Film looking to put the farm back in Brook Farm
New Brook Farm, Inc. will host a screening of the inspirational film “The Biggest Little Farm” to gather support for efforts to reintroduce active agriculture at the Brook Farm Historic Site in West Roxbury. The film will be shown Tuesday, February 10, at 7:00 p.m. at the Stratford Street United Church, 77 Stratford Street in West Roxbury. Admission is free; no RSVP is required.
Brook Farm was the site of an experimental Transcendentalist utopian community from 1841 to 1847 that sought to reconcile everyday labor with intellectual and artistic pursuits. With more than 100 residents at its height, Brook Farm provided equal roles for women and men. It was a seminal influence on American cultural, intellectual, political, and social movements of the 19th century, including abolitionism, women’s suffrage, education, literature, music, and religion. After the Brook Farm community closed, the site became the Roxbury almshouse, then a Civil War training ground, and later a Lutheran orphanage. Brook Farm was has been designated a National, State, and City of Boston Historic Landmark. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired 148 acres of the site in 1988.
New Brook Farm, Inc. (NBF) is a non-profit seeking to create a small, professionally operated farm on one acre of the Brook Farm Historic Site. The farm will use organic, low-till techniques to grow a mix of vegetables, most of which will be donated for distribution in southwestern Boston by Rose’s Bounty food pantry. Founded in 2011 by residents from West Roxbury, Roslindale, and nearby communities, NBF has run more than 50 events at Brook Farm and in the community, including historical tours, nature walks, and the acclaimed “Women of Brook Farm, with dramatic readings of writings by the original Brook Farmers.
NBF is currently preparing a proposal to submit to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which controls Brook Farm and is currently preparing a plan for the Historic Site’s future use. When the plan is complete, DCR will issue a request for proposals for agricultural uses at Brook Farm.
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