes sense. And what they really want to do is encourage people to get involved, and we can serve that purpose here.”
The education will continue after the film with a panel and Q&A Till put together featuring people who are involved in the regenerative movement, including farmers from Reed’s Farm.
Panelists will include: Reed’s Executive Farm Managers Hunter Lucas and Leah Martin; Reed’s Program Director Melanie Reed; Reed’s Compost Manager Dave Lockwood; Jeff Tkach, a Reed’s board member and CEO of the Rodale Institute, which is a global leader in organic agriculture research; Devin Cornia, Executive Director of Northeast Organic Farm Association – New Jersey; and Jason Gerhardt, owner of Real Earth Design, which is a landscape and ecological design company. The panel will be hosted by Jeff Schwartz, a former Zoom executive and Reed’s board member who is passionate about regenerative farming.
“We want people to meet our farmers, who are a passionate group,” Till said. “The entire panel is so passionate about what we are doing. It should be a nice afternoon.”
Farming in the future
Till said what’s happening every day at Reed’s ties into the film’s tagline, “Saving the planet one acre at a time, and that she believes what’s happening at Reed’s is just the beginning of something larger.
“We don’t want to be a one off,” she said. “We are a hub and want other farmers to take what they learn here and go do something. We work with Stockton and have students form there and farmers who have come through here who are doing other things in the regenerative agriculture space, and that’s a cool thing – this is just the beginning of something.”
And that can be seen every day at Reed’s Farm.
“We have a market and a kitchen here, and we want to bring people out to the farm,” Till said. “And the community that has been here love it. We have so many repeat people who come out and they bring their kids and walk around and see the animal sanctuary and have some food. So, we sell the produce here, and we cook with it, and some go back to the restaurant, but what I am really excited about it working on getting this food into Atlantic City … fresh, nutrient-dense vegetables. We are working with CROPS in Atlantic City, and there is a green coalition that has been formed, and we are really working in so many areas, getting into schools, working with The Boys and Girls Club, and there is a community that is coming together. And being the closest farm to the island and as we are regenerating the land and being able to grow more vegetables, we are developing a pipeline where we can bring more thoughtfully grown local produce into the city, and try to get it in there at a reasonable price and do education around it. So, there is really a whole initiative that is very exciting. We love Atlantic City, and I think it deserves more. I really do. And it starts with nutrition and good food and empowering people with that and the understanding of what that means.”
‘Common Ground’ will be shown at the Ventnor Square Theatre 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at ReedsOrganicFarm.org.)
Scott Cronick is an award-winning journalist who has written about entertainment, food, news and more in South Jersey for nearly three decades. He hosts a daily radio show – “Off The Press with Scott Cronick” – 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays on Newstalk WOND 1400-AM, 92.3-FM, and WONDRadio.com, and he also co-owns Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, while working on various projects, including charitable efforts, throughout the area. He can be reached at scronick@comcast.net.
