Sweet Farm is a model for progressive agriculture and a kinder, more connected world.
Since Farm Sanctuary was founded in upstate New York in 1986, the number of U.S sanctuaries caring for farm animals has grown to more than 200. But Sweet Farm, located in Half Moon Bay, California, is singular in its methods – and even in its mission.
AFA and Sweet Farm are collaborating to provide AFA farming partners with access to resources that can facilitate a full transition as they lobby with us for At-Risk Farmer legislation. As farmers come on board, we hold an intake/evaluation video call to explore options that the experts at Sweet Farm can advise our farmers about.
– Laura Reese, AFA co-founder
Since Anna Sweet and her husband, Nate Salpeter, founded Sweet Farm in the fall of 2015, they have given a permanent home to more than 125 individuals – including turkeys, chickens, ducks, cows, pigs, llamas, goats, sheep and a horse. These animals were rescued from a variety of situations in which most of these species in our world more typically live in confinement, fear, and discomfort – and are delivered to an early, violent death.
What makes Sweet Farm different from other farm animal sanctuaries is that it is also a veganic produce farm – cultivating more than 100 varieties of heirloom, open-pollinated fruits and vegetables, and offering them to the community through a pick-your-own program. Sweet Farm thus serves as a dynamic model for other farm animal rescue organizations – which often, for example, spend large sums of money to have manure trucked away and have relatively little contact with the surrounding community. It also serves as a small-scale model of what’s possible for the vast majority of U.S. produce farms, which currently grow just one or two crops.
In addition to sowing biodiversity back into the land, Sweet Farm is active in promoting and supporting other pioneers, particularly in the high-tech world. With backgrounds in tech and knowledge of many commercial sectors, Nate and Anna are dedicated to helping entrepreneurs in food tech and environmental sustainability ventures find the resources they need to start and grow their businesses. Sweet Farm’s support program for startups has raised more than $5 million in venture capital funding.
Sweet Farm’s ambitious mission to reverse the impact of industrialized farming on animals, plants and people pairs well with AFA’s mission to establish national policies supporting food production methods that nurture the planet and all its inhabitants. A particularly exciting detail of this new partnership: Sweet Farm’s founders have generously agreed to offer insight and discuss pragmatic solutions as AFA works with at-risk farmers seeking to transition out of animal agriculture and into sustainable businesses.
To find out more about Sweet Farm, and virtually meet some of its animal ambassadors, go to sweetfarm.org.