Saratoga’s Pitney Meadows teaches, feeds and gives back

SARATOGA SPRINGS —  The Pitney family first arrived in Saratoga Springs from Vermont in the late 1830s, but the land they later acquired in 1864, now known as the Pitney Meadows Community Farm, had already been a source of timber for a sawmill and later a place to grow grain and hay for a nearby homestead. 

The family farmed the land until 1992, when Bill Pitney started renting out to other farmers. From then until 2015, Pitney descendants resisted several generous offers from developers to sell the valuable property.

The following year, the family transferred the 166-acre working farm, located in the city on West Avenue, to a nonprofit to ensure it remain forever farmland. The organization, dubbing the fertile green space Pitney Meadows Community Farm, has a mission “to celebrate and explore agricultural education, healthy food production and recreation.”

“Our small, but mighty team oversees a working farm operation using regenerative practices to restore our soil and grow food for our community through our food sovereignty program, community-shared agriculture memberships and farm stand,” Executive Director Brooke McConnell said.

Affiliated with the nonprofit since its inception, McConnell recently took over the top job after a career in social justice and addressing the social drivers of health. 

“Eighty percent of what impacts our health as individuals and communities happens outside the walls of our health care system,” she said. “Whether someone has a roof over their head, food in their belly, access to and the skills needed for gainful employment, connection to others, and access to open spaces are what determine our physical and mental health and longevity. To me, Pitney Meadows Community Farm ticks so many of these boxes that it is a mission worth dedicating my career to.”

That mission is accomplished with 100 community garden plot rentals, education and volunteer programs and events throughout the year on the farm property. In warm months, those events include ones in cooperation with local arts organizations like Saratoga Opera, Caffe Lena, SPAC and Home Made Theater, in addition to educational workshops, community races and farm-to-table events.

All programming is offered on a sliding scale to ensure all income levels have access.

Singling out one aspect of the group’s operations, McConnell said, “Our Food Sovereignty program is some of the most critical work we do at the farm. Our work to feed our community goes beyond food donations alone to empowering community members to grow their own food and to have a say in what, how and where it is grown.”

Like most organizations, Pitney Meadows is affected by the economy, but McConnell said that its status as a newer startup nonprofit devoted to community farming posed a particular challenge obtaining funding that allowed it flexibility to respond to immediate and changing community needs.

“For example, all farmers in our region had to adjust practices to the heavy rains this season,” she said. “The new climate realities present a need for careful planning as well as agility to save crops and soil.”

Additionally, food bank usage in the Capital Region has surged to staggering levels post-pandemic, according to McConnell, because of skyrocketing inflation. “We are all grappling with the harsh reality of trying to feed more families with fewer resources in 2023.”

The COVID pandemic proved Pitney Meadows Community Farm’s capabilities. When the global health crisis struck, the farm was only in its second year of farming after resting for three years. The farm was forced to close its campus to visitors at a time when its services were needed most.

“The one thing everyone at the organization knew we needed to do was grow and donate as much food as possible,” McConnell said. With the farm’s entire workforce able to focus all its efforts on that one goal, they were able to donate more than 23,000 pounds of produce, three times what they had done the previous year.

Beyond the work they do to feed and educate those in need in Saratoga County, McConnell believes Pitney Meadows supplies another unique benefit to the community.

“Pitney Meadows Community Farm is one of the few remaining public spaces that brings all walks of life together for meaningful shared experiences,” she said. Connection to one another in the face of growing division, conflict and isolation is something we can all get behind.”

McConnell also encourages the public to get involved, either as financial supporters or volunteers. “We offer many opportunities to get your hands dirty which helps us build the farm while boosting your mental health,” she said.

The Pitney family’s long legacy did not end when they gifted the land to the nonprofit. 

“Beyond being important stakeholders in our strategy, you can find Bill out on a tractor or mower most days keeping the grounds looking beautiful as our on-staff caretaker,” McConnell said.