Watch a video interview of Sherry Dudas the Farm Manager at Honey Brook Organic Farm.
Sherry talks about how together with her husband Jim they started farming here 30 years ago. At the time, Jim was the first farmer to bring the community-supported agriculture concept to Mercer County.
In 2021 Sherry and Jim will be moving to three new farms where they plan to implement a carbon sequestration project.
They will also continue a partnership that started with Share My Meals in 2021.
For Jim Kinsel and Sherry Dudas giving to others is part of their DNA. “Even before I came to the farm in 2003, my now-husband, Jim Kinsel, was donating produce ever since the beginning of the farm. In 2003, I expanded the number of groups that we were working with,” says Sherry Dudas.
Early in spring 2020, Share My Meals started coming to the farm to pick up produces. “And we were pleased to find that Share My Meals do things a little bit different than some of our groups. First of all, they were willing to come out and pick up the produce. … And then what they did, which we’ve never had in our 30 years of donating produce; we’ve never had a group do this before is that they would go into our walk-in cooler, they would sort the produce, they would trim it here,” Sherry adds.
Trimming is key for the organic farm. It is used for the compost that enriches the soils.
When asked why is it important for her to donate food, Sherry says: “As a young person, in my family, we had times where my father as a union construction worker during the 70s we were food insecure. There were times when we feared we could go hungry. So I understand where the fear of hunger comes from. Also, I was raised in part by a grandma who lived through the depression. She instilled in my sisters and me to never waste food.”
